Oh Baby, I'm a Fool For You

"Kaya, why are you still sleeping?!"
My eyes slowly opened to reveal Jonah standing next to my bed dressed in his Spiderman pajamas. "Hey buddy," I said sleepily. "What time is it?"
"Seven in the morning!" he exclaimed.
"Why are you so upset, hon?"
"Kaya," Ben said with a groan, sitting up besides me, "it's Christmas morning."
I could feel my eyes widen dramatically. "Oh!" I exclaimed loudly, sitting up. "I'm so sorry, Jonah!" I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
"Come on!" Jonah said loudly, and grabbed my hand.
"Jonah, I-"
"Come on!" he groaned.
Without being able to turn to look at Ben, I allowed Jonah to pull me down the hall and to the first floor, where Veronica was sitting on the couch wrapped up in a long, light blue robe. Her eyes were tired and she was holding a steaming cup of coffee.
"Morning," I greeted as Jonah pulled me onto the couch across from her.
"Someone is very excited," she said, she said with a smile, pointing at her son.
"Duh!" he exclaimed. He crawled onto my back and leaned against my chest, then leaned his head back so I could see his face. He put a thumb on his nose, making him look like a pig.
I scrunched up my face and squinted at him.
"Sometimes I feel like I have two kids instead of one," Veronica said.
I looked up to see Ben sitting next to her on the couch, so I promptly stuck my tongue out at him.
"I see what you mean," Ben replied, sticking his tongue out at me in retaliation.
"Make that three," Veronica murmured, standing up to go to the kitchen table, retrieving a tray with two large mugs on it. "I made you tea, Ky," she told me.
"Thanks," I said, taking the penguin mug in my hands.
"Stop grown-up talking and let's get to the gifts!" Jonah insisted.
"Fine, fine," Veronica relented, and picked up a few packages from around the small tree and set them on the coffee table between the two couches.
"Can I go first?" Jonah asked, picking up a small package that had his name on it.
"Go ahead," Veronica replied. "Who is it from?"
"Um... Ben!" he exclaimed.
"You didn't have to do that," Veronica murmured as he son started tearing the green paper.
"But I did," he replied with a smile.
"Wow!" Jonah held a highly detailed fire truck in his hands, and it was about as long as my forearm. "It's so cool!" He dropped to the ground and began running the truck against the carpet, providing his own sound effects.
"What do you say?" Veronica coaxed.
"Thank you!" Jonah said loudly, putting the fire truck on the table. He ran up to Ben and jumped up and into his lap, wrapping his arms around his neck.
"You're welcome, buddy," Ben replied with a laugh.
"Do I have more presents?" Jonah asked.
He ended up opening some more cars from Veronica, and parking garage from me.
Veronica got a bracelet from me, a cute card from Jonah, and a beautiful red scarf from Ben.
Ben received a drawing from Jonah (it showed Ben, Jonah, Veronica and I all standing in a row and holding hands), and, ironically, a red scarf from Veronica, and...
"You open this later," Veronica whispered, handing Ben a box wrapped in bright paper, before taking Jonah's hand to lead him upstairs.
"What's that?" I asked, standing up to sit next to him.
Ben opened a corner of the gift then put the paper back down. "Nothing," he insisted.
"What?" I asked, elbowing him in the side.
"Nothing!" he insisted.
Getting up on my knees, I swung a leg over his lap and sat on him, facing him. "Tell me," I repeated, taking the box.
"Never!" he cried, taking it back and hiding it behind his back.
I put my hands on his shoulders and leaned my head down and began kissing his neck slowly.
"Ky, stop," he breathed.
"You don't mean that," I whispered against his neck. I rested a hand against his side and lightly traced his skin.
Ben grasped my chin and pulled my face up to place his lips on mine. He kissed me gently, then lowered me down so he was hovering over me on the couch.
With a coy smile, I traced his spine with the tips of my finters, then I snatched the small package.
"Hey!"
I flipped onto my stomach and held the box underneath me while Ben tried to pry it away from me. Finally, I got the corner of the wrapping open and squeaked, freezing.
"You saw it, didn't you," he muttered, a smile in his voice as he stopped tickling my sides.
"I want to get up now," I said simply, putting the box on the table.
"Hm, no, I quite like this position," Ben said, laying against my back but putting his weight on his arm that rested on the couch near my side.
"I think this position is too reminiscent of what my sister gave you," I said, my face flushing.
On the coffee table, wrapped in bright paper, the corner of the gift was turned up, and that was enough to make out the word 'Condoms'.
"You know she's just messing with us," he replied, getting off of me.
I flipped onto my back and was instantly pulled up and into Ben's lap. "Yeah, well..." I didn't know what to say. I simply leaned my head against his shoulder and took a deep breath.
"Cute," he muttered happily, and wrapped his arms around me tightly.
We stayed in that glorious, comfortable position for what seemed like hours, not a single word exchanged between us.
But a pounding on the door caused us to jump apart.
"Who could that be?" I murmured. "Oh!" I
I shouted, jumping to my feet. "I forgot to give that envelope to Veronica for Skandar, maybe it's him!"
"Kaya, do not open that door!"Veronica screamed.
I froze, half way to the door. "What's wrong" "I called.
"It's Zeke."
I felt like I couldn't breathe. Through the glass of the door, I could see Zeke trying to look through the top, trying to see through.
"Kaya, move," Ben said, suddenly behind me.
"Ben-"
"Stay here." He squeezed my shoulder and then opened the door, pushing past Zeke and shutting the door behind him.
I rushed to the window and watched anxiously through the curtains, Veronica joining me almost instantly.
"What do you want?" Ben asked coldly.
"What do you think, asshole?" Zeke replied rhetorically, his eyes dark.
"Get out of here," Ben ordered, his fists clenching.
"Should I do something?" I whispered to Veronica, my eyes fixed on my boyfriend.
"No, stay put," she said, taking my hand and squeezing it. "Let him do this for you."
"You can't tell me what do do," Zeke said smoothly. "All I want to do is see my girl."
"You don't have a girl here," Ben replied.
"Oh yes I do. She's about five four, long chestnut brown hair, a cute little body and a tiny rack."
Ben launched himself forward and grasped Zeke's collar. "You don't get to talk about her. She's too good for you."
"Get off of me, governor," Zeke drawled, wrapping his hand around Ben's that was still holding him. "It's a free country here in America. If I want to see Kaya, I can."
"She doesn't want to see you."
"Too bad." Zeke swung at Ben, but he ducked.
Ben released Zeke's collar only to punch him in the stomach, and when Zeke doubled over, Ben elbowed him on the back, causing him to fall to the snow. Ben rolled him over and grabbed his collar again, his fist poised above his head. "You're never going to see Kaya again," he said lowly, "not now, not ever. You're not going to talk to her, write her, or even think of her. You're going to come back to this house ever again. You're going to leave her family alone. Got it?"
Zeke coughed, a smile spreading across his face. "So defensive," he drawled. "Have you fucked her yet?"
Ben's fist crashed against Zeke's cheek, sending blood across the snow. "I just said you're not going to talk about her. That counts."
Barely visible through the curtain, I could see tears trickling down Zeke's cheek. "I should do something," I murmured, and tried to get to the door.
Veronica pulled me back. "Ben's doing this for you. He's doing it for all of us. If he gets too out of hand, we'll do something, but until then, just stay here."
I sucked in my bottom lip and nodded, returning to my post at the window.
"Now you're going to do everything I said, right?" Ben said darkly.
Zeke nodded, his face looking like a deer in headlights, except decorated with tears and blood.
"Now get out of here." Ben stood up and watched Zeke shakily get to his feet. "If I ever hear you even tried to talk to Kaya, or her family, I'm coming back."
Zeke looked at Ben over his shoulder and scowled, wiping his bloody lips with the back of his hand. "You're an asshole."
"Look who's talking," Ben murmured, then gave Zeke a push. "Get out of here."
Zeke just stood there, glaring.
"GO!"
Zeke visibly flinched, then took off down the walkway at a full run, disappearing around the corner within seconds.
Ben sighed, his shoulders shaky. Then he turned around and walked back up to the house, opening the door and walking in. He shut the door and leaned against it briefly before coming into the living room. When he saw us at the window, he hung his head.
Veronica was the first person to say anything. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tightly.
Ben put his arms around her waist and squeezed her back.
"Thank you, Ben," she whispered, patting his back. She pulled back and kissed his cheek. "You just saved us from a lifetime of annoyance," she teased.
He cracked a smile just as she patted his shoulder and retreated up the stairs.
I didn't exactly know how to feel. He just beat someone to the ground for me. I should be happy that he defended me, but for some reason all I could see was a violent man who just showed me his true colors.
Finally, Ben looked up at me, his eyes looking guilty. His mouth opened and shut repeatedly, as if he didn't know what to say.
In that moment, a realization hit me like a ton of bricks. This guy really loves me. He would risk his own safety and image just to make sure that I was safe. He even defended my family. He would do anything for me. He really loves me...
A word finally escaped his lips. "I-"
I ran at him, tackling him to the ground in a hug.
"Ow," he groaned, putting one arm around my hips.
"I love you," I said simply, squeezing him as tightly as my arms would allow.
"I love you too," he murmured.
"This is a good a time as any." I sat up, sitting on his lower stomach, and fished into the pocket of my robe where his Christmas gift was. I pulled out the small gift, which was wrapped in silver paper. "Here," I said, pushing it into his hands.
"Can I get up?" he asked as he took it from me.
"Nope," I teased, tightening my thighs against his sides.
He laughed and began to unwrap the gift. Once the paper was off, he took the white box from inside of it and opened it. His breath caught in his throat as soon as he saw it.
To the naked eye, it was a sterling silver ring, just a plain, thick band. But on the inside was an engraving. An engraving that I am both proud and ashamed to say that I did myself (the store I bought it at offered lessons in engraving... Let's just say I'm not a patient learner). In sloppy cursive, it read, "You are my only love".
Ben took it from the box and read the inside, a smile tugging at his lips. "Right back at you," he said softly. Leaning up, he pulled me down onto his chest and sighed. "I've never been so glad to meet someone in my life."
"Right back at you," I teased.
He laughed and ruffled my hair. "So, are you ready for this afternoon?"
I knew what he was refering to. At four o'clock this afternoon, we were supposed to board a flight to London, right to Ben's place. "I don't want to fly," I moaned childishly into his chest.
"Ah, but you'll be flying with me, and that makes it all better, doesn't it?"
"Only if you can keep me amused, and that's a hard thing to do," I teased leaning back so I was sitting on his stomach again.
"We can't make out on the plane. Dirty thoughts, Kaya," he said with a playful smile.
I wrinkled my nose up at him. "What dirty thoughts? Those are your dirty thoughts, just cause we have condoms now."
"Oh, so you want to use them?"
"Hey, don't mess with me, buddy." I squeezed his sides with my knees. "I'm in control here," I said, a wicked smile on my lips.
"Do you hear me complaining?"
"Change of subject," I said, rolling my eyes and looking down. His right hand was bright red. "Hey, thanks for... you know." I lifted his hands and held them lightly. His right hand was all red up and down the knuckles. "You're the best," I murmured, lightly skimming his knuckles with the tips of my fingers. "I didn't know you had it in you."
"What, I'm too pretty to fight?" he asked, putting his free hand behind his head to prop it up.
"Something like that," I whispered. I lifted his hand to my lips, and gently kissed every knuckle over and over again, as if kissing them would heal the brewing bruises.
"All better," he murmured sweetly.
I smiled down at him, then stood up, still straddling his body. "Come on. We have things to do," I said, and moved so I was standing at his side. I offered him a hand.
Ben grinned and took my hand, allowing me to pull him up. As soon as he was on his feet, he scooped me up in his arms. I squeaked as he put one arm under my knees, the other around my back.
"What are you doing?" I asked with a laugh, putting an arm around his neck.
"Kaya, do you know how much you mean to me?" he asked, not looking at me.
"I'm assuming a lot, since you came home to meet my family," I giggled.
"Seriously." He looked down at me, his eyes looking sort of sad. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you. You're like a human version of oxygen. I hate being away from you even for a minute. When I wake up in the morning, you're the first thing I think about, and when I go to bed, I fall asleep with your face in mind. I don't even think those words express how much I love you," he said, a dry laugh escaping his lips. His eyes were bright and shining; a tear was silently running down his cheek.
I could feel my own eyes begin to tear up as I reached up towards him. I lifted myself up and kissed him softly. "Ditto," I whispered against his lips.
He sniffled and laughed, a wide smile spreading across his face.
"I love your smile," I said, flicking his bottom lip.
"And I love you."