Playing House

Ben stared at them for a moment before glancing at me. I’m sure I had several emotions on my face, and he probably didn’t know how to react. I looked at him helplessly, begging him to do something.

“Nice to meet you,” Ben said, sticking out his hand. They both returned the handshake, even offering him warm smiles. Which I’m sure threw Ben for a loop.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” my mother started. “But who are you?”

“Do you watch hockey?” Ben asked.

“She means what is our relationship, Ben,” I provided. His shoulders slumped a little, having been excited to talk about hockey.

“Ben Eager!” My dad exclaimed. “Of the Blackhawks!” Ben perked up again, nodding. The two men started having an animated hockey discussion, and I used the distraction to my advantage.

“Leah, can you show my parents to the living room? I need to talk to Ben for a minute,” I requested. Leah nodded and escorted my parents out of the room, and Ben turned to me.

“I thought you said you didn’t talk to them anymore,” he stated.

“I don’t. I have no idea why they’re here,” I replied.

“Maybe because you just had triplets?” He suggested.

“They weren’t there for the twins, why would they be here for the triplets?” I asked. “Besides, I don’t know how they even would have found out.”

“They seem pretty nice to me,” Ben pointed out.

“They are nice,” I agreed. “I never said they weren’t.”

“Well, the way you talked about them made it seem like they were terrible people who abandoned you or something.”

“They didn’t abandon me, they just requested that I didn’t come back into their house,” I said, causing Ben to stare at me blankly. “They had high expectations for me. Then, when I got pregnant, they stopped viewing me as their child. I had to fend for myself. That’s just the way they are.”

“You were twenty one when you had them,” Ben shook his head. “You weren’t a child anyways.”

“I know, but I had nowhere to go. And they didn’t care,” I said.

“So you left without a word and they haven’t even tried to contact you?”

“I made sure they knew my old address, you know, just in case. But I don’t know how they knew I was here,” I told him.

“Well, I’m still a little…confused about everything right now, but we shouldn’t keep them waiting much longer,” he sighed. I nodded and he began to walk towards the living room. I mentally slapped myself when I realized I didn’t talk to Ben about what I wanted to, which was what we were going to tell my parents about our relationship.

“Amalia, this is a beautiful home,” my mother greeted as we walked into the room.

“Thank you Maria,” I said. “It’s Ben’s.”

“So, you don’t live here?” My dad questioned. “The lady we ran into by your old place said this was your current address.”

“Well, I uh, moved in here when I became his live-in housekeeper.”

“And cook,” Ben added. We all glanced at him, acknowledging his random addition, and although my parents remained silent, they grimaced. Obviously my current career path was not what they had in mind for me.

“So who is this charming young lady then?” My mom asked, motioning towards Leah.

“She’s my replacement,” I finally stated.

“Replacement?” My father’s eyes narrowed at Ben. “What was wrong with Amalia?” Ben looked at me with wide eyes.

“I just needed some time off, that’s all,” I told them, glancing at Ben. He shook his head and looked away from me.

“Why?” My mom asked.

“What is with all these questions?” I finally snapped. “Why are you even here?”

“We were thinking of moving to Italy,” my dad informed. “Your mom and I both retired early and we have the money.”

I nodded, knowing that moving to Italy after retirement was something they always planned to do.

“And of course we wanted to see you and your child before we left,” my mom added.

“Child?” Ben snorted. My parents glanced at him before looking back at me curiously.

“I had twins with Jake,” I mumbled.

“Twins?!” My mother exclaimed. I looked at Ben, afraid he was going to divulge that the twins were only two-fifths of my children. “Amalia, how on earth did you let that happen?”

I looked back at my mom incredulously.

“You’re right, Maria. When they asked me how many children I wanted in my womb at the time, I shouldn’t have checked the ‘twins’ box.”

“I meant how could you have just thrown away your future like that?”

“Again, it’s not like I knew I was going to get pregnant,” I argued.

“Well what else did you expect?”

It was silent after that, awkwardness setting in.

“Where are they?” My dad asked.

“Napping,” I said softly.

The baby monitor on the table suddenly projected a cry of one of the triplets. My parents furrowed their eyebrows at the noise, knowing full well that the twins were no longer babies. I looked at Ben with wide eyes, but he just shrugged casually, letting me know he wasn’t getting involved.

I'd have to thank him for all his help later.

“Excuse me,” I whispered, walking toward the stairs quickly.

“Just a minute,” my mom halted, following me. “You have another baby?”

I bit my lip and nodded, not wanting to lie. My mom sighed and looked at my dad.

“Three,” I amended, swallowing hard as they both tensed up. I grimaced as they breathed in to yell at me, and all at once they let out a slur of admonishment ranging from being irresponsible to ‘spreading my legs whenever asked.’ As they continued ranting, Leah approached me and told me she’d go check on the triplets. I thanked her and turned back to my parents, sparing a glance at Ben who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

“I hoped that sending you out into the world on your own would make you more responsible, but clearly I was mistaken,” my father finally finished.

“Where is Jacob?” My mom asked. I shrugged in response. “You don’t know where the father of your children is?”

“Uh…” I sounded. “I don’t know where Jake is,” I said, deciding to purposefully be vague. Ben rolled his eyes at me.

“Why not?” My mom snapped.

“Because he left me, Maria. He didn’t want me, and he didn’t want them, so he left. Are you satisfied now?”

A look of sympathy passed through her eyes, but she glanced away quickly.

“So, he’s not the father of the triplets?” My dad inquired.

“No,” I shook my head.

“So who is?” He asked. “Please tell me you know.”

I glanced at Ben, not sure if he wanted me to tell them or not.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” My dad asked, looking at Ben, who nodded.

“You seduced your boss?” My mom scrunched up her nose.

“In all fairness, I came on to her first,” Ben supplied. Of all the times he could have chosen to step in, he chose that one.

“Of course you did,” my mom said. “Men can’t keep it in their pants, especially around beautiful women.”

I stared at my mom, wondering if that was an actual compliment or not. I decided not to question it, because I knew it would somehow turn into me having tempted Ben or something.

“Did you want to see them?” I asked. My parents glanced at each other before nodding. I led the way upstairs, my parents following and Ben behind them. As I reached Beau and Maddie’s door, Leah came out from down the hall.

“They’re not in there,” she informed. “They snuck into your bed to be in the same room as the triplets.

“Thanks,” I smiled. I changed route to the master bedroom, opening the door softly and seeing Beau and Maddie cuddled together in the middle of the bed. The triplets were all sound asleep in their basinets, so after walking into the room I stood to the side to let my parents in.

They stood in the entrance, taking everything in. Ben slipped inside behind them, standing next to me. I looked at the side of his face, since he refused to look at me, and I saw that he was still clearly tired. I felt bad for a moment, until I remembered all the things he said.

“Amalia,” my mom whispered. I looked over at her, almost forgetting that they were even there. She had tears in her eyes, and she was clasping my father’s hand tightly. Before I could say anything she walked over to me quickly and embraced me.

I stumbled back a bit, caught off guard, but once I regained my balance I awkwardly patted her on the back.

“Um…” I sounded, not sure what to do.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered in my ear. I blinked a few times, completely confused.

“What…what for?”

“For everything. We shouldn’t have just cast you away like that, I can’t believe I even…”

“Maria, it’s fine,” I assured, uncomfortable.

“No it’s not,” she wailed, causing Beau and Maddie to stir. “We are horrible parents. We’re horrible people!”

I looked behind my mom to Ben, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Maria,” Ben said softly, pulling my mother off of me. “Maybe you should sit down.”

“Joseph,” she said sternly, turning to my dad. “Apologize to her.”

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately. I wasn’t sure whether he was being genuine or just trying to get my mom to calm down, but either way I nodded at him.

“Mommy?” Beau called out. Everyone looked at the bed, where the twins were just sitting up and looking at us. I walked over and put my hand on Beau’s head.

“This is Beau,” I told them. “And this is Madeline,” I finished, motioning to her. “Guys, these are my parents. Your grandparents.”

“I’ve always wanted to see my grandparents!” Madeline exclaimed happily, causing my mom to emit another cry. Madeline launched herself at my mom, who caught her easily. My dad walked over to Beau, picking him up as well.

“We’re not going to Italy,” my mom said to him with a tone of finality. He looked over at her and nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

I looked on, part of me relieved and part of me angry. I quietly exited the room, not wanting to watch any longer.

“Amalia?” Ben followed me.

"They are unbelievable, you know? And mind-boggling. My mind is boggled," I threw my hands up in frustration as Ben stood there with his arms crossed.

"Why do you use their first names?" He suddenly asked. I looked over at him, confused. "You don't call them mom and dad."

"Oh...I didn't even realize I still did that..." I trailed off. "I told you, after I got pregnant, they kind of...dropped the idea of me being their daughter. They were kind of...socialite type people, and I was embarrassing to them. They didn't want me calling them mom and dad. So I stopped."

"I love how your story varies every time you tell it," Ben muttered.

"Well excuse me for being ashamed that I embarrassed my family," I remarked. "You know what, who do they think they are?” I whispered harshly.

“…What?”

“Just coming in here after everything and acting like they can just be forgiven so easily?”

“Well, you did forgive them, so…”

“I didn’t know what else to do,” I said. “I was so uncomfortable, and I felt…pressured, and I feel like they’re still going to look down on me, and-”

“Amalia,” Ben groaned, running a hand over his face. “You can’t go back in there angry at them, they’re just going to get defensive and things are going to blow up.”

“So, what then? I just sit back and hold it all in? Keep it all to myself until I explode? Sorry Ben, I’d rather not act like a moron like you.”

I walked away down the stairs after that, hearing Ben hit the wall as I departed. I let out a slow breath once I hit the bottom of the stairs, seeing Leah still picking up the living room.

“Hey,” she smiled.

“Hey,” I replied lamely.

“So I was wondering, how long are your parents staying? I should have enough for dinner and everything, but I was wondering if I should go shopping tomorrow for more supplies.”

I stared blankly at her, and she approached me.

“Amalia?”

“Oh God,” I muttered. “I don’t know how long they’re staying.”

Even if they had only planned on staying one night, I had a feeling it was going to be one long night.