Temptation

Sleep

One Year Later

"Bye, Boss!" Ben heard someone call. He turned and waved to his receptionist and said, "See you on Monday, darling." When he turned back towards the elevator, he rolled his eyes. She's been his temp every time his actual receptionist has been out "sick". She has the most obvious crush on him and it was flattering, but annoying. 

He made his way out of the building and into the car to finally get home. He's had a long and stressful week and just wanted to be home. When he walked through the door, a smile was immediately put on his face. "Hello, I'm home!"

He waited a moment until he heard, "Up here!" It was six o'clock, so of course she would be up there. He went up the stairs two at a time and walked into the bathroom. "There are my girls," he said as he saw Cassie giving their daughter, Ella, a bath. 

The moment Ella saw her dad, she gasped and reached up to him. "Hi, baby, hi," he chuckled. He sat down next to Cassie and gave her a kiss, before giving Ella a kiss on the head. "What have you two been up to today?" He asked. 

Cassie gave Ella a rubber ducky toy, then said, "We did some shopping, got to do some packing. Anna is beyond excited about her and Kerry meeting." As Ella was distracted by her toy, Ben asked, "And how's job hunting going?"

He knew he should have saved this for when they were in the bedroom and Ella was asleep because tears started to swell in her eyes. "Did they say why?" He gently asked. She huffed out a laugh, but couldn't seem to say it. He rubbed her back and said, "Go get comfy, I'll finish up her bath."

She nodded and left to go get changed. Ben, in the meantime, sighed and gently pinched his little girl's cheek. She giggled and held up her toy. "Dada! Baba ah," she said. He took her toy and asked, "Is this for me?" She nodded with a wide smile. "Oh, thank you, baby girl," he cooed. "Are you ready to get to bed?"

She shook her head. "No?" He asked. "Well, what if I read to you?" She shook her head. "Unfortunately, sweetheart, I have to go comfort your mummy, so..." He held up her towel, but she frowned at him. "Oh, you are going to be one hell of a teenager to deal with." He picked her up in the towel as she tried to tell him, "no", but then nearly fell asleep as Ben hummed a tune in her ear. 

He continued to hum as he carried her to her room. By the time he started to put on her pajamas, she was asleep. He kissed her cheek, then walked out of her room ready to comfort Cassie. When he went into the bedroom, she was just coming out from a shower. 

Before she could, he pulled out some comfortable clothes and handed them to her. Once she was dressed, she got into bed while he got out of his work clothes. "So," he said as he took off his shirt, "what was the reason now?" 

Taking a deep breath, she told him, "I'm an American that doesn't know anything about how math, history, english, are taught here. Apparently, I'm stupid and I'm nothing." He crawled up to her on the bed as he scolded, "Don't say that. You are my wife, you are my child's mother, you are beautiful, smart, and crazy talented; you are everything, Cass. These idiots just can't see that."

She scoffed, "Yeah, well, these idiots dictate whether I have a career. I wanted to come here because I thought it would be a fresh start, but it's just...pure misery." Sighing, Ben brushed her short hair out of her face. "You don't mean that," he told her. "You're telling me that having our baby was misery? Getting married?"

She rolled her eyes and told him, "You know what I mean. Those are the only two highlights of moving here. Yes, they were big events that have forever changed my life, but I feel like I can't move on with the rest of my life and that makes me feel miserable."

Ben was at a loss. He didn't know what to do, what to say. He wanted her to be happy and get her job, but he wasn't a miracle worker. "What do you want to do?" He asked. "If you're feeling this way, I want it to stop. So, tell me what to do."

She shook her head with tears in her eyes. "I don't know," she told him. "I really don't know." He hugged her tight against him and breathed her in. "We'll figure it out when we come back, okay?" He said. "For now, let's focus on visiting your best friend and celebrating our anniversary."

**

The flight to Santa Barbra was quite the event. To start, Ella wanted nothing to do with traveling. From the moment Ben strapped her in the car, to getting on the plane, she was screaming her tiny head off. The young parents were worried someone might think they hurt or kidnapped her. 

When the plane took off, she was fussy and kept pulling at her ears. The elevation change was bothering them, so Cassie stuck some ear plugs in Ella's tiny ones. She seemed to be okay after that. Not too long after, she got hungry and started crying. 

At one point, someone on the plane shouted for them to "shut that baby up" and Ben just about lost it. He shot up from his seat, but so did someone else who he assumed was the Air Marshall. So, he sat back down and made a threat to the man instead. 

About an hour before the plane landed, Ella went to sleep. Ben and Cassie were exhausted. They had a plan to go to sleep at a certain time so the jet lag wouldn't hit them as hard, but it was going to hit like a train. 

They did nod off at one point, but unfortunately, the plane landing and Ella screaming woke them up. She didn't like the jerking of the plane and her ears popping once they got on the ground. To save them anymore embarrassment, Ben quickly got their bags down and made sure they were the first ones off the plane. 

"Christ, that was the worst plane ride I have ever been on," Ben groaned as he threw himself on the hotel bed. Cassie followed suit and said, "She was so awful. I am not looking forward to going back. That was one way to spend our anniversary."

She rolled over until her head was on his chest and yawned. He put his hand on her back and both of them were about to doze off. When Cassie's phone rang, they both admitted defeat and realized they were not going to get any sleep until tonight.

"That was Anna," Cassie said as she got back into bed. "She said her and Roger will be by to pick up Ella by four. Our reservations are at eight, so that'll give us a couple of hours to nap." He hummed, his breaths getting shallower as he drifted off. 

"Mama!" Ella screamed, making Ben jolt awake. Cassie whined, then hauled herself out of his strong arms. "Coming, baby," she tiredly called. Cassie went into the next room and saw Ella standing up in her cot, her bottom lip quivering and eyes watering. 

Cassie picked her up and held her and Ella buried her face into her neck. Cassie bounced her a bit, then walked back into the bedroom. Ben was sitting up against the headboard and rubbing his tired eyes. "I think her ears are still bothering her," Cassie said. 

She got into bed and Ben took his daughter from her. "Sometimes I think your mother had an affair with Satan," he told Ella, who smiled and squeezed his nose. Cassie smacked his arm. "I'm kidding," he chuckled. He kissed his daughter's nose and nuzzled her face. 

At four o'clock, there was a knock on their hotel door. Cassie answered it, but shushed Anna before she could squeal and make any noise. Of course, she couldn't be stopped hugging the daylights out of her friend she hasn't seen in a year. "We just got her down," Cassie whispered. "Where are Roger and Kerry?" Anna stepped in and said, "Kerry was having a fit, so I left Roger to deal with her."

Ben came out of the other room with a sleeping Ella. Anna gasped at the sight of her and started jumping up and down. "Look at her!" She whisper shouted. "Oh my God, she is so cute! Oh, and hi, Ben." Ben chuckled, "Hi, Anna. Well, she's all your's." He carefully handed his daughter over while Cassie got the diaper bag. 

"We are going to have so much fun," Anna cooed. "You two," she said to Ben and Cassie, "don't have too much fun." Ben and Cassie gently kissed Ella goodbye and sighed in relief when she was gone. "Oh my God," Ben said as if he realized something. "We can...we can sleep!"