Epilogue
“Everleigh thinks Mia is seeing someone,” Madison said, reading the text her friend had just sent her.
“Oh. Hum… does Chris know?”
“Nope. She’s not positive, but she says that the signs are there.”
“Ackerman, table of three!”
Madison stood up, watching as Ben scooped their daughter up and gave her a small smile, waiting for her to follow their hostess.
“I guess it was bound to happen. Let’s hope she picked a good one,” Ben said as they made their way through the crowded restaurant. “I guess I should plan an evening out when Chris figures out his baby sister has a boyfriend.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes, honey?”
“Wha’ss a boyf’iend?”
“Something you will never need.”
“Ben!”
Madison stared at him with reproachful eyes as he took the booster seat from her hands and set it on his side of the booth. “What? She doesn’t need a boyfriend.”
“I only need my daddy and Wocco,” Charlotte said with a little nod as she climbed onto the booth and made herself comfortable on her small seat.
“See? I’m all about respecting a woman’s wishes, Pumpkin, you know that.”
“Sure, you are. She is absolutely not repeating what you say all day, every day. God, this Oedipus phase is never-ending.”
Ben smiled as he fished out a baby wipe from the small backpack they always brought along whenever going out with Charlotte. He was still a little bit of a neat freak, even if, now that they had a young child, he had had to relax a little bit and prioritize things. Sometimes, having an hour of relaxing time was just much more valuable than making sure everything was exactly in its place. For all these things, though, he was awfully well prepared. Madison watched as he cleaned Charlotte’s hands thoroughly, something he did before every meal. There was a very high chance that their daughter had put her hands everywhere ever since they had left their home. She was insanely curious.
That, she definitely got from her mom.
Along with her brown eyes and bad eyesight, as testified by the small glasses she was already wearing.
“Alright, guys, what can I get you?” A young, beaming waitress stopped at their table, her notepad already open.
“We’ll have the double blueberry pancakes, and a side of sausage links for this one,” Ben said, resting a hand over Charlotte’s head.
“No problem. What would you like to drink?”
Madison eyed her daughter who was already busy with the crayons and the small poster the hostess had left for her on the table. “Charlotte, milk or juice?”
“Like daddy.”
Madison sighed with a small smile. “Of course, like daddy.”
When she said the Oedipus complex was strong with Charlotte, she wasn’t kidding. The little girl was constantly glued to her dad, who didn’t complain in the slightest. Thinking back on it, it was obvious that Ben had been made to have a daughter. Someone who would always see him as the biggest, tallest, strongest, smartest man in the world?
That was right up Ben’s alley.
“Then milk for everyone,” Ben told the waitress with a smile.
“She’s adorable. How old is she?” the young woman asked, taking their menus back.
“Charlotte, can you answer? How old are you?”
Charlotte lifted her eyes, then held out her hand, three fingers pointing up. “Sth’wee.”
Madison grinned at her daughter’s little lisp. She had a hard time pronouncing a few letters, and they were working on that, but a toddler learning how to speak was always adorable, no matter what.
“And I love her braids,” the waitress continued. “Great job,” she added with a wink to Madison.
“Oh no,” Madison chuckled. “The braids are daddy’s job. He’s much better at it than I am.”
“Oh, then good job, daddy!”
Charlotte eyed the waitress, and Madison had to pinch her lips at the profoundly displeased look on her face. Right on point, Charlotte stood up to wrap her arms around Ben’s neck, sending the waitress what Madison could only describe as a smug look.
As usual, Ben remained oblivious, wrapping his daughter in his arms with a smug smile of his own, directed at Madison this time.
The little girl was a lot like her mom, but in these moments, it was impossible to not see the resemblance with her dad.
As they were waiting for their food, Ben grabbed his phone, handing it to her. “My travel agent sent me this. He included all the dates, we just have to figure out when is the best time to leave.”
“A cruise?” She eyed the email and the attachments included. “You want to go on a cruise? For our first real vacation?” They hadn’t been able to take more than a long weekend every now and then - like right now - but were planning to leave for at least two weeks in January or February.
He nodded. “I told you I wanted to take you to Bermuda. It’s time I get to it.”
Madison frowned. “No, you didn’t.”
“Of course, I did! Even before we started dating.”
“I think I’d remember that.”
Ben helped Charlotte back in her small seat. “Pumpkin, Kokomo was playing all the time in my car!”
“… Because it’s your favorite song, from your favorite movie.”
“I like to see it as me already sensing you were the love of my life and that one day, we’d head to the Caribbean.”
She snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. “And Who Let the Dogs Out was foreshadowing Rocco, I guess?”
“Exactly. Now that I think of it, maybe I’m some kind of Seer.”
“A Seer who is constantly wrong about things like genders, you mean?”
“I still maintain you must have done something the second time around.”
“Seeing how I sometimes feel like my own daughter would love to kick me out of my own house to have you all to herself, I should suspect you, not the other way around.”
“It’s not my fault if I’m her favorite parent.”
“She’s mostly right in the middle of a serious case of Oedipus complex.”
“Could you please stop with your facts and science just for once, woman?” he asked with an exasperated tone. “Why did I fall in love with a brainy girl, again?”
“Because you needed someone to balance your silliness.”
He paused as the waitress brought their drinks, thanking her with a small nod. “OK, fine, I give you that.”
She smiled as she took a sip of her milk. The last three years had been full of love, laughter, but also struggles. Raising a child wasn’t easy, but doing it with Ben made it an adventure, one that she wouldn’t exchange for anything in the world.
They had eventually moved out of the loft a year ago, after having found the perfect home for their little family.
She had also quit her job. It hadn’t been an easy decision but there was no denying that the trust in her superiors had been broken. She now worked as a full-time statistician for a pharmaceutical company and absolutely loved it.
Ben still worked at the bank and had been promoted to the head of his department a few months ago. It mostly meant less traveling, something he was really happy about. He didn’t like being away from his girls.
She had been right about that. He was an amazing father. Full of doubts at times, but so loving. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his daughter. She had him completely wrapped around her little finger.
One night, he had admitted that it had been that way from the second he had held her in his arms.
When the waitress brought their food, it was impossible for her to miss the way Ben carefully cut a small piece of pancake for Charlotte, knowing what the simple dish meant for him.
Their daughter chewed thoughtfully then swallowed and opened her mouth again.
“You like it, honey?” Ben asked with a beaming smile.
“Yes.”
“Looks like it really runs in the family.”
Ben glanced at her, his beaming smile turning into something softer. “Yeah. It does.”
“She fell asleep,” Ben murmured as he stepped onto the balcony, sliding the glass door until only a small opening remained. “Never even got to the end of the story.”
“We had a busy day, and she didn’t have a real nap.”
After their breakfast, Ben had driven around Hedera, showing them his former high school, where he had learned to ice skate, and other things he wanted to share with them.
The last part of the trust fund set up by his grandparents had become available once he had turned thirty-five, the year before. He had hesitated a lot with what he wanted to do with it. They didn’t really need it, and there was still the question of his childhood home.
It had taken him a few months before an idea had eventually formed in his head.
A shelter for single mothers.
Setting up a foundation and finding people he could trust to take care of it had taken a little while too, but all the papers and contracts had finally been drawn up in the past few weeks. There were already four little families living there.
The cold, quiet, empty house was finally full of life.
It was the first time Madison had come with him to visit his hometown. Charlotte had been too little until then, and they didn’t want to be so far away from her. She was still too little for many things, but they had wanted her to be there nonetheless. It was an important moment for Ben, and Madison knew he needed his family with him.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Madison asked as he wrapped her in his arms and pressed his cheek against hers. Their hotel was by a river, and the sunset was giving warm, soft colors to the trees surrounding them. It wasn’t even too chilly, even if it was October.
“Yes.” There was a small pause, and then he added, “I know if we were in a cheesy movie, I’d be talking about you, but I really mean the sunset.”
She snorted, and he pressed a kiss on her cheek, his chest rumbling with laughter too.
“You’re ruining the moment,” she said with a chuckle and a small pat on his forearm.
“Pumpkin?”
She leaned her head back, allowing his lips to trace a few kisses on her neck. “Mmh?”
“Marry me?”
She smiled, closing her eyes. He had asked her so many times in the past four years. Especially in the months after Charlotte’s birth. It had been hard, trying to deal with a newborn, her job, and parenting. There had been quite a few fights.
There had also been a lot of Post-It notes with the usual question waiting for her on the bathroom’s mirror, the oven, the fridge, or her nightstand.
The question had become less and less frequent in the past year. Only once in a while, as if now he only needed to remind her he was still interested. There had never been pressure on his part.
That was why, apart from maybe the very first time, all her answers had been so easy to give.
And that was why this one was too.
“Yes.”
He didn’t react at first. She threw him a quick, little glance, a smile dancing on her lips. Then he batted his eyelids in quick succession as if he wasn’t sure he had understood her.
“You’re kidding, right?” he asked, slightly pulling away from her in obvious shock.
“I wouldn’t. Not about that,” she said with a laugh as she turned around to face him fully.
“Holy shit, Pumpkin, why did you say yes?!” he hissed. “I don’t have a ring!”
“What?!”
“I… I stopped carrying that damn thing three years ago, what do you think??”
She shrugged. “I think that you’ll always be sure I didn’t say yes for the bling then.”
He stared at her, blinking slowly. “We’re gonna get married.”
“Yes, that’s usually what follows when someone proposes, and the answer is positive. Or so I’ve heard.”
“You’re gonna be my wife.”
“That also usually happens.”
“Pumpkin?”
“Yes?”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this but… shut up.”
“And?”
He grinned, a few crinkles at the corners of his eyes softening them as he leaned in, resting his forehead against hers. “And kiss me.”
***