Playing House

A few days later, I was rushing around the house with most of Ben’s teammates, trying to get ready for the party. They kept making me take breaks because “A pregnant woman shouldn’t be on her feet as much as I was,” so I had to keep reminding them all that I was barely pregnant.

Right now, the twins were with Mrs. Jensen, their old babysitter and Ben’s aunt. The nice aunt. I had asked Ben how he got such a nice aunt and such an evil great aunt, and he explained that Mrs. Jensen was his dad’s sister while this Eleanor bitch was his mom’s aunt.

After Ben took the millionth thing out of my hand and told me to rest, I threw my hands up in frustration.

“You know what I don’t get?” I said to him.

“What?” He replied, hanging the banner that he had just taken from me.

“You freaked when my kids were treating you like their father but you’re all peachy keen with me being pregnant,” I remarked.

“Well yeah, it’s different. Beau and Maddie aren’t mine.” As soon as he said it, he froze, and turned around to gauge my reaction. “Wait. Let me re-phrase that.”

“I think you'd better,” I quipped.

“It’s just…you know. Different,” he sighed. I frowned, still not sure what he meant. I had a hunch at what he was getting at, but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He stepped closer to me and put a hand on my stomach. “This,” he said, looking down at it. “This is ours. We made it. I helped make it. I love Beau and Maddie, but-”

“Don’t,” I cut him off, pulling away. By now, his teammates had stopped what they were doing and were listening in to our conversation.

“Amalia.”

“No, Ben. I get it. Beau and Maddie aren’t your children. But I thought you were bright enough to see that they love you like their father. I guess not,” I said, grabbing my coat and walking towards the door. Everyone was deadly quiet, except for Ben who was calling my name. I ignored it as I walked outside into the brisk winter air. I had no idea where I was going, I just knew I needed to go.

“Mal!” I heard Ben yell from behind me. I kept walking, not wanting to talk to him at the moment. It didn’t matter though, because I heard his heavy footsteps jogging to catch up to me. “Mal, come on I just-shit!”

I heard a sharp thud, followed by a groan. I turned around, and saw that Ben had slipped on some ice and was just lying on the ground. He sat up slightly and once I saw he was okay I burst out laughing.

He glared at me as I approached him, holding out my hand to help him up. He pulled himself up and brushed the snow off his body. I shook my head and turned around, ready to walk away again.

“Amalia, please,” he called, grabbing my arm and spinning me toward him. “Listen, it’s just hard to explain, okay? I didn’t mean that I love Beau and Maddie any less.”

“Didn’t you?”

“No! Look, Mal, you and your kids captivated me from the very beginning. I mean, shit, the day I met you was like…” He trailed off, running a hand over his short hair. “When my Aunt called me and told me she found me a house keeper, I was definitely not expecting her to look like you. I knew I was in trouble when I didn’t even know you and I was holding you in my arms to try and get you to pet my dogs.”

A small smile was beginning to form on my face as Ben was fumbling over his words.

“And then, I couldn't get you out of my fucking head, and even though I know I should've just cut my losses I tracked you down at your apartment. When Beau answered the door, and I saw Mads too, I was almost…more interested in you. I was disappointed, because I couldn’t imagine a girl like you with kids not having a man in her life, but then when I found out you were single…”

Ben stopped rambling for a second as he finally looked into my eyes.

“And then I saw you in that fucking robe,” he groaned, pressing his forehead to mine. “You’re lucky I was holding your children, because I was seriously ready to jump you,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows. “But honestly, your kids had me wrapped around their finger in like, two seconds, and I’ve never been that way with kids before.”

“Pedophile,” I teased. Ben’s eyes got wide, and a grossed out expression etched itself onto his face. I started laughing again, causing him to pull away.

“You know, I’m trying to explain myself here, and all you do is laugh!” He tried throwing his hands up into the air, but he started slipping on some ice again. He steadied himself, and glared at me when I couldn’t hold back my giggles. I shut my mouth and tried to wipe the smile off my face, which was harder than it seemed. “Anyways,” he continued. “I know we moved fast, but there wasn’t any doubt in my mind. I knew I wanted to be with you, and although I was worried about being a dad to your kids, it wasn’t because I didn’t want to be. It was because I didn’t want to mess up. With Beau and Maddie, you could have chosen whoever you wanted to be a dad to them. I didn’t want you to choose me and regret it. As for the thing in your womb, it’s stuck with me, regardless. That’s why it’s different. Please understand.”

“The thing in my womb?” I quoted. “How poetic.”

Ben rolled his eyes and started walking back into the house.

“Ben,” I called. He turned around, looking at me with a slightly angry expression. “If you’re not going to love all three of these kids equally, tell me now.”

“What?”

“I’m not going to have Beau and Madeline feel inferior to ‘this thing in my womb’ just because it was your sperm that fertilized it,” I spat.

Ben stood there and stared at me, not moving. When he still didn’t answer after a few moments, I turned on my heel and continued walking away.

Today was definitely not off to a good start.

“Amalia!” I heard. I sighed and turned around, seeing Patrick Sharp heading over to me. He was pulling his coat on, so I assumed he was planning on being out with me. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he smirked. “Ben asked me to go with you.”

I rolled my eyes, but started walking.

“Wait,” Patrick called, halting me. “I have to go get a few more party supplies, so I thought we could drive?” He asked, motioning to his car. I nodded and followed him to it, getting inside. The drive to the store was relatively quiet, aside from the soft noise of the radio. “He loves your kids more than anything, you know.”

I looked over at Patrick, who was giving me an encouraging look.

“Besides you,” he added, causing me to chuckle. “Seriously. I don’t know what the three of you have done to him, but whenever something’s not right with one of you he gets all in a rut and doesn’t know what to do with himself. You guys mean the world to him. And I don’t think he’s going to love this baby more that the twins. He’s just excited to be a part of it from the beginning.”

“You should have told Ben what to say before he made an ass of himself,” I noted. “You are far better at speaking than he is.”

Patrick laughed as we pulled into the parking lot of the party supply store.

“You knew Ben in Philadelphia, right?” I asked him as we made our way inside. Patrick nodded as he grabbed a cart. “Have you met this Great Aunt Eleanor of his?”

“No, sorry,” Patrick smiled. “I’m kind of excited to meet her, though.”

“Excited?”

“Yeah, the whole team is,” he smirked. Upon seeing my uneasy expression, he nudged my shoulder. “Ah, come on. She’s not going to gut you or anything.”

I turned my head swiftly toward him, glaring.

“What is it with you guys and failing to make me feel better?” I mumbled.

Patrick laughed again as we meandered throughout the store.

By the time we went back home, there was a noticeable foreign car in the driveway. I just assumed it was one of the guys’ cars, since the whole team along with any extra guests (aka wives, girlfriends, and children) were coming over.

As soon as we walked into the house though, I knew something was wrong.

The house was deadly silent, and there was a certain tension in the air that was undeniable. Patrick shot me a look as we walked throughout the house, looking at all of the decorations that were already up. We turned into the living room, where everyone was sitting quietly. I was confused, until I saw it.

An old woman, sitting on the couch next to Ben, drinking a cup of tea.

A freaking cup of tea.

I immediately started backtracking, but I slammed right into Patrick’s chest, eliciting a groan from him. The commotion caused everyone to turn and look at us, and Ben instantly shot up and started backing me out of the room.

“Benjamin, who is that?”

Ben cringed, turning around towards his great aunt.

“Aunt Eleanor, this is my teammate, Patrick Sharp,” Ben tried averting. Ben nudged Patrick, who jolted forward to shake Eleanor’s hand. “Go, go!” Ben whispered to me. I scurried off, right before hearing his aunt say that she had been referring to me. I ran into the kitchen, and Adam Burish came in a few minutes later, acting as if he had just been underwater and had surfaced in my kitchen.

“Oh. My. God,” he gasped. “That woman is a biiiiiiiitch.”

I groaned and collapsed against the counter.

“How long has she been here?”

“Too long. She made Ben make her tea,” Adam announced.

“I saw that.”

“Mal, I’m going to be real honest with you here. I don’t think you should tell her about the baby. Hell, I don’t even think you should tell her about you and Ben,” Adam warned.

“Really?” I asked nervously.

“Yeah, this lady is fucking nuts. She-”

Adam was cut off when Eleanor herself entered the kitchen.

“Oh, hello. Adam, correct?” She asked him.

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded. She looked quite pleased with his politeness, and then she swiftly turned to me.

“And you are…?”

“My name is Amalia,” I answered sticking out my hand. She reached out to grab it, but just before she did, Adam spoke.

“She’s Ben’s housekeeper.”

Eleanor instantly recoiled her hand, and shoved her empty cup at me.

“Fill that, please,” she ordered. I took the cup and started making her more tea after sending Adam a wide-eyed glance. Eleanor left the kitchen, bringing Adam with her. I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding, and finished brewing her tea. Once I was done I poured her a cup and brought it out into the living room.

It was still fairly quiet, but mostly everyone had began getting ready for the party again.

I handed her the tea, and she didn’t even look at me as she took it.

Bitch.

“They’re coming!” Brent Seabrook announced, looking out the window.

“Who’s coming?” Eleanor drawled.

Ben ignored her as he shut off the lights and everyone hid. When Mr. and Mrs. Jensen walked in with Beau and Maddie, Ben flipped on the lights and everyone yelled “Surprise!”

The twins immediately squealed and began running around, greeting everyone. Suddenly the room was silenced by Eleanor slamming her teacup on the table.

Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, wondering what she was going to ask first.

“To whom do these…children belong?”

Aw, shit.