The Baker, Part 2: Sous Chef

Chapter 35

"Alright, so," Ben said as he plopped down on the bed next to Cassie, "according to this article, if you are pregnant with twins, you should be relaxing, not doing any stress related activities—so you should probably have Kelly at the bakery every once in a while—and..."

He stopped himself when she put her hand up to him. "Ben, it's fine. I'll stick myself in the office all day, I'll stop serving, cashiering, and I'll stick to boring paperwork. Besides, we've got a while to go before we need to start changing anything drastic about our lifestyle."

"Yeah, but it's going to come around much quicker than either of us think. We may have six months to go, but it's going to feel like three weeks." She knew he was right. She just really didn't want to change anything up at the moment. "On to a different matter," she said, "we need to tell Liam. He's been asking questions as to why I've gotten 'fat'."

Ben chuckled as he said, "We can tell him sometime this week. I think he'll be excited to have little brothers, or sisters, or a brother and a sister. Is it wrong of me to hope we have one of each?" Cassie rested her head on his shoulder as she told him, "No because I feel the same way. I'll be happy any way they decide to come out, though."

It was silent for a moment before Ben said, "Speaking of siblings...have you called Leo yet?" She sighed, but didn't say anything else. "Honey, you should call him. There has to be a reason why he hasn't spoken to you in nearly five years. Hell, I want to know the reason."

Again, she didn't say anything.

"Well," Ben said as he got up, "I am going to go give Liam his bath. When I come back, I'll rub some of that coca butter oil on your stomach." Just as he was about to leave, Cassie said, "He's here. He's in London." Ben turned back to her as she continued, "I don't know if I can just...forgive him."

Sitting back down next to her, he said, "Nobody is asking you to. If he asks, tell him to fuck off. He hurt you, he hurt my wife. You shouldn't forgive him, not anytime soon at least. Just talk to him, whether it's on the phone or in person. Talk to him."

**

The next day, Cassie set up to speak with Leo. She texted him the address of the house and he was set to come over today around noon. Ben had a break in filming for the day, so he was at home and planned to distract Liam...maybe even eavesdrop a bit.

When noon rolled around, there was a knock on the door. "Easy, love," Ben soothed as Cassie took a deep breath. "Liam, Hunter and I will be in the back and if you need anything, just give me a shout." He kissed her cheek, then went outside before she could answer the door.

After one last deep breath, she turned the handle and opened it. "Hey, sis," Leo breathed out with a smile. Cassie folded her arms, then said, "Come in." He frowned a bit, but walked inside. "Nice place you got here. When did you move?"

She led him into the living room as she told him, "A few months after the wedding." He nodded, then looked towards the backyard where Ben was running around with Liam and Hunter. "Is that Liam?" Leo asked. Cassie only nodded.

"Look, Cass, I'm sorry," he said. "What I did was stupid and uncalled for. Truth is...I was in a bad spot. After dad died, I wasn't myself. I know you can relate. As time went on, I just felt worse and worse. Everyone else moved on, but I couldn't. So, I made a stupid decision...but it helped and because it helped, I don't feel bad about it. Well, I feel slightly bad."

Cassie looked out to the backyard and could see Ben eyeing them curiously. She looked back to Leo and asked, "Where did you go?" He sat on the arm of a chair and told her, "Everywhere. I travelled all over the place. When I stopped here, I had every urge to call you, but I never got the courage. I ended back in California when I ran out of places to go and got on the next flight here because I had to see you. Cass, I'm sorry. If there's one thing I do regret, it's not keeping in contact with you."

Sighing, she shook her head, then told him, "Stay for dinner and get to know your nephew. You want to make up for it? That's all you have to do. I'll call Kelly and get her over here as well." He stood up as he said, "Yeah, of course! Uh, Ben's not going to kick my ass is he?" She smirked at that. "No," she said, "not unless I tell him to."

She looked out back and saw Ben back to playing with Liam and Hunter. When he looked up, she gestured for him to come inside. He picked up Liam and had Hunter follow him inside. "Hey, Leo," he greeted a bit skeptically as he stepped in. "Everything alright?" He looked to Cassie for confirmation.

"Leo is staying for dinner," was all she said. "He is going to get to know Liam a bit more." Ben looked to his son, then to Leo. "Uh...right, yeah, of course." He set Liam down, then knelt down next to him. "Hey, buddy, can you say 'hi' to Leo?" Liam looked up to Leo and gave him a smile. "Hi, Weo!" He happily greeted.

Leo bent down close to Liam's height. "Hi, there, Liam. I've heard a lot about you." Cassie gently put her fingers through her son's hair and said, "Liam, Leo is my brother. He's your uncle." Liam looked up at his mom curiously. "Unco?" He asked.

"You know how you have Aunt Kelly?" Ben gently explained. "Well, an Uncle is a...boy version." That seemed to help it click. "Ohhh..." Liam said. "Can I go pway wit Hunter now?" All the adults laughed. "Go on," Cassie chuckled.

"Well, Leo," she said, "I hope you're okay with take-out since my Sous Chef is distracted."     

An hour later, they were all sitting in the kitchen, eating Chinese. Kelly wasn't there because she didn't want to be. Leo made a promise to stay in London until he could make amends with her. Cassie noticed how Leo was practically a different person. He was much lighter and had more humor and charisma. 

"You know, I was kidnapped at gunpoint there many years ago," Ben mentioned when Leo brought up how he travelled to South Africa. Cassie put her hand on Ben's and said, "Please, don't tell the story. You know I hate it. I can't imagine how my life would be had they killed you." Ben squeezed her hand, then said, "Alright, darling. Another time, Leo."

Sometime later, Liam starting yawning and could barely put his food to his mouth. "Time for bed, Champ," Ben said as he started to get up, but Cassie stopped him. "No, I've got him, Ben," she told him. "You sure?" He asked. Her answer was picking Liam up and taking him upstairs.

Leo and Ben sat in awkward silence for a moment. "So...how's she been?" Leo asked. Ben sighed, then told him, "She's been alright. Went through a...a rough patch a few years ago. She's been fine ever since, though."

This peaked Leo's interest, so he asked, "What kind of rough patch?" Ben glanced over to the stairs to make sure Cassie wasn't coming, then lowly said to him, "She...she had postpartum depression. It was bad. She couldn't look at Liam for months. Eventually, it got to be a bit too much and she...well, I'd rather not say it out loud."

"She tried to kill herself," Leo said. "How? Pills?" Ben sighed and started wringing his hands together. He really didn't want to talk about this, but her brother has the right to know. "Yes," he told him, "with the anti-depressants she was prescribed. She hit rock bottom, but she came back strong."

He could see Leo was trying to digest this. "I should have been here," Leo said, more to himself. Ben shrugged as he told him, "I won't disagree with you there. Point is, though, you're here now and I know she'll appreciate it if you keep it that way. But, listen Leo, if you pull that shit again and hurt her again, I will not allow you back into our family. She is my wife and I have to do everything I can to make her happy and not see her get hurt."

Leo nodded in understanding. "I can respect that," he told him. "Um...look, it's getting late and I should head out." Cassie was coming downstairs as he was getting ready to leave. "I'm having lunch with Kelly tomorrow," she said as he put on his coat, "you're more than welcome to join. I have some news that I would like to tell both of you."

He nodded and said, "Yeah, sounds good. Best not tell Kelly, though." She chuckled, "Yeah, no shit. See you tomorrow." They hugged, then he and Ben shook hands. After he left, Ben and Cassie were left putting the extra food away. 

"How do you think that went?" Ben gently asked. She shrugged, then told him, "Fine, I guess. It's weird that he left in such a hurry, but whatever. Still, I can't tell if I have my brother back."