It's several hours before Ben takes me home, to the gatehouse. While we were driving to the hospital Ben was the one to realize that we left Tripp lying on the floor, so we called for an ambulance to go and check on him. There was no way I was going to delay getting treatment for Ben or having Claire admitted so she could confess, and Ben could be freed from this ridiculousness. Tripp ended up having a concussion and was being kept overnight for observation.
Claire admitted herself right away and asked that I call Justin to represent her at least until her mom was able to be there. I had called my mom, to let her know that Claire was at the hospital and had confessed to setting the fires. She was in a state of disbelief when Claire actually told her what she had done.
Ben ended up getting eleven stitches in his arm from the laceration Claire had given him. Once he was stitched up, he went to the pub to get food for my mom, himself, and me. While he was doing that, I told my mom how Ben and I have really been together this entire time. How he was the one who begged me to tell her I was pregnant so that I would have someone to lean on when he couldn't be there for me and pleaded with me to go to the doctor, and that he has been making sure that I have been taking care of myself.
She admitted that she owed him an apology and when he came back with our food, she not only apologized for the hell she had put him through but thanked him for encouraging me to talk to her about the babies and taking care of me and keeping me safe. It was more than I could have asked for.
After Justin arrived, Claire discussed with him everything that had happened. She asked that Eli be the one to take her statement and make sure that Ben was cleared of all the charges that had been brought up against him.
Eli arrived within the hour and after taking Claire's statement informed Ben that while it wasn't official yet, he had no reason to believe that the charges wouldn't be dropped against him. Momma said she would call all of our family and tell them what has all happened and tells Ben to take me home so that I can get some rest.
By the time Ben gets me home it is 8 o'clock and I'm exhausted. He takes me into his arms and just holds me. I wrap my arms around him tightly and just rest my head on his chest, listening to the strong and steady beat of his heart.
"It's so good to have you home," he smiles down at me and kisses the top of my head.
"It feels even better to be home," I smile back at him and kiss his jaw.
We just stand there relishing the feeling of being finished with this mess and being back in each other's arms. I try to stifle off a yawn but I'm so tired I just can't do it.
Ben pulls back from our embrace, "I need to get you to bed."
"Ben, I want you, but I can't I'm just too tired to make love, I'm sorry."
He chuckles, "Don't get me wrong Ci, I want you too, but I'm too tired for that too. I meant I need to get you to bed to rest, you horndog."
"Ohh, God it's these hormones, they have me wanting you and thinking about sex all the time!"
"Well, now you get an idea of what it's like to be a guy," he grins, "come on bedtime."
All of my belongings were moved back to the loft, so I have to borrow one of Ben's shirts as my pajamas for the night. He gets into a pair of his pajama pants and gathers me into his arms as we lay in our tiny bed. It feels so good to be in our bed with his arms around me; his right hand resting on my abdomen and his thumb moving back and forth. He kisses my neck and I can feel his smile form against my skin and hear a soft chuckle.
"What?"
"You're starting to show, beautiful."
"What? How can you tell?! I only just discovered this morning that my favorite jeans don't fit anymore!"
"Ciara, I know your body like I know the back of my own hand. I can feel just a slight bump where the babies must be."
"Are you saying I'm getting fat?!"
"No, I'm saying it makes me happy. I can now see and feel the change happening on the outside of your body. You can feel it on the inside with the hormones, feeling sick, and being tired all the time. Me feeling the change in your body makes it feel even more real for me and it makes me love you even more. Our babies are growing, just like my love for you grows every day. I love you, so much."
I roll over in his arms to face him and I feel the tears start to slip down my cheeks, "I love you too. Why are you always making me cry?"
"I don't know. I'm not trying too."
"Well, stop saying such sweet things. You just know exactly what to say to make me feel beautiful again even though I know I look like a mess."
"You are beautiful and you're stunning. You're gorgeous and you're sexy, and if you think you're a mess then it's like I told you before, you're my mess, and I wouldn't have you any other way. Now go to sleep, I think you're overtired and that is why you are so emotional right now."
"You're probably right," I yawn.
"I love it when you say I'm right."
I swat at his chest, "You're right this time," I kiss his cheek and then lay my head where his chest and shoulder meet and rest my hand over his heart. "I love you, Ben."
I hear him whisper, "I love you too, Ci," just as I fall asleep.
The Next Morning
I'm up early the next morning. With Ciara in my arms, I sleep so much better and I'm ready and raring to start the day. With my queen home I want to make her breakfast, but before I do that, I want to clear it with Stefan that I step away from the mansion this morning so that I can pay a visit to the Kiriakis mansion. Stefan isn't normally up this early but with a conference call coming in from Japan this morning I know that he will be up.
"Ben, what are you doing here so early this morning?"
"I wanted to catch you before you went into the office and give you an update."
"Okay, shoot. What's going on?"
"We got Claire to confess yesterday. She's in the hospital getting treatment. It should only be a matter of time before my name is cleared and the charges are formally dropped."
"That's great, Ben. I'm glad to hear that."
"That leads me to the question I have to ask. Now that I'm going to be cleared, I want to propose to Ciara, but I want permission first. I want to go to the Kiriakis mansion and speak with Victor about asking Ciara to marry me."
Stefan let out a low whistle, "That's bold, Ben. Do you really think that he'll give you permission?"
"I don't know, but I want to try. I know it's old fashioned, but I feel like I need to. If he doesn't give it, I'm still going to ask her, because we're adults and he can't actually stop us. I will just feel better about it knowing that I've tried."
"I see."
"Well, I really want to propose to Ciara tonight, so I was hoping that it would be okay if I stepped away sometime this morning."
"Sure, you can leave. Do you want to use that new property this weekend to propose to Ciara?"
"Are you sure you're okay with us staying there?"
"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't sure Ben. I'll even have some staff go over there and cook whatever you want to have for dinner tonight. Just let Harold know what you want, and he'll have the rest of the staff take care of it."
"Then yes, that would be great. Thanks Stefan, you're a good man."
"You are too, Ben. We, pariahs, have to stick together."
"I'm going to head back to the gatehouse I want to make sure that I have breakfast ready when Ciara wakes up. Thanks again."
I walk back over to the gatehouse and can't believe how well things are going this morning. I have permission to leave and Stefan is letting me use the new property to propose to Ciara. As I walk through the door, I see that the bed is empty, then I hear movement coming from the right and see Ciara walking out of the bathroom.
She walks over to me and stands on her toes to kiss me, "Morning, baby."
"Good morning, beautiful," I greet her and take her into my arms. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Of course."
"I was hoping to have breakfast ready before you woke up. But I guess that's not happening."
"What were you going to make me, Benny Boo?"
I bite my lip trying to hide the smile forming on my lips and glare my eyes down at her, "I told you not to call me that."
"And I told you that I know you like it, so I don't know why you don't just admit it."
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"Scrambled eggs, peanut butter banana toast, and ginger tea if you can manage it, Benny Boo. And don't think I didn't notice you changing the subject."
"Maybe I should start calling you CiCi Boo or something else that will annoy you."
"You can try but it won't work, now get me that breakfast you promised. Your children and I are hungry," she says smiling up at me and rubbing her tummy.
I can't deny her anything and I start walking toward the kitchen, "On it, boss."
"Thank you, Benny…Boo!"
I quickly stride back over to her, pull her into my arms and devour her mouth. I graze my teeth along my favorite spot on her neck leaving her breathless. I walk back to the kitchen to make our breakfast, and I look over my shoulder, "Don't poke the bear if you don't want to get bit, darling," I grin.
I quickly go about making our breakfast and bring it out to her as she sits waiting on the couch with her legs tucked under her reading one of her textbooks.
When she sees me, she tosses the book on the coffee table and takes the plate that I have offered her. Before I've even sat down on the other end of the couch and taken a sip of my orange juice, she has half of her peanut butter and banana sandwich polished off.
"So, what are you up to today? Do you have to meet Lydia to study or work at the pub today?" I ask before digging into my eggs.
She finishes her sandwich and washes it down with some tea before answering, "Both actually. I'm meeting Lydia at 8 am to study for our final exam that's on Monday and then after that I work at the pub from noon until 5 tonight. Once I'm done with breakfast I'll have to go to the loft and pack some clothes to bring back here too."
"Don't worry about that I'll take care of moving all of your things back here. I don't want you lugging all of that heavy stuff back here."
"Well, thank you, but I'll still need to go there. I need to grab some clean clothes for studying with Lydia and I need my uniform for the pub too."
"Okay, you grab those things and I'll take care of the rest. Oh, and why don't you grab that little black dress that you wore on our first date. I want to take you somewhere special tonight."
"Ben it might be to tight to wear with the babies, now that I'm starting to show."
"The dress stretches, so I'm sure it will fit, and anyway I want to see how our baby bump looks in that dress."
"What's on your docket for today?" she asks taking the last bite of her eggs and placing the plate on the coffee table in front of her.
"Well, I have a bunch of errands to run for Stefan, so I'll be in and out all day."
"Okay, well like I said I have to scoot so I can change and head over to Lydia's," she gets up from her spot on the couch and then bends down to kiss my cheek, "don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone. I can't wait to see where you're taking me tonight. I love you."
"I love you too," I say around bites of my sandwich.
She grabs her purse and is out the door to start her day.
After I finish my breakfast, I take our plates back to the kitchen and then shower and get dressed to make my way over to the Kiriakis mansion. I put on one of my dark blue dress shirts and a black pair of dress pants. If I'm going to convince Victor Kiriakis that I'm not only good enough to breathe in the same airspace as Ciara but good enough to be her husband; then I need to look the part and not like a complete shlub.
I get in my car and take the short drive to the Kiriakis mansion. I walk up to the front door, take a deep breath, and ring the doorbell.
Maggie opens the door, "Ben, what are you doing here?"
"I was hoping to speak with Mr. Kiriakis."
"Ahh, sure he's in the living room. I'll take you to him."
