When Somebody Loves You Back

A short beep from his phone pulled him from his sleep. Miranda had her body draped around his. Ben could feel her nipples poking through her shirt into his back. The thought made him hard. Her soft breaths floated to his ear mixing with the chirping of the birds outside their—her—window. Rubbing his face, he turned in her arms. "You're awake," she said opening her eyes in the darkness.

"I am."

They shared a smile. "You're okay?" He loved how she checked up on him randomly. His first impressions of Miranda Bailey hadn't been particularly warm, but she really cared about him and that sunk him.

"I've never been better." Ben moved in for a kiss. It had only been a few days since he'd been relieved of any connection to Regina, but he felt so guilty of dragging Miranda through it with him. She'd deserved so much better than what he'd allowed. It was a shock that she was still with him. And he thanked his lucky stars that she'd given him another chance. Another chance to be in his life, another chance for him to prove that he was the only man for her. He wrapped his arms around her and pushed his face into her chest, inhaling. "You smell so good."

Miranda shoved her cool hands beneath his shirt. "I like the way you smell, too." He shivered. Her touch always managed to turn him into a man who was happily whipped. "You're off today, right?" He nodded.

"So, I was thinking…"

"Yeah?" He asked as she lightly scratched his back.

"That you could do me a favor."

"Of course," he replied pausing his nuzzling.

She kissed his chin, biting him gently. "Can you pick up Tuck from—"

"Yes!" Ben said way too enthusiastically. Clearing his throat, he repeated: "Yes, I can pick him up from..."

"School."

"School. Got it."

Miranda gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you, hon. I'll be in surgery and—"

Shaking his head, he cut her off. She was such an independent woman and asking for help wasn't in her wheelhouse. So, when she did ask him for something, he didn't care what it was, he obliged. "Anything for you, my love." He crawled on top of her. "Now, kiss me until the sun comes up," he chuckled.

Before he picked up Tuck, he visited Angela to kill some time. When the two of them broke down the entire baby fiasco, she did a jog around the island in her kitchen. "I knew it! I goddamn knew it!" She screamed. "Didn't I tell you?"

He shook his head with a smile. "Yes," he relented. "You did. But you don't have to rub it in."

"I'm not," she squealed. "I'm just glad that it's all over. For Miranda and for you." He nodded. "Because you were starting to develop a little…" She circled her finger over her head.

"What's that?" He asked mimicking her movements.

"A bald spot," she whispered.

The Warren siblings laughed loudly. "You're annoying," he replied rubbing his head. He'd noticed that. Angela shrugged. "But thank you, Ange. I owe you."

"I've been waiting for you to say that." He scrunched up his face. "I want you to come car shopping with me."

Sighing, He picked up the glass of water Angela had put in front of him. "When?"

"Today?"

"I… can't. Miranda has surgery and she asked me to pick up Tuck." He was going to get Tuck from school, watch him for an hour or two until she got home. And he was so excited to do it. To spend time with the boy who could one day become his stepson—the thought sent a chill up and down his spine.

Angela's tapping on her counter brought him back to his current conversation. "Fine, Daddy Ben."

"Don't say that," he laughed.

"But that's where everything is heading, right?" Ange asked taking a sip of her drink. He shook his head. "It's not?"

"Not that. We just haven't had discussed it and with all the crap…"

She asked if he wanted some breakfast, but he shook his head. "You're scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Your relationship with Miranda being taken to the next step."

Ben scoffed. "'Next step'. We've already been to the next step and the step after that," he told her. "The only next step is marriage and we're not ready to go down that road." He'd thought about marriage. It was on the table for him, but Miranda wasn't ready—understandably so. She had just gotten out of one that imploded before she could figure out what was happening.

Angela walked by him to the refrigerator and slapped his back. "Dummy, I wasn't talking about marriage."

"Then?"

"Moving in together, duh."

He blew air from his mouth. His sister thought she was so smart and thought she knew everything about everything. And sometimes she was damn right. He'd thought about them moving in together. Waking up in a bed in a home they shared. But it seemed too soon. Even for him. So he knew Miranda wouldn't even consider it. "Oh, right. I hadn't even thought about it," he said this time lying out loud.

At Tuck's school, he prepared himself for a little hiccup, maybe they wouldn't release the four-year-old to Ben because he wasn't on some kind of list or maybe Tuck wouldn't want to come with him, but everything was smooth. He signed out the boy, buckled him into his booster seat and they were off. "How was school, Tuck?" He asked, adjusting his mirror to see him. Tuck didn't answer and at a red light the older one turned his head slightly keeping his eyes on the road. "Are you okay? Tired?"

"Where's mommy?" Tuck asked.

The light danced back to green and Ben pressed on the gas gently. "Um, she's working. She'll be home in a little bit, bud. Okay?"

That answer seemed to suffice and Tuck perked up some more. "Can I have food?"

"Sure! Burgers and fries or pizza?"

Nodding, Tuck squished around in his seat. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Uh, we're almost home."

"I can't hold it!"

Ben made a noise. "Not even for like… five minutes?"

"One, two, tree, four, five!" Tuck moaned.

Ben pulled into the nearest restaurant and extracted the four-year-old. They hurried inside. "Hi. Where's your bathroom?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the hostess said, "but bathrooms are for paying customers."

Tuck wiggled around, bouncing slightly. "Look, we'll order something, but if you don't let us go, you'll have a puddle near your entrance."

The person's eyes grew wide, their bushy eyebrows flickering. "In the back on the left."

"Thanks." Taking Tuck's hand they followed the directions. Ben waited near the sink while Tuck used the bathroom. When he finished, his shirt was stuffed inside of his underwear and his pants were twisted. Smiling, Ben helped him. The way he sometimes did when they were at Miranda's house. The trust that she put in him was humbling and showed just how much she loved him. "There you go, young sir." The two of them washed their hands and went back to the front. They passed by a family having pizza and Tuck looked up at him. "Let's find a seat."

"Yes! Pizza!" Tuck said throwing his hands into the air. He grinned widely and Ben saw the perfect combination of Miranda and her ex-husband. Ben imagined that the kid that Regina had almost convinced him was his was right next to Tuck. The three of them sharing a meal would have been a dream come true. While he was happy to be done with her, honestly, when he thought about the imaginary kid, he got down all over again. It was such an odd feeling to miss something he never actually had, that hadn't actually belonged to him. He sighed and turned his attention back to Tuck who was talking happily about his day.

By the time they got to Miranda's house, she still wasn't there, but someone was parked in her driveway. When Ben pulled a sleeping Tuck out of the car, Tucker jumped out of his car and marched toward them. "Where have you been with my child?" He shouted.

"Excuse me?" Ben responded, holding Tuck's head hoping that he stayed asleep long enough for the foolishness to be over.

"Miranda said you two were supposed to be here two hours ago."

"We stopped to get something to eat."

"Nobody said anything about all that."

Ben shifted the boy from one side to the other. "Well, I didn't know you were coming to pick up Tuck."

"Doesn't matter what you thought," Tucker told him. He pulled his son from Ben's arms and walked toward his car.

Tuck woke up and looked around. "Ben?" He asked looking like he was near tears.

"I'm right here, bud," Ben said, his heart shattering slowly. He followed the two of them to the car.

Tucker put him in a booster seat. "Where's his bag?"

"I'll get it." When he returned, Tuck was falling asleep again. He was so adorable. Ben rubbed the boy's head. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay," Tuck nodded with closed eyes.

"Excuse me," Tucker said and Ben clenched his jaw and stepped back, closing the door.

Tucker backed out of the driveway and Ben watched the car until it had turned the corner. Pulling out his phone, he called Miranda. She answered on the fourth ring: "Hey, babe."

"Hey."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, uh, Tucker picked up Tuck," he said going to his car, getting inside of it.

"Oh, shoot! I forgot to text you. I'm sorry, Ben."

He shook his head. "It's… fine," he sighed.

"Well, I'm on my way, if you want to go in and wait." She'd given him a key to her house for today, to be with Tuck. He'd been alone in her place before, of course, but never "let himself in, get himself comfortable and wait" kind of alone.

A silly grin slipped on his face. "I would love to."

"Don't make it weird, Benjamin Warren," she said and he knew that she was smiling just as hard. "It's only a key."

"Mmhmm," he responded thinking that he'd make a copy of his house key soon and surprise her with it.

"I'll see you when I get home then."

A chill coursed his body. Home. "You will." Ben unlocked her front door and walked inside, looking around, wondering what it would be like if they lived together and what if her home was actually their home. If the pictures in the frames were of the three of them, if the fridge had his favorite stuff in it or the bathroom held his shaving cream and shampoo. Ben didn't know how long he stood by the door imaging, but when he finally snapped back to reality, Miranda was coming in the house.

"Honey, I'm home," she laughed.

Though he was still shaken by the visions of the future, he joined in, taking her bag and helping her with her jacket. He kissed her cheek in the process. "Did you eat?"

She shook her head. "But I'm not really hungry. I do want a shower though." Miranda started to walk off, but he held her.

"Kiss your boyfriend, woman." Her eyes lowered and she touched the front of his shirt, pulling him down a little. Their lips meeting softened him and he moaned as they broke the short kiss. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said in a voice that made his body jump. "And thank you, too."

"For what?"

She fingered the back of his head. "For picking up Tuck, for being here when I got home…"

"What if…" He swallowed the question that had fizzed to the surface. Just looking at Miranda's face had him wanting to propose all kinds of things. "You're welcome." As she backed away, he said: "There's some leftover wings and pizza that Tuck and I had earlier, I could heat it up for you?"

"Sounds good." Smiling, she moved toward the stairs and he watched her go, her ass entrancing him. As they watched a movie and Miranda ate, Ben stole kisses and bites of her food. He put his arm around her, putting his lips on her cheek. "I'm trying to eat."

"Me, too," he said smiling. Miranda offered him a piece of pepperoni.

He accepted, nibbling on her fingers. "Thank you."

"So, there weren't any issues picking up Tuck?"

Ben said there weren't. "Not until your ex came through." She opened her mouth to apologize. "It's fine. I guess… I guess, we'll just butt heads for the rest of our lives. Because he doesn't like me and probably never will and I damn sure ain't a member of his fan club." Turning to him, Miranda raised a brow. "What?"

"You said 'the rest of our lives'."

He inhaled. "Just like… I… What I meant was…" She watched his sputtering while smirking. He sighed loudly. "Never mind I said anything."

"But you haven't said anything."

Pulling his lips in, he made a face. "I'll keep it that way for now."