Make It Back to Me

Three days after they had brought their baby home, Ben was back on the road with his teammates, making a coast to coast trip that would keep him away from his wife and child for two weeks. While it was the last thing he wanted to do, Ben had been a hockey player for long enough to know that long road trips came with the job. He shouldn’t complain; he knew Evelyn understood, and he knew that his job and the salary it came with would provide his little family with everything they could want and need for the rest of their lives. That was reason enough to suck it up and go on the road trip, even if the team had told him he could take some time off.

Evelyn was left at home with the constant companionship of Kita and Phoebe, whenever they were free from work. After all, their men were gone, too. After a weekend of their constant company, they had to go back to work and Evelyn was left alone in a huge house that needed cleaning and a week old infant that needed her constant attention. She woke up early in the morning while little Ben was still sleeping after he had woken up for a changing just a few hours before, almost ensuring his young mother would get no sleep.

She quietly checked on her sleeping son, grinning as she saw him sleeping peacefully in his bassinet, his hands balled into tiny fists as he puffed out little breaths. Knowing she only had a few minutes, she took a quick and cold shower to wake her tired body and mind up, keeping the baby monitor on the bathroom counter, in case he stirred. Five minutes later, she was toweling off and slipping into a pair of Ben’s boxers and an old band tee shirt from her teenage years. Deciding to forget makeup and styling her hair, she quickly made her bed as she made a mental list of things she needed to do around the house.

Just a few minutes after she had finished the bed, little Ben had started to cry and Evelyn tended to him, changing his tiny diaper and feeding him. She started her day shortly after, getting herself something small to eat before she carried her son into the laundry room with her, beginning to sort through the clothes. She watched him as he watched her, his big blue eyes locking onto her face as she sorted the whites, the darks, and the colors. She hummed along to the quietly playing radio she had in the corner of the room, laughing when little Ben made noises and moved his hands.

“You like music, huh?” she asked her infant son. “I’m sure you heard a lot of different stuff when you were in my belly, little guy.” She knew he had no idea what she was saying, but it gave Evelyn comfort knowing she had someone to talk to. It made the loneliness of her husband being gone seem way less terrible. A few minutes later, the baby closed his eyes and lulled back into sleep, making Evelyn grin again. He had only been awake for a half an hour before the little guy passed out again.

She continued her morning by dusting the house, washing the floors, and doing more laundry. It was eleven AM when her stomach started to rumble in hunger. Ceasing her cleaning, she headed into the kitchen with little Ben, who was just starting to stir from another long nap. Opening the fridge and the cabinets, Evelyn frowned when she saw nothing to eat. Knowing she needed groceries, she turned to look at her fussing son, knowing he probably needed another changing and another feeding.

After taking care of him first, she took him upstairs with her while she changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater. Letting her now dry and wavy hair from the ponytail holder, she smiled when she saw it looked relatively nice. Quickly putting on a little makeup, the new mother started to bundle her son up in his in winter clothes, glad it was not as cold as it could be for January in Chicago. Pulling her own coat, hat, and gloves on, Evelyn threw a thick blanket over little Ben’s carrier, grabbing her purse and locking the house up behind her as she headed toward her car.

After she had locked the car seat in, Evelyn climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the heat on, not wasting any time in heading for the local grocery store. She knew she wouldn’t be able to get tons of things, even though the house was severely lacking in food; there was no way she could handle so much stuff and her son.

“Evelyn?!” she heard as she climbed out of her car after she had gotten into a parking spot. She turned behind her to see a face she hadn’t seen since her days in Arizona.

“Kate?” Evelyn asked with wide eyes, as her friend from high school rushed toward her.

“How are you?” the blond asked happily.

“I couldn’t be better,” Evelyn said, adjusting her purse as she opened the backseat of her small SUV, watching as Kate’s eyes went wide at the sight of the small infant.

“Are you a nanny or something? Babysitting, maybe?”

Evelyn shook her head, grinning widely, “No, this is my son, Benjamin.”

“Oh, wow,” Kate muttered, looking slightly terrified. “You have a kid.”

“And a husband,” Evelyn added, rolling her eyes.

“You're twenty three! What happened to focusing on school and then your career?” Kate frowned, no doubt remembering when Evelyn had told her those things only a few years ago.

“Things change,” Evelyn told her, nonchalantly, sliding little Ben’s carrier from the car and again throwing the blanket on top of it. “What are you doing in Chicago?” she asked as they headed toward the entrance to the grocery store.

“I’m a nurse at Illinois Masonic,” she grinned. “Are you still working?”

Evelyn shook her head, “I quit my job last spring before I went to New York for the summer; I tried CUNY school of journalism, but I realized chasing that dream wasn’t right for me when I had a husband back here who loved me and a child growing inside of me.”

“Wow,” Kate said again, watching Evelyn hook Ben’s compact carrier onto the front of the cart she grabbed. “I can’t believe you’re a stay at home mom… I never thought you wouldn’t be a working woman.”

Evelyn frowned, hearing the disdain in her old friend’s words. “Like I said, Kate, things change. I’ve never been happier.”

“That’s good,” Kate said, realizing she had offended the brunette who walked next to her. “What does your husband do?”

“He plays hockey.”

“Hockey?!”

“Yes, for the Blackhawks, Kate,” Evelyn laughed. “Ben Eager.”

“Isn’t he the one always getting into fights? My boyfriend loves the Hawks…” Evelyn laughed, nodding. Kate shook her head, laughing a little too. “You are a completely different person, Lyn.”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”

“Well, it seems to me like you gave up everything for this guy. Didn’t he give up anything?”

“Kate, don’t try to preach to me when you don’t know anything about me and Ben’s relationship. I told you I’ve never been happier. Ben was completely supportive of me working and going to school since we first met and started dating. Sure, me leaving for New York City caused a huge problem for us, and because of that it was my decision to quit my job, to stop going to school, and mine alone. You, clearly, have not changed one bit since high school.”

“I’m sorry, Evelyn. I just hate to see you throw everything you wanted in high school in the trash.”

“You don’t understand, Kate. I love my boys more than anything. Work or school doesn’t matter to me anymore. In fact, it shouldn’t be that important to anyone. Your friends and family is what makes life enjoyable, not the job you go to or the classes you take. I think you need to get your priorities straight. When you do, come find me and we can catch up. Until then, I don’t want to be around your negativity or drama. I graduated high school, unlike you.”

Evelyn glanced down at her sleeping son, a peaceful smile on his face. Looking back at Kate, she saw the blond looking at her shocked and hurt, but Evelyn did not feel bad. There had been so many things she had always wanted to say to Kate, a girl who always thought she was right and everyone else was wrong. There was no way this girl was going to come back into her life after five years and give Evelyn advice like she needed it. Nodding to herself, Evelyn continued down the isle of the store, gathering some of the things she needed before moving on, and glancing back toward the doors she saw Kate duck out, nothing in her hands.

“Come on, baby,” she said to her sleeping son. “Let’s get our stuff and go.”

_______________________________- - -

Evelyn sat at the kitchen table, little Ben next to her chair, once again sleeping peacefully. Evelyn sighed with envy, wishing she could sleep, but with so many things to do still and the sleeping infant in front of her to take care of, she knew she’d have to wait. She had just finished her food and had opened her laptop, looking over some emails from her friends and family, asking for more pictures of little Ben.

Clicking her way through the Yahoo homepage and reading some news stories, she grinned when her computer rang, signaling someone was inviting her to a video chat. Quickly accepting the invitation, she smiled widely as her husband’s smiling face came into view.

Hey, beautiful, he grinned, his blue eyes shining as he looked over his wife. Evelyn greeted him back, looking over his attractive face and shirtless chest that was in her view through the computer.

“What are you doing?” she asked, popping another pretzel in her mouth.

Me and Boley are relaxing in the hotel; we just got back from eating with the guys.

“You’re in Ottawa, right, baby?” she asked as their son stirred next to her.

Yeah, got a lot of people coming to the game tomorrow, he told her. Where’s my Benny boy?

“He,” Evelyn paused, smiling at the baby, “is just waking up. Hold on.” Evelyn picked their son up into her arms, cradling him against her chest and facing him toward the computer screen.

Hey, little guy, Ben said. I hope you’re being good for mommy.

Evelyn’s heart swelled as her soon made a cooing noise, his eyes opening wider at the sound of his father’s voice. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she looked at her son and then at her husband, wishing he could be there with them.

“I miss you, Ben,” she said sadly. “It’s hard without you here.”

I know, baby, he sighed. This is the longest road trip for the rest of the season. It’ll be fine. Evelyn nodded as she heard Ben sigh and the door of the hotel room open, a few muffled voices coming through the speakers.

“Who’s there?” she asked, laughing as Ben rolled his eyes. She didn’t receive an answer, but instead she saw Adam Burish’s big head lunge in front of the computer screen, his thick Wisconsin accent immediately cooing at his ‘nephew.’

After Adam, Patrick Sharp, and Dave Bolland took turns talking to Evelyn and little Ben, the computer was handed back to ‘big Ben’ as he was now being called. Laughing as the three of them left, Ben kept his eyes on his wife’s face, their son now sleeping against her chest.

Evelyn couldn’t stop the tears from springing to her eyes again as a feeling of happiness of loving raced through her tired body at Ben’s words, Another week, love, and then I’ll be home. As hard as it is, remember that we have forever to be together.