by Amber Lacie
“Piper, did they—”
“No. They did a kit. They just made it look that way. I’ve got a couple bruises on my stomach too.”
“But they didn’t?”
“No. The doctors made sure of it.” She took a shallow breath as I pulled the covers back over her. “Ben, I—”
“Whatever you have to say, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except for you being here with me. I’ve died a thousand times since I saw you last. I love you.” I wiped away her tears with my thumb and gently laid a kiss on her forehead. I wanted more than anything to feel her lips under mine, but that would have to wait. I wasn’t going to risk hurting her just for my benefit.
Over the next few hours, I sat in her room just watching her sleep. Some time later, Aaron came in to let me know my mom was resting comfortably and that she had to stay for a few days to make sure everything checked out okay.
As the night wore on, I eventually had to ask for some pain meds of my own because my ribs were screaming at me. It took some convincing, but the hospital finally agreed to fill the script I had gotten for pain meds in the emergency room, which saved Jim a trip, and allowed me to stay with Piper a little longer. When visiting hours were over, they had to pry me from her room. We weren’t married, so I couldn’t stay with her, which pissed me off to no end. I was pissed. As soon as she was feeling better, we were going to remedy that. No one was going to keep me from her ever again.
Giving her one final kiss, I waved goodbye from the door after promising her I’d be back first thing in the morning. There wasn’t a chance in hell I would break that promise.
When I awoke, the sun was peeking in behind the curtains in our bedroom. The rays danced throughout the room in little beams, across my fuzzy pink socks and black leggings as I sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. I watched them for a moment, wondering if they were happy. It was an odd thought, but there it was. Next to me, a stack of puzzle books and brand-new markers sat atop the pile of pillows Ben insisted I needed. Two weeks had passed since they let me out of the hospital, and there was no reason for me to be in bed anymore. I was a little stiff, but nothing a hot bath wouldn’t take care of. The bruising on my face had finally faded to a light yellow, and the ones on my legs and stomach had already disappeared. Unfortunately, the marks on my ankle would most likely leave a permanent scar. For surviving what I had gone through, a couple of scars weren’t much of anything.
As I sat in bed, I could hear people moving about the apartment. I was longing for the day when we didn’t constantly have company. Aaron came over every day to check on Ben and me, despite being the sole caretaker of his sister. After they released her from the hospital, he moved her into his house in Naperville. The bureau had seized everything in her house, minus her clothes and the bed. There was nothing of her old life to go back to, so Aaron took her in. In my book, that made him a hero. He didn’t think so, but it definitely counted.
A few nights ago, Ben was lying beside in me bed. He had refused to let me talk about anything that had happened because he worried that talking about it would upset me. Casting my eyes toward the window I envisioned the night perfectly.
“We have to talk about it sometime.” Ben’s head was lying gently in my lap as I ran my fingers through his hair. There was more silver in his hair then when we first met, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. He’d just deny it.
“I don’t want to upset you.”
“I know but keeping it all bottled up isn’t healthy.”
He let out a deep sigh, “Fine, but I ask the questions.”
“Deal.”
“Alton. Was he one of the ones that hurt you?”
“Yeah.” I watched as Ben tightly clenched his jaw. Maybe he was the one that wasn’t ready to hear it all. “But you know what hurt the most?” I added. “More than the punches, more than the bruising?”
“What?”
“I thought he was my friend. I had trusted him. He knew everything they had done to me, and still, he left me in that basement. He could have turned on your father at any point, but he never did. Instead, he decided to hurt me in the worst way possible. Betrayal by someone you thought was your friend cuts the deepest.”
Ben placed a soft kiss on my thigh. Then he rolled over to face to me. “Baby, that’s where you are so very wrong.”
“Oh? How’s that?”
“Losing you, knowing I couldn’t protect you from them, not knowing if I’d ever get you back…that’s the worst kind of pain in this world. Without you, I have no reason to live.”
I softly ran my hand over the side of his face. “Don’t say that. You can’t control that.”
“The fuck I can’t. I need you, lady. You go absofuckinglutely nowhere without me again. Piper, I don’t think you get it––I can’t fucking breathe without you.”
Warm tears filled my eyes as I looked down at the most perfect man I had ever met in my life. I loved him with my entire being.
Suddenly, a knock sounded, bringing me out of my daydream. A moment later, the door opened and Aaron walked in carrying more puzzle books with Ben and Jim in tow.
“Everyone at the same time? What’s the occasion?”
Ben walked over and carefully pressed his silky lips to mine. “I like your lips.”
I giggled in response. “And I like yours, but why the audience?”
Ben stood beside the edge of the bed, grasping my hand in his. “You and I need to remedy something. These two are here as witnesses, in case you forget later. But first, Aaron has some news.”
“I know Ben told you I was trying to find your sister.”
“Oh my God. Did you find her?” Excitement grew in my chest at the hope I would have the one person I was missing back in my life.
“Don’t get too excited yet. I called in a favor with an old friend of mine. He’s really great at what he does. Anyway, we did find her. She’s living in Pennsylvania with her family. She’s a schoolteacher. I wanted to tell you sooner, but I wanted to make certain it was her first.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Ben, he found Christina,” I yelled, shaking Ben’s hand in mine as I exploded with excitement. “He found her.” Crazy happy sobs wracked my body as Ben lifted me off the mattress and slid under me, holding me against his chest.
“I told you he would. Why all the tears?” His fingers swirled softly on my back.
“They’re happy tears. I never thought I’d see her again.”
“About that.” Aaron’s voice dropped a bit. “You can’t just show up on her doorstep. She’s got a family now, which complicates things. I’m sure she’d love to have you back in her life, but we have to think about the ripple effect of what just dropping in on her would cause.”
I nodded my head in understanding as I bit down on my tongue. He was right, of course, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. Still, I had the knowledge that my sister wasn’t just alive, she had a family to love her. Knowing that alone, made me happy.
“I’m going to ask Evan to reach out to her. See if meeting is something she’d be up to doing.”
“Who’s Evan?” I asked at the random named being tossed into the conversation as though I would recognize it.
“Well, he’s the one that found her for me. In fact, he’s done a little more than that. Ben, I talked with him and let him know about your background. This isn’t me pulling a favor, but I did put my name on the line for you. He’s offered you a security job at the company he works for downtown. Turns out, they’re short a day guard and he’s been pulling double duty since the night guard quit, despite his wife’s opposition to it.”
Ben’s hand stilled on my back. “No shit?”
“I’m dead serious. The job is yours if you want it.”
“Wait you said day guard, but then you said the night guard quit. Which is it?”
Aaron laughed as Jim cleared his throat. “The big guy jumped on the chance for night guard before I even hung up the phone. That’s what I get for using speak
er phone.”
“Huh? Jim, you’re going to have legit job? You know this means you’ll have to pay taxes now?”
Jim smiled. “Yup, that means you’ll have to as well.”
Ben snorted in reply. “Fuck me, I guess I do. What’s the name of the company?”
Aaron looked down at the pieces of paper in his hand. “Gilf and Rowe something or other. I guess they handle acquisitions. Apparently, they had some setbacks quite a few years ago with the ownership, but it’s all on the up and up now. Should be a good job if you want it.”
“You know what, I don’t even fucking care what it’s called. I’ll take it. I got to do something to take care of her.”
I melted into Ben. He was such a different person than he was when he saved me from that house. He was happier, sweeter. “You know, you don’t have to be the only working. I can get a job, or maybe even go back to school.”
“I didn’t know that was something you wanted.”
I sat straight up on his lap, looking into his beautiful eyes. “Neither did I. It sounds nice though. Can you go to college without a diploma?”
“Um, I don’t think so, but I can help you get your GED if you want. You can go to school and I can go to work. We’ll be like normal people, paying taxes and shit.” The idea of Jim and Ben holding normal jobs made me laugh.
“What? You don’t think I can do it?” Ben drew his brows together.
“No, I’m just trying to picture the big guy in a uniform. Do they even make them that big?”
Ben busted up laughing as Jim puffed up his already large chest. “Fuck you, Pipes. I’m going to look hot as fuck in that uniform. I’ll have to beat the women off with sticks.”
“Sure, Jim, sure.” I rolled my eyes in a dramatic fashion. I love the friendship I had with Jim, but more than that, I loved Ben. “Baby, what was the first thing you came in here to remedy?” I asked, looking to Ben.
He cleared his throat. “At the hospital they wouldn’t let me stay the night with you because we weren’t married, I can’t have that. Where you go, I go, and no one and nothing is going to stop me. We are fixing that.”
“How?”
Ben gently wrapped his hand around my neck before pulling me in for a kiss as he whispered, “Marry Me,” across my lips.
My heart flipped in my chest. Surely, he’s lost his mind. Have we even known each other long enough to consider marriage?
“I can tell by the look in your eyes that you don’t think I’m serious. Piper, I can’t love you the way the world thinks I should. I can’t give you fairytales and happy endings. I’m not a perfect man, I’m going to fuck up––it’s what I do. But everything in me tells me that I belong with you. I want to give you a world I’ve never known. I just need you to let me love you. Forgive me for my faults, take me for what I am. Yours.” Ben lifted me up and gently set me back on the bed before kneeling on the floor and pulling a simple gold band from his back pocket. “Marry me.”
Fuck, how long have we known each other? I knew in my heart, my soul belonged to him. “Ben, I love you so very much. I can’t picture my life without you.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes. It’s a yes.” I squealed as Ben tackled me with kisses and slid the ring onto my finger. I didn’t care that it wasn’t a diamond. I wouldn’t have cared if it were just a rubber band. I would have always said yes to him.
That night, Ben told me I was the piece that put him back together, the piece that turned his life around. According to him, I held all the pieces that built him into the man he was. I didn’t see it that way. He was always that great man, he just needed to see it for himself.
Never in my life had I been more nervous than I was at that exact moment. Not even when my beautiful wife walked down the aisle at the courthouse and agreed to marry me. Over the last year, I had kept my promises to her. The security job was going great, and it was steady pay with insurance. I couldn’t ask for anything more. My superior, Evan, seemed like a pretty cool guy. The head boss seemed a little bit stricter, but Evan said I’d get used to Theron over time.
Thankful for the opportunity, I kept my head down and did my job every day without complaint. Piper had finally gotten her GED, with the help of Evan’s wife. She seemed like a sweet girl, a little high strung for me, but sweet. Jim still works nights occasionally, but had picked up a more permanent job doing security for the bar Clocks downtown. I pulled a small favor with Terri. She acted like it bothered her at first, but I know she likes having the big guy around. I think there’s something going on between them, but Piper said I’m not allowed to pry. ‘It’s their business, not ours.’ Whatever that’s supposed to mean.
After six months of returning emails and phone calls, Piper was finally reunited with her sister. It was awkward at first, to say the least. Their relationship wasn’t what they once had and there was no way to get the years they were separated back. Where Piper’s life had been hard and ugly, Christina’s had blossomed. She had a beautiful family and a great relationship with her foster mother. Though none of that mattered to Piper. She had her sister back in her life and plenty of time to get to know each other again. She was adamant that we turned our lives around. I didn’t argue. I would have done anything for her.
In fact, she was the reason I was pacing back and forth in front of our rental car. Sweat was dripping down my back. Who knew California could be so fucking hot? I was a hot mess and my beautiful wife was calm as ever, sitting on a bench with her toes drawing pictures in the sand. Her white skirt flowed around her ankles, while her blue tank top hugged every curve of her body. I loved the way her body had finally begun to fill out. I stilled as I watched the reason we were there run across the beach. Piper caught my glance and stood slowly, revealing her small bump that was just starting to show. Her fingers idly traced around it. I don’t even think she realized she was doing it. She is so fucking beautiful.
“So, are we just going to gawk at them from a distance or are we walking over?”
“Um, August said to wait here. Arlington wanted to talk to us first.”
“Okay.” Piper sweetly wrapped her small fingers around mine as we watched a very pregnant Arlo waddle over to us with August in tow. It appeared the girls had something in common.
The four of us stood awkwardly staring at one another for a moment. Clearing my throat a couple of times, I had no clue what to say or where to start.
“Since no one is talking, I’ll start us off. I’m Piper,” my wife said, holding out her hand before gently shaking Arlo’s hand and then August’s.
“I’m August, this is my wife, Arlo. The tall one with the volleyball in his hands over there is Jack.”
The realization that my son was just feet from me floored me. How will I explain who I am or what he means to me?
“I just want to say something really quick. I’m still not one hundred percent on board with this.” Arlington looked directly at me as she spoke. “You abandoned him once—”
“Arlo, that’s not fair,” August interrupted her.
“No, it’s fine. She’s right. Go on.” I nodded for her to continue.
She shot August a stern look before turning back to face me again. “As I was saying, you abandoned him once. I don’t care what the circumstances were. In my mind, if it weren’t for my husband, my son wouldn’t have a father. If I allow this, if you walk back into his life only to walk out again, so help me, Ben––I will fucking bury you. Do you understand? You don’t get to hurt him.”
I saw the look of protectiveness in Piper’s eyes, so I gave her hand a squeeze, letting her know I was okay. “I get it. I do. To be honest, I never thought this would be a possibility.”
“Well, you have August to thank for that. Just know, we didn’t tell him who you are. All he knows is that you’re a friend of ours we haven’t seen in a while, and you’re excited to meet him. He’s over there if you want to say hello. But first, you promise me something.”
“Anything.”
>
“You stick around. I know you still live in Chicago, so I’m not asking you to move here or to see him every day, but you make time for him. You show up when he asks you to. Can you do that?”
“Absolutely. I promise you I will never do anything to hurt him or your family again.”
Arlington nodded nervously as she rubbed the inside of one of her fingers. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, August pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Jack will be fine. We’re right here.”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded in his direction. “Okay.”
“Yeah?” I asked, hesitant to move on her words.
“Okay. Go say hello.”
Turning to Piper, I gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before walking down the short wooden path toward the beach. The feel of the hot sand slipped under my feet onto my sandals. I felt weird in this outfit. I never wore shorts, but Piper said jeans and boots at the beach would make me stick out like a sore thumb. Looking around at the people lying on the beach, I realized she was probably right.
As I made my way closer, Jack was bouncing the volleyball on a closed fist. Stepping nearer to the net, he caught the ball and tucked it under his arm. Giving me a smile, he held out his hand. His one lone dimple popped up on his cheek. He looked so much like his Uncle Daniel it was like staring at a ghost.
“Hi, I’m Jack.”
“Ben.” I shook his hand, marveling in the moment, knowing I was finally meeting my son.
“So, are they just going to watch us talk? It’s kind of creepy.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess so.”
“Whatevs. How long are you here for?”
“Just a couple days. I’ve got to get back to work.”
Jack nodded his head. “Cool, cool. Is that your girlfriend?” he asked, pointing towards Piper, who was having no problem chatting it up with Arlo. Her confidence in herself amazed me.