Just A Little Different

Chapter 28

Over the next few months, we were happy as could be. Ben found a great job, we all graduated, Adam found another apartment, Ambrew went off to college and left the house to us, I even proposed and was now happily engaged to the love of my life. Some days were better than others, but we were okay with that. We never had any really bad days.

One day, we were sitting together watching T.V. because that was just how he wanted to spend his day off, when he said something unexpectedly. "Something's missing."

I looked down at him, confused. His head was in my lap as he stretched out across the couch. "What to do you mean?"

He gave me a look, as if he was confused himself. "I'm not sure. I just feel kind of...I don't know. Something is missing in this house. It's too empty.

I thought for a minute. "Well, we could get a pet."

"No, that's not it." He looked thoughtfully at the television. Then, he sat up and turned around. "I think...I think our family is too small."

My eyes widened. "You mean..." He nodded. I was speechless.

"Think about it. You would have company while I'm gone, I would have two things to look forward to when I get home," he smirked and leaned onto my arm, which I moved so he was leaning into my side and my arm was around his shoulder.

"I...I don't know, I mean...say, hypothetically, we do adopt a kid. What's going to happen if I...I just don't know."

I could see he knew what I meant. "Maybe it wouldn't happen, you know? I could see you getting upset over scaring them if you woke up frantic from a nightmare like you sometimes do, but I don't think you would have another really bad meltdown knowing everything is alright."

"Do...do you really want one?"

"Do you?"

~~~~~~~~

We spoke about it for a little while before coming to a decision. If this was still something we wanted after the wedding, we would look into adopting a baby, a child we could raise together. With that settled, our attention turned back to the television for a while. Well, his did. I fell asleep. But after hours and hours of working, I didn't care that I got a nap in every so often on a day off.

When I woke up, I was still on the couch, but Ian was talking to someone on his phone, in a hushed but angry voice in the kitchen. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he seemed really upset. When he hung up, I stood and walked over to him. "Who was that?"

"My mom," he huffed angrily. "I need to get my number changed."

"What did she want?"

"I don't know. I ignored the call like three times and when she called again I answered to tell her to leave me alone because I don't want to talk to her."

"Oh, Ian." I sat down and pulled him onto my lap. "You'll be rid of her eventually. Then you can deal with me spamming your phone when you're angry." He fought with himself for a minute, before finally letting a smile spread across his face. "See, you can't stay mad as long as I'm around." I laughed.

"Shut up." He hid his face in his hands.

"Ian, come on. I want to see your pretty eyes." He lowered his hands as a light pink blush creeped across his face. I snickered. He just could not take a compliment without getting embarrassed and I thought it was cute.

He turned his face away. "Don't laugh at me," he whined.

I shrugged. "Alright." He turned back to look at me. "Although, you make it so easy."

"Hey!" He exclaimed, holding back his own laughter. He's in such a great mood, I thought. I don't want that to change. His smile is too perfect.

~~~~~~~~

Ben and I laid in bed, randomly babbling about something whenever it came to mind. It was really late, but neither of us could sleep, so we just talked. At one point, I'd had enough talking. Instead, I turned over and looked out the window. Ben's arm wrapped around my waist. We laid there like that for a while, then I felt him shift. He moved my hair behind my ear, and I wasn't sure why because I was facing away from him anyway. There was no way it could be bothering him.

I myself being pulled closer to him until we were pressed up against each other, and he buried his face into my neck. "I don't want to go back to work tomorrow." His muffled voice sounded stressed.

"It'll be over before you know it," I promised. "For now, try not to think about that, alright?" He didn't respond. After a few minutes, I heard his gentle snoring. How did he fall asleep so fast? Does he have some weird sleeping power that I don't know about? I laughed at my own ridiculous thoughts and soon fell asleep to the sound of his snoring and the feel of his chest rising and falling against my back. He'll be alright. I'll still be here when he gets home and he'll feel better immediately. Just like everyday. I was comforted by my last thoughts of the night because I knew it was true. As long as we had each other, we would never truly be able to stay in a bad mood over anything.