more life / b.simmons (2)

16

amari responds to some emails as she sits at the dining room table, and ben comes down the stairs and heads over to her. "what are you doing?" he asks, his voice raspy.

she doesn't look up at from her computer as she says, "work."

ben pulls a chair out and sits down it in, facing her. amari glances at him and gives him a small smile before returning to her inbox. he lifts her legs into his lap and rubs her calves, gently kneading them as well. "you're doing work on a vacation," he states and amari shrugs.

"work doesn't stop around here," she says, hitting send and going down the list.

"you need a break," ben expresses. amari bites the inside of her bottom lip as she types, ignoring ben and whatever he had to say. "hello? i'm talking to you."

"i heard you."

ben pushes the lid of her laptop closed and she glares at him. "why did you do that?" she goes to re-open her laptop and he pulls it away from her, sliding it to the other end of the table. "you're so annoying." she says childishly. ben shrugs and holds out his hand. amari places her hands in his and looks at him.

the look he gives her makes her feel the way she did when they first met, and she averts her gaze to a painting on the wall. "you can go ahead and smile," ben says teasingly. amari rolls her eyes, but the smile still shows herself.

"what?" she asks, meeting his eyes. he brings her knuckles up to his lip and kisses them before holding both of them.

"let me take you out tonight," he says. she quirks an eyebrow at him.

"are you asking me out on a date?" she teases, gently kicking him.

"something like that," ben says, dropping her hands and running his hands up and down her bare legs. "we need to before everyone comes tomorrow and then we really have no time. we can send the kids somewhere or leave them here." ben says. amari flips her braids to the other side of her head and sighs a dramatic sigh.

"i guess. where are you taking me?"

"it's a surprise," ben says, being cheesy. amari rolls her eyes and reaches across the table for her laptop.

"last time you took me on a surprise date, i got pregnant," she says, typing in her password and starting on another email. ben laughs and takes her legs off of his lap so he can stand up. he kisses her forehead and holds onto the back of her chair.

"we have one more left in us," he says. amari whips her head around and looks at him.

"absolutely not."

"come on," he whines, kissing her forehead again.

amari pushes him away and goes back to emailing. "we're too old to have a newborn," she says. "going from teenagers to a newborn feels insane." amari says, giving ben a look.

"okay, well we can just act like i'm trying to get your pregnant," he says. amari rolls her eyes at him and clicks into a new tab.

"i don't know why you want another kid, anyway. you have two perfectly good ones to chose from."

"i just miss being needed," he says. amari looks up at him and sticks out her bottom lip. he rolls his eyes at her and stands all the way up. "yeah, never mind."

"wait! that was cute!" she says as he starts to walks away. ben waves her off and sulks up the stairs.

amari shuts her laptop and gets up and goes upstairs. she heads into her room and sees ben laying on his side on the bed. she crawls in behind him and wraps her arms around him and pulls his back into her chest. "you're such a baby," she says, kissing his cheek. "but if it makes you feel any better, i always need you. id lose my mind without you." she says. ben grabs her leg and puts it over his hip. amari kisses his cheek again and he stroked her calf. "and the kids need you too, they're just teenagers."