Chapter 19

Ginger.

It had been a week since Ben and I declared our relationship official. He’d even managed to talk to my mom, and while the conversation had been hilarious in a lot of ways, especially seeing how my mom had Ben cowed, it ended well. Mom forgave Ben for breaking my heart, and he swore to her just as he had to me to never break it again.

Like me, Mom believed his sincerity, and so, while things had changed, it was as if we were picking up where we’d left off four years ago.

The next step, was to let Fern know, and we had plans to do it that day.

It was a Saturday, and the whole family was out on a trip to the park, with Mom, me, Fern and Ben. I’d invited Scarlet and Dan with their son, but Ben had let me know they wanted time to themselves, so they’d be joining us another time.

Ben and I mostly just watched from a bench as Fern played around with the dogs, and Mom was with her. Ben was too nervous to go and join her this time, and he sat with me. Mom didn’t last long before she had to go into work, though. She was only there for moral support, after all. It would have to be up to us to give the news.

“Do you think she’s going to take it well?” Ben asked.

I just smiled at him, watching how he kept rubbing his hands down his thighs and his leg wouldn’t stop bouncing.

“I’m sure she’ll take it just fine,” I told him, trying to be reassuring. “She has absolutely no reason to dislike you, and the few times she did ask about her dad, it’s not like I badmouthed you in front of her. She loves you already.”

Like she knew what our conversation was about, what his insecurities were, Fern started running toward us, shouting Ben’s name the whole way. Immediately, he was on his feet, taking a few steps toward her. He had his arms ready, and she jumped into them, giggling in delight as he raised her high and spun her around. Then he held her in his arms, and listened intently as she started babbling about how awesome dogs were, and how she wanted one.

“We’ll talk about that later, sweetheart,” I said gently, taking her out of Ben’s arms and setting her down, then crouching in front of her. After a moment of standing awkwardly beside us, Ben did the same. “We have something we wanted to tell you, though.”

“What is it?” she asked with a curious tilt of her head.

“Fern, do you remember how you asked me about your daddy before?” I waited, and she nodded dutifully. I held her by the shoulders, giving her a calm smile. “Well. We wanted to wait a bit before telling you, but meet Ben. Your dad.”

Ben shot a horrified look at me, that I just rolled my eyes at.

“Really?” Fern squealed, turning to Ben with a huge grin on her face.

There was this stunned expression on his face that I couldn’t help but laugh at. Fern, reacting just as I’d thought, and secretly hoped, threw her arms around Ben’s neck and hugged him tightly. Still with that expression, he hugged her back.

“I always wanted to meet my daddy!” she chirped. Then she pulled back to give Ben one of her disarming smiles. “And I’m happy you get to be my dad because I really like you, mister. But can I call you Daddy, now?”

Ben’s expression was shifting, and he almost looked like he wanted to cry. Clearly, he’d expected it to be a difficult road to getting Fern to accept him, but I could have told him not to worry. She was a happy child, and not a particularly stubborn one most of the time.

“We have another surprise for you, too,” I said, nodding at Ben.

He cleared his throat, taking a minute to find his composure. He blinked his glistening eyes, holding back tears, and I reached for his hand to give him some comfort.

“Your mom and I really want all three of us to live together, if that’s fine with you?”

“Can we!” she squealed.

“Not yet, though,” he said, and the disappointment was instantly obvious on her face. Even Ben had to laugh. “My own dad is sick right now, and he needs me.”

“Is that why you’ve been gone a lot?”

“Yes, that’s right,” he said, nodding his head. “I need to be with him right now, but after he gets better, we can find a place to live together.”

“You won’t be coming to live with me, Mom and Grandma?” she asked innocently.

Ben and I shared a look.

“No, honey,” I was the one to say it. “We can't, but, once we get a new place, we can get a dog!”

That instantly caught her attention and had her jumping up and down in excitement. Then she went back to playing, leaving Ben and me.

“She actually took it well,” he murmured to himself as he slowly stood up.

I got up right beside him and patted him comfortingly on the shoulder.

“I told you she would be fine.”

“This is the last of it, right?”

I was confused for a moment what he was mumbling about. Then he turned to me, wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. Not too close, though, because we were still in public.

“Nothing else is holding us back, right? Once the issue with my dad is over with…”

“Then we can take care of our family,” I finished for him, smiling warmly up at him. “I love you.”

Ben looked stunned for a moment, then grinned down at me. “That’s the first time you’ve said that to me, you know? Since I came back.”

I thumped his shoulder, ducking my head down.

“You didn’t deserve to hear it before, but now you do,” was my simple explanation.

Ben’s arms moved from around my waist to cup my cheeks, tilting my face up and placing a chaste kiss on my lips. I smiled into the kiss, wrapping my arms loosely around his neck, reveling in our happiness.