Playing House

A soft, persistent beeping slowly woke me up. I managed to open my eyes, and I vaguely registered that I was in the hospital before squeezing them shut again.

It was too damn bright.

I tried to recall the events that put me in here, and I suddenly remembered the whole scene at Ben’s house. My eyes snapped open and flew to my stomach, which still looked very pregnant.

That was good, right?

I went to put my hand on my belly, but when I tried lifting it a weight prevented me from doing so. I looked over to see what was holding it down and I saw Ben sleeping in the chair next to the bed, grasping my hand. My movement had caused him to stir, and he pulled his hand from mine to rub the sleep out of his eyes. I moved to sit up, but Ben pushed me back down.

“Relax,” he said sternly.

“What’s going on?”

“After I carried you to the couch I called 911 and then you passed out. They got you here and whisked you off to some room, and you came in here about an hour ago. They ran some tests but the doctor hasn’t said anything yet," he explained.

We both glanced at my stomach nervously, but before either of us could speak the doctor came in.

“Ah, Ms. Williams, glad to see you’re awake,” the doctor smiled.

Smiling is good. Smiling means everything was okay. Please let everything be okay.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, looking over his charts.

“Fine, I guess,” I shrugged, wanting to know about the triplets.

“Well, we ran some tests, and first off I want you to know that the babies are healthy and doing fine,” he said. I collapsed further back into my pillows, sighing in relief. I could see relief in Ben’s eyes too, although he didn’t look at me for too long. “But here’s the kicker. You’re going to have to stay on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy,” he added.

“The rest of my pregnancy? But…that’s like, four months!” I exclaimed.

“Not necessarily. Multiples often come prematurely,” the doctor said. I looked at Ben, knowing he was going to be immature about that comment. Lo and behold, he was biting his lip to keep from smiling.

“So, what happened today then?” I asked, ignoring Ben.

“Fatigue,” the doctor told me. “Most triplet mothers go on bed rest four to five months in, because the weight on the pelvis is too great. You were pushing yourself to the limit too much, and you overheated.”

Ben glared at me, as if to say ‘I told you so.’

“But it’s nothing to worry about. You’re fine, the babies are fine, and now you shouldn't have to come back in for a few months,” he informed me. I nodded, and the doctor turned toward Ben. “You’re the father?”

“Yes sir,” Ben answered.

“Well congratulations,” he started off. Ben nodded at him graciously. “And keep her off her feet, alright?” He chuckled. Ben nodded again, and the doctor left after telling us a nurse should be in shortly.

“I told you that you weren’t supposed to be on your feet like that,” Ben scolded. I nodded, feeling tears come to my eyes. Ben sighed, looking away. “Didn’t you go on bed rest with Beau and Maddie?”

“Yeah, like a week before my eighth month. They were born about three weeks later,” I recalled. The room was then filled with awkward silence, and occasional hiccups from me trying to keep my tears in. “Where are Beau and Maddie?” I asked softly.

“With Duncan and Lyss,” he stated gruffly.

“Thanks for helping me,” I said, trying to break the silence.

“Well, it’s not like I was going to let you collapse in my house and leave you there,” he scoffed. “Shit Mal, give me some credit.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Ben,” I told him. A nurse came in just then, smiling at the two of us.

“Hello there, how are we all feeling?” She asked nicely, checking my vitals. Ben and I just forced smiles out at her. “So, are you two excited to be the parents of triplets?”

I looked at Ben, who just looked back at me.

“Yeah,” he finally told her. “Excited is one way of putting it.” The nurse chuckled, looking back up at the two of us.

“You’ve got a good man here,” she said to me, nudging my arm as if she were hinting something. Not much of a hint, since you blatantly said it out loud in front of everyone, bitch.

I smiled at her, nodding a bit.

“You should have seen the ruckus he caused when he came in with you. Busting through the doors with you in his arms like some kind of...He-Man or something. Okay, so he didn't actually carry you in, the paramedics brought you in on a stretcher. But he seems like the type who would. But he did burst through the doors like a beast. And then! Oh goodness, the scene he made when they told him he had to wait in the lobby until they examined you,” she said. I glanced at Ben, who looked away and clenched his jaw. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer, and some of the male staff had to restrain him. He loves you quite a bit, and he showed it to everyone who was watching,” she finished, laughing. Ben put his elbows on to his knees and put his head in his hands, as if it would somehow help her shut up.

The nurse finished up a little later, and then asked for my insurance. I glanced at Ben, who rolled his eyes before pulling out his card and handing it to the lady. She walked back out and Ben turned toward me swiftly.

“What if we still weren’t speaking, and all of this still happened? What were you going to do insurance wise?” He scolded. I shrugged, feeling tears come to my eyes again. “And if something happened to Maddie or Beau again?”

I bit my lip, silent.

“You know, for someone who is so focused on her kids, you are one irresponsible mother,” he spat, walking out.

I didn’t think it was possible to hurt anymore than I already did, but Ben was sure doing a good job at ripping my heart to shreds.

I had a few visitors throughout the day, mostly Ben’s teammates and their girlfriends. Beau and Maddie stayed for a while, but they left around dinner time and were going to stay over at Lyss and Duncan’s.

The doctor wanted to keep me overnight, just to be safe, and I was still coping with that.

I had a rather…childish fear of hospitals, and being alone overnight in one was not looking appealing. I wanted to ask Ben to stay, because I knew he would, no matter how angry he was. But he wouldn’t even look at me, and I couldn’t bring myself to ask him.

Patrick Sharp was the only visitor left, and he and Ben were conversing about hockey in the corner of the room. A nurse came in a bit later and informed us that visiting hours were almost over.

“Mr. Eager, you’re welcome to stay of course,” she said. Ben looked over to me, and I didn’t try to stop the pleading look in my eyes.

“No, I should get home. I’ve got to feed my dogs,” he said. The nurse looked taken aback, as if appalled by the fact that Ben thought his dogs were more important than me. I think she started putting all the pieces together then, since Ben and I had been acting distant all day. Patrick glanced over at me, and this time I did try to hide the pain. I didn’t want him to yell at Ben and then have Ben get all angry with me again.

“I’ll stay instead,” Patrick offered, causing Ben, the nurse and me to all look up at him wide eyed. “I’d feel bad if she were left alone.” Patrick knew about my hospital fear, since I had told him back when he and Marty helped me take Beau in to the ER.

“I’m sure that will be a fine exception,” she smiled at Patrick before glaring at Ben. She walked out right after and Ben looked at Patrick uncomfortably. I knew he was feeling awkward about leaving now, since he was the one who should really stay.

“Well, I mean, I guess if someone needs to be here with her I could stay,” Ben forced out. “I just, I didn’t know…I mean, I wasn’t sure if-”

“I’ll go feed your dogs,” Patrick interrupted, grabbing Ben’s house key from him. Ben nodded and Patrick left, leaving Ben and I in an unnerving silence.

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” I said softly. Ben ignored me and sat in a chair at the far side of the room. “I’m afraid of hospitals, and Patrick knew that, so I think he was just trying to-”

“Yeah, I get it,” Ben said.

“You know what? Just fucking leave,” I spat at him. He looked up at me, dumbstruck. “I don’t want you here if you’re going to just treat me like shit. I’d rather be alone than deal with your superior attitude.”

Ben sat there, mouth open a little, just staring at me. Finally he cleared his throat and stood up.

“Are you…uh, hungry?” He asked. I furrowed my brow, confused at his question. His eyes locked with mine, and I could see that this was his roundabout way of trying to drop his arrogance. I nodded, and he walked out of the room quickly.

When he didn’t come back for thirty minutes, I realized he wasn’t going to come back. That alone upset me, but I was also upset because I was hungry. Yeah, it was like eleven at night, but I was pregnant. With triplets. A woman’s got to eat…a lot.

Suddenly Ben crept into the room, shutting the door behind him quietly. I saw his hands empty, and I frowned.

“What are you doing?” I asked, causing him to jump and turn around. His sweatshirt was all bunched up and made crinkly noises when he moved, and I knew he had something underneath.

“When I went down to the cafeteria, it was already closed, so I looked around a few vending machines but nothing looked good, so I went to IHOP and ordered you stuff,” he said, pulling a bag from under his sweatshirt. My mouth immediately turned upwards into a smile, and I thanked him as he set it all out in front of me.

“Jesus Ben, did you order the whole restaurant?” I teased.

“I didn’t know how hungry you were!” He defended. “I haven’t really seen you eat while being this pregnant,” he finished, mumbling. “Plus, I’m hungry too.” The smile was back on my face as he stood next to me and ate. Little by little, he would lean more and more onto the bed until he was basically sitting next to me.

I tried eating slowly, to savor the time of him being so close to me. As soon as Ben was finished however, he got up and sat in the chair next to my bed. As I finished, I saw him watching me out of the corner of my eye.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he shrugged, nonchalantly.

“I’m pregnant with triplets, so please don’t judge me by the amount of food I’m stuffing down my throat,” I smiled. Ben smirked as well, and it almost made me woozy. I hadn’t seen him smile because of me in a long, long time. “Guess how much weight I’ve gained,” I told him.

“No. That could not end well on any level,” he chuckled.

“I’m serious,” I told him. “Just guess.”

His eyes looked me over, and I had to hold back a shiver for a moment.

“I dunno, twenty-five pounds?” He winced, waiting for my reaction.

“Forty,” I smiled.

“Forty pounds?! No way!” He exclaimed, looking me over again.

“Mhm. Another ten pounds is recommended though,” I said offhandedly. “Look at this big ass bed they put me in. As if I don’t feel enough like a cow already.”

“You’re beautiful,” Ben said, looking right into my eyes. He broke the eye contact first, taking a swig of his water. “How much did you gain with the twins?” He asked, averting the awkwardness.

“Thirty,” I told him. His eyebrows shot up and he looked me over again.

“I still can’t believe you've gained forty pounds,” he said, shaking his head. “You make pregnant look good.”

There he went, making things awkward again. I smiled at him nonetheless, milking the niceness from him for all it was worth.

We sat and talked for a little longer, and soon we both started dozing off.

“Ben?” I called out.

“Hm?” He replied, not opening his eyes.

“You know that even after everything I did, I love you, right? I actually did the things I did because I love you,” I bit my lip and stared at the dark ceiling, scared of his response.

“Yeah, I know.”

“And I’m sorry,” I said.

“I know.”

“It’s just…Eleanor. You told me she was manipulative, but everything she said made sense,” I choked out.

“Hence, manipulation,” Ben grunted. A few more minutes went by in complete silence.

“Ben?”

“What Mal?” Ben groaned, obviously tired.

“I know you said we should just….call it quits, and if you still want to that’s fine, but…” I trailed off.

“But what?”

“Do you think we could be like this? You know, civil at least?” I requested. I was greeted by silence. “I understand that you’re angry with me and everything but I’d really like it if we could be friends. I think it would be good for Beau and Maddie too, and the triplets to not see us fighting all the time.”

I heard Ben sigh, but he said nothing.

“…Or not, I guess,” I said, laughing so I wouldn’t cry.

“Amalia-”

“No, it’s fine, I get it. We’ll just, switch off, like we’ve been doing, I guess,” I said.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning, after I’ve had coffee,” he muttered.

“Oh sure, rub it in,” I remarked, referring to my inability to drink caffine.

Ben laughed five seconds later, and I could tell it took him a moment to understand my comment.

“Sorry, I forgot,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah,” I smiled. I heard Ben get up off his chair and approach the bed, and through the little light in the room I saw him standing over me.

“Scoot over.”

My heart pounded in my chest at his words, but I obliged quickly. He kicked off his shoes and crawled into the large bed with me, puling the covers back over us. I stayed completely still, not wanting to move in case this was a dream.

Ben pulled my body into his, putting one arm under my head while the other hand rested on my belly. He kissed my temple, and my eyes fluttered shut at the contact.

“You know what? I think friends will work out just fine,” he whispered in my ear. “I love you too.”

The smile that spread itself on to my face was uncontrollable, and I also felt like bursting into tears from sheer happiness.

“We have a lot to talk about though, and that is definitely going to have to wait until morning,” he mumbled. I nodded, and silence consumed us again.

“So, you threw a fit in the lobby, eh?” I teased. His hot breath hit my ear as he chuckled, squeezing my lightly.

“Go to sleep, Mal,” he avoided.

I laughed at him, doing as told.