Chapter Twenty Nine – Ben
“Are you ready for this?” Tia asks me nervously, fiddling with my clothing as if she’s my mom. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Will you stop it?” I bat her hands away from my shirt. “I know what I’m doing, alright? You’re going to make me more nervous than I am.” I glance my eyes everywhere. “Do you think it looks alright? Do you think she’ll be happy with it?”
“You know who you’re talking about right?” Tia giggles. “Serena will love it. She loves everything that you do, but the fact that you’ve gone to so much effort for her birthday will make her weep. Don’t forget, the last birthday she had she spent pregnant and alone.”
“Don’t remind me.” A darkness clouds me for a moment, I will always feel guilty for that. “I didn’t even know it was her birthday then, I can’t be blamed.”
“I know, I know. I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I’m just reminding you that she will absolutely love anything you do for her. You’ve gone from strength to strength these last ten months. This surprise party is something she’ll love.” Tia glances down to my pocket. “It’s the other bit I’m worrying about. Do you know what you’re doing? What you’re going to say?” I nod slowly. “I have to admit that proposing in front of a lot of people is a very brave thing to do. Either brave or crazy stupid, I can’t quite work out which one you are.”
I roll the ring around in my pocket, loving the feel of it there. “Yes, I know, but this is right, you know? And it isn’t everyone. Just the people who have been a big part of this.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s true.” She glances at her watch. “Right, we better get ready because your mom will be here with the kids in a minute, then it won’t be long until Jenny comes back with Serena after their spa day.”
“You and Jenny all good now then?” I know that she’s probably told me already, but I’ve been too tired running a business and being a dad to fully pay attention to everything going on around me. “All the Mike stuff sorted out?”
“Once we trapped him into confessing that he’d been seeing us both at the same time and he started crying... yeah, we became good friends after that. It was too glorious a moment for us not to bond over, you know?”
“Oh yeah... it sounds it.” I want to laugh, but I have to admit there’s a tiny part of me that feels sorry for Mike. Just a tiny bit. He probably didn’t realise what an asshole he was being, I never did when I led that freer life style. “Well, I’m glad it’s all done anyway. That’s pretty awesome.”
“Makes life easier... was that the door? I’ll go and get it, it’s probably your mom. You just... have a final check over the place, okay?”
She gives me a curious look, but when I nod and I send her away I can understand why I’m shaking all over, I’m a nervous wreck. I feel like I’m all kinds of messed up today. And on this day as well when I need more than ever to keep it together. This will be one of the most important days of my life. Right up there with the day that my kids were born.
Come on, Ben, keep your shit together, I warn myself. Make this a special day for Serena, she really does deserve it.
Mom walks in the room with Brandon and behind her I can see that Tia has Rose. My mother has been a legend when it comes to the twins. I can tell that they’ve revitalised her. She obviously lost her chance to be a parent again when my dad died, since she hasn’t met anyone since, and this has given her that opportunity. She’s grasped onto it with both hands and is now far happier than ever before.
“Ooh, it looks like you two have been busy the last few hours,” she says as she drinks it all in. “You’ve done a great job decorating this place. Serena is going to be very surprised.”
“You think she doesn’t know?” Oh great, my voice is shaking like crazy now. “You think I’ve managed to keep it a surprise?”
“Oh definitely, she doesn’t know. Jenny’s good at covering things up and her plan to take Serena to the spa is a good one.”
“Okay, okay, and what time are they due to be back?”
“Any minute now...” The sound of the door opening interrupts us, making my heart stop dead in my chest. “Okay, I guess now.”
We all take our places and wait. The kids make googling sounds which are adorable. Rose is starting to form words now, just the really basic ones, but she seems to have a sort of secret language with Brandon. It’s like they both know exactly what they’re saying, but no one else does. It’s adorable actually.
“...yeah, she was really nice, wasn’t she? Oh my God!” Serena gasps and claps her hand across her mouth in utter shock. “What’s going on here?”
“Surprise!!” we all yell in unison. Well, semi unison. It’s a little out of time but I think we just about manage to pull it off. “Happy birthday, Serena.”
The kids crawl over to their mommy. Brandon moves a little faster than his sister, but soon they’re both in Serena’s arms. She scoops them both up and hugs them tightly whispering to the pair of them how much she loves them. Then she turns her attention to the rest of us.
“This is amazing, I can’t believe that you’ve done this for me. It’s so nice.”
And that’s the moment the party kicks into gear. It’s a low key affair, without many people here, but that seems to make her very happy. She moves about talking to everyone in turn, while still being able to check on her children. I do the hard work so she can relax and enjoy herself, but she can’t keep away from them for long.
Eventually, she comes to me and she circles her arms around my back so she can press her face up against my back. “Thank you for this. I can’t believe you organised it all.”
“I had some help,” I admit while spinning around in her arms. “I didn’t do it all alone, but I did know that I had to do something nice for you. You do deserve it after all.”
“Well I really appreciate it, it’s awesome.”
I dip my head down to kiss her gently, and as I do I realise that the moment has come. It’s now or never, finally time for me to say what I need to say. I glance around the room and see that everyone is there, no one’s in the bathroom or anything, so I cough loudly to get everyone’s attention. It takes a few moments, but finally everyone seems to get the hint that I’m doing the thing that this has all been worked around, the thing that I’m here for.
“Right, everyone, thanks for coming.” All of a sudden I feel a flame bursting into my cheeks. I’d practiced this over and over again but now I can’t find the words in my brain. It’s as if someone has scrubbed my mind totally clean. “Erm, it’s good to have you here.”
I give Serena a desperate look, begging her to put me out of my misery, but of course she can’t. She has no idea what I’m about to say. I’m all on my own with this one. I dip my hand into my pocket and feel the ring there which gives me the confidence to go on.
I fall onto one knee and I stare up into Serena’s eyes. She widens her gaze and looks at me with complete and utter shock. At least this means it is all a surprise. I thought that somehow she might have found out by now, and she was just acting it, but I can tell in her face that isn’t the case at all.
“Serena, I love you. I mean, I really love you more than I thought anyone could love another person.” I rub her hand between my fingers, gleaning some strength from her. “I didn’t think I would ever be the sort of person to fall so hard and fast but I have. I know I panicked at one point and almost messed things up, but I hope that I’ve made up for it since then.”
You have,” she says thickly though the emotion. “You really have.”
“I think it would be nice for the kids, and for me and you too, if we made our love official. I love you so desperately and I would give anything for you to marry me. I want to spend today, tomorrow, and every day afterwards for the rest of our lives making you happy.” I give her a bright smile. “So what do you say? Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”
She hesitates, but only for a moment, and only because she’s so overwhelmed. As soon as she can speak again, she gasps out her answer, which thankfully for me is a positive one.
“Of course I will, I would love to be your wife, nothing would make me happier.”
I slide the ring onto Serena’s fingers as everyone jumps for joy and cheers around us. I hoped things would go this way but now that they have I feel over the moon. Judging by the happiness on Serena’s face she feels the same way. This is the sort of thing that neither of us expected to happen but here we are living the dream.
“That isn’t the only surprise,” I tell her as she flings her arms around me. “I have something else for you.”
She takes the envelope from me and she grins brightly. “More surprises? I don’t know if I can take any more. My heart is already pounding at a million miles an hour.” She tears the envelope open and stares at what’s inside. “You’ve booked us a weekend away? Are you serious?”
“Yep. I mean it’s just one night and two days because I didn’t think you’d be able to handle more than that away from the kids, but it should be fun, right? And Mom is staying here with the kids during that time so we can have some real me and you time.” God we need that. We’ve done our best considering we have twins, but a whole weekend of just us sounds like absolute heaven to me. “What do you think about that?”
Serena squeezes me so tight I can barely breathe. “Oh my God, that sounds utterly amazing. Are you sure about this, Iris?”
“I’m definitely sure. You know how I feel about these two little darlings. Plus, we can start compiling some wedding ideas for you two to think about, I’m sure you’ll want the ceremony soon since you’re doing things the wrong way around...”
“Alright, Mom.” I have to stop her before she drives me nuts. She’s about to really get carried away. “Don’t dress up your keenness for a wedding on us doing the right thing. We’ll get married when we get married, okay?”
“Alright, alright, you know I’m just really happy for you, that’s all.”
As Serena moves over to her girlfriends to hug them, I wonder if she’ll invite her parents. She doesn’t talk about them much and I don’t like to ask her in case it upsets her. The last I heard they sent her away with some money because she was an embarrassment to them for having a baby out of wedlock. But this is a time we might have to discuss it. We’re going to have to plan what we’re doing next.
Not now though, not today. Today is a happy day and I want it to stay that way. Anything challenging can come later on. This is my proposal day. The first day of the rest of our lives.