Playing House

I woke up the next morning, my limbs tangled up with Ben’s. Neither of us were wearing any clothes, but we didn’t have sex the night before. After we showered he kissed me all the way into bed, and the last thing I remember is him laying on top of me, kissing my earlobe and whispering sexy things into my ear.

Ben woke up a few moments after he felt me shift, and he pulled me tighter to him.

“Good morning,” I greeted. He gave me a lingering kiss.

“Good morning indeed,” he replied, pulling me on top of him. “Sex or not I wouldn’t mind waking up to this every morning.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my fingers. I glanced over at the clock, and I groaned, rolling off of Ben. He grabbed me though, preventing me from going anywhere. “Where are you going?”

“I have to get ready for Beau and Maddie,” I told him, getting out of bed and throwing on a big t-shirt of his.

“But I thought you made it all already?”

“I made the desserts, but not the actual food,” I explained, exiting the bedroom. “Ughhhhhhhh.”

“Woah,” he chuckled, falling into step behind me after tugging on some shorts. “What the heck was that noise for?”

I walked downstairs toward the kitchen.

“Don’t you remember what happened last night?” I asked him, entering the kitchen backwards so I could look at him while talking. “I still have to clean that….” I trailed off upon seeing the spotless kitchen. “...huge mess we made.” I spun around to face Ben, who had a slight grin on his face. “How…?”

“Right after you fell asleep, I came in here and cleaned,” he explained.

“But…I’m the…um...cleaner…person,”

The boy had me at a loss for words, but it wasn’t something new. All he had to do was take of his shirt and I’d be dumbstruck. Actually, all he had to do was look at me and I’d be dumbstruck.

So, a shirtless Ben, looking at me after doing something utterly amazing was seriously a health hazard for me right now.

“Amalia, you can’t be my maid anymore,” he told me.

Maid! That was the word. Wait…

“What?!”

“I can’t…I mean, it’s so weird kissing you and then paying you to do my laundry,” he shivered. I held back a laugh. “I cleaned up in here because…well, even though it’s your job to clean up after me, I just…can’t ask you to do it anymore. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“You are taking advantage of me,” I said sultrily, walking up to him. I put my hands on his chest and leaned against him. “I was just a poor, desperate, single mother. How on earth was I supposed to resist you?” I teased, taking his lower lip between my teeth and tugging at it. I felt his grip on my hips tighten, but then it loosened right after and he stepped away. “Ben?”

He was looking at me funny, like he was trying to size me up.

“Is that what this is?”

“…What?” I was so confused.

“I’m not taking advantage of you…you’re taking advantage of me,” he asserted.

“Are you calling me a gold digger?” I asked, astonished. He leaned against the wall, scratching his head. “Need I remind you that you came to my apartment and made me take this job? Need I remind you that you are the one who got all chummy with my children and formed attachments? Need I remind you that you put the moves on me first? And need I remind you that I actually do my job and don’t want to lose it?!”

Ben ran a hand over his face tiredly.

“If you’re looking for a way out just be a man and tell me,” I whispered. He suddenly stood up straight and came in front of me.

“No!” He exclaimed, grabbing my shoulders. “No,” he said a little more softly. “I’m sorry, Mal. Just…I’m not used to this shit, you know? This whole father thing…I don’t know that I can do it yet. Be patient with me. ”

I pulled away lightly and turned back to the kitchen.

“I’m going to go cook,” I mumbled. A few hours later I had made pizza, buffalo wings, salsa, guacamole, you know, that whole thing. I was still in the kitchen when I heard someone whistle from the doorway. I looked up and saw Burish with his hands full of bags of chips that I had asked him to pick up on his way over from dropping the kids off.

“If I had a housekeeper that looked like you and walked around in my shirts, I would not be messing it up as bad as Ben is,” he remarked, setting the bags on the table. I just smiled, grabbing some bowls out of a cabinet. “He’s really trying you know,” he said, shifting his body so I could see out into the living room.

Ben was playing with Beau and Maddie, and as usual they were giggling up a storm.

“How were they?” I asked him, disregarding his statement.

“They were great actually. Maddie didn’t talk, in case you were wondering,” he offered.

“Yeah, I was. Thanks. And thanks for watching them,” I told him.

“No problem,” he answered, giving me a hug. He went back into the living room to say good bye to Ben and then suddenly my children were engulfing me in hugs.

After Adam left I carried some of the food into the living room, where Ben was sprawled out on the floor watching TV. He instantly sat up when he noticed us, and Maddie immediately sat in his lap. She picked up the remote and handed it to him, before pointing at her self.

He looked at me, helplessly.

“She wants to watch the Madeline show. She’s been obsessed with it ever since you introduced her to it,” I smiled lightly. He nodded and tinkered with the TV as I grabbed the rest of the food. I fed the dogs too, and after they ate they always slept. After everyone had sufficiently stuffed their faces, Ben set up a mock goal, and put Beau inside it.

“Alright, this is where your NHL training begins. Are you ready?” He asked him. Beau giggled and nodded excitedly.

“Weady,” he answered, squirming spastically.

Ben shot ball after ball at him, and when I pointed out this was more like soccer than hockey they both frowned dramatically at me.

“One more,” Ben said, sending the ball flying. Right away I knew Beau didn’t stand a chance. It hit him square in the face, knocking him backwards and causing the goal to collapse on top of him. I knew he’d be okay, but Ben paled and he shot up, frantically throwing pillows and blankets off my son to dig him out.

Beau had a big red mark on his cheek from where the ball hit him, but other than that, he was all smiles.

“Buddy, I am so sorry, I forget my strength sometimes eh?” Ben stated, holding Beau in his arms and assessing the damage. Beau, who was easily distracted, slinked out of his arms and jogged over to Maddie, who was playing with some toys but still watching her show as well.

“He’s fine, Ben,” I laughed, causing his head to snap to me.

“I’m sorry, I just lobbed it, I wasn’t even thinking. I’m horrible. What kind of dad chucks stuff at their kids? If I ever decide to you know, do this thing, you shouldn’t let me. Call child services,” he ranted. I just laughed at him and his distraught expression, which I knew he was exaggerating a bit because the corners of his mouth kept tugging a smile onto his face.

We spent the rest of the junk day just being lazy, and although things between Ben and me were a little tense, we were okay, really. He pecked me on the lips as we waited for Beau to ‘infiltrate’ our fort.

Suddenly Beau burst in, but Ben grabbed him and slithered out of the fort. He started flying Beau around like an airplane, and soon Maddie was getting jealous. Ben smiled and handed Beau to me while he gave Maddie a similar flight.

We had dessert after that, and Ben picked up a cupcake.

“I can’t even look at these without getting slightly turned on,” he said pressing himself up against my back.

I smirked and craned my head to look at him.

“Are you seducing me right here, right now, in front of my children?” I teased. His eyes suddenly shot up, remembering.

“Oh God,” he said, pressing his hand to his forehead. “I’ll go get that child services number for you.” He went and collapsed onto the ground in front of the TV dramatically, earning a laugh from everyone.

As the day wore on and my kids tuckered themselves out, I began cleaning up little by little so there wasn’t a big mess to clean at the end. Ben was sleeping on the floor with a child on either side of him and I couldn’t help but smile at the turn my life had taken.

I was pretty sure I was in love with Ben, but I was also sure that even if he felt the same about me, he’d be too scared to stick this out. I snapped myself out of it and finally shut the television off and shook Ben awake.

“Hm?” He sounded, groggily. I didn’t have to say anything, because he realized what was going on without me having to speak. He grabbed both children and we made our way upstairs. He helped me brush their teeth and get ready for bed and stuff, and as soon as we tucked them in they were out cold once more.

We left their room and I headed toward my door, but was stopped by Ben. He spun me around and kissed me hungrily, making my knees go weak.

“Sleep with me,” he stated,

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I mean, sleep in my room, with me, uh. Whatever, you know what I mean,” he groaned, kissing me again and causing me to laugh. He smiled into the kiss as well but we broke apart when we heard a noise downstairs.

“What was that?” I asked, worriedly. We both listened again, and we realized someone was knocking on the door. The dogs started barking and Ben and I made our way downstairs, thinking that the only people who would come over at this hour were his teammates.

Ben got to the door and motioned for me to stay on the stairs. I still peeked around to see what was going on though. The dogs stood in front of me, protectively as Ben looked through the peephole and frowned.

“Who is it?” I whispered.

“I have no idea,” he shrugged.

He opened the door anyway, putting on the most intimidating and sexy face I had ever seen.

“Can I help you?” Ben greeted gruffly.

“Er yeah,” the voice answered. I froze, not believing it was who I thought it was. “I’m looking for Amalia Williams?”

Ben glanced at my frozen form, not knowing what to do.

“Who’s asking?” Ben demanded.

“The father of her children.”