Make It Back to Me

For the past few days, Evelyn had been a giant ball of excitement. She was fluttering around the apartment, packing her things, not being able to wait for the journey she and Adam would be making back to Chicago. But then the morning she and Adam were leaving New York finally came, she felt like throwing up, and it had nothing to do with her pregnancy. She and Adam were due to leave at seven AM; Evelyn had set her alarm for five thirty, but when her alarm did go off, Evelyn was already up and in the kitchen, drinking a glass of orange juice and eating a muffin. She had showered, dressed, done her hair, done her makeup, double checked she had everything packed, and made sure she and Adam had drinks and snacks for the drive all before six.

She hadn’t been able to sleep at all the night before. Adam and Michael had sent her to bed after she kept dozing off on the couch as they watched the local news. She had been hoping to fall asleep as soon as she lay down on her bed, but she had no luck. As soon as she was alone, her mind began to race, she felt nerves attack her stomach, and sleep escaped her. She was nervous, knowing that later that same day (but probably very, very late into the evening) she would be back in Chicago and at Phoebe and Niklas’ place, only a few miles from the apartment she had lived in with Ben, and he still lived in.

Adam and Michael stood at the door of the apartment, staring at Evelyn as she paced up and hack through the foyer. Adam sighed and turned to Michael, who only shrugged. He had never seen Evelyn work herself into such a tizzy before, either. With neither man knowing what to do, Adam settled for an approach he hoped would work. Taking a step toward the expectant mother he grabbed onto her shoulders, halting her movements. “Calm down, Lyn. Don’t stress the baby out.” Evelyn’s eyes snapped up to meet his, looks of worry in them as she bit at her lip.

“I can’t do this,” She whispered, putting her hands over her face. “After I have been the stupidest person on the planet for the past three months, you expect me to just go back to Chicago?”

“Evelyn, you - ”

“He’s going to hate me. He probably already does.”

“He does not.”

“How do you know? Did he tell you he doesn’t?” Adam paused, scratching at his cheek. Ben hadn’t told anyone anything. No one could bring up Evelyn around him for fear he’d turn into the Hulk. The already reserved hockey player had turned all but silent since his wife had left, and no one knew just how to get him to open up. It was scary to see him so closed up, especially when the fan convention had come around. He had put on a happy face for the fans, but the minute he was out of their view, his face went back to being void of any emotion.

After his silence, Evelyn hung her head, wrapping her arms around herself. She was feeling more dejected than ever, but Adam grabbed her into his arms again. His eyes locked on hers as he said, stony and void of any emotion himself, “You have to come back, Evelyn.” She tried to protest, but Adam cut her off. “You need Ben, and Ben needs you. I told you before, it’s not going to be easy. Stop making dumbass excuses, get your fucking bags, and get in the goddamn car, because we are leaving now.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened as Adam’s voice rose at her. She looked to Michael to see his reaction, but her friend and former coworker only smirked before slapping a hand on Adam’s back, silently telling him he’d done a good job. Adam’s face, however, did not break out into a smile like Evelyn thought it would. Instead, the hard look remained, and she squirmed out of his grasp to grab her bags, mumbling for Michael to walk them to the car as she scurried out of the apartment.

Adam sighed, finally breaking into a grin after Evelyn had left. “Was that too much?” He asked Michael, who walked beside him as they made their way toward the elevator. Michael shook his head with a laugh as they reached the elevator and Evelyn was already gone, “Nah. She needed that… a little kick in the ass.” Adam laughed, nodding his head as the two men stepped onto the elevator.

“Look, thanks for taking care of her for the past few months.”

Michael shook his head, “It was nothing. I really care about her; I think it might be impossible not to. I’ve told her a million times that Ben is a lucky man.”

Adam laughed, nodding his head in agreement, “Hey, nothing ever happened with the two of you, right? I mean, I hate to ask, but…”

Michael shook his head, a small sigh escaping past his lips, “No, nothing; as much as I wanted it to. I never even tried, you know? When I first started working with Evelyn and before she and Ben got married, I wanted her, and I was a total dick about it until their relationship fell apart. I couldn’t be an asshole anymore when I saw how broken down she was without him.”

Adam only nodded, glad there would be no Michael drama added to the drama Ben and Evelyn would no doubt be going through when she got back to Chicago. When they reached the parking garage, Evelyn’s bags were all in her car and she was leaning against the side, texting away at her cell phone. She stared at Adam with wide eyes, and he sighed, moving toward her. Wrapping his arms around the small girl, he laughed when her still relatively small baby bump got in the way.

“I’m sorry for snapping,” He started to say, but Evelyn interrupted him with a smile, telling him she needed to hear that. Adam grinned, nodding. He moved to shake Michael’s hand before getting into the driver’s seat, knowing Evelyn and Michael needed a goodbye to themselves.

Evelyn frowned as she looked at the man in front of her. She couldn’t believe that just seven months before, she had thought of Michael as nothing more than an asshole that looked like he could be an underwear model, but now, he was the one person who had kept her sane, kept her taken care of, and for that, she owed him. Wrapping her arms around him, she held him tightly and kissed his cheek. “We’re still going to be friends, okay? We’ll keep in touch. If we don’t, I will hunt you down, okay?”

Michael laughed, pressing a kiss to Evelyn’s forehead before opening the passenger door of her Tucson, helping her climb in. Giving him a final smile and a squeeze of his hand, she pulled the door shut and turned to Adam, who was grinning his famous Burish smile. “Are you ready?”

Evelyn took a deep breath, nodding her head, “Let’s go home.”

- - -

Phoebe was taking a huge chance, but she thought it was the right thing to do, even if it was nearly eleven at night. Knocking on the door, she moved back a step and rocked on the heels of her feet. When the door opened, she smiled at Ben, whose expression was surprised more than anything. At first, when Adam had called Phoebe and told her he was in New York, the feisty brunette had been pissed. She didn’t want Adam to chase Evelyn even farther away. Her plan had been to let Evelyn come home on her own time, not force her back. But when Adam said that he and Evelyn were in the midst of packing all of her things, she squealed loudly in delight and promised Adam a huge hug and kiss when he got back.

“Can I come in?” She asked Ben, looking hopeful. Ben nodded, but stayed silent, moving aside to let the girl into his apartment. She immediately moved to sit on the couch, her small hand wrapping around wrist and dragging him with her. “I’m going to go right to the reason I’m here.”

“Okay…” Ben said quietly, staring down at her.

“Adam went to New York.” Ben’s eyes widened, and he looked like he was going to say something, but Phoebe put a hand on his arm and silenced him. “He brought Evelyn home with him.”

“She’s here?”

Phoebe nodded, “She and Adam just got here, like, an hour ago. She’s sleeping at me and Nik’s place right now. I don’t know why I’m telling you - ” She stopped, watching with wide eyes as Ben stood up, walked to the kitchen table, grabbed his car keys and his wallet, and headed toward the door. “Ben! What are you - ”

“I have to see her,” He cut Phoebe off, but that was all he said. Phoebe sighed, nodding her head as she followed Ben out of his apartment and down the front of the building where her car was parked behind Ben’s Navigator. She climbed into her car and pulled out into traffic behind him, heading toward her and Nik’s place. She was nervous, no doubt. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen once they got there, but she had a feeling it wasn’t going to be the most comfortable of situations.

Ben took the stairs up to the fourth floor after deciding the elevator wasn’t coming fast enough. He had no plan for what he was going to say to his wife, if he could still call her that, when he saw her. But somehow, saying what he thought the moment he saw her seemed like the best option anyway. Phoebe was panting behind him when they got up to the floor, and he turned to her with a sheepish look, making her glare at him. He had practically ran up the four flights.

“I’m not as well conditioned as you, Eags.” Moving in front of him, Phoebe opened her door to be greeted by both Adam and Niklas. Adam’s eyes widened, but he grinned, where as Niklas did not seem surprised to see the Canadian behind her. Phoebe motioned for him to wait where he was, as she headed toward the bedrooms. Ben sighed loudly and shook his head, bringing a hand to his forehead and wiping at it. He was nervous; more nervous than he had ever been about anything before. It was only Evelyn, he had to tell himself. But, Evelyn was his Evelyn, his wife, his partner; she was more than just some woman.

He was nervously fidgeting with his car keys when he heard Phoebe clear her throat. Looking up, Ben’s eyes locked not on Phoebe, but the woman next to her. He felt like the entire world stopped as he looked at her, studied her, seeing her for the first time in three months. She had cut her hair so it went just past her shoulders, no doubt deciding to in response to the hot summer weather. Something else was different about her, too, but he couldn’t place it. She wore no makeup and only a baggy sweatshirt on that fell halfway down her thighs, and it was his. Smiling lightly, he vaguely heard Phoebe lead both Nik and Adam out of the living room and into the closed off kitchen.

Evelyn cleared her throat saying quietly, “We should talk.” Ben only nodded, and Evelyn motioned for him to follow her into the guest room she had been in when he got there. She sat down on the bed, pulling the covers over her folded legs and motioned for Ben to sit in front of her.

She opened her mouth to talk, but Ben didn’t let her. Moving toward her, he grabbed at her neck and pulled her head towards his, slamming his lips against hers. She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck. Both of them smiled into the kiss, happy to learn that nothing felt different about the kiss, except maybe the feel of even more love, mixed with a little desperation.

Evelyn pulled away slowly, her eyes staying closed as she opened her mouth again, her hand gripping Ben’s tightly. She opened her eyes and locked them on Ben’s blue eyes, the color blue she had missed so much and had never seen replicated anywhere else. “I am so sorry,” She whispered. “I was so selfish for leaving, Ben. I never should have.”

Ben shook his head, his hand gripping at her hip, but something didn’t feel right. Pulling his brows together in confusion, he slid his hand to the front of her stomach, his eyes widening at the feel of it. Evelyn winced, knowing she had to tell him. Giving him a small smile, she freed herself from his grasp before standing from the bed and pulling Ben’s sweatshirt up and above her stomach.

“Ben…” She started, but he cut her off, standing up, too, and placing his hand on her bare stomach. Looking into her eyes, he searched for an answer to the question he was almost afraid to ask. But when she smiled, tears in her eyes, and said, “You’re going to be a father,” Ben felt like his heart was ready to burst from his chest. In under an hour, he had gone from miserable and missing his wife, to feeling like he was walking on clouds. His wife was home, and with her, she had brought his future child.