Playing House

When I woke up, I noticed extra weight across my stomach. It was too heavy to be Ben’s arm, so I peeked an eye open and saw Maddie smiling up at me. Her face was hysterical, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Hey baby,” I greeted, tickling her sides a little. “Thanks for making mommy laugh, she needed that.” She just smiled at me some more, and then looked to the side. I followed her gaze, and I saw Ben sleeping with Beau sprawled out across his stomach and chest. I laughed again, and Maddie soon joined me.

Beau stirred awake, but Ben didn’t even flinch. Beau looked around, confused for a second, before looking at me and grinning. He crawled off of Ben and hugged me, and after he pulled away I sat up.

“It’s time to wake Ben up, okay?” I whispered. They nodded excitedly. “How should we do it?” Beau made a motion to slap Ben in the stomach, which I seriously contemplated. “That wouldn’t be nice,” I finally settled on.

They looked at me for another suggestion, but I couldn’t think of anything.

“Alright, I guess you can slap his belly,” I smiled. He was used to much worse anyway, right? The twins positioned their hands over his stomach, ready to strike. I counted down from three on my fingers, and at the same time they swatted their hands down.

Ben shot up with a grunt, clutching his stomach.

“What the…” He was still groggy, and my children and I laughing probably didn’t help his confusion. He smiled at me but glared accusingly, muttering an ‘ow.’

“It was Beau’s idea,” I defended. Ben put on a mock angry face and Beau and Maddie squealed excitedly. They hopped off the bed and Ben chased them out of the room.

I followed shortly after, but as soon as I made it to the door Ben slipped back in and shut the door behind him, trapping us in the room.

“What are you-”

He cut me off by pressing a hard kiss on my lips. One of his hands slipped behind my neck and the other pulled my hips to press against his, which elicited a groan from both of us.

“The…kids,” I managed, between kisses.

“I told them to go watch TV,” Ben replied, slipping his hands up my shirt. I didn’t want to stop, but at the same time I was utterly confused.

“Ben.”

“Mhmm?” He sounded. I tried pushing him off, but I honestly wasn’t trying that hard.

“I can’t do this right now,” I finally stated. Ben sighed and pulled away, walking toward the bathroom. “Where are you-”

“I need a cold shower,” he asserted. I grabbed his hand and spun him to face me, but he avoided eye contact.

“Look, Ben…I like you a lot and everything but I can’t be doing this. Especially not now, with the custody thing and-”

He cut me off with a kiss, and against my better judgment I melted into it. When he pulled away, I glared at him.

“Did you not hear what I just said?” I whined. He smirked and gave me a quicker, sweet kiss.

I’ve been thinking…” he started.

“Uh-oh,” I teased. He playfully glared at me and laced his fingers with mine, pulling me close.

“I’m serious,” he said softly.

“Okay,” I replied, squeezing his hands to let him know I wouldn’t poke fun anymore.

“As I was saying,” he said, giving me a pointed look. I smiled as he continued. “I’ve been thinking…I uh. I want to adopt your kids. If…if that’s you know, okay with you. I know I’m probably not qualified but-”

I threw my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist, causing him to stumble back a bit before steadying himself and wrapping his arms around me as well.

“Are you crying?” He asked, feeling my tears on his shoulder. He pulled back to look up at me, and I looked back. He shifted me in his arms so he could hold me with one arm and wipe my cheeks with his other hand.

“You don’t…you don’t have to do this,” I whispered. “I know you were uncomfortable-”

“I want to. I really thought about it, and I’m ready. I want to be the one to provide for you all. If you’ll still have me,” he added. I nodded through my tears, and he kissed my cheeks to stop them from falling.

“Are you sure?” I asked him. He smiled at me and captured my lips with his.

“Absolutely,” he said, pulling away. I buried my face in the crook of his neck, squeezing him tight. My legs were tired from holding myself around him, but I didn’t want to let go. “Amalia,” he called.

“Hm?”

“Look at me,” he chuckled. I pulled away and looked at him again. He put his forehead to mine and looked me straight in the eyes. “I love you.”

It had been so long since I had heard those words from anyone but my children, I had to close my eyes to soak it in.

“Amalia?”

“Say it again,” I whispered.

“I love you,” he repeated, pecking my lips. His voice was so low and gravelly it was sending chills down my spine. “I love you,” he kissed my cheek. “I love you,” he kissed my neck. “I love you,” he kissed my jaw. “Amalia,” he called again, making me open my eyes. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” I stated. With one arm around my back, he wrapped his other hand around my neck and tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling my face to his. He kissed me slowly, tenderly.

I loved the way he kissed me. It wasn’t rushed, it was as if he had nothing to do that day but kiss me. It wasn’t too rough, but at the same time it wasn’t too smooth. The passion he put into it overwhelmed me, and it made me weak every time.

“I’ll call the lawyers,” he said after pulling away. I nodded as he set me down, and we both went downstairs with our fingers intertwined.

I sat on the ground with my children as we watched Maddie’s show, and Ben went into another room to make the phone calls. I pulled Maddie onto my lap and braided her hair and Beau stood behind me and leaned against my back as he watched the television.

Ben came out a while later, and the happy look on his face set me at ease.

“Well?”

“The paperwork is being drawn up,” he smiled, leaning down and pecking me on the lips. Before he could pull away I deepened the kiss, causing him to groan. “You’re lucky children are present,” he growled.

Maddie held her arms out to him, and he swooped her up effortlessly. Beau obviously got jealous, so Ben picked him up as well.

“It’s almost dinner time, eh?” He asked the two of them, making them nod emphatically. I looked outside, and sure enough the light was beginning to fade.

All these nap times were messing up my inner clock. I felt like all I did was sleep sometimes, which is probably why I was wide awake after dinner while the other three were half dead. When I realized the kids were pretty much done for the day, I picked them up and carried them to bed. Ben had fallen asleep on the couch, so when I was done putting the kids to sleep I went back downstairs.

I flipped through the channels of the TV, and stopped when I saw music videos. I was kind of behind on the times when it came to music, because my life had been so hectic before. Beyonce’s name popped up on the screen, and I brightened a bit. I always thought she had a beautiful voice. The song was called Halo, which didn’t make sense until the song started.

I sat there slack-jawed throughout the song, thinking about Ben the entire time. However cheesy or clichéd it was, it seemed like it fit our situation and explained the way I felt perfectly. I turned off the TV and looked over at Ben, who was just leaning back on the couch, still sleeping.

I crawled on top of him quietly, trying not to wake him, and I straddled his waist. I leaned forward and placed butterfly kisses along his jaw, and I felt him stir lightly.

I felt his hands reflexively grip my hips, and he pulled me closer. He was still sleeping for the most part, so I kissed his lips. He started kissing back, but he wasn’t fully aware of what was going on until I tugged at his lower lip with my teeth.

I pulled away and looked at his eyes, which were blinking rapidly.

“Wow,” he muttered, clearing his throat.

“Hm?” I sounded, running my hands across his shoulders.

“I was having this dream about nothing in particular, but then suddenly you showed up and it started getting dirty,” he explained, wiggling his eyebrows. He pulled my hips closer to his, and then slipped his hands up my shirt slightly to feel my skin. “I woke up and now I know why.” He started tracing circles on my hips, and I leaned down to kiss him again.

As things got more heated, his hands started traveling higher and higher up the shirt he had given me to wear. I let my fingers travel along his already shirtless chest, and I could feel his muscles tighten under my touch. He leaned forward and put his hand on my lower back, pulling me closer again. His lips traveled down my jaw to my neck, kissing and sucking on it.

“Ben,” I moaned. His hips jerked slightly, betraying his attempts to remain calm. He stood up then, carrying me upstairs and kicking his door shut. He was half way to the bed when he turned around and locked the door. He went back to the bed and set me down, laying on top of me. He kissed me again, letting his fingers trail up and down my sides. He suddenly sat up and pulled me with him, positioning me to straddle him again. He ripped the shirt I was wearing clear off of me, tossing it blindly to the side. His lips immediately found my collarbone, nipping at it lightly. I trailed my fingernails up and down his back, scratching softly. He put his forehead in the crook of my neck, and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Amalia,” he whispered. His breath danced across my neck and caused goose bumps to form on my skin. “You know I love you, but I need to stop now before I get too carried away,” he murmured into my neck.

“What if I want you to get carried away?”

His head snapped up and he looked into my eyes.

“Wh…what?” He asked. I smiled and leaned in kissing his lips. He groaned slightly but just as I started to deepen it he pulled away again. “Are you sure?” He asked breathily. I nodded, biting my lip. He smiled and then kissed me hard, catching me off guard. His lips traveled down my neck again, across to my shoulders. He pushed my bra strap down before trailing kisses to my other shoulder and doing the same. He unhooked it in the back, and pulled it off me slowly, tossing it to the side.

He kissed my lips softly, pushing me to lay back down. He somehow got us under the covers without breaking the kiss, and soon his body was on top of mine again. I tugged at his sweatpants, and he got the message and pulled them off. He trailed kisses down my body, hooking his fingers in the band of my underwear and pulling them down slowly.

Ben’s lips trailed behind his hands, kissing down my thighs and legs before discarding the last item of clothing that was between us. He came back up and kissed my lips, before pulling away and running his thumb over my eyebrow.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

I nodded, completely sure.

He smiled and kissed me again, and for the first time in a long time I felt safe and loved by a truly good man. He kissed his way over to my ear, where he whispered assurances that he would go slow and make this all about me. He made me promise to tell him if it didn’t feel right, or if he hurt me somehow.

But there was definitely no need for that. The way he was making me feel, there was no way I would have stopped.

Everything was just so...perfect.

***

Ben stroked my hair as we laid together in the aftermath of what had just happened. He held me close to his body, and with his other hand he trailed his fingers up and down my back. Our legs were intertwined and my hand traced shapes on his chest.

“I love you, Amalia,” he whispered, placing a kiss on my head.

“I love you too, Ben,” I replied, as we both drifted off into a deep, satisfied sleep.