Make It Back to Me

The last game for the Blackhawks before the Olympic break was a road game in Columbus, which the team had luckily won, continuing their tear through any team that challenged them. Now that Ben was home for two weeks, he fully planned on making up for the two week road trip he had to endure just days after his son’s birth. Having missed Valentine’s Day, Ben woke up early on the morning of February sixteenth, showering and getting dressed all before little Ben could wake up. Quietly walking into his son’s room, Ben looked down at the sleeping little boy who was just starting to fuss, waking up at seven AM like clockwork.

Quickly scooping the tiny baby up into his arms, Ben gave his son a morning kiss and rocked him as he walked to the changing table. After quickly changing his diaper and getting him dressed in a clean onesie, Ben brought the baby downstairs with him and into the kitchen where he fed him his morning bottle full of warmed up breast milk. Once he’d eaten and been burped, Ben placed his son into his bassinet, beginning to work on breakfast for he and Evelyn all while she slept upstairs.

“We’re going to let Mommy sleep in a little bit, okay?” Ben asked his son, who stared up at him with identical blue eyes. “She does such a great job taking care of you while I’m away; she deserves it.” Smiling as his son cooed, Ben pinched his little cheek before getting back to gathering the things he would need to make a big, morning meal.

As he cooked, Ben would turn around to look at his now sleeping son, and every time he did, he had to remind himself that he wasn’t living in some dream world. Everything was so perfect, and unlike times before when he feared something would go wrong, he knew it would stay that way. It didn’t matter where he ended up come next season, as long as Evelyn and little Ben were with him, life would be perfect. Of course, he hoped with all his heart that before he left the city of Chicago—something he knew would eventually happen, after all—he would be a Stanley Cup champion. He didn’t want to win his first one with any other team; his teammates were his best friends, and he couldn’t think of any other way to end the season than by hoisting the cup together.

“What do you think, little guy?” Ben asking, holding the baby up in his arms as they looked at the spread of food. “I bet you wish you could dig into that, huh?” Laughing at the noise his son made, Ben shook his head. “You’ve got to get some teeth first!”

“Ben?”

“Hey,” he turned around, smiling at his obviously still tired wife. “I was just going to come wake you up.”

“What is this?” she asked, her eyes wide as she looked at their kitchen table.

“I made breakfast,” he grinned, obviously proud of himself. “Little Ben’s been changed, dressed, fed, burped, and put back to sleep already.”

Evelyn grinned, stepping closer to her two boys, wrapping her arm around Ben’s torso as she leaned in to kiss her son and then her husband. “Thank you,” she said.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Ben grinned. “I feel bad that I missed the actual day and that I don’t have anything to give you.”

Evelyn scoffed, “You don’t have to give me anything! Just the fact that you will be home for the next two weeks to spend time with me and our son is enough. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he grinned, kissing her quickly, motioning for her to sit down at the table as he put little Ben back into his bassinet.

“Kate doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Evelyn laughed, picking up her fork.

“Who’s Kate?” Ben asked as he, too, sat down.

“Oh,” she laughed. “I didn’t tell you about my run-in with her?” Ben shook his head. “She’s this girl I went to high school with. She’s working here as a nurse, now. When I ran into her, she gave me shit for being married and a mother; told me I’d basically ruined my life.”

“What the fuck?” Ben responded, obviously angry. “Who does that?”

“You don’t know Kate,” Evelyn laughed. “She always thought she had all the right answers, even if there was no question. I told her to fuck off.”

“Good,” Ben said, digging into his food, but pausing before he put the first bite in his mouth. “You don’t feel that way, do you?”

Evelyn glared at Ben, “Are you serious? Ben, don’t ever question that. Sure, our son wasn’t exactly planned, but I will never regret anything that brought me and you together.”

Nodding silently, Ben grinned at his wife, his foot bumping her leg under the table as they ate. It was the little things like that, that told Evelyn how much he loved her. He didn’t have to tell her he did, even though he did all the time. It was the subtle touches, the things he did for her, and the romantic things he said.

In the month since Evelyn had given birth, she’d already lost fifteen of the extra pounds she had put on during her pregnancy, but Ben had always made it perfectly clear that she was beautiful no matter what. Of course, when his wife told him she wanted to lose the weight for herself, he was more than happy to help her do it.

“Do you want to go out to eat tonight,” Ben asked as they cleaned up the kitchen table, “with the little guy?”

Evelyn grinned, “I’d like that. I couldn’t think of a better thing to do on our Valentine’s Day.”

Ben kissed her lips, before he bumped her away from the sink with his hip. She frowned, but he only laughed. “You go take a long shower, or a hot bath, whatever. I’ll handle the dishes and the baby.” Before she could protest, Ben had practically pushed her from the kitchen and toward the stairs. Laughing to herself, but so thankful for the rest, she decided a long bath might not be such a bad idea.

As she soaked in the warm, soapy water Evelyn let her eyes fall closed and her head fall against the edge of the tub. She sighed happily, her tired body immediately relaxing under the hot water. Her eyes snapped open when she heard her son’s cries from downstairs, but they subsided a few seconds later, and she grinned, knowing Ben had taken care of it. She knew, even if he had worried, that he was going to be an amazing dad, and she was happy she had been right. Pressing ‘play’ on the small CD player next to the tub, she again closed her eyes and settled into the hot water, wanting nothing more than to rest.

- - -

After taking an hour long bath, taking her time getting dressed and made-up, Evelyn and Ben ventured out of the house for the first time that day. With the weather surprisingly reaching the mid forties, they set their son into his stroller and walked the few, long city blocks to the restaurant they had agreed to meet Adam, Kita, Phoebe, and Niklas at. Evelyn walked to the right of Ben, her hand hooked onto his right arm as he pushed little Ben in front of them, who had woken up from another nap and was staring up the buildings around him (or at least he seemed to be).

“You know there’s a good chance I won’t be playing in Chicago next year,” Ben said, the conversation seeming to come from nowhere, but Evelyn—who knew him better than he liked to admit—knew it hadn’t. It had been on his mind since the beginning of the current season. The financial woes of one of the NHL’s youngest teams weren’t exactly secret.

Nodding as she stuffed her free hand into the pocket of her long, black trench coat, she gave Ben a sad smile. “Leaving Chicago is going to be hard, especially since I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I did leave it,” she told him, frowning as she did, “but Ben, wherever you go, me and our son go. It’s as simple as that. I love my hockey-playing husband, and little Ben loves his hockey-playing daddy. There’s not much to think about, hun.”

Ben grinned, nodding his head as they reached the door of the restaurant. As Evelyn went to open it for him to push the stroller through, he stopped her and kissed her quickly. “I just needed to hear that,” he told her. “Thank you.”

“Get your sexy ass in the restaurant. They’re all here already.”

Ben huffed and moved through the doorway, pushing the stroller toward the table where their friends sat. “Hey, daddy,” Kita called in her thick and southern accent, sending him a wink. Ben leaned down and kissed her cheek, as well as Phoebe’s before the two women immediately gushed over the baby, thrilled he wasn’t sleeping and that they could pass him around the table for a little bit.

Adam, mimicking how his girlfriend had greeted Ben, sent a wink to Evelyn as she sat down in the free seat next to him and across from her husband. “Hey, mama,” he laughed, throwing an arm over her shoulders. Rolling her eyes, Evelyn shoved an elbow into Adam’s ribs, immediately picking up a menu and letting her eyes scan over all the delicious choices. Adam laughed as her smile faded into a frown. Tossing his gaze over to Ben, he cocked an eyebrow as he saw the Canadian glaring at his wife.

“Evelyn, eat,” he scolded. “You’re almost back to your weight before the baby; you can afford to treat yourself today.”

“I know, but I already had those pancakes you made this morning, and I know we’re going out to eat tonight…” When he didn’t stop glaring and the rest of the table had started, she sighed. “Fine, I’m getting the breaded chicken and mozzarella panini; happy?”

“You’re going out tonight," Kita asked. “Do you need us to babysit?”

“We’re taking the baby with us,” Evelyn laughed, after their waitress had taken their orders. “Are you dying to have little Ben to yourself for one night, or what?”

Nodding excitedly as she watched Adam excuse himself to the restroom, she turned to Evelyn. “Honestly,” she started. “I just want to see how Adam is with him.”

“That man isn’t allowed near my son,” Ben commented, watching Phoebe closely as she held his baby boy, making the whole table laugh.

“You’re itching for a baby, aren’t you?”

“So bad, Evelyn,” Kita frowned, “but babies seem like such a far off thing for Adam…”

“He’ll come around,” Ben commented. “He’s made a few comments to me that make me think he wants babies sooner than he lets on, especially since I’ve had one, which was something neither of us where thinking about too seriously a year ago.”

“Really?” Kita asked skeptically, “I don’t even think he wants to get married anytime soon.”

“Trust me, Kita. Leave it alone for now,” Ben stressed, taking his son into his arms, smiling as the little guy immediately cradled against his daddy’s chest and closed his eyes. “You and Adam can watch him next week sometime; me and Evelyn will have a date night.”

Kita grinned, “I’d love that.”

Evelyn silently questioned Ben, hoping he’d get what she wanted to know. Nodding his head as he flipped his White Sox baseball hat backwards, he winked at Evelyn, confirming her suspicion. She couldn’t wait for next week, not just for she and Ben’s date night (which had been news to her) but also for one of her best friends, who would get one of the things she had wanted since the day she had met Adam Burish.