Make It Back to Me

September 24th 2009
Ben Eager was torn. On one hand, he was so damn excited to be heading to Europe with his teammates, but on the other hand, it hurt him that he had to leave Evelyn. Road trips were never really a concern for the young couple. Ben always loved going on road trips, and Evelyn had never voiced her disdain for them, either. In fact, she loved when Ben left because it meant she got a lot of things done that she otherwise wouldn’t have had Ben been home.

He had a way of being very convincing and getting her to put things off until a later date. He was the best and worst distraction Evelyn had ever had, simply put.

But, after their temporary separation and still fairly recent reunion and his finding out he was going to be a dad, the last thing Ben wanted to do was leave his wife and unborn child behind.

He knew he was going to absolutely dread road trips in the coming season, that was for sure. But, Evelyn didn’t seem phased by the fact he’d be across the Atlantic for almost two weeks, though. Instead, she went out, bought him a new digital camera, and told him to take as many pictures as possible. He wondered where his wife’s new obsession with photography had come from (she was constantly taking pictures and Ben honestly had no idea why), but she only shrugged the question off and asked him to “Please, take as many pictures as possible. Even of the guys, okay?”

“Fine,” he sighed, knowing the guys were going to harp on him for just being so enthusiastic about the trip.

As if Evelyn knew what he was thinking, she put a hand on his cheek and gave him a friendly smile, “Humor me. Tell the boys your pregnant wife is making you do it. They’ll shut up.”

Ben laughed and nodded and put the camera in his carry-on, knowing he’d get some funny pictures during the long flight overseas. He would be leaving Saturday morning, just under forty eight hours away, and he wanted to make sure he had everything packed and ready to go. Ben was notorious for packing at the last minute and forgetting something. He was lucky the equipment guys packed up his gear for him, otherwise he’d probably forget his jerseys if it was left up to him.

Evelyn had washed, ironed, and folded all of the clothes he wanted to bring, as well as taken his suits of choice to the cleaner’s. Once she had everything neatly folded away, save for the toiletries she would have to remember to pack once Ben got up on Saturday morning, she was confident that he had everything he needed. Ben grinned at his wife, running his large hands through her curled, shoulder length brown hair as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pushed her baby bump up against him.

“Thank you,” he laughed, nodding his head at the bags. Evelyn only shook her head and stood on her tip toes, kissing at Ben’s jaw. She frowned when she realized she used to be able to stand on her tip toes and reach his lips, but her five month pregnant belly was getting in her way.

“I hate being fat,” she sighed, lifting her plain black, maternity tee shirt up to expose her big belly. Ben made a scoffing noise before reaching his hands down to Evelyn’s ass and hoisting her up with ease before wrapping her legs around his waist.

“You’re not fat.”

“Ben!” Evelyn laughed, putting her hands on the side of his face and bringing her lips to his. “I love you. You always know how to make me smile.”

He grinned, kissing her again before setting her down and tangling her fingers with his. “You want to go get some lunch?”

Evelyn nodded excitedly, letting Ben lead her out of the apartment. She didn’t care that she wasn’t wearing any makeup and she was in a pair of black leggings and one of Ben’s dress shirts, she was starving, and nothing was going to come between her and food. Grabbing her sunglasses off the table as they left, she held hands with Ben as they made their way down to the lobby and out of the apartment complex.

Wanting to savor what they both knew was the last of the warmer weather; they opted to walk to a restaurant. Besides, Evelyn hadn’t been feeling well the past few days and had stayed in bed for most of that time. She just wanted to get out and walk around, and she was pretty sure that was why Ben had suggested going out and walking there, as well. It was almost scary how much he could read into her. It was like he always knew what she was thinking, and it scared her because she hadn’t realized she could ever have such a deep relationship with someone like that. She realized, too, that she could read him just as well.

“We haven’t been here in a while,” Ben commented as he stopped at the entrance to a small diner. Evelyn stared curiously at the small restaurant, not remembering when she had been there before, but as soon as she walked in, she realized it was the diner she and Ben had agreed to meet at so she could give him his wallet back.

“Oh, man,” she laughed when she saw when the booth they had sat in was open. Pulling Ben over to it, she made him sit on the same side as the last time, almost two years before. It wasn’t long before their waitress came to the table and Evelyn and Ben’s eyes almost popped out of their heads.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” he laughed as their waitress stared between the two of them in disbelief.

“I remember you kids; looks like this one’s got a bun in the oven now!” Evelyn grinned, nodding up at her as she congratulated the two of them before getting their order and calling into the kitchen as she walked there. “Put a rush on this one! The pregnant girl is hungry!”

She probably should have been offended or even mortified that the entire restaurant was staring at her and Ben’s table, but she couldn’t be. Evelyn was the pregnant girl, and she didn’t think she’d ever been as happy to be called that. She was going to be a mother in four months, and she’d never been more ready for anything.

After the couple had gotten their food, Evelyn felt a pair of eyes on their table. Glancing to the booth over Ben’s shoulder, she saw a little boy, his eyes wide and his legs bouncing excitedly against the seat. She smiled widely at the little boy’s Blackhawks tee shirt before lightly kicking Ben under the booth. He looked across at his wife curiously and followed her gaze.

He saw the little boy staring at him with wide eyes and he grinned in his direction. The little brunette boy blushed and slapped his tiny hands on his cheeks when he realized the hockey player had caught him staring. Ben chuckled and turned back to Evelyn with a wide smile that made her heart clench in her chest. He was so excited to see the little fan, she just knew he was going to be the best dad.

Turning back to the little boy, Ben waved his hand, inviting him over to his and Evelyn’s table. He glanced at his family he was sitting with, saw them not paying attention to him, and hopped out of the booth, running over to where one of his favorite hockey players sat.

“Hi!” The little boy said excitedly as he climbed onto the booth next to Ben. Evelyn let out a tiny squeak of excitement as Ben pulled the little guy into his lap and asked him what his name was. “Jacob!” She couldn’t help but laugh when he squealed out excitedly as Ben took his tiny hand into his huge one and gave it a little shake.

“Jacob?” Evelyn heard from the little man’s father. She put her hand in the air and called out to the man, who let out a huge breath of relief as he approached the booth. He grinned when he saw his son in the lap of Ben Eager. “He’s always running off; I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be,” Ben told the man. “He’s adorable.”

“Thank you. He’s almost three, but he thinks he’s going on twenty, I think.”

Ben laughed, “I can’t wait until my son is born.” Jacob’s father smiled over at Evelyn who grinned back and waved at the little boy, who blushed again.

After Ben had signed the boy’s Blackhawks shirt and talked with him a little while longer, Jacob and his dad headed back to their own table, where their family was waiting to leave. Evelyn had finished her food while Jacob and his father were chatting with Ben and was ready to go, but Ben had barely touched his food. Evelyn suggested they take it home, if he wanted to leave, but Ben shook his head and swallowed the sandwich nearly whole as his wife looked on, disgusted.

He grinned at her as he threw a twenty dollar bill onto the table and waved to their waitress before grabbing his wife’s hand and pulling her from the diner.

“Ben,” Evelyn started. “You were so good with that little boy.” His blue eyes darted to her brown ones with an excited look in them, but he only shrugged in response. “You’re going to be such a good daddy.”

At that, Ben grinned, squeezing Evelyn’s hand lightly as they made their way down the crowded downtown Chicago sidewalk and toward their apartment building. Putting her other hand on her belly and tapping her fingers along to the song she was humming, she thought about the hopefully healthy little baby that would be coming into their lives in just four months. She kept her hand on her belly and kept humming the song all the way until they were home and in their apartment.

She stopped suddenly, feeling a jolt from inside her belly. Tears sprang to her eyes, not from pain, but from what the jolt meant.

“Ben!” She called, hoping her voice didn’t sound too panicked, but she knew it did when her husband came bounding from the bedroom and into kitchen in what seemed like nothing more than a second. Putting his hands around Evelyn’s shoulder, he stuttered out his question, asking what was wrong, but Evelyn shook her head and stared up at him, tears in her eyes.

“He kicked.”

“…He kicked?”

Evelyn nodded, grabbing Ben’s hand and placing them low on her belly waiting for another movement from their son. It happened only a few seconds later, and the way Ben’s entire face lit up made the happy tears fall harder and faster from her eyes.

“This would happen two days before I have to go to Europe,” he said, frowning. Evelyn let out a small laugh as she removed her hands from her belly and wrapped them around Ben’s neck, pulling him down to her level. He put his own arms around her waist and lifted her into his arms again, grinning into her neck.

“I love you,” she told him quietly. “I’ll miss you when you’re gone.”

Ben frowned, kissing Evelyn’s cheek as he set her back on her feet. “Leaving’s going to suck from now on.”

“You’ll survive, big guy,” she laughed, putting her hand on his cheek before leaving the kitchen. Ben watched her walk toward the bedroom with a curious look on his face. She stopped in the doorway, turning back to her husband with a smile on her face. “Are you going to join me, or what?”

Ben’s eyes widened and he grinned, quickly following his wife into their bedroom and shutting the door closed behind him.