Quatre was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling with the blankets pulled up to his nose to provide as much coverage as possible, his heart thumping in his chest. He was listening. "Guys??" he said timidly. "I can hear it! Can you?"

"H-hear w-what?" Chibi Duo asked nervously. "Did you hear that bird??" He was shaking and pale and had nearly covered his whole head with the blanket.

"N-no--listen!" Quatre replied, and they stayed very still, listening.

The wind began to howl as the predicted storm arrived. "Squeak! Squeak!" they heard as the wind put the porch swing in motion, but they didn't recognize what was causing that ominous sound. There was a thudding sound as well when it crashed into the house from the force of the storm. They were trying to be brave, each one not wanting the others to know he was scared, but when they heard the front door close with a bang their fear overtook them.

"Save me, Heero!" Relena cried as she opened the door just as they were trying to open it and she collided with them; everyone staggered to keep their balance. She quickly looked to see which cow was Heero and then grabbed onto his arm with a death grip that was very probably preventing necessary blood flow. Heero didn't comment, he simply led the way as they ran down the hallway, down the stairs, and went straight to the living room. With one collective leap, they all jumped on the couch where Duo was sleeping.

"Huh? Whaa? Giant doughnuts?" Duo said sleepily, disoriented by being jolted awake in such a fashion. "What's the matter guys?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"I heared it! I heared it!" Quatre cried.

"Keep it down," Wufei whispered harshly. "You don't want it to hear you, do you?"

Quatre bit his lip and shook his head.

"Hey, can you give a guy a little room here?" Duo said with a bit of frustration in his voice as he struggled to turn over under the blanket that was pinned down by six shaky little bodies. Everyone moved just enough so that Duo could sit up, but none of them had any intention of actually getting off the couch. "I still can't reach the lamp. Can one of you get it for me?" Duo asked after trying his best to reach the switch.

"NO!" they answered in one voice.

"Then it'll find us!" Heero squeaked, his normal monotone gone.

"We're better off if it's dark," Trowa solemnly informed Chibi Duo’s clueless older self.

The front door slammed again and there were screams all around.

Melody appeared in the doorway after a moment, dripping water. "Now, what’s going on here?" she asked them in an “I mean it!” tone of voice as she put down her soggy grocery bag and removed her rain coat. "You guys let Duo sleep. You can see him in the morning."

"Oh, Melody!" Relena cried as she ran to her webmommie for comfort. "You're so brave! How did you get in without it seeing you??"

Melody flipped the wall switch and the lamps on the end tables chased away the darkness.

"Don't do that!" the chibis all cried, the boys jumped off of Duo and ran to the wall to turn them off.

"Where's John?" asked Wufei. "Did he go to bed early?"

"Nooo," Melody answered warily. "He's closing the garage. We were just getting some things out of the car."

"What's taking him so long?" Trowa wanted to know.

"I have no idea."

"It gotted him! It gotted him for sure!" Chibi Quatre wailed, his bunny ears flapping in the shadow from the street lamp.

"We gotta save him then," Wufei stated boldly, trying very hard to sound brave.

Melody switched the light back on, causing all of the chibis to latch onto her as though she were magnetic.

"Duo, what's this about? Do you know?" Melody asked as the life was being squeezed out of her.

"I dunno," Duo said, scratching his head and looking puzzled, still trying to wake up enough to make an educated guess.

The front door opened and the storm blew John in. At the sound of the screaming that followed, John quickly joined Melody in the living room, where he was hugged by all of the panic-stricken chibis.

"You're not dead!" little Quatre exclaimed with joyful wonder as he clung to his webdaddy's leg, his round blue eyes brimming with happy tears.

"What's going on?" asked the confused webdaddy.

"Dunno," Duo answered. "If you find out you can tell me."

Melody had recovered from the effects of her little ‘magnets’ and was able to breathe normally now, so she bent down to ask them what this was all about.

"Isn't John the BRAVEST?" Relena declared proudly.

"What are you frightened of?"

"We heared it!" Chibi Duo answered.

"Heard what?"

"The bird!" answered Wufei.

"An' the heart too!" exclaimed Chibi Quatre.

"An' the chain from the penulum," Chibi Trowa added darkly. "I heared it loud 'n clear when the storm came."

Melody looked at Duo but she spoke to the chibis. "Does this have anything to do with your bedtime story?"

"Uh huh! Uh huh!" Relena replied excitedly as she bounced up and down as much as she could without letting go of John.

"What story did he tell you?"

"Well, there was a poemetry 'bout a bird," answered Relena. "It was scary. It kep' quoth-ing, 'Neveranymore'."

"An’ he told us 'bout the 'Tattletale Heart'," Quatre supplied, his eyes as big as saucers.

"An’ the one 'bout the penulum swingin' on a chain, slowly an' slowly!" Wufei added, his black eyes wide with terror as he remembered hearing the chain.

"But Heero pertected me!" Relena announced proudly. "He's my hero!"

"Dear, why don't you take them upstairs and put them back to bed?" Melody suggested to John.

There was a bit of protesting but they went willingly when they were assured that the Maguanac were keeping watch over the house as they did every night. That made them feel safe.

As the chibis scurried up the stairs, Melody sat down on the couch with an exasperated sigh. Duo was scrunched up at the other end with the blanket still draped over his knees.

"Duo," Melody said with forced patience in her voice, "The 'Tales of Poe' are not exactly appropriate bedtime stories for children their age."

Duo looked over at her, still not completely awake. "They aren't? Why not?" he wondered groggily.

"Well, you saw how scared they were."

"Oh." Duo paused a moment, looking puzzled. "Too bloody?"

Melody sighed again, covering her eyes with one hand. "Just do me a favor, OK?"

"Um, sure. What is it?"

"Next time you tell them a bedtime story, please clear it with me first. Okay?"

Duo shrugged. He didn't see what was the problem with Poe, who happened to be one of his favorite authors, but he did want to help. "No problem, Melody!" He gave her a bright smile to reassure her, one she wasn't taken in by.

"One of these days, Duo Maxwell, you're going to have kids. Then you'll know what I'm talking about." She smiled sweetly at him and wished him good night. Not that she didn't think he'd make a good father, but he still had quite a lot to learn about raising little ones!