Those Will Be The Best Memories

Madeline made her way down the street with a grin on her face and her hands stuffed into the long pocket of Ben’s grey, extra-large Oshawa Generals sweater; from his OHL days. Her black leggings were tucked into her brown Uggs and her hair was placed in a messy bun on the top of her head with a thin, white hair-band pushing her bangs back.

She pushed up her black rimmed glasses as she pulled her keys from the pocket, looking for the smaller bronze-coloured key, and pushing it into the mailbox. Maddy quickly grabbed the few letters and magazine subscriptions and placed her hands, and the mail, back into the pocket.

As she was walking, a familiar SUV drove past her and pulled into the driveway of the house she shared with her boyfriend. She could see a head full of brown, curly hair and the figure of a small woman with brown and blonde highlighted hair.

“Maddy?!” The woman squealed, opening her arms.

Carly Fraser stood in the driveway of the large home with a smile spread across her lips, her black coat covered arms stretched out, and a squeal bubbling from her throat. Maddy tilted her head to the side as she giggled. Colin walked over to the other side of the car, a smile spread across his features as well, and stretched his arm into a point, pointing straight at her.

“There she is! The soon-to-be Madeline Eager!” Colin yelled out.

Madeline rolled her eyes and walked a little faster until she got close enough for two of her closest friends to wrap her into a bone crushing hug. Carly had her wrapped in a straight, up front hug as Colin wrapped his arms around them both, squealing with the two young women.

“Ben told you?” Madeline asked as Carly and Colin as she pulled away.

Carly nodded and reached out to take Madeline’s left hand into her own, holding her fingers tightly and searching for the engagement ring. It only took her a few seconds before she realized that there wasn’t one.

“Wait… he did ask you, right?” Carly asked, looking up at Maddy.

Maddy nodded and looked at her questioningly, “Yeah, why?”

“Where’s your engagement ring?!” Carly asked loudly, as Colin tried to usher the two young women up to the house.

Maddy blushed as she looked down at her bare ring finger, “I guess I forgot to put it back on after my shower, come inside and I’ll show you.”

The three young adults walked into the larger than average house, pausing to take off their shoes, and walked into the living room. Ben was lying across the couch in a pair of sweatpants and a Chicago Blackhawks: One Goal t-shirt, with Matthew lying on his chest; his face lying right under his neck, with his legs resting on Ben’s thighs.

“Hey! It’s my favourite kid!” Colin yelled out, pointing at the blonde little boy.

Matthew moved his head quickly as he heard Colin and gasped, sitting up on Ben. Ben gave out a large ‘oof’ as Matthew climbed off and ran towards Colin, wrapping his arms around his legs.

“Col!” Matthew yelled as Colin picked him up into his arms, giving him a hug.

“And it’s smelly Ben Eager; what’s up man?”

Ben stood up and shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest, “Nothing much, how about you? You’re here pretty early in the morning.”

Maddy rolled her eyes at the simple talk the two men were making and grasped Carly’s wrist, pulling her up the hardwood floor stairs. They hopped up the steps quickly and walked into Ben and Madeline’s master bedroom. The walls were painted a light shade of grey, with darker shades of grey and purples accenting the room. The bed was made, with the pillows all in place. The room was incredibly clean and put together.

“Sit for a minute, I’ll go and get it,” Madeline told Carly, walking into the attached bedroom.

Madeline walked right up to the counter, smiling as the large diamond glinted in the light. It was sitting in the small dish beside her makeup; where she kept all of her rings, mostly the ones that Ben had given to her.

She picked up the entire dish, deciding to show Carly each one before she showed her the engagement ring. Walking out of the bathroom, Maddy sat on the edge of the bed beside Carly and held the dish in her lap.

“This one,” she said while holding a thick gold ring with two hearts, one gold and one silver, cut out on the front, “Ben gave to me when we first started dating; before we broke up and had Matthew.”

Carly took the ring and ‘awwed’ to herself. The ring was, obviously, quite cheap and was tarnishing with a blue glow, but the significance it held was more important than the way it looked.

Picking through the dish for the next one, she internally smiled, “This ring, is one of my favourites. Ben gave it to me three days before we broke up; he originally told me it was a parting gift, because he was going on a trip.”

The ring was silver and quiet large, with roman numerals cut out counting how many months they had been together; at that point only 6 months.

“What do the roman numerals stand for?” Carly asked, running her manicured fingers over the ring.

“How long we had been together for, only six months but it seemed like a long time.”

Carly nodded and placed the ring on the bed beside her as Maddy picked up a piece of a plain gold ring, looking for the other part as she held it out to Carly.

“Ben gave this one to me when he found out that I was pregnant. I slammed my hand in the car door a few weeks later and it cracked, half of it stuck in my finger,” Maddy explained, showing Carly her right ring finger and the scar right next to her knuckle.

“Some of these are from the road; when he sees a nice one he buys it for me. This one is the promise ring her got me when we had been back together for a year. It, at the time, meant the most.”

Carly smiled and ran her finger over the square cut amethyst with small diamonds surrounding it on a white gold band.

“Okay okay, it’s beautiful but where is your engagement ring?” Carly asked, becoming fidgety.

Grinning ear to ear, Madeline picked up the white-gold band with diamonds going all the way around; it was an eternity ring. Her grandmother had one exactly like it that was passed down to her mother and would soon be passed down to her. Ever since she saw her grandmother’s ring, she knew it was the type of ring she wanted.

Ben had explained that he couldn’t see himself being with any other women, especially after all they had been through, and if this didn’t last an eternity, no other relationship would even stand a chance.

Carly gasped out loud, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared at the ring, back home on Maddy’s finger.

“Maddy, it’s beautiful! Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous, and it’s an eternity ring!” Carly gasped out, reaching down to Madeline’s hand and taking in the ring closely.

“It is, isn’t it? I cried when he showed it to me; I had tears dripping down my face,” she explained, staring down at the ring.

“How did he ask you?” Carly asked.

“We were in the living room after we had put Matthew to bed and were just watching television. I was lying on his chest and could feel him fidgeting until he looked at me, kissed me on the lips, and”

“Asked her to marry me. Luckily, she said yes,” Ben said softly, walking into the bedroom.

“Hey you,” Maddy said cutely as Ben leaned down and kissed her softly.

“Hey Carls,” Ben said to his best friend’s wife, kissing her softly on the cheek.

“So you’re quite the romantic, aren’t you?” Carly asked Ben.

Ben shrugged as a blush started to creep up his neck, “I guess I am.”