Playing House

Ben and I fell into a routine in the weeks following the get together at the house. Ben was able to figure out a napping pattern that worked best for him, so it allowed him to spend time with us but also get the proper rest he needed for hockey.

Leah and I took turns with housework and taking care of the kids, and I found her to be a godsend. There was no way I would have been able to do this alone.

All in all, things seemed to be running smoothly.

Which should have tipped me off right there.

Nothing ever runs smoothly for me, in case five children under the age of five with two different fathers didn’t make that evident.

“Babe,” Ben called, walking through the door. I looked over at him oddly, wondering why he had the tone of someone who was about to get offed by the mafia.

“What did you do?”

“What? Nothing,” he replied, now giving me the odd look as he set down his bag from practice.

“Then why do you sound so paranoid and guilty?” I questioned.

“I said one word, and you got paranoid and guilty from it?”

“Fine,” I sighed. “What did you want to tell me?”

“I need to take your car to the shop,” he said nonchalantly.

“What? Why? It’s barely been driven. In fact, I haven’t even driven it in over a week,” I told him. “There’s nothing that could possibly be wrong with the mechanics of that car.”

“No, definitely not the mechanics. But the body could use some work,” he shrugged.

“Like what, a car wash?” I said sarcastically. Ben didn’t answer, he just looked away and scratched the back of his head.

“Where are the kids?”

He was trying to change the subject. I narrowed my eyes at him, waiting for him to crack.

“I sideswiped it,” he blurted, causing me to close my eyes and rub my temples. “With my truck. I pulled into the garage too fast, and…yeah.”

“So, you’re not paranoid and guilty at all, huh?”

Ben rolled his eyes but smiled, muttering an apology.

“Yeah yeah,” I brushed off, smiling as he pecked me on the lips. “They’re all in the living room.”

Ben nodded and headed in their direction, grabbing my hand to follow. He let go as soon as we reached the living room so he could greet them all with a kiss.

And that’s how our days went, usually. Minus the car damage part. Ben would come home from practice, or a game, or a road trip, spend time playing with the kids and helping me with the triplets, and we would all relax.

We had a fourth birthday party for the twins, and I couldn’t believe that a whole year ago was when the Eleanor drama started. I also couldn’t believe my twins were four years old. They had started going to preschool three days a week, and it was hard knowing kindergarten was coming soon.

The twins were once again showered with gifts at their party, which simultaneously amused and worried me. Every time I worried they were getting spoiled however, the look of joy on their faces made me keep my mouth shut.

Which is of course how being spoiled works, but I decided to remain blissfully and deliberately ignorant.

My birthday came before the twins, but Ben had been on a road trip so he told me he’d make it up to me another time. He did end up bringing home flowers the day he got back, and he took me shopping the day after. All in all, I considered it a successful birthday.

Leah had finally moved in too, but much to my dismay things with her and Sharpie were moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. They hadn’t even gone out on a date yet! I would have to change that soon.

It was nice, not having to worry about anything other than the normal things though, like taking care of my children, Ben, and the dogs. No crazy aunts, no crazy exes, no crazy parents-

“Who’s dat knocking on my door?!” Beau yelled out, even though it was the door bell that had rung. No knocking involved.

I don’t know why I thought it would just be some random person at the door when the bell rang, because with my life, I should have known better.

So, when I answered it and didn’t recognize the couple in front of me, I naively asked, “Can I help you?”

“Are you Amalia Williams?”

“Yes, who are-”

And that was when I was engulfed into the woman’s arms.

“Um,” I sounded, looking behind the woman at her presumed husband and not knowing what to do.

“I’m sorry it’s been so long, too long. But every time we were able to come out here, the two of you were having problems, and every time the two of you were okay, we couldn’t get free.”

“The two of who?” I asked dumbly.

“You and Ben, our son.”

Son. Of. A. Bitch.

I just thought ‘no crazy parents.’ I looked up momentarily, cursing the heavens and whatever higher powers resided there.

“…Son?” I managed to choke out.

“Mom? Dad?” I heard Ben call out from behind me. Ben’s mom whirled around and enveloped her son in a hug, and he returned it and kissed her on the cheek. He hugged his dad as well, patting him on the back. “I thought you weren’t getting in for another three hours,” Ben stated.

He knew. The fucker knew they were coming, and he didn’t tell me.

“We took an earlier flight, since they predicted a storm might roll in. I hope it’s alright we came early. If you’re not ready for us yet…” his dad trailed off. The three of them looked at me, as if I held the answer.

“Well, I didn’t know you were coming, so I haven’t really had a chance to prepare a room or anyth-”

“You didn’t tell her we were coming?” His mother scolded, causing Ben to look sheepish.

“It was going to be a surprise,” Ben mumbled.

“Mommy! We can has lunch now?” Maddie called, walking into the room. Upon seeing the new people, she slowed down and shielded herself behind my legs.

“Who’s dat?” Beau blurt out, confidently walking past me and towards Ben. I stepped aside and pushed Maddie toward Ben as well, since he motioned her over. Ben picked them up and placed one on each hip, turning so he faced his parents. Ben’s mom had her hand over her heart and a huge smile on her face.

“Beau, Maddie, these are my parents. Mom, dad, meet Beau and Madeline.”

“They’re beautiful,” his mom gushed, brushing the bangs out of Maddie’s eyes.

“Thanks,” Ben smiled proudly, causing me to roll my eyes and chuckle.

“Like you had anything to do with that,” his mom knowingly stated with a smile. “I was complimenting Amalia, since they are hers.”

“They’re mine too,” Ben grumbled.

“You know what I mean, Sensitive Sally,” she said nonchalantly, playing with Maddie and Beau still. Ben glared at her, and when I snorted, he glared at me.

“Well, lunch is ready, and I can whip up a little bit more if you give me a couple minutes-”

“Oh, don’t worry about it honey,” Ben’s mom said, ushering us along to head to the kitchen. “We ate on the plane. We’ll be just fine. Now come on, I want to get to know you.”

She smiled and linked her arm through mine, and I turned my head to shoot Ben a ‘save me’ look. He just laughed with his dad, leaving me to fend for myself.

Several hours later, I decided that the Eagers were the most amazing people on the face of the planet. They didn’t judge me, or question my past decisions and actions. They just, understood and were supportive.

They were currently fawning over the triplets with Ben, who was spouting off stories to his parents about how “totally awesome” his kids were all going to be.

“That is so cute,” Leah whispered to me. I smiled over at her, nodding.

“I’m pretty sure they’re the most normal family members the kids have all encountered so far,” I chuckled. Suddenly Ben stood up and walked over to me, slinging his arm around my shoulders.

“I was thinking,” he started. “Since we have some babysitters here, I should take you out to dinner.”

Before I could begin to protest, Ben’s mom cut in saying what a “Lovely and wonderful idea it was.”

“Go get changed,” Ben scooted me towards the stairs.

“Where are we going? How should I dress?” I asked him rapidly.

“I don’t know, where do you want to go?”

“Nowhere too fancy,” I began.

“Casual. Got it,” Ben nodded. “Maybe we’ll walk around the city too. Sound good?”

“Sounds great,” I smiled, leaning up to kiss him. He smiled into the kiss as well before patting me on the butt and shooing me off again.

I sighed as I stood in front of my closet in my towel after a quick shower, wondering what to wear for a night on the town in the brisk fall weather.

I suddenly felt heat against my back, and I knew it was Ben’s bare skin. Sure enough I looked down, seeing him drop his t-shirt onto the ground. He placed a kiss on my left shoulder, following it with a line up to my neck. I felt his lips at the spot below my ear before he kissed the nape of my neck and then mirrored his actions along my right side.

“We can always stay in,” I offered softly.

“No, I want to take you out,” he murmured against my skin. “Unless you’d rather-”

“I’d love for you to take me out,” I assured. He smiled and kissed my cheek before retreating to the bathroom for his own shower.

I turned back to my closet, unable to wipe the smile from my face. I figured dark wash skinny jeans were always a good choice, and I pulled out my long, black microsuede boots. I sifted through my tops and finally settled on a long white pinstriped shirt, picking out a belt to accent it with.

I purposely left the top buttons undone, so along with my pushup bra and no shirt underneath, Ben had something to look at. I almost snorted at the thought, because I knew eventually Ben would stop checking me out and start shielding me from other men’s eyes.

Ben came out a moment later, a towel slung low on his hips. He whistled at my appearance as I put my earrings on, and I just smiled at him. Once I got the final stud in I turned to face him, striking a pose.

“I look okay then?”

“More than okay,” he nodded, his eyes lingering on my chest like I knew they would. I walked over and gave him a peck on the lips before telling him to get dressed.

I headed downstairs to talk to Ben’s parents and give them all the necessary information they’d need. I must have given them a million phone numbers, but they assured me they’d be fine, and they had Leah for another hour or so to remind them where everything was.

I shrugged my coat on just as Ben came downstairs, buttoning the last button on his black dress shirt. I liked the way he had his sleeves folded a quarter of the way up, revealing his strong forearms, and I also liked the way he looked in his dark jeans.

I had seen Ben dress up for games and stuff, sure. But tonight he was dressed up for me, which made him look all the more appealing.

“You ready to rock and roll babe?” Ben asked, grabbing his coat. I was mid-nod when Beau came up to us like a wounded puppy.

“Where you guys goin’?”

“I’m taking your mom out to dinner, kiddo,” Ben answered, pulling on his jacket.

“You’re goin’….wifout us?” His lip quivered.

His lip. Quivered.

My heart wrenched as I looked up at Ben, who was deliberately not looking at me knowing that he'd let them come if I broke down. Instead, he walked over to Beau and knelt down in front of him.

“We’re going to be back soon, okay? You’ve got my mom and dad here to take care of you until we get back, and, most importantly, I’m gonna bring you and Maddie back something special. Sound good?”

Beau sniffled and nodded, a grin coming on to his lips. Maddie it seemed could care less, as she conversed animatedly with her dolls.

Hey, at least she was talking.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Ben asked Beau. Beau nodded enthusiastically, while Maddie’s attention was thoroughly caught.

“Me too?” She practically begged, hopping over.

“Definitely you too,” Ben nodded, bringing them back over to Maddie’s doll tea party and speaking quietly to them.

“He’s very good with them,” his mother smiled at me, breaking my attention.

“He was from the start,” I agreed. “They loved him the day they met him.”

I suddenly heard some “ooh’s” and “ah’s” coming from my children, and Ben chuckled a bit, putting his finger to his mouth in a silencing motion.

“I’ll see you guys later, alright?”

They both nodded and he kissed their heads, telling them he loved them.

“Love you too,” they both sang out. I repeated the procedure as Ben kissed the triplets, and I told the twins to behave. I kissed each of the triplets as well, before Ben literally dragged me out of the house.

“Call if you need anything!” I managed to yell out before the door was shut behind me.

“So, what first?” Ben asked once we were on our way. “You want to walk around and then eat, or eat and then walk around?”

“Or we can eat while we walk around.”

Ben glanced at me, smirking.

“I like the way you think,” he stated.

Chicago really was a beautiful city, and the night time atmosphere really made it the best. Spring and Summer were nice for walking around in the nice weather, but Fall and Winter were the best for walking around, admiring the lights and decorations.

Ben linked arms with me and pulled me in close as we walked down the semi-crowded street, looking for somewhere to get food.

We stopped in a little pizzeria and ordered some calzones, deciding that if we were still hungry afterwards (and I knew he for sure would be) we would stop somewhere else on our walk.

I was a quarter way through my calzone when Ben spoke.

“I feel kind of bad,” he said. I looked over at him, seeing he had finished his calzone already.

“You probably ate too fast,” I said, taking another bite of mine. I only had one hand free to eat with, since Ben was holding my other, which made breaking the line of melted cheese from the calzone to my mouth a little difficult. So far, I managed not to make a mess of myself.

“No, I mean about tonight. I kind of wanted to take you out. You know, sit down at a restaurant. A nice date,” he explained.

“Oh,” I sounded. “Well don’t feel bad Ben. I’m having a great time.”

“I know, it’s just…do you realize we’ve never been on an actual date?”

“What about that time you took me to dinner on my birthday?” I pointed out.

“I took you back home,” he groaned, like he was embarrassed.

“Ben, I loved that night. Just like I love this one,” I told him. Ben didn’t look convinced however, as he just shrugged and looked up at a sky scraper. “You know that it’s about you, right?”

“What?”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m at home, out at a restaurant, or just walking around. If I’m with you, I’m happy. You make the date, Ben. Not the setting.”

Ben leaned down and gave me a quick kiss, whispering a “You’re amazing,” at me.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” I replied, taking another bite of my calzone. Ben just chuckled and continued leading me along the street.

A few hours later, Ben and I were still walking aimlessly as we finished the ice cream cones we had gotten. Ben had also bought each of the twins a large chocolate chip cookie from the ice cream place, which I'm sure they'd love him eternally for. The sidewalks were still bustling with people, but we decided we should head back to the truck since it was getting kind of late.

Late for the parents of five kids, anyways.

“So, what big secret did you end up telling the twins?” I asked him.

“That I loved you and them very much and that you all and the triplets are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I paused mid-step and looked at him. I had expected him to make a little game of “I’m not telling,” so his bluntness definitely got the best of me. Ben grinned and tugged me along, knowing I couldn’t think of anything coherent to say.

“I also showed them a shiny present I got you,” he added.

“Is that what all the ooh’s and ah’s were about then?” I asked.

“Maybe,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

“When do I get it?” I asked excitedly.

“How about when we’re in the heat of the truck?” Ben suggested with a grin.

“Oh, fine,” I huffed dramatically, winking at him. As we cut through Millennium Park, I noticed the ice skating rink was up and running. “Aw! I didn’t know they had ice skating already!” I exclaimed. “Can we come back again soon?”

“Sure,” Ben nodded. “We can go now too, for a little bit if you want.”

“That’s okay, we don’t have to. You skated all day and walked around all night with me-”

“Just come on,” he smiled, bringing me over to the skating rentals. We laced up and made our way out on to the ice with linked hands. “You’re pretty good,” Ben noted.

“Eh, I keep my balance well enough,” I laughed. “I can’t go very fast though.”

“That’s alright, you’ve got someone to hold on to if you want to try,” he winked. We did a couple laps before Ben started to pick up speed, and people started to notice and recognize him.

I’m sure it had nothing to do with the squealing woman attached to his arm, but I digress.

Ben began to slow down, waving and smiling to people who greeted him. Ben then did a rather flashy lap on his own, skating super fast and backwards with spins and what-not. He earned many cheers from the crowd before he settled back next to me.

“Show-off,” I nudged him, causing him to laugh. I glanced down quickly, before noticing one of his skates. “For goodness sake Ben, your skate was untied! You are so lucky you didn’t die.”

Ben looked down disbelievingly, until he saw that I was indeed telling the truth. He pulled us both to a stop and he knelt down to re-tie his skate.

“And you call yourself a professional hockey player,” I mock scolded, causing him to glare amusedly at me. “Tsk tsk, Mr. Eager.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” he said as he tied his skate. “About the day you scolded Beau, and called him Beau Zachary Williams, and I corrected you by saying his last name was Eager.”

I glanced down at him before a lady falling to my right caught my attention.

“Yeah, what about it?” I asked him, trying not to smile as the lady began to laugh when she couldn’t pull herself back up even with her date’s assistance. The woman finally got back up, to my relief, and shared a laugh with her boyfriend. Then she smacked his arm and pointed to Ben and me. When I looked around, I noticed everyone had slowed down and was glancing in our direction.

“Well, I was wondering, since you’re the only one who’s not, if you’d like to become an Eager too?”

I sharply turned my head to look at Ben, who was still kneeling. He was done tying his skate, however, and held an open ring box up at me.

“I…what…?”

Ben smiled up at me, knowing I had been paying attention but also knowing I was distracted.

“Marry me, Amalia.”

I was stunned. Absolutely stunned. I mean, a marriage proposal was literally the last thing I had expected, as odd as that sounds. Sure, anyone else might have said, “Why don’t they just get married? They’re clearly already in it for the long haul.”

But I was already in the long haul, so a promise of one didn’t even cross my mind. But now that it had, I was completely caught off guard.

“Yes,” I finally breathed out. “Yes, of course yes.”

Ben smiled wider and slipped the ring on to my finger, causing the crowd to cheer. He stood up and embraced me quickly, kissing me hard.

“I love you, Mal.”

“I love you too, Ben.”

Ben picked me up and spun around on his skates as he kissed me again, both of us smiling like idiots. When he set me down he grabbed my hand, leading me off the ice. We waved at everyone as they clapped and whistled, and I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.

“Let’s go home to our kids, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I nodded dreamily.

As soon as we walked into the door, we were greeted by the dogs jumping up and down. Beau and Maddie came scampering over to us, and I looked at them with wide eyes.

“Why aren’t you guys asleep yet?” I inquired. I saw Ben’s parents approach out of the corner of my eye, but I kept focused on the kids.

“We wanted ta know what you sayed,” Beau answered.

“Yeah,” Maddie agreed. “Did you say yes, mommy? Peas say you sayed yes. Daddy wants you to be his forever real bad.” She quickly gasped and covered her mouth, looking at Ben guiltily. “Oops,” she muttered. “I spilled the secret,” she ended in a whisper.

“It’s okay Mads,” Ben told her. “I told your mommy the secret.” Maddie visibly relaxed, and they all looked expectantly up at me.

“Yes, I said yes,” I told them, smiling. Beau and Maddie both jumped into Ben’s arms, cheering like they had just won at Hungry Hungry Hippo.

“Bed time,” Ben informed, bursting their bubble real quick. As soon as we set them down however, they passed out. We said goodnight to his parents as well, who insisted on having the triplets sleep in the nursery with them.

Ben closed the door behind him, and I headed straight for my closet.

“Wear your robe,” he requested. I turned to give him a questioning look, but he was already headed into the bathroom. I shook my head and undressed, putting my robe on like Ben wanted. He emerged a minute later, taking in my appearance.

“That robe never ceases to wow me,” he murmured. I laughed and went into the bathroom, getting ready for bed. I barely got two steps out of the bathroom before Ben swept me up in his arms and kissed me. He pulled me over to the bed and discarded my robe, and that’s when I could feel that he wasn’t wearing anything either.

He pulled me into bed and rolled on top of me, leaving a trail of kisses along my collarbone. He suddenly stopped, and even though I couldn’t see him I could feel him gazing at me.

“What is it?” I asked softly.

“We are going to have to explain so much to the kids when they get older,” he stated.

“We did do this whole relationship pretty ass backwards, didn’t we?” I replied, laughing.

“Kids, then sex, then the breakup, then our own kids, then living together happily for a while, then the marriage proposal on the first date.”

“Then sex,” I added.

“Then sex,” Ben chuckled, kissing me. “And more kids, eventually.”

“Eventually,” I agreed, kissing him again. He intertwined one hand with mine but broke the kiss once more.

“A family.”

I ran my free hand along his face softly, tracing the lines before leaning up to kiss him quickly.

“A family.”