“Does Ben miss you? Yes, but he will be coming to see you very soon. Would he ever forgive himself if he was the cause of your giving up your dream? I believe you know the answer to that question. We will keep him as happy as we can between his visits to see you. Tonight Lisa and Lori will be distracting Ben very much I believe,” Tina said with a wicked grin.
Gabriella held up her hands in surrender. “That’s ok, I don’t need to know the details.” A phone rang in the background and Gabriella looked away distractedly. She looked back at the camera. “Thank you Tina for being there for him. I miss him terribly too. Take care!”
“You as well!” Tina said and disconnected. She wondered when Gabriella got to sleep.
She saw a message from Hannah saying she would see how Ben was feeling in their group discussion session the following night.
A message from Catherine arrived and in it she asked if she should come over tonight. Tina let her know that Ben was ok for now and would be going out tonight. That made her think about dinner. Was Ben going to be home for dinner? It was almost time for her to begin preparing the food. She would have to ask Ben to put the roast into the oven but she could do everything else. She sent him a text. Moments later he replied he would be home for dinner but would be going out at 9:30PM.
Tina tucked her earphones away and put the magazine in the drawer. At the back, just in case.
She made her way into the kitchen to begin the prep work for dinner. She loved cooking for her man.
Ben was feeling pleasantly full from yet another amazing meal. Tina spoiled him terribly! He grinned happily as he scrubbed the roasting pan. He could hear the sounds of happy conversation behind him as Penny and Karen teased each other about something or other. He caught Karen saying the words ‘your boyfriend’ and he turned to look at Penny in surprise.
The doorbell rang and Penny leapt to her feet. “I’ll get it.”
Ben looked over at Karen who had a guilty look on her face. He sighed. Being a dad was harder than he thought it would be. He knew Tina had arranged for them to get birth control pills and they were technically adults but his instinct was to protect them. Penny’s grades were still very good so he wasn’t as concerned as he might have been. He wasn’t happy that she had kept this new development a secret from him though.
Penny reappeared in the door with a strange grin on her face. Behind her was Jayden. Ben’s eyebrows went up. He hadn’t expected him to move quite this quickly but he supposed he should have.
Ben leaned back against the counter as he dried the roasting pan and watched Jayden nervously enter the kitchen. All eyes turned to him as Penny rejoined her sister at the kitchen table. This meant the young man was facing the curious eyes of Tina, Lucy, Penny, and Karen while under Ben’s scrutiny as well. Christopher wasn’t paying any attention at all as his toys kept him occupied on the floor.
“Good evening,” he said, clearly nervous.
The women returned the greeting and Karen glanced quickly at Ben.
“Karen, I was wondering if you’d like to go see a movie with me on Friday. We could have dinner first then see that new Katherine Heigl movie.”
Karen’s eyes were wide with surprise and she quickly looked over at Ben to see if he was going to protest. Her eyes got even wider when she saw he was just smiling at her. Her face split into a wide grin as she looked back at Jayden.
“YES! I mean I’d love to. Could- could we see that Fast and Ferocious movie instead though. I don’t like rom-coms. I like action movies!” Karen blurted excitedly. Jayden’s smile got wider as he realized he’d hit the jackpot.
“Apparently Penny has a boyfriend too. Maybe you could double date,” Ben suggested.
Jayden nodded and Penny looked even guiltier but nodded as well.
Lucy and Tina were all smiles.
“I’ll pick you up at six on Friday?” Jayden asked.
Karen nodded excitedly and her smile was priceless. Jayden returned it and nodded to the group.
He looked over at Ben. “Goodnight Ben.”
“Goodnight Jayden.”
Karen got up and walked him to the door. She locked up when he left then came racing back into the kitchen to hug Ben. “Thank you!” she gasped into his chest.
Ben kissed the top of her head as he hugged her. “All I’m going to say is take your time. Enjoy the whole experience of dating and courting.”
“Courting?” she asked looking up at him with big blue eyes.
“Getting to know each other before… it gets physical,” he said uncomfortably.
She hugged him tighter and he hugged her in return.
“Do you have homework?” he asked and she released him to rush off to her bedroom to get started.
“Not so fast young lady,” Ben called out to Penny as she tried to follow her sister.
Penny returned looking sheepish.
“What’s the thing I’ve asked for in this household?” he said firmly.
Penny looked up at him through her thick lashes. “Honesty,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“I’d like to meet him. Have him meet you here Friday night. I also want you to keep an eye on your sister.” Ben sighed. “And the same goes for you about taking it slow!” Ben growled.
Penny crushed herself against Ben’s chest and hugged him. “Thank you!”
He kissed the top of her head then shooed her to go do her homework too.
Ben looked back at the kitchen table to see two very happy faces. “What?”
“Such a good dad!” Lucy said with a grin.
Ben snorted and went back to cleaning up.
“Please join us in the living room when you are done.” Lucy said as she assisted Tina up and onto her crutches. Tina told Christopher to bring his toys into the living room and the boy quickly gathered them up and rushed into the next room.
After wiping down the countertops Ben walked into the living room and saw Lucy snuggled up on the couch with Tina and he smiled. Lucy moved over and the ladies patted the cushion between them.
Ben carefully sat between them and they moved closer to him. Christopher thought they were playing a game and crawled up on Ben’s lap, giggling the whole time.
Ben gave the boy some kisses and pretended to eat his ear causing an explosion of giggles. He caught sight of Penny as she walked down the hall.
“Penny, I think it’s time for this young man to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. Could I ask you to help him with that?”
“Sure! Come here little man!” she said scooping him up. He clung to her and more giggles could be heard as she swooped him back down the hall.
When they were alone once more Tina tapped on Ben’s arm and he lifted it over her so she could lean against his side. Lucy did the same and the two ladies sighed with happiness.
Tina looked up at Ben. “I was texting Lisa and Lori today and they told me you were taking them to Club Eon tonight.” He nodded. “They also told me it’s not the usual kind of dance club you are used to.” Ben’s face took on a worried expression. “I would very much like you to take Lucy and me to this club after I have had our baby. You did say you would take me dancing.”
“Yes I did and I will. What’s special about Club Eon?” Ben asked cautiously.
Lucy looked up at Ben’s face and caught his attention. “I did some research when Tina told me about it and I completely agree. I would love to go there with you! It caters to Doms and their Subs. You don’t have to be in that kind of relationship to be admitted but there are strict rules of conduct to protect the patrons. It is very civilized so it’s very freeing for us subs. Everyone wears two glowing pins except tourists, those not involved in the lifestyle, who wear a single yellow pin. Wearing the blue pin means you are a Dom. A red pin means you are a sub. An Orange pin means you can be both. The color of the second pin tells people your intent. White means you are there just to dance with your partner, or partners in your case, and aren’t seeking additional relationships. A green pin means you are open to being approached by those seeking a relationship.”
“I thought we were just going dancing!” Ben complained.
“You are but it is very nice for us to be able to show our appreciation of our Dom in a public way. An extra element of excitement,” Tina explained and Lucy nodded emphatically.
“So I get to wear a blue and white pin and the twins will wear a red and- what, green?” he asked.
Tina and Lucy gave him a frank look and he realized he was still avoiding the truth. The twins were both subs and had claimed him as their Dom. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Honestly, as much as he fought the idea of them ‘settling’, deep inside he desperately wanted them for himself. He opened his eyes and felt the truth of it bitch slap him. It was time to man up and finally accept it. They needed a Dom and he would let them know tonight that they were his. He’d strung them along long enough, left them in this uneasy limbo for too long. He owed them that much.
He looked into Tina’s eyes and saw they were practically twinkling with joy as she understood he’d figured it out. He kissed her and felt her melt against him. She knew she was his but that still left the question of Lucy. He pulled back from Tina’s soft mouth and looked at the beautiful tattooed woman under his other arm and saw her eyes were filled with a desperate need. He felt something open in his heart as his resistance broke.
“You’re mine,” he growled as a wave of emotion almost overwhelmed him. He took her mouth with his and she squeaked.
When he pulled back from the kiss she had tears of joy in her eyes. “I love you Ben!” she gasped.
“I love you too Lucy. I love you both. I’m sorry I haven’t been a better Dom for you. I will do better,” he said, emotion making his voice rough.
“Ben, you’re a better Dom than you realize,” Tina said gently.
Ben still seemed a little unsettled. “What’s wrong?” Lucy asked.
“I- I feel… uncomfortable with how possessive I am with you, Tina, and the twins. I consider myself rather progressive but my behavior with you four feels rather primitive, primal.” He was struggling to verbalize his instinctive reaction to their submissiveness.
“Do you think we are your possessions?” Tina asked.
“No! That’s not it-”
“Are we not women in your eyes?” she continued calmly, ignoring Ben’s agitation.
“Of course you’re women! You’re all intelligent, strong, loving, beautiful women-”
“Ben, what you want to possess is our love, body and soul. This is what we want more than anything to give to you. It may be primal but for us it is exactly what we need. We feel safe being submissive with you because you still see us as women and not as objects,” Tina explained. Ben paused to think about that.
“You’ll tell Lisa and Lori tonight as well?” Lucy asked.
“Yes,” he replied, his throat tight with emotion.
Tina gently pulled Ben’s face down to hers and kissed him tenderly.