The Things We Do For Love
"Do you think Daddy can do it?" JR asked, as she and Ben walked up the front steps together.
"Of course he can." Ben replied, hoping he sounded convincing.
"I don't know Dada." JR answered, shaking her head. "You know how he gets sometimes."
Ben hid a smile at JR's words. She sounded so much older than her seven years he thought. He and Michael had never babied her, always explaining their actions and what they expected from her. Because of that, she was confident in herself and whenever problems arose, either at school or home, she was willing to listen, if not always abide by their decisions.
"Let's not worry about it until you tell Daddy. Okay?" Ben suggested, putting his key in the door.
JR ran inside, dropping her school bag on the table.
"Daddy we're home!" She yelled.
"I'm in the kitchen JR." Michael called back.
JR stopped and turned to Ben.
"Daddy's cooking dinner?"
Ben laughed at the horrified look on his daughter's face.
"Don't worry, I'll take over as soon as I've showered."
"Phew." JR sighed, a look of relief crossing her face. "I don't wanna be mean, but Daddy can't cook for sh…"
"Jenny Rebecca!" Ben glared.
"Hunter says it all the time!" She fumed.
"And Hunter gets into trouble all the time for saying it." Ben replied sternly. "Now let's go and find your Daddy."
JR shrugged, knowing that arguing with her Dada would get her nowhere.
"Hey Honeybun, how was school?"
JR reached up giving Michael a kiss.
"Good Daddy. And guess what, our class is putting on a play."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's all about fairy tales and I got the part of Little Red Riding Hood!" JR beamed.
"That's wonderful sweetheart." Michael said, picking up his daughter and giving her a tight hug.
"And I get to wear a real costume." JR said.
"And you will be the best Little Red Riding Hood ever" Michael stated, beaming with pride at his daughter.
"And you get to make it Daddy." JR said quickly.
Michael smiled at JR before realizing what she'd said.
"What!" Michael shrieked.
Ben managed to turn his laugh into a cough when his husband glared at him.
"You knew about this?" He demanded.
"Ummm…..JR told me on the way home from school." Ben replied, his blue eyes twinkling. "I didn't want to spoil the surprise."
"How about we get Grandma to make it?" Michael suggested, looking hopefully at JR.
"No way Daddy! Mrs. Mason said that our parents had to make it." JR replied.
"I don't know the first thing about sewing sweetheart." Michael grumbled. "And we don't own a sewing machine."
"But Grandma does, so you can borrow that. See no problem." JR answered, running from the room.
Michael looked beseechingly at Ben.
"Don't look at me baby." Ben laughed. "Never sewn a thing in my life."
"Like I have!" Michael retorted. "Christ, Ben, I'll never be able to do this."
"Course you will." Ben said, dropping a kiss on Michael's head. "The teacher said you had to sew it yourself, she didn't say that you couldn't ask for help."
"Hmmm….that means Ma being around here, telling me what to do for days on end." Michael groaned.
"So what's new?" Ben replied laughing and backing quickly out of the room. "Give her a call, I'm gonna shower. I'm sure she'll be delighted to help."
"Thanks a lot!" Michael yelled at his husband's retreating frame.
"So, did you call Debbie?" Ben asked, dropping onto the sofa next to Michael.
He'd read Little Red Riding Hood to JR twice before she'd settle, and only then escaped with the promise of it again the next night as her bedtime story.
"Yeah." Michael replied. Ben couldn't help but laugh at the downcast look on his husbands face, which resulted in a punch to the arm from Michael.
"It's not fucking funny!" He fumed. "She's all but taken over. I'm getting John to watch the store tomorrow afternoon so we can get the fabric."
"Thought you didn't want to do it? Ben asked.
"It's not that I don't. It's just that I don't think I can." Michael replied quietly.
"Listen to me Michael." Ben said, placing his fingers under his husband's chin and lifting his face. "You have never once let JR down and you're not going to do it now."
"I just want it to be perfect." Michael answered. "You know she gets shit at school for not having a normal family…."
"Define normal, Michael?" Ben queried. "JR knows her family dynamics are different from all of her friends, she's okay with that because she has never known anything different. What her friends think doesn't matter. She loves you and knows you will always be there for her. That's what a family is."
"You're very wise, Professor." Michael answered, snuggling onto Ben's lap.
"And you're very cuddlesome." Ben grinned, pulling Michael closer.
"Is that a word?" Michael questioned.
"It is now." Ben replied laughing. "And we will discuss it more later but back to what we we're talking about."
Ben ignored the pout that appeared on Michael's face before continuing.
"And you are capable of doing anything. You just need some reassurance sometimes, so I suggest we have an early night so you can show me how clever you are with those hands of yours." Ben replied with a wink.
"I think I can manage that!" Michael laughed, climbing off Ben's lap and pulling him to his feet.
"This is perfect!" Debbie's voice boomed across the store floor. "Michael! Where the…"
"I'm right here,Ma." Michael answered quickly, ignoring the heads turning in their direction. "That's nothing like the fabric on the list and…."
"Doesn't matter!" Debbie interrupted. "I know what will look good."
"I'm sure you do, but as I was trying to tell you we have to get what's on the list JR's teacher provided." Michael replied evenly.
"She doesn't know what my granddaughter will look best in." Debbie answered huffily, holding up the fabric for Michael to see. "It's bright and shiny…."
"And it's meant to be plain red." Michael responded. "Look, Ma, I really appreciate you helping me but you need to understand that we're going to do it right. Which means buying exactly what's on the list."
"No need to get pissy." Debbie fumed.
Michael took a deep breath and counted silently to ten before replying.
"I'm not getting pissy. I just want to get what we need, go home and start putting it together. If you're not happy with that perhaps I could get Jennifer to help me."
"I'm not letting anyone else help with JR's costume!" Debbie stated and Michael knew he had won that round.
He managed to keep a smile off his face as he took the roll of fabric from his mother and put it back on the shelf.
"That's great then. So let's find what we need and get to work." He answered, going towards the counter beginning to discuss with the store assistant what he wanted.
Debbie eventually followed and finally an hour later they left the store, bags shared between them and headed home.
Michael looked up as he heard Ben's key turn in the lock.
"You're home early." He stated, a smile crossing his face. "Where's JR?"
"Crystal wanted her to go for a play date and her Mom agreed. She's being dropped off at five." Ben replied. "Also I thought you may appreciate some peace and quiet."
"After spending the afternoon with Ma, I crave it." Michael laughed.
"That bad huh?" Ben answered, walking over to where Michael was sitting and wrapping his arms around his husband's shoulders. Michael lifted his face, accepting Ben's kiss.
"Once I made it clear that although I really appreciated her help but that I was doing it, things got better." Michael said.
"So show me what you've achieved." Ben asked, glancing at the mess that covered the dining room table. He could see they would be eating in front of the television tonight and maybe for a while.
Michael followed Ben's gaze and could see what he was thinking.
"Yeah I know, bit of a mess isn't it, but actually I do have something to show for all my sweat and tears!" He replied.
He reached under a pile of fabric, finally finding what he was looking for and holding it up.
"It's the cape." Michael said, a wide smile crossing his face. "But don't look too closely, I can't sew a straight line to save myself."
"Baby, that's amazing!" Ben said. "I knew you could do it."
"Actually, once I read the instructions a few dozen times, it wasn't so hard." Michael replied happily. "I'm making the apron now, which is fucking harder!"
Ben laughed at the scowl that crossed Michael's face before pulling him into his arms.
"I'm really proud of you Michael." He said quietly.
"I'm proud of me, too." Michael said, meeting Ben's eyes. "Even if it's not perfect, I did it."
"Want to sneak upstairs for a quickie so I can show you how proud I am of you?" Ben suggested with a wink.
"The offer is very tempting but I really want to finish this apron." Michael replied sitting back at the sewing machine.
"Can't believe I'm being turned down for a piece of fabric!" Ben chuckled.
"Sorry." Michael replied. "How about you cook dinner and let me finish this, then perhaps we could have an early night?"
"I could be persuaded." Ben answered with a grin, but the hum of the sewing machine drowned out Michael's reply.
Ben laughed to himself as he dropped a kiss on Michael's head and headed to the kitchen.
Two days later.
Michael and Ben, along with Debbie and Carl sat in the school auditorium waiting for the lights to dim.
"I'm so fucking nervous." Michael whispered to Ben.
"She'll be fine, Michael." Ben answered, reaching for Michael's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
A hush descended as the lights went down and the curtain opened. Michael let out a sigh as his daughter walked confidently onto the stage. He could see she was seeking them out and raised his hand slightly, receiving a beaming smile from JR and knew that, as always, Ben was right. She would be fine.