Wants And Needs

He wasn't entirely sure how they'd wound up having this conversation. Oh sure he knew he had to start it at one point, but he figured it would be in a better setting. They'd just finished off another of Benny's "run around the city cause a little kid had lost their balloon" kind of case, and were currently sitting at Benny's run down little flat with a tray of Chinese food. Benny was in the middle of one of his Inuit stories and perhaps it was something he'd mentioned in passing that set Ray off.

'You know what I realised Benny?'

Benton gave his friend a small disapproving look for interrupting him in the middle of an interesting fact regarding wolves and how they accept new members into the pack, but invited him to continue.

'I realised, that this is the first time in a week that we've had dinner at your place'.

Benton blinked, not quite sure where the thought had come from.

'That is correct Ray, we've had dinner at your home for the last four days'.

Ray hummed in agreement, spearing another dumpling with his fork.

'Would you have preferred to have dinner at your place Ray?' Benton asked.

The man shook his head.

'Nah, it's been a stressful day and I wanted some quiet time. You know my family Benny, they'd talk your ears off'.

Benton scooped up more of his rice, finding it rude to agree with his friend but secretly doing just that. It had been a tiring day, and it was nice to have a quiet meal with just the two of them. He idly wondered what Diefenbaker was eating, and realised the wolf was probably gorging himself on one of Willie's meals. It didn't seem to matter how many lectures he gave his furry friend, Dief would continue to ignore him when it came to unhealthy foods.

'And Ma would have been all over you with that cut on your cheek' Ray continued.

Benton found himself running his hand over the wound.

'It is nothing more than a scratch Ray, I'm sure she wouldn't fuss over it'.

The other man snorted.

'Yeah she would Benny'.

Benton truly didn't have the heart to argue. For a while they ate in silence.

'She likes ya, you know' Ray suddenly spoke.

Benton blinked up at the man.

'My Ma, I mean'.

'She does?'

'Course she does Benny!' Ray admonished.

Benton couldn't help a small smile crossing his lips. He liked the woman as well, in fact he liked all of Ray's family, at least those he'd met so far. Francesca was a little overbearing, but even so.

'I like her as well Ray. I like your family, they made me feel very welcome' he replied quietly.

Ray couldn't help his grin. He'd had a thought, a few weeks ago, and it had taken him this long to make sense of it. When he had, he needed a few more days to sort out how he felt about it. He'd reached his conclusion that morning, and he wanted to let the Mountie know. And he was pretty sure it was that "interesting" fact about the wolves that made him want to talk about it.

'I don't mean like that Benny. I mean, she should hate you, but she doesn't'.

Now Benton was confused.

'Have I offended her Ray? I hadn't intended to...'

'You didn't offend her Benny, calm down. I don't mean that she should hate you because you did something. I just mean that she should hate you because of what you represent in regards to me'.

The handsome face crinkled in confusion.

'I'm afraid I don't understand Ray'.

Ray sat up, rather enjoying his little game.

'How'd she act when she first met you?'

'Well, she seemed happy to meet me. She certainly wasn't in any way unwelcoming'.

'Uh huh, and from that day, how long did it take her to start pestering you to call her Ma?'

'Well...around two months and a couple of days if we count up the days I'd seen her after that first day. Although I wouldn't...'

'Yeah yeah I know, too polite to call her Ma even when she wants you to. Benny, you know what she did when she first met Tony?'

'What did she do Ray?'

'She frowned at him behind his back, like she was judging him to see if he was worthy to be with her daughter'.

'She didn't like him?'

'It wasn't that she didn't like him, she did, she just wanted to be sure that he'd treat Maria right. Do you know how long it took her to start pestering Tony to call her Ma?'

'No Ray'.

'Practically the day the two got married, which was around a year after she'd first met him'.

'Well he was joining the family Ray, it would be only natural to...'

'If Ma didn't want him calling her Ma, she wouldn't have let him, even when he did become her son in law. The point is Benny, it took her far longer to get used to Tony coming into her family's lives, than it did to get used to you'.

Benton was honestly surprised by this knowledge. Tony was a very nice man, and he had created a lovely family with Maria. Why did Benton get accepted quicker than Tony?

Ray smirked over his drink as he watched the Mountie try to work it out. The guy was hopelessly clueless at these things, and he was enjoying being in the know. Granted his mother had been in the know practically from the start, but he'd let her have that lead.

'My Ma either likes someone, or she hates someone Benny. And in the rare occasions that she's wrong, it darn near kills her to realise it. She adored Angie, couldn't get enough of her'.

He sighed.

'I loved Angie, probably still do deep down, and I was overjoyed that Ma accepted her. When we got divorced, it became one of those rare occasions that Ma was wrong about someone. It broke her heart Benny, you know why?'

Benton silently shook his head.

'Because when Angie and I divorced, I was so certain that I'd never love another. Ma spent so many nights crying on my behalf, because I couldn't bring myself to shed any tears. I'd gone cold Benny. I had always been a smart ass cop, but after the divorce I gained a bad attitude as well. I'm not sure who lost more hope, me or Ma'.

He made himself smile.

'And then I go and do something I swore I wouldn't do again, even though part of me hoped desperately that I could'.

Ray fell silent for a moment, realising he'd gone a little off track but wanting a moment to...he supposed to finalise things in his head. There was only one chance at this, and he needed to be sure that he wanted to take the next step.

He gave a little smirk and shook his head, glancing back at the Mountie.

'The point I'm trying to make here Benny, is that after all these years, I finally brought someone else home to meet the family. And Ma loved you, loved you from the minute you gave her that charming smile of yours and a little compliment to top it off. She loves you Benny. She saw what I had done, what I was doing, even before I realised it myself, and she wasn't upset. She wasn't angry'.

There was a distinctive shade of red on Benton's cheeks as the man began to realise what Ray was trying to tell him.

'Don't you see Benny? Has Welsh ever come back to my place, no. Elaine, nope. Huey or Louie, hell no. I haven't invited anyone home, male or female, since Angie, and then out of nowhere, I invite this annoying stranger into my house'.

He shot Benny a playful glare.

'A really annoying stranger. Our religion is very strict Benny, and despite that, Ma welcomes you into the family as if I'd come right out and said I want to be with you for the rest of our lives. Do you know how rare that is? I'm not saying Ma slanders guys who like other guys, but you can see she disapproves at times...'

Ray laughed.

'And she loves you! God Benny she was telling me from day one that she actually approved of whatever I choose to make of this!'

And that was the funny part. His own mother had figured out his feelings long before he had. He should have seen it coming. He hadn't even known what had made him invite the Mountie back to his place. All he knew was Benny had just lost his father, and he was sitting in some crappy diner trying to make sense of his life. And he looked so...lost. He needed something to bring him back, to make him focus on the here and now. And apparently that something was the chaos that was the Vecchio family. Go figure.

'And...what do you choose to make of this?'

The question was so softly spoken that Ray almost never heard it. He gave the man a soft smile.

'That depends. What do you want to make of this Benny?'

There was the tongue swiping over the bottom lip, the finger raised up to rub at an eyebrow. The pleading look in the other man's eyes. And Ray was almost ready to give in, to give Benny what he wanted. But he held himself back, determined to make the Mountie come out and say what he wanted. No beating around the bush, no Inuit tales. He wouldn't speak, wouldn't move, until he had his answer.

It took a good few minutes, but finally his patience was rewarded.

'I...I want you Ray'.

Letting out a sigh of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding, Ray stood, stepped round the tiny table, and gave the damn Mountie what they both wanted.