Ella just shrugged, “In a perfect world, I would have the baby and still be able to go to Michigan in the fall, but even I am not that naive.I know that may not be a possibility.But I am not ready to just give up on grad school.”Giving him a look she asked, “What about you?What are you thinking?”
“I think we should get married, and you live here with me until the baby is born.I graduate in May.We would have until then to figure the rest of it out.”
Sitting up and turning around to face him, Ella asked, “Are you sure about getting married?I don’t want us to rush into anything that you might later regret.”
Gathering Ella in his arms, Ben replied, “Ella, you should know by now that I would never do anything that I don’t want to do.It is 2023 for heaven sakes.If I didn’t want to marry you, I would simply offer to cover your child support and that would be that.But I love you.I love our baby.I want us to be a family.”
Resting her head against his chest, Ella let out a soft sob, “Are you sure?Getting married is a lot.”
Hearing her whimpers broke Ben’s heart.“Of course, I am sure.Shush.No more crying.We are in this together.”
Ella smiled.She had been right to trust Ben.She knew he would never abandon her or their baby.But that still did not address the issue of Michigan or their future life plans.
“Okay, say we do get married, what are we going to do next fall?You have law school, and I have grad school.How is this going to work if we are going to two different states?”
Continuing to hold her close and rocking her softly, Ben answered honestly.“I don’t know.I don’t have all the answers.”
With her head still buried in Ben’s chest, Ella nodded.“I am scared.This is all so much.”
“I agree.I am scared too.I think anyone in this position would be.But we have each other.I know we can do this.”
Nodding with her head still buried in his chest, Ella answered, “Okay, but…”
“No buts,” replied Ben.“We are getting married.Now that is settled, we need to get a plan for how we are going to tell your parents.”
Ella pulled back from Ben’s embrace as if she had been scalded.“Yuckkkkkkk!”she groaned.“I know we have to do that, but it is not going to be easy.My parents are going to freak out.Are you sure you are up for that?Maybe I should just go home and tell them myself.”
Giving Ella a hard look, Ben asked, “Is that really how you want to do this?By yourself?”
Ella was quiet for a moment, then said, “No.I don’t.The thought of that scares me to death.”Ben had no idea how hard that conversation was going to be.Ella did.Julia was right.If she had tried to talk to her parents first, her dad would have taken over.This way, Ben will be there to help her.
Pushing Ella’s hair out of her eyes, Ben replied, “Okay, then this is what we are going to do.We are going to do it together.From now on, we are a team.We do everything together.Agree?”
Feeling slightly better, Ella managed a half smile and nodded her agreement.
“Good,” replied Ben, sounding much more calm than he actually felt.He was looking forward to meeting Ella’s parents and telling them about the baby about as much as having a root canal.“I will get plane tickets, and we can fly to Napa tomorrow.”
Having never flown before, Ella was apprehensive about it.Flying was really expensive.She worried that she could not afford to pay her part of the ticket.“Can’t we just drive?”
“No,” replied Ben.“It is a six-hour drive, and I don’t want you drained from such a long road trip.Go get your driver’s license.I will get us tickets.”
“But that will cost a fortune.It would be so much cheaper to drive.”Ella almost panicked, thinking about draining her meager bank account for a plane ticket.
“Don’t worry about the cost.I will pay for everything.”Seeing Ella’s worried expression, Ben added, “Money is the least of our problems.I got you.Don’t worry about that.But I will need your driver’s license number to get you a ticket.”
Ella nodded and then went into the bedroom to get it from her purse.
Chapter 12
Napa, California
Ben and Ella’s flight landed in Sacramento around 3:00 pm the next day.By the time they rented a car and drove to Napa, it was almost 6:00.Ella could not bring herself to immediately go to the diner and face her parents.Instead, she and Ben rode out to the old cabin they had visited a few weeks earlier.Ella spent about an hour trying to prepare Ben to meet her family.She kept trying to make him understand how difficult the conversation was going to be.Having grown up with very different parents, Ben was not getting it.He just kept telling Ella everything was going to be okay.They were adults.While the family might be shocked, they would get over it.They were going to be together, and that was all that mattered.Ella knew that it was much more complicated than that.She knew she was about to face the biggest storm of her life.At a quarter to eight, Ben and Ella pulled up in front of Ella’s family’s house.
Her parents were just leaving the diner.Surprised to see Ella getting out of a car with a strange man, her mother called out, “Ella, what are you doing here?I thought you were sick.Julia called and said you had the flu.”Walking over, she put her hand on Ella’s forehead.“You don’t feel feverish.”Then she turned toward Ben.She gave him the once over and asked, “Who are you?”
Instead of answering immediately, Ben jogged around to where Ella was and took her hand in his.He had said they were a team now.Ella guessed he really meant it, and this was their first real test.Just as Ben was about to introduce himself, Ella’s dad put up a hand to stop him.He looked down where Ben held Ella’s hand and then gave him a sneer, showing his disapproval of Ben freely touching his daughter.
Trying to salvage the moment, Ben reached out his other hand to Ella’s dad’s, saying “Ben Carrington, sir.”Her dad did not shake his hand or acknowledge the introduction.
