Benielle: It's Complicated

Thirty

Quick Author's Note:

We're at Part Thirty with over 3.2K reads! Amazing! Are you guys enjoying this? Anything specific you'd like to see?

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~At Ben's house. Danielle decided to go with him.~

Ben: "So I guess you haven't eaten yet, then."

Danielle: "No, I was saving my appetite for the barbecue."

Ben: "I told you that you didn't have to come..."

Danielle: "It's fine. I wanted to. I'll just eat here."

Ben: "I swear all we do when we're together is eat."

*Danielle cracks a smile*

Danielle: "That's not all we do."

*Ben forces a smug smile*

Danielle: "Um... anyway, I'll just head across the street and grab a slice of pizza. Want anything?"

Ben: "No I'm good."

*Ben grabs the baby's arms and helps him walk over to the living room*

*They sit down on the floor and Ben brings out the toys from the diaper bag*

Ben: "Look at these toys daddy left you! Do you like cars?"

*Ben rolls a toy car over to Indy*

*Indy looks up at Ben*

Indy: "Dada."

Ben: "Hah, I wish."

*Indy picks up the car and puts it in his mouth*

Ben: "Okay, no way. I guess you didn't get fed either."

*Ben takes the car from his mouth and Indy starts to cry*

*Danielle comes back*

Danielle: "What happened?"

Ben: "I think he's hungry. Can you watch him for a sec? He's putting the toys in his mouth."

*Danielle plops herself on the floor and brings Indy onto her lap*

Danielle: "Shhh it's okay buddy."

*Danielle rubs his tummy as Ben calls Rider*

Ben: "Hey man, how's everything going?"

Rider: "Hey, still waiting around here. They're guessing it's related to low blood pressure but we're just waiting for some test results to find out the cause of that. How's Indy?"

Ben: "Still alive, believe it or not. But I think he's hungry."

Rider: "Oh crap, yeah, he'll get real cranky without his dinner. If you look in the diaper bag, there's a package of cereal mix. Pour that into warm water with some milk and he'll eat that. You can fill his bottle with regular milk too."

Ben: "Oh my god these are such dad things. Okay, I think I can manage though."

Rider: "You'll be fine! If you've got any soft fruit lying around, chop it up into small pieces and that'll shut him right up too."

Ben: "Alright, cereal with chopped up squishy banana, and a bottle of milk. What a gourmet dinner."

Rider: "Thanks Ben! Let me know if you have any problems. I'll call you again later."

*They hang up and Ben grabs the cereal mix from the bag*

*Ben stares for a moment, watching Danielle rock Indy in her arms*

Danielle: "Whatcha staring at? Everything okay?"

Ben: "Yeah. Sorry. I'm just going to put his dinner together."

*Danielle smiles and continues rocking Indy*

*Ben brings over the food to the coffee table*

*Ben picks up Indy off of Danielle's lap and sits him on his lap on the couch*

*Indy looks up at Ben*

Indy: "Dada."

*Danielle lets out a laugh and Ben forces a smile*

Ben: "Time for some yummy food."

*Ben starts spoon feeding him*

Danielle: "You look like a pro dad."

*Ben doesn't make eye contact with her, just continues feeding Indy*

Ben: "I forgot the milk in the kitchen. Can you grab it for me?"

*Without responding, Danielle brings over the bottle*

Danielle: "You're welcome."

*Ben lets Indy hold the bottle and he starts to drink it in Ben's arms*

*Danielle crosses her arms*

Danielle: "Are we not on speaking terms?"

Ben: "Honestly, Danielle, honestly I'm not in the mood for a fight right now."

Danielle: "Who said anything about a fight?! All I'm trying to do is make small talk. Why are you being such a dick to me?"

Ben: "First off, watch your mouth around Indy. Second, we're not arguing around the baby."

Danielle: "Then put him to bed so we can have a discussion." 

Ben: "I didn't ask you to come here."

Danielle: "Oh my god, Ben, then why don't you just tell me to go?"

Ben: "Okay then go! Obviously us playing house with a baby isn't working out so just go."

*Danielle tears up, grabs her bag, and leaves without another word*

*Ben puts down Indy's empty bottle and looks at him*

Ben: "It's just you and I, pal. Let's get ready for bed."

*Ben picks him up and figures out how to change his diaper*

Ben: "Hmm, with no crib, I guess you'll have to sleep next to me. You better not be a roller."

*Ben carries him over to his room and lays Indy next to him in the bed*

Ben: "Good night, little guy."

*Ben gives him a kiss on the head and tears up, turning onto his back and staring at the ceiling*

*Rider calls so Ben sniffles back his tears before answering*

Rider: "Hey, we're almost done here, so I can swing by to pick up Indy in probably about an hour or so."

Ben: "Don't worry about it man. Go home and get some rest. I've fed him, managed to figure out how to change him, and now he's in bed beside me. I'll take good care of him for the night."

Rider: "Are you sure? We can come get him after, it's no big deal."

Ben: "He's already sleeping so there's no point waking him. Plus, I enjoy the company."

Rider: "Alright, so I'll call you in the morning then. Thanks so much for this!"

Ben: "It's a pleasure."

*They say good night and hang up*

*Ben turns onto his side looking on as Indy sleeps*

*He thinks about the loneliness in his life, he thinks about Danielle, he thinks about the life he wishes he had, and he lets the tears stream down again*