Chapter 35
“All I’m saying is if your parents drop any kind of hint about marriage, you’re telling them it’s you, not me, OK?”
“I will.” Madison sighed. “But they won’t. Stop freaking out about it and come to bed.”
Ben stopped pacing and unzipped his hoodie, dropping it on the large chair in the corner of his room.
“Why are you so nervous anyway? They’re really normal. And you’re… you. You’re always comfortable with people.”
“I never really met the in-laws, even though they are not technically my in-laws. And I got their daughter pregnant because I was in a hurry to bang her brainless on my best friend’s washing machine, of course I’m nervous.”
“I suggest you leave that part out when I introduce you.”
“Good idea.”
He slipped into bed, pulling her to him until her back was to his front. His hand gently slipped under her T-shirt - technically, his, since she never bothered to take pajamas with her when she was sleeping over. She wasn’t showing yet, which was still completely normal. She had only entered her third month, and they were going to visit her parents the following weekend to tell them the news face to face.
Her pregnancy so far was going smoothly. She had barely suffered from morning sickness, just a little bit of nausea every now and then and a strong dislike of oranges. She needed a lot more sleep, but he figured it was a very small price to pay in exchange for a healthy baby and a healthy mama.
“Pumpkin,” he murmured, brushing his lips against her shoulder.
“Mmh?”
“Will you marry me?”
“No.”
He had been expecting it. He still asked her regularly, on the off chance she’d have changed her mind. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Good. Will you move in with me?”
The silence that answered him was longer than he expected. “Pumpkin?”
“Did you just ask me to move in with you?”
“Yes?”
There was another beat, then she turned around in his arms, facing him. He quickly switched the bedside lamp on, figuring it was better to at least be able to read her face.
“Are you serious about this?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. We’re gonna be a family. And, no, it’s not just that. The proof is that mini-me isn’t with us yet, and I’m already asking.”
“Good point.”
“I think so too. We’re good together, aren’t we? You’re a little messy, but nothing I can’t deal with. Worst case scenario, we each get our own bathroom and walk-in closet.”
“Wait. You expect us to sleep in different rooms?”
Woah. Hell no.
“No.”
“Then… There is only one walk-in closet in your bedroom, Ben.”
“Baby… I was thinking we could get a house. I’d sell the loft, get a nice little house for the three of us. With a garden.”
“But you got the loft from your grandparents, Ben, you can’t sell it.”
“I think they would completely agree with me. I’d rather make a nice home with my wife, my son, and my traitor of a dog.”
“Your girlfriend and our still neutral-gender future child,” Madison corrected.
“Details.”
“And it’s not like Rocco was born a girl on purpose. You’re the one who should have checked a few things.”
“Also details.”
She took a deep breath, her fingers tracing his jaw. “I don’t want you to have regrets.”
“That will never happen. I want to be with you, live with you. I want to be able to play outside with my kid when it gets sunny. I want us to build a snowman together. Maybe plant a tree. I don’t know, that kind of stuff.”
“And where do you picture me in that?”
“I don’t know. Barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen?”
She pinched his side, making him squirm. “Ow, Pumpkin! Fine, fine. I picture you in a very nice office, just for you, glasses on your nose, hair a mess while you work on whatever it is you love best, then making us hot cocoa and fussing over mini-Ben and his red nose, all cold from the outside.”
“That’s a very lovely picture,” she murmured.
“I know, right? I’m a very good mental-picturer. What do you think about making it real?”
“Maybe I should move in here first. Then we’d see how it goes?”
“As long as I get you in my bed every night, I can live with that.”
“Good.” She gently pressed her lips to his, a soft kiss that was full of tenderness.
“I’m still calling my real estate agent when we’re back from visiting your family.”
“Of course you are.”
“Son, I know she doesn’t want to marry you,” Richard, Madison’s father, said before Ben could even open his mouth. “She told me last night.”
They had arrived Saturday morning and had told her parents, as well as her brother and his fiancée, that they were expecting. They had been obviously a little shocked, but mostly happy for them once it had worn off.
“I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t willing to step up or anything like that.” They were having a small stroll in the park by their house while Madison and her mother were doing some female-bonding thing that involved digging into Madison’s baby clothes.
“I know my daughter. She is the most level-headed woman I have ever met. And I married a professor and work in a very academic field, so that should tell you something. I have to admit, I never really saw her with a man like you.”
Ben shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way,” Richard said. “I think it’s good for her. You balance each other, each a little on the extreme from what I can sense.”
“I’m much more obnoxious than her for sure,” Ben admitted with a small laugh.
“But you love her. And you respect her. As a father, that’s all I want for her. And same goes for her mom, by the way. Maddy has never been the romantic kind. Her mother is the same. Which, between you and me, is why I don’t get how she suddenly goes all mother-of-the-groom crazy over Lucas’ wedding. She wasn’t that excited for ours, that’s for sure.”
“Hopefully, she’ll get to plan her daughter’s one day.”
“Of course, you would say hopefully. You’re not the one asked if pale yellow is better than buttery yellow for the invitations.”
“I’d probably be the one in charge of those details anyway,” Ben chuckled.
“It’s very likely. Anyway, I didn’t just want to talk about my daughter’s position on marriage and how it’s none of my business anyway. She told me you’re estranged from your father and… I never had the most amazing relationship with my parents, but they were there when I needed help. If somehow, down the road… things get tough for you two and you could use a little bit of wisdom… don’t hesitate to reach out. I want my little girl to be happy and sometimes, we just need some advice. If you need it… I’ll be there. No judgment, I promise. Having children is not easy, and you’re a very young couple. It’s going to be hard and… you might want to call it quits a few times, too.”
Ben was about to protest but Richard cut him off. “No, no. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I’ve been there. Struggling is good. It means you’re still fighting for something. It’s the smooth apathy that is dangerous. So, my advice is to never let things get to that stage.”
It was hard to not think about the cold emptiness that was constantly surrounding them when his mother was still alive, and they still lived as a family. Richard was right. It humbled him, in many ways, to realize that Madison’s father was showing him trust and respect, taking him and his feelings for his daughter seriously.
He promised himself that this was the kind of father he was going to be for his child.