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Ben was having a disaster. He had failed multiple times and was on the verge of giving up. How Rey managed to do this every day he would never know. It was definitely another reason to fall even more in love with that woman and Ben didn’t even know was possible.
She surprised him every day. Did things no one thought she could do. Admittedly, sometimes Ben wasn’t entirely sure she would do it. It’s not that he didn’t think Rey could do it; it was the fact that he didn’t think it was humanely possible.
Not even big things like being pregnant and starting a new job- which Rey did. It was tinier things like getting up in the morning. Remembering to feed the kids and give them everything they needed to go to nursery with, not letting Ben forget anything either.
There was one thing that Rey did every day that Ben just couldn’t do as effortlessly. That was cooking. Ben could cook for just himself but it would be too poor to actually class as a meal. Every night Rey cooked for her and Ben and for their little daughter as well. Not only that, she also prepared some baby food for their son as well. All while entertaining them.
Ben was usually at work when this was going on so he didn’t know how hard it was to cook a meal for dinner. He had help of course from his daughter but it wasn’t entirely helpful. It created a lot of mess but kept her entertained.
Their six-month-old son sat on the floor building blocks. He seemed to be content stacking cubes and knocking them over again. Though, when his sister knocked them over, he wasn’t as happy.
‘Halley, please leave Leo’s blocks alone. Can you come and help me with the cooking?’ Ben asked sweetly. He had taken the day off work to spend some time with his kids and. Rey was supposed to be on maternity leave but there was apparently something urgent that she had go in for. She promised to only be a few hours but a text mid afternoon told him she would be longer than that. It was supposed to be their family day but their family wasn’t complete without Rey.
This cooking was stressing Ben out. He went for something simple, pasta with a tomato sauce and some vegetables, though it wasn’t as easy as the instructions implied. His daughter was carefully getting all the food out of the fridge that the recipe asked for.
Halley could read now that she started school and she made Ben very proud. He never even imagined having kids let alone having one who was practically a genius. She gave him an adorable smile when she sneaked a bar of chocolate amongst the healthy greens.
‘Halley, we can’t put the chocolate bar in with the pasta.’ His daughter’s face dropped. ‘But you can eat half the bar now as long as you don’t tell Mummy.’ Halley’s eyes lit up as she went and sat at the table munching the chocolate. He’d rather cut the vegetables when there wasn’t a five-year-old hovering.
‘Daddy, I accidentally ate all the chocolate.’ Halley said solemnly as if it wasn’t her fault.
‘It’s okay sweetheart. Do you want to sit on the chair over there or go into your room and play dolls?’ Ben offered. It was his day off so it wasn’t the end of the world that the chocolate was gone.
‘Can I stay and watch you?’ Halley asked with the sweet eyes. Ben put the knife down and left the tomatoes half cut while he moved a chair closer to him and lifted Halley onto it. She was close to him but far enough away that if Ben spilt anything it wouldn’t get her. Thankfully, Leo was still gleefully playing with his little blocks on the floor.
Ben turned the heat up and began cooking the pasta he chatted away with his daughter about school and all her new friends while he prepared the rest of the sauce. It was looking as if this meal would actually be edible rather than a mess.
That was until Halley complained of a smell coming from the direction of Leo. He guessed that he had pooed in his nappy and the vapour was now wafting round the room. Ben turned the heat down and told his eldest child to stay away from it while he lifted Leo up and took him to the nappy changing station in his bedroom.
The theme of Leo’s bedroom had been a difficult decision. While Ben wanted to go with dinosaurs, Rey liked the idea of space and travelling. Ben had no plan on where to put the dinosaurs and what colour they would be so he let Rey have the choice.
She obviously picked the space theme so the room was painted in a navy, they thought black would be too dark, with black holes and planets with rings and moons orbiting them. On the wall by his cot, there was a gigantic nebula that stretched across the long wall. It shone colours of pinks and purples as well as touches of oranges and yellows. Until then, Ben never knew Rey could paint. She just was so amazing at everything. It made Ben really appreciate how lucky he was.
After changing the nappy of his son, he went back downstairs to find the kitchen in disarray. Halley had returned to her seat there were large pools of water on the floor and the sink almost up to the brim.
‘I was only trying to help and do the washing up. I didn’t touch any of the food.’ Halley admitted cutely. There was no possible way he could be mad at her for that. He placed his son carefully on the floor who continued contently with his constructing and destructing.
‘We’ll do the washing up together then.’ Ben said playfully. How his daughter had managed to get back on the seat escaped him until he noticed the bin by the side of the chair.
There wasn’t much to wash up as most of it was still in use. Ben had to constantly add bubbles because his eldest little bundle of joy kept moaning that there wasn’t enough. She giggled and laughed so much that it made Ben’s heart want to melt. How was someone so cute and be half of him?
With all the fun doing the washing up, Ben had left the pasta and sauced on. He was meant to turn that down about 10 minutes ago. The sauce looked fine but probably tasted disgusting. Ben’s estimates were accurate when he lifted a wooden spoon to his mouth. He also had to get Leo’s baby food ready. Their baby had only just started on the baby food which he was adjusting rather well to. It seemed too easy that he was eating this baby food so well.
The pasta was also a dark brown around the edges and the floor was a lake. Making dinner for Rey had not gone very well. He could just pretend he had never tried and bribe Halley not to say anything but the opening of the door and the click of heels suggested he wouldn’t have enough time.
Ben looked down at himself and he was a mess. Even though he was wearing a black jumper, you could visibly see the wet patches which covered most of the front of it. His sleeves were rolled up but still soaked and the black jeans were drenched with water. There was no way he could change now.
Halley had left the room and Rey brought her back in after exchanging lots of hugs and kisses. She gasped at the sight of the kitchen but laughed it off. Rey put Halley down who went back and continued playing with the bubbles in the sink.
Rey was wearing the exact same dress as she was that morning but she somehow looked even better. It was a black dress, Ben’s favourite colour, made out of a material that didn’t look particularly comfy but Rey showed no discomfort. The way it hung round her curves made Ben want to do unspeakable things but he just bit his lip instead.
‘I tried to cook you dinner but it didn’t turn out quite right.’ Ben confessed. He was scared Rey would be annoyed by the mayhem but she cared more about the kind gesture. She stood on her tip toes, having not got heels on, and wrapped her arms around her husband.
‘I love you.’ Rey muffled. Her voice wasn’t very audible as she spoke into Ben’s chest.
‘I love you too.’ Ben kissed her on the forehead and hugged her tighter.
‘Do you want to order pizza?’ Rey asked.
‘Yeah, I think that would be best.’ Ben surveyed the kitchen. This was his life. He had a stunning wife and two beautiful children. Ben would say he was happy but he was beyond happy. This was more than he could ever hope for.