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"Pfft," Ben broke but quickly regained himself. He maintained a straight face as I frowned at him, "Olivia are you hungry?"
"N… no.." My tummy rumbled in opposition.
Chloe was the first to laugh, then Ben followed suit.
"You two are so mean!" I pouted as embarrassment overtook my body.
"Don't worry, Olivia, I'll get some food for your tummy," Ben said with a warm smile as he poked at my stomach tickling me a little.
Not good. You shouldn't be this good to me. Not after what I did.
I wanted to apologize again, but I didn't know how nor did I know if it was necessary. He took us to a nearby fast food because Chloe insisted on burgers. I watched him try to make sure she didn't soil herself. He seemed more like a soccer mom than a dad.
"Why do you keep staring so much?" he asked.
"I'm sorry. Is it that bad?" I asked.
"No it isn't, I just wondered why you did it so much that's all," he explained.
"Well, that's because I'm a scientist, it's our jobs to observe," I replied.
"Funny," he smirked and turned his attention to Chloe who was getting a bite out of her burger.
I had ordered a chicken wrap, while he went for a burger. We ate in silence, only breaking it to answer the questions Chloe had about life or whatever her five-year-old mind could think about.
This was nice. I felt like I was part of their family… well, only temporarily. I was the only one thinking about it, but it felt like I belonged and that was all that mattered.
As we returned to the hospital, I met with the other team members and got to better understand my role once I started my duties. At the end of the day, we had to devise a way for us to go back home together without anyone else at the hospital noticing.
I had more or less caused a scene by hugging Chloe in front of everyone. We easily chalked it up to my love of children. And some of them saw us leave for the fast food, but they ignores it as I was just traveling in. They figured their kind benevolent boss wanted to just get the newcomer fed. But if they saw the both of us going home together, it would be a problem.
Ben told me to walk straight ahead for five minutes towards one of the nearby hotels, and he'd come get me. It was a solid plan because everyone would know I left. If they saw him pick me up, they'd assume he was just dropping me off at the hotel. When he told me the plan, I was at a loss for words as to how he had so easily came up with it.
*****
I walked, I pulled out a photograph of Mom from my purse.
"Mom, looks like I found him again. And I'm going to be a part of his family. No, he didn't say that, I'm jumping to conclusions," I laughed. "I'm glad nothing is awkward between us. I know how it felt to have the last lover run away from me. I can't even imagine how it must have felt for him. I think he has forgiven me, I hope he has actually."
A Mercedes drove up to me and the window went down.
"Going my way?" Ben asked.
"Took you long enough," I said as I got into the car.
"Hi Miss Olivia," Chloe greeted from her seat.
"Hi there Chloe," I returned her greeting and reached back to tickle her tummy.
"You have such long legs," Ben remarked. "You covered a lot of ground in a short time. Both impressive and scary."
"I walk a lot," was all I could say in defense.
"That's a lot of waking," he said as he started to drive.
"How were you able to come up with this plan?" I asked. "You didn't tell me you were such a player with the backup plans and all."
"Not my idea," he said. "My brother Ethan mentioned something like this once. I didn't know if I was to be impressed or not. I don't fool around."
