Chapter 24

Ben spent the next day with his mom, who was so excited to see him. It had been so long since he had been home. She made him dinner and fussed over him, like he was a little boy again. He was surprised when his father showed up later in the evening. He didn't know that he and his mom were even talking since his dad had been discharged from the hospital in New York. He remained on the liver transplant registry, and would have surgery when one was available. Ben had been in regular contact with his dad since he left New York, but he was unaware that his parents were talking again. Why is he here, he wondered. He was immediately nervous.

"Ben, it's good to see you. I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I joined you and your mother for dessert," his dad said.

"Yeah, that's good. It's good to see you. You seem to be feeling better," Ben remarked, watching his dad's behavior closely.

"I am. I think it's the weather here. It's so much warmer here than in New York. I don't know how you do it, live there in the winter."

"Yeah, it can be rough. But I love the snow."

"I am really proud of how well you've done there, son. I was concerned when you moved away, we both were, but you seem to have done really well there."

"Yeah, I like it there. It's been a good thing for me." Ben looked at his mother, who was glancing at his father with a soft smile on her face. "Mom, what are we having for dessert?"

"Oh, Ben, it's your favorite. Strawberry cheesecake. I thought you'd like that."

"Thanks, that sounds great. Well, why don't we eat?"

They sat down and ate their dessert, all the while Ben was observing them discreetly, trying to figure out what seemed different. He wasn't quite comfortable with them being a family again, it just seemed so odd to him.

Ben's dad finally said, "So, Ben, your mom and I wanted to talk to you about something. I thought this might be a good time, since you are home."

Ben noticed the expectant look on his mom's face as she watched his father. "Yeah, okay."

"Your mom and I, you know that we spent some time together while I was in the hospital. Well, we all did. And it meant so much to me. Anyway, your mom and I have been talking, and we want to try again. We want to see if we can make it work this time, us. I know you will have concerns about this, and I understand…"

"Concerns?" Ben replied, his voice on edge. He looked at his mom. "How long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Ben, don't be so upset. I wasn't keeping things from you, I just wanted to wait to tell you in person. I know that this is hard for you, but it's really what I want."

"Mom, how can you say that? We just wanted dad to get better, we didn't really mean to give him another chance. Don't you remember, we talked about this."

"Ben, I know that you are worried, but you don't need to be. I can take care of myself. You have your own life now, you don't need to worry so much about me anymore."

His dad interjected, "Ben, your mother is right. You don't need to worry. We just wanted you to know, so that you'd feel more comfortable…"

Ben rose from the table, "I don't know, I just don't think this is right. I just don't understand how you can trust him again, Mom." He shook his head, "I gotta get out of here."

"Ben, wait," his dad started.

"Don't start, Dad. I just need to get out of here, clear my head. We…let's talk about this later. I just can't right now." With that, he left, closing the door loudly behind him.

Meanwhile, Felicity was having dinner with her parents at her mom's house. Things were not going well there either. For some reason, her dad chose this time to bring up her upcoming graduation with an art degree, which he still considered a colossal mistake. She kept trying to defend herself, and got angrier by the minute.

"Felicity, just listen to your dad. He has some real concerns. He isn't trying to tell you what to do."

"Yeah, I know he has concerns. I can hear that."

"Felicity, I am just asking you to think through what you are going to do next. You are going to be done with college in just over five months. What do you plan to do next? What kind of job are you going to get?"

"I don't know dad, I don't have it all figured out yet."

"Well, I think you need to start thinking about it. You've taken almost four years of classes now, don't you have some idea of what sort of career you can have in your…..art, or whatever."

"Art, or whatever? God, Dad, you still can't stand that I didn't go into pre-med, can you?" She shook her head, trying not to let her own doubts come into this conversation, not wanting him to be right.

"Listen, I know that this art means a lot to you, and you are very good at it. You really are, sweetheart. But what, realistically, can you do with it? Is there something more productive you can do? Like maybe architecture or something?"

"Architecture? Why would you even suggest that?"

"I don't know. It was just an idea. I just want you to be thinking about things."

"Believe me, I have. This was not an easy semester for me."

Her mother looked at her with concern. "Honey, what happened? Did something happen in one of your classes?"

"No, never mind." She shook her head again, not wanting to get into what happened with Cavallo right now. "Listen, Dad, I know why you are concerned, and believe me I am worried, too. It's not easy figuring out what you want to do next in your life. But I will get it figured out. I don't need your help. Ben and I…"

"Ah, Ben. There we go again. Ben. Is he even doing well in his classes? Your mom mentioned something about how he was going to have to slow down a bit, not take so many classes next term. Is he really the one you should be latching on to, to help you figure things out? He may not even be able to graduate or become a doctor like he thinks…."

"What?! Dad, stop! You have no right talking about Ben like that. You don't know him at all."

"Honey, your dad just wants you to think things through. The two of you got engaged, and now you are going to graduate. There is a lot to figure out and everything will get a lot less fun real soon…"

Felicity stood up, tired of arguing with her parents. "Okay, I have had enough. I can't believe you two. I came home to spend time with you and this is how you treat me? I don't know what is going to happen each and every day in the future. But I know one thing for sure. That I don't need either of you telling me what to do. I am tired of dad trying to control my life. I am out on my own now, and I will do what I want to do. I don't need your approval. I don't. And another thing, I am with Ben, and that is not going to change. In fact, you should now that we got married while we are in Florida. So you might as well stop talking negatively about him or about us, we going to be together. Forever. And there is absolutely nothing that you can say about that." She paused, looking at the shock that had come over her parents' faces. "I am leaving now, I can't stay here anymore." And she left, before either of her parents managed a reply.

Felicity found herself wandering onto the football field at her old high school. Something about being home again drew her to this place. She looked around, noticing how the place hadn't changed much since the day she had first gotten up the courage to speak to Ben over three and a half years ago. She marveled at how far they had come, smiling as she thought about it.

"Hey," she heard someone whisper. And she knew that voice by heart.

"Ben?" she asked, looking around her.

"Yeah, I'm here," he replied, coming out of the shadows of the bleachers.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, a smile coming onto her face at the sight of him.

"I suppose for the same reason you are," he answered shyly. "Not a good night with your parents, huh?" He moved closer to her, taking her hand in his.

"Yeah, it was awful. How about you? How did it go with your mom?"

"Well, it was going great until my dad showed up," he sighed. She looked up at him, questioning. "You want to sit down?"

Ben led her over the bleachers, and sat down next to her, all the while never taking his hand out of hers. "So, yeah, dad came over. It was so strange seeing them together again."

"Together? Really?"

"Yeah, that is what they wanted to talk about. I just don't know what to think of that, so I came here to get away from them. And look who decided to join me," he said with a smile.

She laughed softly, "Yeah, it's weird how we came here at the same time."

"Nah, not really. Not if you think about it," he remarked, rubbing his hand over hers gently.

"Yeah?"

"I just mean this is where it all started, you and me. It makes sense that this is where we'd come. I wanted to feel close to you, so I came here," he said, getting shy at the end.

"Ben…"

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head a bit. "So, what happened with your parents?"

"Well, let's just say that it didn't go well. And that they would have no respect whatsoever for what this place means to us. Or what anything means to us, for that matter."

"What? It was that bad?" he asked with concern.

"Yes, that bad. You would not believe my dad, he is just so impossible."

"Yeah, I know."

"Yeah, but it was worse this time, he was judging me so much and trying to tell me what I should do with my life…."

"Felicity, he has done that as long as I have known you. And you've handled it."

"I know, I know. But why does everything he says bother me so much, I mean, why do I let it?"

"I don't know. Maybe just because he is your dad."

"Yeah, I guess so. But it makes me so mad. I don't want to care what he thinks, but somehow I do. Even now."

Ben rubbed his hand over hers once more, then reached his hand up to her face. "Listen, it doesn't matter what he says. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter."

"I don't know, Ben. I mean, he was questioning me about my career plans, and I am so confused myself, I couldn't really defend myself. I just got angry and left."

"What do you mean you're confused, you haven't told me that before."

"I don't know, with what happened with Cavallo…"

"Felicity, don't let what happened with that dick affect you this way, or what your dad said. You know what you want, and that is to be an artist."

"Yeah, I guess. I just don't know. All I really want to do is be with you, that is about all I know."

Ben smiled, pulling her closer. "Well, that is certainly okay by me."

"Good," she giggled. She went into his arms willingly, wrapping her arms around his chest, sighing with contentment. "So, this place is pretty special, huh?"

"Well, yeah, this is where my life changed." He grew quiet, looking down at her in his arms. She smiled as she listened to him talk about the fate that had brought them together. "I still can't believe how lucky I was, you following me to New York."

"You didn't think you were so lucky at first," she said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, well, I was just shocked that someone would do that for me. Especially someone like you. I mean, you were always so different from me, so much smarter and more together. I just hoped you'd talk to me one day, and then you were there, in New York. It was amazing."

"Yeah, I still can't believe I did that, but I am glad that I did. I knew it was the right thing to do. And besides, what you wrote in my yearbook, it was so sweet," she touched his face with her hand. "I still get chills just thinking about it."

Ben smiled, looking down at her. He leaned in, giving her a sweet kiss. "I am so glad I wrote it." Ben wrapped his arms back around her, pulling her closer. They sat there for quite some time, just enjoying the closeness. They listened to the quiet way their hearts seemed to beat as one, as they looked at the stars above them.

"Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"I told my parents that we got married," she said quietly.

Ben laughed," You did?"

"Yeah, it just sort of came out."

"Okay. I bet that was a shocker," he laughed. "But it's okay, we will deal with it. We will deal with everything, together."

"Yes, yes, we will," she whispered. They continued to sit there, with their arms wrapped around each other, ready to face whatever the world had in store for them.