Disclaimer: Don't own. Zilch. Nada. Nothing belongs to me.
AN: I grant another oneshot because I'm in a creative mood and desperately want to see this section grow.
Something that had once caused Ben the Baker and his wife Marvelle excited happiness was now startling them and making them worry. Marvelle's pregnancy hadn't bothered her at first, but now that she was nearing the end of the third trimester and she was so huge she could barely walk she had become completely bed-ridden. That, too, was okay at first, until the pain started. She felt as if she was carrying an inferno instead of a child, she always felt unbearably hot, as if her insides were on fire. But whenever Ben would try to ease that pain with a cool washcloth Marvelle felt as if she were freezing cold. It was either one extreme or the other, there was no happy medium.
One day Ben decided to confront Leanette, otherwise known as The Witch. It was she, after all that made them obtain the ingredients that would give her beauty, and it was also she who lifted the hex she'd placed on the couple, granting them their right to have a child. It felt weird bursting into her house, that was usually done the other way around. When he found her he didn't hesitate to voice his suspiciouns. "Alright, what did you do?" well, maybe voicing his suspiciouns wasn't the right description.
"I'm a witch, not a mind reader. What are you talking about?" Leanette asked, honestly having no idea what she'd apparantly done this time.
"No doubt it's one of your tricks," Ben continued to not make any sense to Leanette.
"Alright, that's not fair. How can I defend myself if I don't know what you're talking about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Ben insisted angrily.
"Oh yeah? Try me,"
"You've done something to my wife, haven't you?" Ben questioned Leanette angrily.
"Nothing that wasn't asked for," Leanette answered. "You wanted a child, I lifted the curse. Simple as that. If you're talking about something else I swear I have had no part in it," she added honestly.
"The pregnancy is practically killing her!" Ben bellowed. "She's always hot and when I place a cool rag on her she gets freezing cold, and it hasn't started until recently," he calmed his tone down as he explained. "We don't know what's going on. Sure we figured the size and being bed-ridden was normal, but not that,"
"You're 100% correct," Leanette told him. "I can tell you exactly what's going on, and can now confirm even more that I have nothing to do with it. It's natural, even. The baby is coming and your wife is just to weak to handle it. The pregnancy is killing her,"
Ben angrily roared and, in his abnormal state of mind, picked up a nearby object and threw it at Leanette. "NO! That is NOT what I wanted to hear!"
Leanette dodged out of the way of the flying object and it shattered upon hitting the wall. She tried to contain her compsure. "Well I'm sorry, but that's the truth!" she rose her voice only to be heard over Ben's loud rampaging voice. "I thought that's what you wanted, would you have rather I lied?" she questioned. She didn't know why she even tried to talk to people any more, let alone help them. She turned away from him. "Leave, now," her voice was quiet. She'd reached her breaking point, she couldn't handle being treated like that anymore. Especially by him. "Go back to your precious wife. Her time's running out," her voice cracked an a lone tear trickled down her face. They'd been neighbors since they were both very little, and had always been friends. Once Marvelle came into the picture Ben started completely hating her, before even finding out that Leanette was a witch.
That snapped Ben out of his rage. Completely snapped him out of it altogether. He felt bad. He'd known Leanette for so long, and even when Marvelle came into the picture, he'd never intended on hurting Leanette and now it seemed that he had. He quietly approached Leanette, whose back was still turned toward him. He stopped when he was right behind her. "I'm sorry," he spoke gently. He placed a hand on Leanette's shoulder. "I never meant to -"
"Go away!" Leanette yelled, hastily moving from under his hand. Physical contact wouldn't help. Talking wouldn't help. Even Marvelle's death wouldn't help. Leanette wanted the old Ben back, she wanted her friend back. Nothing would ever make that happen. Even if Ben tried to act the way he did it wouldn't be the same Ben. The Ben she wanted was the Ben that never married Marvelle. The Ben never met Marvelle. She'd never have that Ben again. Never. "Time is running out," she said again. "You'd better hurry home if you want to say goodbye," she told him, still not looking at him. Ben was torn, he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he should do or even what he wanted to do. He was obviously losing his wife, and probably the child along with it, but he was also losing a friend he'd already considered lost only to realize it was a friend he didn't care to lose, and said friend was losing her composure in front of him. He couldn't just leave her there, but he couldn't let his wife die in emotional pain and well as the pain she was already enduring. During his torn state Ben realized, a wife should easily take presidency. The one you love should easily take presidency. Is it possible I married a friend and the one I really love is the one who remained just a friend? he wondered.
With what Ben responded to her with greatly surprised Leanette, "I do not care to witness a friend's final moments," In Leanette's curiosity she turned to face him.
"What are you talking about?" she asked. "She's - she's your wife!" she tried to reason with him, or rather make sense of him.
"I married a friend," Ben stated. "I married a friend that I thought I loved, and the fact that I'm so torn between watching her pass on and comforting you tells me that until now I was a blind man. I married a friend instead on the one I love. The one I love remained a friend. The one I love," he began walking closer to Leanette. "Is right here," he finished as he wrapped his arms around Leanette and pulled her close.
"This. . .this is wrong," was Leanette's weak protest. It felt so good to be held.
"Is it? Is it wrong, Leanette? I made a mistake and married the wrong woman, and I'm trying to correct that mistake. How is that wrong?" Ben asked. Leanette couldn't think of a good answer, she was speechless. Maybe her judgement was clouded, and if that were the case it proved something to her as well,
"I made a mistake too,"
"What was that?" Ben asked.
"I let my love marry another woman," she answered and with that kissed him lightly, fresh tears pouring out her eyes.
Ben pulled away slightly. "What's wrong?" he asked, wiping some of her tears away.
"I was just thinking," Leanette stated. "It's about time I get my happily ever after."