Ben and Becs: A Novella

Chapter 4: Buster

Bec’s POV

Thank God all the excitement over the weekend has ended. Everyone is back home and I just got done cleaning up the house. “Hey baby doll, you upstairs?” I hear Ben call out. He had the kids help him put away the camp chairs and pool toys as well as clean up the yard so I could clean the house in peace. I hear the pitter patter of little kid feet across the floor and much bigger feet coming up the steps. “Boys room, Benny.” I call back. I hear the tv come one full blast in living room. “Shit.” Ben mutters. “Turn that down kids!” He shouts from the top of the steps. “Sorry daddy.” Carter shouts back, the rest follow suit getting louder each time until the house fills with giggles. I laugh to myself. This happens every single time. “Ornery. Just like their mother.” I hear Ben mumble to himself as he walks in. “Is that so?” I turn giving him a brow raise. “Yes.” He nods seriously. “That took way longer than it should have out there. And we’re still not done.” He pouts and I laugh. “You love every second of it , Wilder. Don’t even deny it.” I poke him in the chest. “You love their crazy.” I turn back to finish making Greyson’s bed. “Of course I do.” He huffs and sits on Aiden’s bed. Damn, what got up his butt. It can’t be the kids. “Ben, what’s wrong.” I start on Carter’s bed next. “I have to go out of town for the better part of this week, Becs. I just got a call from Tanner and our prospective client wants to meet with me and dad at his head quarters in New York City. I can’t bring your guys along.” Ben sighs heavily. He hates going on business trips without us. “We’ll be good here, baby. When do you leave?” I come sit next to him. I hate when he leaves too. “We take the redeye flight tomorrow morning.” He answers. “Okay, let me finish up here and we’ll get you packed up. I do need to run to the store to get groceries for the week while you’re here with the little ones.” I pat his knee before standing up. He pulls me back down but  onto his lap and kisses me. “Thank you for always supporting me Becs. I promise once this account is finalized, I’ll make your dance studio top priority.” I cuddle into him. “Of course, Ben. But don’t worry about the dance studio. It will happen when the time is right. I’m in no rush. Even with the boys starting school, I have a feeling Poppy is going to keep me plenty busy this next year.” We both laugh at that because its true. Our eyes lock onto each other and our laughs grow quiet as we just gaze at each other. I run my fingers over his cheeks and trace his lips as he does the same to me. We could spend hours just touching each other’s faces and keep eye contact. That’s our love language. It doesn’t always lead to more, sometimes just being present is all the fulfillment we need in these precious moments.

After a few quiet minutes of gentle caresses, I feel his hand tenderly wrap around the back of my neck before he brings me closer to his lips. He kisses me slow, pouring his passion into me before parting our lips and resting his forehead against mine. After a few moments I lift my head to look at him. “We’ll be fine, okay? You and dad enjoy the city. Actually, get me a knock off Birkin bag while you’re there too.” I smile. That gets me a chuckle in return and a kiss on the forehead. “Why knock off? I’ll get you the real thing.” Ben says. He has no idea. “The hell you will, Benny. You’d have to sell a kidney or two.” I laugh. “How much could one be? A couple hundred dollars? I’ll get you a nice purse, babe. You deserve one.” He looks at me puzzled. “A couple hundred dollars. Try a few thousands to start. A knock off would be just fine.” I peck his lips before getting up again. I need to get moving. “Damn.” He mumbles. “I’ll see what I can find. I’ll go check on the kids.” He pats my butt as he walks passed. And he calls me ornery.

…

Ben is packed and ready to go. I picked up groceries for the week and now I’m getting a pizza for a late lunch. That will make everyone happy. For dinner, I’m planning a nice homemade and hearty meal to send Ben off. I hustled the whole time so we can have rest of the day for quality family time because I know the kids will miss him terribly, especially Aiden. So I planned a special breakfast with the kids tomorrow morning to lessen the blow.

I carry as many bags of groceries in the house as I can along with pizza. Just as I ungracefully open the door with my elbow, I hear a lot of commotion and shouting. Before I could truly take in the mess a big brown ball of fur jumps on me. The pizza goes flying, the groceries scatter all over the floor and I’m pinned down by a wet and muddy dog giving me slobbery kisses across the face. I’m too shocked to say word. “Come back doggie!” Poppy and Greyson yells. “The door is open!” Aiden shouts out nervously. “Get him before he runs away.” Carter charges forward leading the crew down the steps. “Oh fuck.” I hear Ben running over to me. “s**t, Becs. He’s friendly. You okay? Come here boy.” Ben pulls the dog off of me. “Carter, quick. Shut the door.” Ben orders and Carter is quick to obey. Ben lets go of the dog and helps me up. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” He asks as he steadies me upright. “I’m good. I’m good.” I look down to find myself covered in mud and soapy water. “What..what is going on?” I look around to find my home I just cleaned in complete disarray. Muddy footprints  and pawprints belonging to my family and their guest are all over the house. The couch is covered in mud and the throw pillows are everywhere. “Maya….why is Maya covered in mud too?” I spot her laying on the window sill in all her muddy glory. Not a single f**k in the world. Ben and the kids surround their new friend looking like they are in huge ass trouble. The guilt that is written on each of their faces is something else. Every single one of them is covered in mud from head to toe. “Well, Maya and Buster here get along.” Ben starts. “Oh good.” I say sarcastically. “Wait, Buster?” I shake my head. I’m still processing everything. “Umm, we sorta named him.” Ben literally winces. “Mommy, someone kicked him out of their car!” Poppy cried out. “Yeah! We saw it. They were meanies.” Greyson hugged “Buster” around its neck. “We love him, mommy.” Aiden and Carter spoke up at the same time. To make the moment even more perfect, the dog lets out a loud bark in agreement and licks Greyson’s cheek. “Can we keep me, mommy?” Aiden asks. Right on cue, everyone starts begging including the man child I have for a husband. “Yes, mommy please!” My kids let go of Buster and runs up to me pleading, even Ben gets on his knees and begs. “Pretty please, mommy.” His baby blues pierce into me. I look at each one of my hearts. The hope that is in their eyes is too much to argue against. How could I say no. “And he really gets along with Maya?” I double check. “Oh yes, they love each other.” Poppy said in her most serious tone. I sigh. “Yes, we can keep him.” I barely get the words out before everyone starts cheering and I’m swarmed with hugs. “Thank you, mommy! You’re the coolest mommy ever! Thank you thank you thank you!” All the kids shouted with glee at once.  “You are the coolest, mommy. Thank you, sweetness.” Ben rests his head against my belly after the kids let go of me. “I guess a trip to town with Buster is in order.” I say running my fingers through his hair. “Get him! He’s eating the pizza!” One of the kids cry out. Ben jumps up and goes into action. I take out my phone from my pocket and begin taking pictures of my growing family. These are the memories my little ones will remember forever, mud and all.

…

We had a long day of cleaning the house, washing the dog and my family before we spent the later afternoon buying everything the pet store had to offer a dog. Don’t worry, Maya got a brand new cat tower and treats to enjoy as well. Ben and the kids played with Buster all evening as I cooked dinner. Everyone was starving by the time it was ready since the pup ate our lunch earlier. It was definitely a memorable day.

“Good night Poppy seed, I love you.” Ben kisses his little girl’s forehead and then I do. “You be good boy, Buster.” Ben gives his a pat on his head. Poppy won out having Buster sleep in her room first. Buster will be bed surfing all week so each one of my babies has a turn. “Love you, Poppy.” I whisper to her. “Buster too?” She yawns. “Yes, Buster too baby.” I make sure she is nice and tucked in before we leave her room and go into the boys’ room.

“Good night boys.” Ben and I kiss each of their foreheads as well. “I get Buster tomorrow, right?” Greyson asks. He won the second spot to host Buster for the night. “Yes, sweet boy. Then Aiden, then Carter.” I make sure each are comfy and tucked in. “I love you boys.” Ben whispers. We finish up in their room and head to our own now.

We climb into bed and sit up and talk for a bit. “Will you be okay this week with the dog?” Ben asks, he pulls me closer to him so I can rest my head on his shoulder. “I think so. The kids will be busy with him for sure. I think Buster will definitely lift their spirits tomorrow when you head out.” Ben nods in agreement. “About today, please tell how the events of the day transpired.” I give him a look and he chuckles. “Well, it was like Poppy said. We were back outside finishing up when we heard a old truck skid to a stop about a 100 yards away from the house down the road. A guy was cussing up a storm and literally through the poor dog out. He sped away. The dog started to follow him but me and the kids started calling for the dog. As soon as he heard our voices, he completely forgot about the asshole who threw him away and came to us. He was so friendly and loving all the attention. But he stunk really bad. So, we tried to get him to jump into the lake, which he did. And he loved it. But he swam through the pond scum and stunk even worse when he came back out. So I had Aiden unravel the hose but Greyson thought it would be funny to turn it on before we were ready and got his siblings soaked as I tried coaxing Buster over….” I interrupted him. “Pause real quick, when did you exactly name him?” I ask. Ben gives me a very wide and very innocent grin. “The moment you came home?” He said sheepishly. “I bet.” I nudge him a bit. “Okay, okay. It was the moment we came running to us.” Ben took my hand in his. “That sounds about right. Go on.” I laugh. “Well, coaxing Buster over wasn’t hard. He saw the water spouting out from the hose and ran around with the kids as Aiden tried squirting Greyson back from getting everyone wet. And that’s when things went down hill fast. We quickly made a muddy mess of things. So I thought I could carry the dog into the house and give him a bath in one of the showers. But before I could pick him up, Poppy got excited and raced to the house and opened the door. I’m sure you can guess what happened next.” He gives me another smile to try to dazzle me. “I think I have a pretty good idea.” I nod. “I tried herding everyone the best I could up to the kids’ bathroom but I think Buster heard the SUV pull in and he zoomed out of the tub and down to meet you. He knocked the kids down in the process or I would’ve been their sooner.” I feel him press a kiss into the top of my head. “Becs, thank you for this. I know it was crazy but I loved today. Every part of it.” He rested his head against my own. “Me too, Benny. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ll call Maya’s vet tomorrow and see when they can see Buster.” I feel Ben nod. “If they can get him in while I’m away, will you be okay to take him with the kids?” Ben asks. “I’ll call Stacy or one of our moms to come with me.” He nods again before sitting up straighter. “Come here, Becs.” He pats his lap. “Dinner was wonderful tonight.” He whispered as he rest his face against mine. This is our ‘before a business trip’ ritual. Ben takes in as much of me as possible with soft caresses and sweet kisses before making love to me slow and passionately. I couldn’t be given a more perfect man. And the door is most definitely locked this time.