Will You Love Me? : The Golden Years

Chapter 2

"[Y/N], listen to me," Ben tried to reason, as you got out of bed, "I meant to tell you--." You rounded the bed, as he got up from the bed as well and shouted, "You just told me our daughter wasn't supposed to live past eleven!"

He put his hands up in surrender as you went up to him. "I was going to tell you," he explained, "but we were both so upset after Em was in the hospital and I couldn't see you cry anymore!" You scoffed. "Who told you that?" You asked. "Who said that about our daughter?"

Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them back up, he said, "Dr. Levi." He then felt a sharp sting across his face, where you had suddenly slapped him. He winced at the pain and put his hand on his reddened cheek.

"You kept this from me," you said, "for ten years? A decade, Ben? What were you going to tell me if she died, Benedict?!" Suddenly, you heard a bedroom door open in the hallway, feet running, then another door opening and shutting. 

Sighing, you told him, "I don't want you in here. I can't...I can't even look at you right now!" Ben teared up as he watched you walk away from him. "I...I'm sorry," he said. "I just...I just wanted you to stop crying."

You ignored him and got into bed. He wiped his loose tears, then grabbed his pillows. Without saying anything, he walked out of the room. As he passed Conner's bedroom, he peeked in and saw him and Scar cuddled in bed. 

"Scar, what are you doing, sweetheart?" He asked, as he walked in. "Come on, go back to bed." She shook her head. "You and mom keep fighting," she said. "It scares me." Conner nodded and said, "Me, too."

Ben sat down on the bed. "I'm sorry, you guys," he said. "Sometimes adults fight, but there's nothing to be afraid of when it comes to your mum and I. We love each other very much. We love all of you, too." He kissed their heads, then managed to convince Scar to go back to bed. 

After he carried her back to bed, he walked down the hall to go downstairs, when Nate came out of his room with a tired look on his face. "Everything okay?" He asked. Ben patted his shoulder and nodded. "Go back to sleep," he told him. 

He continued downstairs and set himself up on the couch. He had just laid down when he heard the front door open. He peeked over the couch and saw Em tiptoeing in.

"Hey, you," he said, causing her to jump and turn to him. "Hi, daddy," she breathed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so late." Ben shook his head and told her, "It's fine. Did you have fun?"

She smiled widely and nodded. "Why are you sleeping on the couch?" She suddenly asked. He shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it." He scooted himself over and patted the couch. "Come here, tell your old man what made your date so good."

Em laid down on the couch with him and put her head on his chest. "We just went for a ride," she told him. "We stopped by McDonalds and picked up some food, before parking by the Heath. We just talked. We talked for hours and he's a lot more than I thought he would be."

Ben smiled and rubbed her back. "I'm glad you had fun," he said. "When do I get to meet him?" She looked up at him and whined, "Daddy, please don't. It's too soon." He shrugged, then said, "Not really. I want to meet the boy that has my little girl blushing."

"I am not blushing," she scoffed. He chuckled, then pinched her cheeks as he told her, "You are!" They both laughed for a bit. It was then silent for a few moments, until she said, "You and mom had a fight, didn't you?"

He sighed, "Yeah. A pretty big one this time. I'll need lots of flowers and lots of chocolate." Before she could ask why, he took a look at her tank, then said, "You're running low, missy. Go switch it out and get to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

He kissed her head as she got up and watched as she took herself and her tank upstairs. He doesn't regret not telling you. He just hopes you'll understand. 

**

"Nate. please get your drawings out of here!" You called from the kitchen, making Ben jolt awake. He looked around and saw that it was morning. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. 

He walked into the kitchen as he rubbed his eyes. "I don't want to get anything on these," you softly explained to Nate as he picked up his drawings from the counter. "They're great, honey, just keep them out of harm." You kissed his cheek, as he smiled and said, "Thanks mom."

He looked over to Ben and said, "Morning, dad." Ben yawned, then said, "Morning, son. Where's your brother and sisters?" He went to kiss you, but you swiftly moved away, as Nate answered, "I don't know. Upstairs?"

Sighing, Ben said, "Well, it's Saturday, I have the day off, so I propose we all go out for lunch." A small voice from the kitchen doorway asked, "Lunch?" You all turned to see Scarlett standing there. "Yes," Ben said, as he walked up to her, "lunch. Why don't you go tell Em and your brother to be ready by eleven-thirty?"

"Okay," she heavily sighed, before trudging upstairs. "Ben," you sharply said. "Living room. Now." Nate glanced in between you two as you each walked into the living room.

Once you were alone, you glared at Ben for a moment, then said, "I don't want to go to lunch. I don't want anything to do with you right now!" Ben clenched his jaw, then took a deep breath. "If you would just...let me explain," he said. "I didn't want to keep this from you, but I did and I don't regret it. I have had this bloody burden with me for ten years! Do you know what it was like to go through that each year just...waiting for it to happen?" He asked with tears in his eyes. 

"I was waiting for my baby...my little girl...to die. Each year after the next, I waited. There were so many times where I almost told you, but I couldn't let you go through that. I would not have been able to watch you wait like I've been. The pain, the anxiety of it all drove me mad and I...I didn't want that for you."

He waited for your response as you stood there with your arms crossed, face less stressed than before. He could see you thinking about it. You sighed and looked down at your feet. "I'm sorry," you sighed. He quickly shook his head and told you, "No, no, no don't you dare apologize." 

You looked up as he came up to you. He cupped your face and brushed your noses against each other. "Don't say you're sorry," he told you. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You have every right to be mad at me. All I ask is that you try and understand why I couldn't tell you." 

Sighing, you put his hands on his cheeks and said, "I do. God, you had to carry that with you for ten years." He let out a strangled sigh and put his face in your neck. "It was so hard," he said. "Every bloody year...and I'm still waiting." 

You ran your fingers through his hair and kissed his head. "Promise me you won't keep something like this from me ever again." He quickly nodded and said, "I promise. Just promise me that you won't be sad. Please don't cry."

Smiling, you told him, "I'll try. It might be hard, but if you can get through it, so can I." He brought his head up to look at you. He was crying, but you wiped his tears, then gave him a kiss. "We'll get through it," he told you.

You kissed him again. "How about you and me go out to lunch?" He suggested. "I think we can use that. We can go out to dinner with the kids later. Right now, I just need you." You nodded and told him, "That sounds good to me."