more life / b.simmons (2)

42

one month later

ben rubs his forehead as he sits on the couch in analieses apartment. he watches as she rocks their baby in her arms, wanting to critique her but trying to avoid an argument. ever since arielle was born, analiese is no longer nice and has started acting like her mother; she controls bens visits with their daughter and critiques every little thing about him.

analiese only lets him see arielle if she's present, and ben thinks she does it to spite amari, even though they're still separated. it's like she wants her to walk into their old house one day, and see her there. it's starting to piss ben off because he wants to see arielle, and not her mother.

he gets up to go to the bathroom and analiese asks, "where are you going?"

ben stares at her for a second, his face hard. "the bathroom?"

"oh."

he shakes his head before going down the hall to use the restroom. ben does what he has to do and washes his hands before leaving. his phone rings in the other room, and he quickly makes his back to the living room.

the ringing comes from analieses palm and she looks at him with an eyebrow raised. "why is she calling you?"

"excuse me? give me my phone," he says, walking over to her. arielle is out of her arms and laying in the portable crib that analiese has  set up in the living room.

the ringing stops and analiese holds his phone back from him as she reaches for it. ben sucks his teeth, and his phone starts ringing again. catching a glimpse of the screen, ben sees that amari is calling him. at that he snatches his phone out of analieses hands and sends her a glare.

answering the phone, ben puts it up to his ear and says, "yeah?"

"ben? i'm headed to the hospital right now. cam got stung by a bee, and i think he's allergic," her voice is panicked as she gives him the information. he can hear her driving in the background and crying.

"i'll be there in 15," is all he says before they both hang up. analiese looks at him, her arms crossed over her stomach.

"i thought you got divorced?"

ben glances down at the wedding ring he still wears. no, theyre still not divorced yet. all they have to do is sign the papers, and they'll be done. "that is none of your business. my kid is in the hospital and you wanted to play games, analiese? you serious right now?"

she doesn't say anything, just stares at him and ever so slightly shrugs her shoulders. ben scoffs and glances at arielle and calms down for a split second. he walks over and picks her up, kissing her forehead before setting her back down. "we're coming with," analiese says.

"no you're not," he days, grabbing his keys off of the table and patting his pockets for his wallet. "this doesn't concern you." analiese ignores him and starts getting arielle's stuff ready. "stay your ass here."

"i'm going, ben," she says. ben checks his watch, and he should've left minutes ago. there's no more time to waste, so he throws his his head back and squeezes his eyes shut. arguing with her will only make him more late than he already is.

ben leaves without another word and prays that analiese stays behind. there's no point in her showing up—only arielle. it's a family matter and analiese is not family.

he arrives at the hospital quicker than he expected, and parks close to the entrance. ben makes his way across the parking lot and enters the hospital he was only in a month ago, for the birth of arielle.

kyra sits in the waiting room, looking around for her dad. when she spots him, she gets up and meets him halfway. "come on," she says, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the elevators. she stayed back to take him to the room so he didn't have to deal with the people at the front desk. "cameron is okay, but the swelling is so bad."