Temptation

The Blame Game

"How are you feeling today, babe?" Cassie asked. Ben stretched himself out on the couch and told her, "Good. My head's stopped hurting...for now. We'll see what happens in a few hours." She pulled out a bottle of prescription from her purse and tossed them to him. "I picked up your pills on my way home. Remember, take those whenever you have a headache."

He threw his head back with a grunt. "I hate how these make me feel," he whined. "Can't we call the doctor and tell him I hate these?" Cassie shook her head and told him, "I'm sorry, babe, but this is all you can take. You should be off of them in a few weeks, though."

With a heavy sigh, he popped two of the pills in his mouth and swallowed them with his water. When he looked over to the TV, he could see Ellie crawling towards him on the floor. He smiled as she said, "Hey, Ellie girl. Bored with your toys now?" She babbled something to him, then lifted up her arms. 

He reached over and picked her up. "Are you going to be lazy with daddy today?" He asked. Cassie came in with her laptop and said, "No because daddy needs to help mommy look at houses." Ben sat up to make room for her to sit and placed Ellie in his lap. "Right," he sighed. "Ellie can help out, too."

They scrolled through each page, not liking each house for one reason or another. They were mainly focused on location. They wanted to be around schools and a safe neighborhood. Of course, the ones that were had the smaller houses. 

"What if we want more kids?" Cassie asked as Ben hovered the mouse over a two bedroom house. He looked to her and said, "Well, I obviously want more. How many do you think you want? The number of bedrooms will make a difference here."

He watched her hesitantly changed the bedroom number from two to a number that made his eyes widen. "Well," he chuckled, "that certainly made a difference. Good Lord, look at this one. Ocean view, a swimming pool, ten minutes from the high school, ten minutes from the elementary school, and five minutes from the pre-school. It comes with two acres of land and the neighborhood has great reviews. We even get our own gate."

They immediately requested more information on the place and even put a bid. They did that for a few more places, then decided that was enough. "So," Ben said as he watched her close her laptop, "when were you going to tell me that you want five more kids?" She shyly shrugged, then said, "I don't know. I just figured if it happened, it happened."

Ben lifted up Ellie so she would look at him. "Hear that?" He asked. "You're going to have lots of siblings." Just as he said that, she started to cry. He winced at the pain in his head and Cassie quickly took her. "Not for a while," she assured, "don't worry. Come on, I think it's about time for your nap."

Just as she was going to Ellie's room, she called, "Hey, Ben, don't forget we have dinner with your parents tonight!" Ben covered his head with his hands and fell to the couch. He loves his parents...but dinner with them was the last thing he needed. 

**

"You shouldn't have been working so hard!"

"You have a child, you need to think about your health!"

"I cannot believe you are moving back to the states! Now we'll never see our granddaughter!"

"Bloody hell, Ben, had you just controlled your stress, you wouldn't be in this situation!"

Ben had his head in his hands, giving a side glance to Cassie. She was sipping on her water and trying to avoid his eye contact. She eventually put down the glass and said, "Wanda, Tim...look, Ben is doing his best right now. He's thinking about what's best for him and, hopefully, it will all work out."

She put her fingers through his hair and scratched softly at his head. He always seems to calm down when she does this. "Best for him?" Wanda asked. Tim put his hand on her arm and whispered, "Not now, dear." She simply shrugged him away, then continued, "Ben is doing this because you cannot get a job and he has to do all of the work!"

Ben looked to his mother and snapped, "Now, hold on, that isn't fair!" Cassie cleared her throat and ran her hands nervously down her dress with her head down. Wanda continued, "No, what isn't fair is that you are sacrificing your health, your career, all of it!" She then looked to Cassie and said, "You should be ashamed."

Ben scoffed as he shouted, "Mum! Enough!" Cassie then quickly got up and said with a wobbly voice and tears in her eyes, "Excuse me." Ben tried to reach out for her, but she made her way to the bathroom before he could. He slammed his hands down on the table and practically growled, "Don't you ever speak to my wife like that again."

He stood up as Tim said, "Ben, wait." Ben shook his head, then told his dad, "Don't. This isn't the first time you've blamed her for something, but it is the last. If you want to see your granddaughter before we leave, you will apologize to Cassie and it will be sincere. If I think it isn't...well, then you won't be invited to our home when we move. I'm sorry, but you are attacking my family and I won't have it."

With that, he made his way to the bathrooms and stood in front of the women's door. He waited nearly ten minutes until she came out. She was clearly surprised to see him standing there. "Ben," she breathed out, "what are you doing?" He simply pulled her in for a hug, then said, "I'm sorry."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and put her face in his shoulder. He rubbed her back, then gave her a tight squeeze. "Come on," he said as he pulled away, "let's go somewhere quiet, where I can have you all to myself."