Sideline Story 2.0

Elena Bailey was on her way out of the door when the doorbell rang. She opened it to see her husband standing there. William Bailey. Six-foot-six and the man of her dreams. "I left my key upstairs," he said leaning down to kiss her. "Hey, baby."

"Hey, honey," she said blushing. Married for almost 50 years and not a day had gone by that William didn't make her feel good all over.

"Where are you off to?"

She hugged him tightly. "To the store to get some things. You want something?"

"Cake?" She scrunched up her face. "Chocolate. Your favorite."

Elena laughed. "That's your favorite. And okay." They kissed again. "Oh, and I got a call from Miranda earlier." Miranda was their only child. And being her mother was the one thing Elena was sure she'd done successfully. At 35, Miranda was a surgeon at major hospital with the most beautiful child in the history of the world. Tuck was perfect and while she saw a lot of Miranda in him, she saw a lot of herself, too. Miranda and her soon-to-be ex-husband were separated and at the tail-end of a divorce.

"Yeah? What's she up to?"

"She… has a boyfriend."

William whipped around. "What?"

Elena grinned and nodded. "Yes."

Her husband raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat. "She's not even divorced, Lena. How serious is it?"

"She really likes him." Elena took a beat. "She sounds happy, William," she told him in a firm voice. And before he had a chance to start a debate, she added: "So, we need to be happy for her."

He tossed up his hands. "That's great," he responded with a deep sigh. She knew he wasn't fully on board yet, but at least he'd try. "I can't wait to meet him, I guess."

"Funny you said that. They're coming over for dinner tomorrow night."

Smiling, William said: "You just slipped that in there." Elena shrugged, staring up at him. "Fine. Fine. Fine."

Elena left and headed to the grocery store, making a stop at one of her favorite places in Seattle to get dessert. Then, she headed home. William was asleep on the sofa. "Now, what to cook?" She asked herself while moving about the kitchen, putting away the food. The door to the kitchen swung open and her husband entered.

"I could have helped with the bags, Lena."

"You were asleep."

"I can help with dinner."

"Just pretend you're still asleep," she said throwing a laugh over her shoulder. William walked over to her, putting his arms around her waist. She couldn't believe that her father had begged her to marry another man. No other man could put a smile on her face like William Edward Bailey could. He kissed her cheek. "You're handsy today."

The stoic man lifted his shoulders. "You weren't complaining last night."

She hit his shoulder. "Oh!"

An hour before her daughter arrived, Elena had finished the sides and was ready to start frying the chicken. The doorbell sounded and she untied her apron, going to the door, getting there just after William. He put his hand on the knob. She stopped him ready to give a spiel. "Don't lecture me, Elena Bailey. I'm perfectly capable of conducting myself properly."

"Don't be too hard on him."

"I won't."

"Or her."

"I said I won't," he told her with a wink.

Elena stepped in front of him and opened the door. "Hey, y'all," she said waving them in the house. "My Mandy," Elena said hugging Miranda. "You're so beautiful, baby."

"Hi, mama," she said hugging her back. "Daddy."

"Hi, baby," William said kissing the top of their daughter's head. The older couple turned to the man standing next to her. "Who's your friend?"

Miranda stared at Elena who hit her husband gently. "You said."

"Mama, daddy, this is Benjamin Warren. Ben, these are my parents, Elena and William Bailey."

Ben shook hands with William first and then with Elena, exchanging greetings. Elena sized him up quickly knowing that William was doing the same. The man was very handsome and smiley. That would usually turn her off, but on him it was endearing and he had a gorgeous smile. Great teeth. That was good news for their could-be future kids. "You have a lovely home," he was saying when Elena mentally rejoined the conversation.

She touched her chest. Oh, he was good. "Thank you. I decorated it myself."

He tilted his head a bit. "Really? It's looks professionally done."

"Why, thank you."

"So, where's my grandson?" William asked.

"I thought this should be an adults-only type of thing," their daughter said as she grabbed Ben's hand. Elena watched Miranda pull her lips in as she tried to hide a smile, but Elena knew that look. She also knew that her daughter could be just as tough as her father—which wasn't a bad thing because it made her a great surgeon. But she had never seen her grab the hand of her husband and they'd been together for over ten years. "But I will go and get him if you two want."

William's laugh shook the room. "We were just wondering." He turned to Ben. "Would you like a drink, young man?"

Ben nodded. "Yes, sir." He leaned down to kiss Miranda's cheek before following William.

Elena waited until they were far enough away to break out into the widest smile. "He's a handsome young man."

"Mama…"

"Fine. He's fine, girl," she said mimicking the tone she often heard from her daughter and her nieces. The two women giggled like schoolgirls before Elena pulled Miranda into the kitchen. "I was just about to start frying the chicken. Wait, does Ben eat meat or he is one of those picky eaters."

Miranda washed her hands and picked up a spoon. "He eats meat."

"Good. I would hate to kick him out," Elena teased as her daughter tasted the macaroni salad. "So, he's met Tuck already?"

The younger Bailey nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Tuck loves him."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?" Miranda asked as she moved on to tasting the collard greens. Elena didn't respond. "It's not love… yet. Not 'yet,' but…" she sighed. Her eyes were on the last pot that held the yams. Elena had made so many sides just in case Ben was a finnicky eater. Miranda forked a piece of yam, her eyes smiling. The look on her face was quite a difference from when she'd last seen her with a man.

The last dinner the four of them had eaten together had been a struggle from beginning to end. It was evident that the marriage probably wouldn't last. Miranda hadn't looked relaxed and each time Elena had made eye contact with her daughter that night, she looked like she was the on the verge of crying. This was so much better. And Elena was glad. It's all she ever wanted for her daughter; to be happy and content. "It's only been a couple of months and it's going well. Really well." Elena plucked up a piece of yam herself as the chicken fried. "And he… he knows me. Just like daddy knows you."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked knowing exactly what she meant, but loving that her daughter was confiding in her.

"Like for Valentine's Day, we'd just started talking and instead of being upset that I had to work, he came and assisted me. Tucker never did that."

Elena scoffed. "Tucker's not a doctor."

"Not the surgery, mama." Miranda looked square in Elena's eyes and she saw herself reflected in the young woman's shiny, brown eyes. "He understood. I don't know. M-maybe it is because he's a doctor, so he knows from experience what it's like to get wrapped up with a patient," she rambled. "Or maybe—"

"Or maybe he's a good man, baby," Elena replied pulling up the last of the chicken. "Go and tell our men that the food is ready." As the four of them sat down to the dinner, she glanced at Ben who was smiling at Miranda. She'd thought that her daughter was enamored by Ben, but he seemed to be just as taken. "Let's say grace. Hon?"

As they finished up dinner, Ben said: "Mrs. Bailey, that was great meal."

"Thank you, Ben," she responded with a smile. She sure was getting those brownie points.

"Yeah, I haven't had a homecooked meal in ages. This tasted like home."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Elena stood up and began clearing off the table. Miranda stood up to help and Ben did the same. "Oh, no, please sit. You are a guest."

The younger man shook his head. "It's perfectly fine. Gotta earn my keep," he said picking up some dishes and walking behind Miranda to the kitchen.

"I guess I have to help, too, huh?" William asked pushing back his chair.

Elena rolled her eyes as he started to go into the kitchen. "Wait, wait. Just give them a second."

A minute later, Miranda returned, wiping the corners of her mouth. "Uh, Ben is… um, doing the d-dishes." Her daughter's face was flushed and she could only imagine what they'd gotten up to. "So..."

William looked from his wife to his daughter. "So what?"

"What do you guys think about him?" She asked, her face hopeful.

"Well…" Elena said turning her nose a little. "He's…"

"He's, um…" William started. Husband and wife looked at each other and bobbing their heads to the side, miming a conversation.

Elena nodded. "I like him, Mandy," she said.

"Well, I don't," her husband said picking up a roll and biting into it, his eyes smiling.

"Oh, William!" She laughed. "Stop teasing her." Elena tossed a cloth napkin across the table making him chuckle.

Miranda exhaled deeply. "That's not funny!" Their daughter laughed and it grabbed ahold of her heart. Even though she was grown with a child of her own, Miranda would always be her baby. He rounded the table and kissed her head. "Daddy!" She yelled shaking her head.

Ben popped his head from out of the kitchen and they all looked at him. "Hey, um, why do I feel like you all are talking about me?" He asked looking around at each Bailey.

"Because we are," Miranda said walking over to him. "My parents were saying how much they like you."

He gave a wide smile. "I knew it." Ben put an arm around Miranda's waist and Elena tensed up waiting for her daughter to shrug him off, but the shrug never came and so she relaxed. She took the stuff she had into the kitchen. Ben had began putting the food into smaller containers. Elena couldn't stop the smile that graced her face. She didn't like putting the cart before the horse, but it definitely seemed like her daughter had found a keeper. Though, she'd thought the same thing about Tucker and, for a while at least, she'd been right.

She didn't hear someone enter the kitchen and was surprised to look up and see Ben saying: "I can do those."

Elena waved him off. "You've done enough." The man grinned. He continued to redistribute the food. She stopped to look at him as Miranda walked in the room.

"What's going on?"

"Put those on the counter and leave us please," Elena said in a soft voice.

"Okay," Miranda responded before doing as she was told.

When the two of them were alone again, Elena turned to him. "I hope this 'nice guy' thing isn't just an act. I hope that you really enjoy my daughter's company as much as she enjoys yours."

"She told you that she enjoys my company?" Ben's smile was engaging and Elena smirked looking up to the ceiling and then back to him. "But, no, uh… I'm not putting on an act. This is who I am."

"Are you honest?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Caring?"

"And respectful," he added.

Elena inhaled. "And you'll be good for her?" The question was practical especially coming from a mother. Miranda was a strong young woman and could definitely survive another heartbreak, but Elena would have preferred if her daughter's life was paved with only love from those closest to her.

Ben glanced to the door. "And to her," he said nodding. "We're still getting to know each other, but it's heading in the direction of love…" His eyes got wide as he realized what he'd said. "Pleasedonttellherthat!" A bewildered look colored his face. Elena laughed and said that she'd keep it between them. "Honestly, I'm just grateful."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "I've never met anyone like her and so I'm appreciating every day, you know?"

William came into the kitchen. "I do," she told him giving him a wink.

"Has enough time passed so that we can cut the cake?" Her husband asked.

"When you bring the rest of those dishes," she replied.

He waved her off playfully. "I have to do everything around here," he said leaving the room.

Elena went to the pantry to get more dish detergent. She turned to see that Ben had taken over the dishes. "I know you must annoy my daughter," she laughed handing over the soap.

"Why do you say that?"

"You're kind." Ben chuckled. "And… not that Mandy doesn't like kindness or kind people, she's that way herself." He nodded without looking at her. "But she's gone through a lot where people haven't been kind, so…" Elena stopped talking. Perhaps she was saying too much. Perhaps this was stuff he already knew.

"You mean her ex-husband?" She stayed quiet. "I've met him," he said turning around finally.

Miranda came back into the kitchen breaking their conversation. "Still at it?" She asked looking from her mother to Ben. They smiled at each other as she walked over to him standing next to him. The two of them whispered to each other. Elena watched her daughter nod, the smile never leaving her face. Miranda went to the refrigerator and grabbed the ice cream and picked up the cake from the counter. "Dad wants these. Is it okay?"

"I don't need your mother's permission, Miranda Bailey. Bring it!" The three of them laughed and she left once again.

Elena walked over to Ben and started drying the dishes, putting them away. He looked over at her. "She said you guys really liked him."

She slipped out of her shoes, pushing them off to the side. "He seemed to seemed to be The One." William had been upset at Miranda's impending divorce to Tucker thinking she had chosen surgery over her family. That had caused problems between the father and daughter. But Elena knew that there was more to the story and had supported Miranda's decision. She'd been married once before to a man just like Tucker. It was almost comical that she hadn't recognized that until things turned sour in her daughter's marriage. Tucker had been the perfect representation of a snake in the grass. It had taken a while to sus him out, but once she did… it was too late. "I thought he made her happy."

"Do you think I make her happy?" She raised a brow while taking the last dish from him. "Because I like to think that I do."

"I think you do."

"So do I," Miranda said pushing the door open.

"Are you spying on us?" He asked. She shrugged and walked over to Elena, hugging her.

Smiling, Elena hugged her back. "I like this one," she whispered.

"Me, too," Miranda replied.

Once Miranda and Ben were gone, Elena lay in bed. William was just coming out of the bathroom. "I told you not to have that second piece of cake," she said as he climbed behind her.

He just huffed. "What did you and Ben talk about for all that time? Or are you trying to find someone younger?"

Elena elbowed him and he laughed. "Don't get your feelings hurt," she said turning to face him. She leaned in for a kiss. "But I was doing my due diligence."

"You were interrogating him?"

She giggled. "No. Just asking questions."

"And?"

"I think he's a good man," she told her husband. He closed his eyes. "What do you think?"

William sighed, his minty breath hit her face, tickling her. "I like him. I mean, we just met him so take that assessment with a grain of salt."

"You're such a…" She scrunched up her face.

"A what?" He asked, smiling.

Elena just shook her head. "Just go to sleep," she laughed.