Loose Ends

Chapter 46

"But I would make it work for my daughter." Leo sighed.

"I know you'd do anything for your child, Benjamin, but you're being narrow minded." Ben's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You're assuming that right now the best thing for your daughter is for you and Adrian to be together. To live together, correct?" Ben nodded. "Do you remember how rocky your relationship with Amy became after John was born." Ben thought back for a moment and then nodded glumly, not liking where this was going. "Relationships change when you add a baby to the mix, Ben. It's a big adjustment having a baby to take care of and it can put a strain on any relationship, no matter how solid it is to begin with." Ben sighed with dejection and hung his head. Leo gazed at his son with sympathy. "I know you wanna do the right thing here, Ben, so I'll give you a suggestion." Ben lifted his head hopefully. "Wait one year."

"For what?" Leo chuckled.

"Wait until your daughter is a year old. Until you and Adrian have adjusted to working together as parents. If you end up falling in love, so be it. Get married then. If not, then remain friends as you raise your daughter. A lot can change in a year, Ben. So while my answer to letting you get married is no, my advice to you about what to do in the meantime is to just wait." Ben hung his head but nodded, realizing that he'd lost this fight. Without his father's permission his hands were tied. Betty reached across the table and squeezed his wrist. Ben looked up and saw Betty's sympathetic smile; he gave his stepmother a small grateful smile in return as he quietly finished his, now slightly cool, breakfast.

As Ben slowly ate his soggy French toast, Ashley was doing her best to recall everything she'd learned at driver's ed over the past week. Suddenly she realized that learning about something and actually doing it were two entirely different things. This was the third time in a row that she'd attempted to pull into a parking spot and misjudged the angle, ending up half out of her intended stall. Thankfully, her father was patient, and happy to be instructing Ashley as he'd missed the chance to do this with Amy.

"Just take a deep breath, Ashley. Now, just drive forward and try again." Ashley put the car in drive and pulled forward. She drove into the adjoining aisle and then straightened out. "Let's try the stall second from the end on the right," George said. Ashley nodded and put on her right turning signal. She drove slightly to the left for a moment and then pulled into her intended spot. She put the car in park and then opened her door.

"Ah ha! I did it!" she said triumphantly when she saw a lovely white stripe several inches from her door." She turned to look at her dad and saw that he wasn't smiling; her smile faltered a little. "What?" she said nervously.

"Where's the front of the car, Ash?" Ashley leaned her head out of the driver's side and looked at the parking stripe, groaning when she realized she'd pulled too far forward. "If there had been another car in front of you you would've hit it." Ashley sighed and pushed her hair back. "How do we make sure that doesn't happen?" George asked in a calm voice.

"Stop when you can't see the stall line in front of you," she answered.

"Correct. Once more around the block milady," he said cheerfully, causing Ashley to sigh. This driving this was a little harder than she thought. While Ashley put her driving knowledge into practice, Grace and Grant were seated at a table in the teen classroom of her church building, chatting with several teens that also went to Grant High. They quickly quieted down as the youth minister walked in and took a seat. He waited until everyone had gotten themselves comfortably adjusted in their seats.

"Alright people. Today we're gonna get real." He had everyone's attention now but he glanced around the long tables to make sure he did. "Every single one of us has majorly screwed up before and will again." Several teens glanced at Grace from underneath their eyelashes. "The question is: Does screwing up mean our faith isn't sincere?"