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An amused smile on her face, Charlene stood in the doorway to their nursery with Vivienne leaning on her leg. In the middle of the room, Benedict was sitting on the floor, numerous pieces of white wood lying around him which would, eventually, be their little one’s crib. Vivienne had already slept in it and so had Noah all those years ago. Now it was time for it to be rebuild and he had announced to do just that rather confidently earlier that day.
A few hours had passed since that statement and nothing looked even remotely like a crib much to Benedict’s annoyance and Charlene’s amusement.
“What is Daddy doing?,” Noah inquired, quietly, looking at his father sitting on the floor. Benedict’s hair was tousled from the numerous times he had let his hands run through it.
“He’s trying to rebuild the crib,” Charlene grinned, her hands cradling her bump.
“I’m not just trying to rebuild it, I actually will rebuild it,” Benedict grumbled under his breath.
Noah nodded with raised eyebrows before he padded off to his room again.
“Of course you will, sweetheart,” Charlene chuckled before she picked up her daughter. “Call me if you need help,” she added with a wink before she, too, walked off and left Benedict alone again.
For a moment he waited, listening to the fading footsteps of his wife before he pulled out his phone. Crawling to the door, he reassured himself once more that his family was indeed out of earshot before he dialled a rather familiar number.
“Hey Ben, what’s up?” Tom’s voice echoed from the speaker and a surge of relief flooded through Benedict.
“Oh thank the lord, you picked up. Listen, Tom, I need your help!” Briefly, he explained his problem to his friend and tried to ignore the amused laughter coming from the young man on the other end of the phone. At the end of their conversation, however, they had a plan and with a satisfied grin, Benedict walked out of the room and downstairs into the kitchen to grab a snack.
“How’s the crib?,” Charlene asked with a grin as she followed him into the kitchen.
“Good, good,” Benedict mumbled without looking at her. His wife simply shook her head and hugged him from behind even though that proved to be rather difficult nowadays. Tenderly, she kissed him on the neck and he smiled ere turning around in her embrace.
“I will rebuild it, Charlene, I promise,” he mumbled, a little ashamed at his inability to fulfil said promise until now. She nodded.
“I know you will,” she whispered, kissing him properly now.
The ringing of her phone interrupted them.
“Hello?...Oh, hi Louise!...I’m good, thanks, and you?...Um, no, we don’t….Yes, sure. That sounds lovely….Okay...Alright, see you in a bit...bye!” Placing her phone back on the cooking island, she turned towards her husband again. “Louise was asking if we want to come over for a bit and I said yes. Is that alright with you?,” she inquired, once more wrapping her arms around him.
“Of course it is. I’ll stay here though and finish...that.” Benedict pointed upwards to where the nursery was and Charlene nodded.
“Okay. We won’t be long, I suppose,” she smiled before she padded off to collect Noah and Vivienne. Not long after they drove off, leaving Benedict behind who was eagerly waiting by the front door. So far everything had gone as planned.
He sighed, relieved, when the doorbell announced his awaited guest and with a thankful smile he opened the door for Tom.
“Hi! Thanks so much for coming!,” he smiled, allowing him to enter.
“No problem at all! Where is it?,” Tom grinned, his toolbox firmly in his hands.
“Upstairs. I’ll show you.”
Together, the two men walked upstairs and once in the nursery, Tom quickly scanned the job at hand.
The second pair of eyes helped a lot and only around thirty minutes later the white, wooden crib stood in the middle of the room, ready to be used. Once more, Benedict ruffled through his curls.
“Thank you so much, Tom. I could not have done it without you,” he mumbled, still a bit embarrassed. Tom simply waved his remark off.
“It’s fine, really. I’m glad I could be of help. I’ll be off now, though, before Charlene and the kids come back,” he winked and, grabbing his tools, he left his friend on his own again.
A little nervously, Benedict waited for the return of his family as he sat in the living room, reading a book. When he could hear their voices in the driveway, though, he took a deep breath and pretended everything was fine.
“We’re back,” Noah shouted through the house soon after before he came running into the room.
“Hello there. Did you have a great time?,” Benedict smiled at his son, who nodded, his cheeks flushed from the cold. In no time, he was off again, running upstairs and into his room.
Slowly, Benedict got up and walked over to his wife who stood in the doorway, still wrapped in her winter coat. She looked gorgeous.
“Hey,” she smiled, unzipping her coat. He took it and put it on a hanger.
“Hey,” Benedict smiled back, kissing her softly.
“Louise and Maggie send their best wishes. Tom wasn’t home unfortunately but I suppose you know that already,” Charlene chuckled. Benedict blushed.
“Well...good news is, the crib is ready to use,” he mumbled without meeting his wife’s eyes. Charlene padded over to him and gently placed a hand on his cheek.
“You know, Benedict, I don’t expect you to be perfect at everything. Don’t be so hard on yourself, love. You’re a great father and an equally great husband. Struggling at something is no reason to be ashamed. Be brave enough to admit that you need help because that really shows your strength,” she said with a loving smile. Benedict merely nodded.
“I love you,” he mumbled, almost shyly. Charlene grinned.
“I know. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble.”