Playing House

As soon as Ben and I made it downstairs, a loud, collective “Heyyy” was heard from all of his teammates. I smiled and waved at all of them with my free hand, since Ben was still holding on to my other one.

Ben noticed they had brought food, and he separated from me to dig into one of the bags. He pulled out a bagel, tossing me one as well. Adam Burish handed some of the coffee that they had brought too, but before it was even in my hand Ben had snatched it away from me.

“You can’t have coffee,” he admonished.

Suddenly I became slightly depressed, because I realized he was right. Coffee was like, my life. I was not looking forward to another nine months without it again.

“How’d you know that?” Adam asked Ben.

“When my cousin was pregnant she constantly complained about not being able to drink coffee,” Ben explained. “It’s always just kind of stuck with me. Besides coffee and booze though, I have no idea what else is prohibited.”

I must have still had a disgruntled look on my face, because Ben swiftly came over and pecked me on the tip of my nose.

“I think you’ll survive,” he teased. I glared at him before going to sit on the couch.

“Okay,” Brent Seabrook said, sitting next to me with a few pieces of paper. “Here’s what we got.”

A few of the guys, including Ben, kept the twins out of earshot while the rest of the guys explained the party plans to me. When they were done, I was overwhelmed.

“Amalia? Is everything okay? If you don’t like anything-”

“No, no, that’s not it,” I interrupted Brent. “I just…don’t understand why.”

“Why what?”

“Why all of you are doing all of this for my children,” I said softly, trying not to get emotional.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Patrick Sharp asked, throwing an arm around my shoulder and tugging me into him.

“You barely know me,” I said, wiping the few stray tears that had fallen. I felt foolish for crying, but I couldn’t help myself. “You guys have been so great, and I don’t get why.”

“Your Ben’s girl,” Marty Havlat announced. “He loves you, and we all do too.”

I smiled at his words, and I felt more tears spring to my eyes. Patrick pulled me closer into him and I buried my face into his shoulder to hide my tears. I felt him chuckle and kiss my forehead, before hearing Ben ask him what he said to make me cry. I then felt Ben tug me forward, and he was kneeling in front of me.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Ben asked, holding my hands.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I assured him. “I’m just, touched.”

“Touched? He touched you?” Ben asked, glaring at Patrick.

“Ben,” I said, placing a hand softly on his cheek to turn his head back to me. “I meant touched as in, emotionally.”

“Oh.”

I smiled at him and kissed him lightly before he got up and went back over by the kids. The guys continued explaining things to me, and this time I was much more at ease as I listened.

Friday was just a few days away, and I felt like everything they had planned was too much considering the time we had. But the guys insisted they could get it done, so I didn’t question it.

A few hours later I felt Ben shake me awake. I slowly opened my eyes, not even realizing I had fallen asleep. I was laying on the couch under a blanket that someone had apparently thrown over me.

“Tired much?” Ben teased.

“That’s what you get for not letting me have my coffee,” I yawned. He grinned and leaned his body over mine, kissing me. He was on top of me completely except where he held himself up with his hands. I slipped my hand under his shirt, before pulling away swiftly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where’d the guys go?” I asked.

“They all left about ten minutes ago,” he answered, leaning down and capturing me in another kiss.

“Wait, how long was I out?” I asked, pushing him up.

“A couple hours,” he said, kissing me again immediately after his answer. Once again I let him deepen it until I pulled away again. This time he didn’t even pull back to look at me, he just instantly placed kisses on my neck.

“Where are Beau and Maddie?” I managed to get out.

“Well,” he said, finally breaking away. He rolled to the side toward the back of the couch and pulled me up against him so we could both fit. “While you were sleeping, Duncs accidentally knocked over your purse, and I found something interesting.”

“Oh?”

He nodded and smirked.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked softly.

“Why didn’t I tell you what?”

He reached into his pocket and handed me my driver's license. I took it and looked up at him, still not getting it.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday today?”

I breathed in sharply, and thought about the date.

“I totally forgot,” I answered honestly. “I mean, I know my birthday is a just before the twins', but with everything that’s been happening, it completely slipped my mind.”

“That’s what I figured,” he chuckled. “Which is why I sent Beau and Maddie home with Duncs and Seabs. Erin and Lyss are going to help them, don’t worry.”

“And what did you have planned for us?” I smiled.

“It’s a surprise,” he stated, wiping the smile off my face. He sat up quickly, bringing me with him. He stood from the couch and dragged me toward the stairs. “Go get ready.”

“But…wait,” I said, turning around and stopping in front of him. “Ben, you didn’t need to-”

“I know, but I want to. Now go. We’re leaving in an hour and a half,” he ordered, pushing me up the stairs and slapping my butt.

“How should I dress?” I called out to him.

“Fancy!” He yelled back.

I quickly ran into my room and hopped in the shower, feeling excitement bubble up in me. After I had finished showering I dried and styled my hair, and then brushed my teeth. I walked out into my room and rummaged through my closet to find a dress. I finally settled on a midnight blue dress that went to my mid thigh, and I laid it on the bed as I went back into the bathroom and did my makeup.

When I came back out I saw that I had left my bedroom door open slightly. I frowned at it a little, because I could have sworn I had closed it.

I shrugged it off and closed it so I could get dressed, and after that was done I slipped on heels and accessories. I finished up and walked downstairs, where Ben was standing in the living room with his back facing me. When he heard me approaching he turned around and smiled.

“You look beautiful,” he said, walking up to me and looking me over.

“Thanks,” I smiled back as he placed his hands on my hips. “You don’t look half bad yourself.” He grinned wider and kissed me.

He pulled back, and that’s when I noticed his dark blue shirt and tie under his black jacket.

“You match me!” I exclaimed excitedly. “How did you…”

Realization suddenly dawned, and now I knew that he was the one who had opened my door.

“I peeked into your room,” he confessed.

“That’s sweet,” I told him, kissing him quickly. “In a creepy sort of way.” He playfully glared at me before leading me out of the house and into his car. Before he started backing out of the driveway, he held a bandana out to me. “What’s this for?”

“Cover your eyes,” he stated simply.

“Oh, hell no,” I denied, pushing his arm away. He just put it in front of my face again.

“Please?” He requested. I sighed dramatically, knowing I couldn’t turn down the puppy dog face he was giving me. I grabbed the bandana and tied it over my face, feeling uneasy. I think Ben could sense it, because after a little bit he grabbed my hand and ran his thumb soothingly along my skin.

After what seemed like ages, I was starting to get a little restless.

“Ben, are we almost there?” I inquired.

“No,” he chuckled.

“But, it’s been like, forever,” I whined.

“No, it just seems like longer because you’re blindfolded,” he pointed out. I didn’t say anything, because what he said made sense, but then even more time went by. I heard his phone go off a few times, and then I heard what sounded like him pressing the keys on the phone.

“Are you texting?! While driving?!” Sure it was something I did all the time, but it's different when you're a blindfolded passenger and your life is in the hands of someone who is texting instesad of paying attention to the road.

“We’re almost there,” he averted. I threw my head back against the headrest, trying to calm my stomach. “Are you okay?”

“I feel kind of nauseous,” I whispered.

“Sorry,” he said, grabbing my hand again. “But I swear, we are almost there.” I nodded and kept quiet the rest of the way.

A little while later I felt the car come to a stop and I heard Ben cut the engine.

“Can I take this blindfold off?”

“Not yet,” he told me. “Hang on, I’m going to come around and get you.” I nodded again and heard him shut his door, and the next thing I knew my door was being opened and I felt Ben pull me out. I heard him shut my door and lock up the car and he led me forward. His arm was tightly wrapped around my waist to steady me, and he lifted me up every time there was an elevated step. I heard a door open and Ben guided me inside, and immediately soft music hit my ears. The door closed behind Ben and I finally felt him untying my blindfold.

As soon as my eyes adjusted to the soft candlelight, my mouth hung open a little bit.

We were back at Ben’s house.

Only now, the entire place was covered with candles and flowers, and the stereo had soft music emanating from the speakers. I turned around to look at Ben, and he laced one hand with mine while the other went on my lower back, pulling me in. He started to sway with the music, so I followed his movements and smiled up at him.

“How’d you pull this off?” I asked him.

“After we left the guys came in and set this all up,” Ben explained. “They were sending me updates with their progress to my phone so I’d know how long to drive around. Sharpie took the dogs, too.”

I stood on my tip-toes to kiss him, but he bent down so I wouldn’t have to reach so high. We danced for a while before he led me into the dining room, where a candlelight dinner was set up.

“I haven’t been able to buy you a present yet, obviously,” he said in the middle of the dinner.

“Don’t worry about it,” I assured. “This was enough. This was more than enough. Can I ask you something though?”

He nodded, taking a sip of his wine.

"Why did we have to dress fancy? I mean, I like it and everything, but you had to go through all that effort of-"

"You're worth it," Ben interrupted, shugging. "That's why."

We smiled softly at each other, continuing our meal. When we were done, Ben blew out all the candles downstairs, but left the music on.

He pulled me upstairs to his room, which was also lit with candles and covered with rose petals, along with the same soft music playing.

“Is this too cliché?” He asked worriedly, noticing my dumbstruck expression.

“I always thought it would be,” I answered, looking around. “But that was before I experienced it.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he replied, starting to sway with me in a dance again. His hand traveled up my back to the top of the zipper of my dress, and he undid it down slowly. He shrugged off his jacket and I worked on his tie. He pushed the dress off my shoulders and it fell to the floor, and Ben guided me toward the bed. He laid his body down on top of mine, and I let my hands roam his chest before working on the buttons of his shirt as we kissed. He shrugged out of that as well, leaving him in yet another shirt: a white undershirt. I pulled it over his head, making him momentarily break the kiss.

“Happy birthday,” he whispered, kissing my earlobe. I smiled as his lips traveled over me, because it was not only a happy birthday, it was the best birthday I had ever had. He took my mind off of the stress of this upcoming weekend and the party and his aunt and the pregnancy, and instead he just focused on me and my relaxation. Every worry had left my mind, which was the greatest present I could have asked for at that point.