"A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
Ben shut the the book and looked up at his class. "And that is the end of our play," he concluded. The entire class sighed in relief and slammed their books shut, as if they never wanted to see the words in it again.
"Now," he continued, "for the last assignment about our dear Romeo and Juliet, I would like you to write one paragraph about your views on forbidden love. Do you think it's good, bad, love is love, and what-not. There is no right or wrong answer, it is strictly your opinion. Any questions?"
A skinny blonde girl in the front, Gertrude, raised her hand. Ben pointed at her and said, "Yes, Gertrude." She batted her long eye lashes and pretty blue eyes at him, before saying (too) sweetly, "Mr. C., what are your views on forbidden love?"
Obviously that question had a double meaning, as she licked her bottom lip and spread her legs a bit for him. But he ignored the gestures and answered, "I believe who you love is who you love. No matter what may keep you apart, if you keep finding your way back to each other, then how forbidden should it be? After all, it is the ones we love that keep us alive, healthy, give us meaning."
The whole class sat in silence, sinking in his words. But as soon as the bell rang, they all started to get up and leave. "Remember," Ben called, "I'm here until three today in case you have any questions. Have a good weekend!"
Gertrude was the last student in the class, waiting until the final person to leave was gone to approach him. "Mr. C.," she said in her all too annoying tone. "I have a question."
Ben smiled at her as he sat back in his chair. "Of course. And what might be your question?" She twirled her long blonde hair around her finger and leaned over his desk, before asking in a hushed tone, "It's about my grades."
Ben looked at her body language and could clearly see was she was trying to get at. "Right," he breathed. "I have to leave now." He got up and started packing up his things. She rounded over in front of him and asked, "But school just ended. I thought you were here till three."
He cleared his throat and, without looking up, told her, "Yes, well, I forgot that my daughter gets out early today. The wife will have my head if I'm late again."
Getrude perched herself up on his desk with wide legs, while saying, "Aw, I didn't know you had a daughter!" She looked behind her, at his desk, and picked up a picture frame. "Is this her?" Ben glanced over at the picture and said, "Yes. That's Lily." She pointed to you in the picture and asked, "Is that your teenage daughter or something? Where's your wife?"
Ben plucked the frame from her hand and said, "That is my wife. Now, please, I really do have to go." Gertrude looked at him with her mouth agape. "She is your wife? She looks my age!" That's because she nearly is, he thought to himself.
Gertude went back to flirting and asked, "So...you have a thing for younger women, huh?" Ben ignored her and picked up his bag and coat, while saying, "Good day, Gertrude." He walked to the door and opened it, waiting for her to leave. Sighing, she got off his desk and walked out, while adding a sway to her hips. He didn't notice, so her loss.
**
"Daddy!" Ben knelt down and scooped up his daughter, while saying, "Hello there princess! Good day at school?" She nodded and told him, "I colored you today!" He playfully gasped, "You did? Well, let daddy see." She held up a piece of paper to him and he took it to have a look.
"Wow, Lily-Love, this is beautiful," he cooned as he looked at...he didn't even know what he was looking at, but apparently this is how his daughter percieves him. "It's Friday, daddy!" She suddenly squealed. "Can we get ice cream! We always get ice cream on Fridays!"
He chuckled, "I know we do and that's exactly what we're doing today! Are you going to pick out something for mummy and your little brother?" Lily nodded enthusiastically, making him laugh.
He set her down and carried her backpack, while she skipped along right beside him in the busy streets of Manhattan. He smiled fondly at his daughter, as she told him everything about her day in her New York accent that she's picked up over the years from her friends and teachers. Once she started attending school, Ben knew she wouldn't ever pick up his accent, which was normal since they are in the States.
When they entered the ice cream parlor, the owner and only worker there, Frank, greeted, "Hey there, Ben! And hello, little Lily. What can I get you two today?" Ben had to pick up Lily so she could see the choices, even though she always chose the same one.
"Rainbow, daddy!" Ben looked to her and said, "Tell Frank, and then do as we practiced." She shyly looked to Frank and asked, "Frank, may I have the rainbow please?" Frank smiled and told her, "Of course!" While he scooped some into a small plastic bowl, Ben kissed Lily's cheek and said, "Good girl, Lil."
When Frank handed him Lily's, Ben said, "And two medium chocolates please, Frank." He set Lily down and gave her the ice cream, while he paid and took the other two.
The house really wasn't that far a walk at all. It was one of those places that was side-by-side the other houses and lined up right on the street. You were both lucky to get it at the price you got it when you first moved here. It was close to Ben's work, your work, and Lily's school.
Ben opened the door for Lily and she sprinted in, heading straight for her room to play with some new toys you had gotten her a few days ago. Ben chuckled and called, "[Y/N], we're home!" He set down his bag, hung up, his jacket, and then looked up just in time to see you coming down the stairs.
"Hey," you beamed. "Ice cream?" He laughed at the fact that you'd rather taste the ice cream, than him. Actually, he also found it kind of insulting. "Right here, my dear," he told you while holding the cup to you. Just as you were about to take it, he tsk'd at you and pulled it back.
You looked at him curiously, then he tapped his lips with his finger. Rolling your eyes, you got up on your tippy toes and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, while he ran his free hand over your small, but not too small bump. Suddenly, a pair of little hands started pushing you two apart. You looked down to see Lily doing the pushing, while saying, "Stop! Mommy will have another baby in her tummy if you keep kissing!"
You and Ben both busted up laughing. Yes, she thinks baby's come from kissing, but that was Ben's fault. She asked, he answered. Now, whenever you two kiss, she tried to push you two apart because she thinks more babies will end up in your stomach.
That night, after dinner and (more) ice cream, Ben took Lily in her room to read. Her favorite story was one about a princess and how she met and fell in love with her prince. Ben would read some of it to her, but then have her read some, as well. For a five year old, her vocabulary was quite strong, but that was all thanks to the English teacher of the family.
"The end," she finished. Ben kissed her head and told her, "Good job! Maybe you can read it all to me one of these days." She snuggled up to his side and asked, "Daddy?"
"Hm?" After a cute, little yawn, she asked, "How did you and mommy fall in love?" Ben tensed up a bit. He knew she would ask one day, but he's never prepared himself. This was even worse than when she asked where babies came from!
If he told her the truth, then she'd probably run around school saying that her daddy was her mommy's teacher and they ended up getting together. Then, she'd probably grow up to think that it's okay to have affairs with teachers! And then there's the age difference. She hasn't noticed or even questioned why her daddy was nearly fourty, while her mommy was just hardly getting to her late twenties.
He was not looking forward to the more detailed discussion of this in the future.
"Um...well," he started, "when I first saw your mummy, I thought she was the most beautiful princess in all the world. Our love was...forbidden from the kingdom for a little while, but we eventually were able to be...us and we moved here to New York." Flimsy, he knows, but he hoped it would hold her over for a few years.
When he looked down, he was relieved to find her asleep. Gentlely, he slid out of her bed and made his way into the kitchen, where you were sitting and doing some work.
He sat down in the chair next to you and sighed. You looked over to him and asked, "What's wrong?" He answered your question with a question. "Does our age difference ever bother you?" Furrowing your eyebrows, you told him, "No...why? Lily asking those questions again?"
"She asked how we met," he told you. "I told her all that I could, but...I don't know. I'm not ashamed of how we got together, I'm just not sure I'm ready to explain it to our children. And the age difference is sure to throw them off at one point." Mimicking a child's voice, he said, "Oh, look! Daddy's turning fourty-two! But wait, mummy's only turning thirty!"
Ugh. You didn't want to deal with, but...you had to. Sighing, you stood up and sat yourself in his lap. "Ben," you said sternly, "you only know that I think of age as just a number. Who cares how old we are or how we met? We're happy, right? Hopefully?" He took your hand and kissed your knuckles. "Of course, love," he told you. "I'm not saying I'm not happy because this is the happiest I've been in a long time. I have you, who's given me a gorgeous baby girl and we have a handsome boy on the way. I just want to make sure that you don't think I'm some creepy old man that goes after young girls."
You gave him a loving kiss and told him, "You are a creepy old man that goes after young girls, but I'm glad you stopped at me. Speaking of which, is Gertrude still giving off signals?"
"She's giving off fire alarms," he told you. "Jesus, you'd think High Schoolers would have less of a sex drive than college students. And no matter how many times I bring up you or the fact that I have a family, she just pushes harder and harder. I may have report her. I almost didn't get this job due to what happened at the University, so I don't need this back firing at me. You know, she saw a picture of you today and thought you were her age."
"How old is she again?" She asked anxiously. He smirked and told you, "Seventeen." You sighed triumphantly and said, "Still got it!"
As you got up, Ben slapped your butt and said, "Oh yes, you do."