Playing House

I wrapped a towel around myself after the bath, Ben doing the same around his waist. He cracked the door open and peeked out, seeing the triplets still sleeping soundly. Once he was satisfied, Ben closed the door, turned around and gabbed my hips.

“What are you-”

He lifted me up suddenly, causing me to let out a surprised gasp. “Ben-” He set me on the counter and pressed his lips to mine, shutting me up effectively.

“We have time for another round,” he said against my lips. I smiled and kissed him back, draping my arms around his neck.

A soft sound was emitted from the baby monitor just then, and both of us paused and looked over at it.

“Get dressed,” I told him.

“Sh. Maybe it was nothing,” Ben asserted as we both continued to stare at the monitor. A louder, clearer cry was heard, and Ben buried his face into my neck and groaned.

“Get dressed,” I repeated with a smile.

Ben shrugged on a pair of sweatpants, going to take care of the babies as I got ready for bed. When I came out, everything was silent and Ben was laying in bed, so I assumed everything had been taken care of.

“Everything good?” I asked.

“Mhm,” Ben replied, setting his alarm. I leaned into the cribs and kissed each of the babies softly, turning around to see Ben smiling at me softly.

“What?”

“I love you,” Ben said, barely audible. I felt my cheeks heat up and I walked over to the bed, crawling up to him and kissing him lightly on the lips.

“I love you too,” I told him. He pulled my waist into him and shut off his bedside lamp, immersing the room in darkness. He pressed his chest to my back and buried his face into my neck, breathing in deeply.

“Goodnight,” he whispered.

“Night,” I responded, feeling myself already beginning to drift off.

A soft cry woke me from my sleep. One of the babies was being fussy, and I glanced over at Ben to see if he heard it too. He was sound asleep still however, causing me to grin. I got up and walked over to the cribs, noticing that Emma was the one crying. I picked her up softly, cradling her in my arms after I determined she didn’t need a diaper change or anything.

I began to rock her, humming a soft lullaby. A few moments later I felt a pair of arms encircle my waist, and Ben’s face nuzzled into my neck.

“What song is that?” He mumbled.

“One my mom used to sing me,” I whispered back. Ben raised his head and rested his chin on my shoulder, looking down at Emma.

“Sing it,” he requested, fingers brushing my hips.

“I am.”

“No, you’re humming it,” Ben pointed out.

“I don’t remember the words,” I told him. “I haven’t heard it since I was little.” Ben didn’t say anything else, knowing that my parents were a sore subject for me. He turned his head and placed a kiss on my neck before looking back at Emma again. That’s when Mason started to stir, and Ben Jr. after that.

Ben grabbed both of the boys, rocking one in each arm. After we had changed them and stuff, we had finally gotten them all to settle down and go back to sleep. We rocked their cribs as I hummed the lullaby, my own eyelids beginning to feel heavy.

“They’re asleep,” Ben whispered against my ear, pulling me into his arms and causing my eyes to open lazily. “Come to bed.” I nodded and let him pull me to the bed, where the two of us passed out almost immediately.

When Ben’s alarm went off, I was already awake with the babies. Ben and I had to get up countless times in the middle of the night, tending to the babies’ needs.

“Turn it offffff,” Ben grumbled sleepily, shoving a pillow over his face. I glanced at him curiously, before figuring out that he didn’t realize it was his alarm.

“It’s your alarm, Benjamin,” I told him. He moved the pillow and glanced at the clock, realizing that it was indeed his alarm and not some noise that I was somehow making. He reached a heavy arm over and hit the button, forcing himself to sit upright. He sat like a zombie, trying to keep his eyes open as he stared at the wall.

“Ben,” I chuckled softly.

“Hm?” His eyes drifted open.

“What time do you have to be at practice?”

“An hour and a half,” he muttered, flinging himself backwards to lay back down. “Wake me up in an hour and fifteen minutes.”

I rolled my eyes and set Mason back in his crib before walking over to Ben’s side of the bed. I sat down next to him, running my fingers through his almost nonexistent hair.

“Ben,” I said softly again. All I got was a grunt in response. “Benjamin,” I repeated, pulling him up. Ben leaned forward and propped his body up against mine. The triplets had all started getting fussy, their cries getting louder and more persistent. “Ben you have to get up and shower and eat before you go,” I tried telling him.

“Okay, wake me up in an hour then,” he responded, trying to lean back again. I caught him, pulling him up once more. “Maaaaaaal,” he whined.

“Benjamin Arthur Eager,” I reprimanded.

“Amalia, do you know how much sleep I got last night? Every fucking fifteen minutes I had to get up to help you with those whiners and I’m exhausted, alright?!” His voice had risen to try and be heard over the screams of the babies. “Fuck it,” he grumbled, throwing the sheets off of himself harshly.

I got up quickly and moved out of his way as he stalked past me, slamming the bathroom door and causing me to flinch. The triplets all screamed louder, and Ben threw the door back open.

“Stick a tit in one of their mouths and shut them up, eh?” He said, slamming the door shut again. I heard the shower turn on, and I glanced over at the babies and sighed.

By the time I had gotten them all downstairs, Beau and Maddie were in the living room watching television. The dogs were sitting on the floor with them, raising their heads when they heard me coming. I set the triplets in their basinets, kissing Beau and Maddie on the head.

“Are you funna make beck-fast?” Beau asked.

“Yes baby. Keep an eye on your brothers and sisters, alright?” I asked him softly. He nodded and I walked into the kitchen, opening the shutters so that the window in the wall between the kitchen and living room was wide open. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on everything while I cooked. I fed the dogs first before making some simple French toast and bacon. The twins were already at the table when I finished, causing me to chuckle as I went into the living room and pulled the triplets into the kitchen.

Ben walked into the kitchen a few moments later, seeing me try to cut Beau and Maddie’s food while attempting to keep the babies quiet. Ben walked over and took the utensils out of my hand, resuming cutting Beau and Maddie’s food so I could do other things. I made him a quick plate and set it on the table before going over to the counter and cleaning up a bit.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Ben asked snarkily.

I’m a bit busy at the moment,” I replied.

“Leave it. Leah will get it,” he said. “Eat.”

“I’ll eat later,” I waved off.

“Whatever,” he muttered. He sat down and ate his food as I wiped the counters, and I heard the doorbell ring. Before anyone could even react to decide who would go answer it, Adam Burish and Patrick Sharp walked into the kitchen.

“How did you guys get in?” I asked them.

“I left the door unlocked for them,” Ben stated gruffly. I rolled my eyes again and glanced at what was in Sharpie’s hands.

“I love you!” I flung myself on him, hugging him tightly before pulling away and hugging Adam as well.

“We thought you’d enjoy it,” Patrick grinned. I grabbed the Dunkin Donuts coffee out of the container in his hand, which held three more coffees. I took a sip of my coffee, a taste I had craved for months. I skipped over to the stove next, splitting all the leftovers on to two more plates.

“Scoreeee,” Adam yelped, sitting next to Ben. Patrick sat in-between Beau and Maddie, and Beau greeted him with a smile filled with French toast. I glanced at Ben, hoping he’d tell Beau to chew his food, but when I looked all I saw was Ben’s cheeks completely stuffed with food.

I turned around, resuming my cleaning, knowing it would be useless to say anything.

“You look like death warmed over,” Adam remarked. “Rough night?”

“You could say that,” Ben affirmed.

“Well, babies are hard work. And you’ve got three,” Adam said.

“Thanks for pointing that out, Bur. I had no idea,” Ben said.

“Don’t get mad at me because you decided to spawn,” Adam jabbed.

“I didn’t decide to do anything,” Ben mumbled. Adam and Patrick got quiet after that, waiting for me to say something. But I just kept cleaning, pretending not to hear. “The last thing I needed right now was a kid. And I’ve got fucking five.”

I turned around sharply, whipping my damp towel at Ben’s face and stalking out of the room. He had caught it immediately, standing up and telling the guys to watch the kids.

“Amalia,” Ben called after me. “Amalia, wait.” I ignored him as I ascended the stairs, walking into our room. He walked in after me, and I threw his shoes that he’d need for the day at him. “What the fuck?”

“I said I’d do this on my own,” I reminded, sifting through the closet for my suitcase. “I told you not to get involved if you didn’t want to. And all of a sudden you’re going to act like this is all my fault and you are better than the situation? Like you deserve better than me and the kids? Well if that’s what you want, your old life back, then fine. I won’t stop you.” I threw a bunch of stuff into the suitcase, not bothering to fold anything.

“You won’t, eh?” Ben challenged.

“No. Because I guess in a way I always thought you deserved better too,” I shrugged, pushing more clothes into the suitcase. Ben walked over and caught my hand, pulling me away from the suitcase.

“Just stop, alright? Jesus you’re like, fucking insufferable sometimes, you know that?”

“Eags!! We’re leaving in like, five minutes!” Patrick yelled from downstairs. Ben looked at the clock, muttering a faint “Shit.”

“Look, Amalia, I have to go. You and I need to talk, and while it should be right now you know I don’t have time. Promise me you won’t leave while I’m gone,” he said. I glanced at my suitcase and wondered how far I thought I was going to get with that mess. “Mal, promise me.”

I nodded and he quickly dumped the suitcase, tossing the empty luggage across the room. We walked downstairs, where everyone was waiting. Patrick and Adam had brought the twins and triplets back into the living room, and were waiting for Ben. I watched him kiss the triplets and Beau and Maddie before coming over to me.

“I’ll see you later,” he said, kissing me on the cheek. I nodded once more, watching the three of them leave. Patrick shot me a look as he was closing the door, but all I could do was shrug.

If there was an award for most clueless girlfriend, I would win it. Not that Ben being an emotional rollercoaster of death was helping matters.