Those Will Be The Best Memories

“C’mon Ben, this isn’t the time for joking,” Madeline said as her breath, and senses, came back to her.

Ben shook his head and planted his large hand on her arm, “I’m not joking Maddy. I want us to be better, don’t you? I want you to be safe. If being married means you feel safe, then let’s do it.”

Madeline stared at her boyfriend, looking into his eyes. He seemed sincere, but he was still drunk. He didn’t have a ring, and she didn’t expect her wedding proposal to be outside of an old bar.

“Just get in the car Ben,” Maddy said, pushing her built torso in the direction of the passenger’s seat.

Ben let out a loud groan and whipped the door open, sat down, and slammed it closed. He stared out the window as Maddy drove back to their house in the suburbs of Chicago, a million thoughts rushing through his head.

In his drunken state, he didn’t even register what each thought was.

Madeline pulled up to the house and opened her door, waiting for Ben to open his, before she locked it. They walked up to the front of the house and opened the door. Maddy took her shoes off and walked into the living room to tell Ashley she could go home, while Ben stumbled slightly, trying to toe off his skate shoes.

Ashley smiled at him as she walked past, and Ben closed and locked the door behind her. Madeline turned all of the lights off and headed upstairs with a loud huff, heavy footfalls following her.

Maddy bit her lip and turned around to face her boyfriend, “I think it would be best if you slept in the spare room.”

Ben silently nodded and turned around, walking in the opposite direction of his bedroom. The spare room was decorated nicely, but it lacked all of the homely touches that their room was filled with. There were no family pictures, there wasn’t a mess of clothes, there wasn’t even any dust. The spare room was to clean to be comfortable.

Ben shook his head tiredly and pulled off his shirt and pants, socks too, and climbed under the green comforter. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

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“Daddy!”

Ben groaned and ran his hand over his tired eyes. A small body was positioned on top of his torso with their cold nose pressed into his neck.

“Matthew, what are you doing?” Ben asked him, placing his large hand on his small back.

“Mommy says up! Patty call!” He yelled, sitting up on his father’s chest.

Ben sat up, bringing his knees up so his son would slide against them, and rubbed his eyes harshly to get the sleep out of them.

“Pat called?” Ben asked, standing up carefully with Matt on his hip.

“Yup,” Matthew giggled, pressing a finger into Ben’s cheek.

Ben leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Matthew’s cheek, leaning down farther and pretending to bite his neck. Matthew laughed and giggled, trying to push Ben’s face away.

“No daddy! No shark!” He yelled, laughing loudly.

Ben grinned and walked down the carpeted stairs, the cool air brushing against his legs and torso. He shivered slightly, pulling Matthew closer, and yawned as he walked into the kitchen.

Maddy stood in front of the stove in a pair of spandex shorts and a long sleeve white shirt, rolled up at the arms. Her hair was piled in a bun and she had short, white ankle socks covering her feet. Ben then noticed that she had the phone pressed to her pierced ear.

“Okay Pat, I’m going to let you go, he’s here,” Madeline said, smiling into the phone.

She giggled, “Love you too,” and passed the phone to Ben.

Ben pressed the phone to his ear as Matthew hung onto his side, “Hello?”

He heard the sound of a car in the background, “Ben? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, why?”

Patrick sighed, “You left early yesterday. What did you do, I know you didn’t take a cab home.”

Ben bit his lip, placed Matthew down, and walked over to the small downstairs office. He walked in and closed the door, sitting down in his comfortable computer chair.

“I fucked up big time,” Ben grumbled, placing his head into his hands.

“What did you do?” Patrick asked.

Ben stared at the picture on his desk; it was of Ben, Madeline, and Matthew when Matthew had just been born. Ben was sitting on Maddy’s hospital bed, as Madeline held Matthew in her arms. It was his favourite family picture; it was the moment he realized that he loved Madeline.

“I called her and asked her to come and get me, I said it was important. When she pulled up, I… I kind of just blurted it out. I, I asked her to marry me,” Ben said, holding his breath in anticipation to Pat’s response.

Ben heard a small, ‘fuck,’ in the background, “Ben you didn’t. Please tell me you’re joking!”

Groaning, Ben answered, “No, I’m not fucking joking. I was half drunk, I just, I thought it would be a good idea.”

“You thought asking her to marry you would be a good idea? Seriously, Ben? You honestly thought that she’d say yes?” Patrick asked, question after question.

“Pat, she said she didn’t feel safe; she thought I was fair game to other girls because we aren’t married. What the fuck do you want me to do? Say oh well and go on with my life?” Ben demanded, standing out of his chair.

A soft knock sounded on the door, and Ben went to open it. Madeline stood outside the door, chewing softly on her lip with a plate full of fried eggs, sausages, and bacon. She raised her eyebrow in question.

Pat was going on about something on the phone when Ben interrupted, “Pat, I gotta go.”

He hung up the cordless phone and sat back down on his chair, watching his girlfriend as she placed the plate and cutlery on his desk. She walked over to Ben and lightly pushed the chair away from the desk.

She softly sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I didn’t mean to get mad at you last night. I just, you were drunk and I didn’t think you were taking it seriously, what you were asking me. I thought, a lot, last night, and I came to a conclusion. At least for a little while.” Madeline whispered, placing her hand on his knee.

Thoughts were flying through Ben’s head.

“Ben, I think we should take a small break.”