I opened my mouth to protest, before realizing how silly that was. Yes, I hated people assuming that I needed help because of my Graves’ disease, but that wasn’t what Ben was doing. He was just being a thoughtful boyfriend.
Pride was a funny thing sometimes, and I was happy with myself that I’d caught it.
“Thank you, babe, I appreciate it.”
“Of course. Anything for you.”
Ben brought in all our luggage without even breaking a sweat. In fact, I was only half done unpacking my small travel bag when he was already finished.
“Hey,” he said, coming into the bedroom with my weighted blanket. “Do you wanna go on a picnic, have some light afternoon snacks, then go swimming in the stream nearby? Or we could do the lake, but I figured we could save that for tomorrow.”
“That all sounds lovely,” I said with genuine excitement. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone for a leisurely swim. I liked the water, but there weren’t exactly a lot of opportunities to take a dip during the school year.
“Awesome, I’ll get that all set up, then we’ll head out in maybe half an hour? Or do you want a little longer to rest?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks for checking.”
Ben gave me a cheeky little grin. “You’re welcome,” he said before heading out.
I loved seeing him smile so easily, but if there was one thing I had figured out about Ben, it was that he was a provider through and through. Thankfully, not in that gross, toxic masculinity way. He and his wolf thrived and found contentment when they could care for those around them. Sometimes, I wished I could parade him around all those idiotic alpha-bros online, show them what a real man could be like without all that false bravado and posing.
However, that would require me to actually interact with red-pilled weirdos and subject a chronically offline Ben to them, so ixnay on that.
Still, it was nice to imagine their façades crumbling when addressed by a great man who was healthily addressing his issues rather than burying them under misogyny and a scamcourse on how to pick up women, so I did that until I was finished unpacking. Then, it was out to the full kitchen where Ben was putting the final touches on a gingham-lined picnic basket, a matching blanket draped over the adjacent bar.
“When did you have time to get that?” I asked, amused at how much happiness such little things brought me. It really was the little things in life sometimes.
“Remember that gig I took out in south Pennsylvania last month?”
I nodded. It had been a three-day trip. I’d spent the nights at his house along with Natalie, and it had been wonderful. I’d introduced Benny to theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which of course resulted in him requesting to start martial arts and also buy nunchakus. We’d ordered a set of foam ones online to appease him, and his agreement with his father was that if he continued his therapy and did well on his mid-year exams in second grade without feeling overwhelmed, he could start martial arts lessons.
Although Ben had been reticent to take the gig, I was glad he had, as it had also been an excuse for him to touch base with someone whose grandmother had married out of the pack, and they were looking for some family history. It hadn’t been an easy trip for him, but when he came back, he seemed even more at peace, and the family had one more connection.
How many more were out there? Maybe in the future, I would suggest to Ben that he seek them out. But not yet. It was yet another thing that required patience.
And that was okay.
“I remember,” I said a bit belatedly, but Ben and I were used to each other needing a beat or two to process things. It would annoy the ever-living shit out of some people, but it worked for us.
“Right. Well, I stopped by a quaint Mennonite shop and picked this and the blanket out. Thought it might be nice to have a picnic once the school year was over.”
He’d thought of that all that time ago? My heart fluttered again, and from the quirk of his lips, he noticed.
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
He closed the picnic basket and wrapped his arm around my waist. “I’m always thinking about you, babe.”
Goodness.
Thankfully, he gave my heart a break by giving me yet another little peck before grabbing our picnic supplies.
“You ready?”
I nodded, knowing my voice would be little more than a squeak if I answered.
He offered me his arm, and I took it. It was one habit I hoped we never, ever grew out of. “Let’s go then!”
We headed out, arm in arm, and had an absolutely lovely picnic. We sat, we ate, I showed him old TikTok videos I’d saved on my phone that I thought would make him laugh, we ate some more, then I dozed with my head in his lap while he read some poetry to me.
