Will You Love Me?: Something Beautiful

Chapter 7

"There's my girl," Ben said with the widest smile on his face as Scar came running up to him. He caught her in a hug and had to laugh at how excited she was to see him. "We've missed you, darling." He kissed her head as she looked to him. "I've missed you, too," she said. "Is Nate home yet?"

He let her go from the hug and grabbed her luggage. "No, not until tonight," he told her as he put her stuff in the trunk. "Em and Conner are, though, and your mum is making a feast for you all." He opened the car door for her and helped her in, before getting in himself. 

"Is mom's son going to be there?" She asked. Ben slightly rolled his eyes, then told her, "Yes, Rob will be. Don't call him anything other than that." Scar crossed her arms and shook her head. "I just can't believe she kept that from us."

Ben didn't like this attitude coming from her, especially since she didn't know the entire situation. "She was put in a situation that you wouldn't understand," he explained. "It was a situation that I, of course, wish I knew about, but I get why she didn't say anything. She was raised to be ashamed of the fact that she had a child so young and your grandparents made damn sure of that. I've come to make peace with the situation and you need to, as well."

Scar didn't seem to be very convinced by him and he could see it. "Fine," he said, "how about the fact that Christmas is only a few days away and we don't need any drama happening, especially from any of you kids about Rob. Your mother does not need that right now."

He gladly noted that she seemed to understand that. "Okay," she told him, "but he's not, like, an asshole is he?" Ben chuckled as he told her, "No, he's not. He's actually very sweet, I think you'll like him. He's incredibly smart, so maybe you two can cure cancer or something."

"Dad," she laughed, "I'm not that smart. Not in that school, anyway." He glanced over to her and saw her head was down in shame. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked. "You got into one of the top schools in London. You're doing perfectly in every class and, somehow, sports."

She hit his arm for that one because he always teased her about how he never thought she'd be good at sports of all things. He continued, "You are the smartest girl I have ever known and there are facts to prove it. So, why would you not be considered smart at that school?"

He new this was most likely going to be a long talk, but they were nearly home already. So, he took a detour. Noticing this, Scar took a deep breath and started, "I may get good scores and do well on tests, but I'm still considered stupid. There are kids there that ace every paper, every test, every final, and then there's me! I get ninety-nine out of a hundred and suddenly I'm getting made fun of about it!"

Ben pulled into an empty parking lot as he asked, "Who makes fun about that? Baby, that's a great score." She scoffed, "Yeah, to you! To everyone else, it might as well be an F!" After parking the car, Ben turned to her and gently put his hand through her hair. 

"Honey, you need to relax," he softly told her. "Your mum and I have access to your grades online and whenever we check, we are so damn proud of you. Don't let some jealous pricks let you think you are anything less than perfect and yes, they are jealous. Those kids are probably getting much lower scores than you. Did you know we get a call from your Headmaster every month? He calls to let us know that you are still the top student."

This was making Scar smile just a little more each time. "You're so smart," Ben laughed. "I assume you get it from your mum because she now has two kids that are geniuses. You mustn't worry yourself, darling. You're too young for that."

He brought her in for a hug and could feel her relax in his arms. "You are not to do anything but relax over your break," he told her. "I don't want to see you studying or worrying about things that you are going to do perfectly fine in. Understand?"

She nodded into his chest and hugged him tighter. He placed a few kisses on top of her head, then let her go. After letting her get composed, he continued the short journey home. He could barely put the car in park before she was out and running up to the house. 

He grabbed her things from the trunk and brought them in just in time to see you bring your youngest into a giant hug. He smiled at the sight and continued to watch as Conner came down and embraced his sister. 

Ben couldn't wait until Em and Nate get here. As a matter of fact, he was counting down the minutes. Family is everything to him and they were all going to be gathered in the same house soon. It's been too long since that's happened and he just can't wait.