Live And Let Die
Chapter 9
By: Makena
Benji pulled back into his own driveway, which was almost empty except for Paul's car, and listened to the heavy bass sound coming from the house.
"What the fuck...?" Benji wondered out loud with a groan. He shut the engine off and walked inside. Paul had turned the music up again and was listening to the local rock station again.
"Swing Swing by All American Rejects," Benji caught the DJ saying. "Next up we've got the new Chili Pepper song, as well as Queens of the Stone Age, Incubus and the latest from the Donnas. All that and more, coming up here. On the Zone." Benji rolled his eyes and listened to a Cake song he didn't care too much for.
"PAUL!" Benji shouted. "PAUL! Where are you..."
Makena's head popped out of the kitchen and she blushed slightly. "Sorry!" she yelled above the music. "I didn't think anyone minded - especially Paul!"
"Where is he?!" Benji shouted back.
"Shower!!"
Benji nodded and put his keys down on the table before kicking his shoes off. He looked back over at Makena, who was wearing the same thing she had been wearing when he left to take Gavin to school. Her hair was up in a half pony tail and she had thrown the button up flannel shirt on over her tank top, although she hadn't bothered to button it up.
"Did you want anything for breakfast?" she asked him. Benji shook his head. She shrugged and turned around, beginning to wash the dirty dishes that had been sitting in the sink.
Benji sighed as he watched her. She was so awesome - she made meals for them all, did their laundry and cleaned. On top of all that, she was still the same person he knew in high school and still loved the same sort of things.
And she was a mother.
Benji walked up to her and hugged her from behind, softly kissing her neck. She stopped scrubbing a dirty cereal bowl and set it down in the sink as Benji kissed her on the lips.
"So, umm," she began. "What was that for?" Benji shrugged and did it again. She turned around to face him as she returned his kiss.
"It's been a long time, Benji," she said as the song began to end. Benji shrugged and slipped her flannel shirt off.
"Maybe we should do this in the bedroom?" she wondered. Benji didn't disagree. They walked up to his room and locked the door behind them, just as the Donnas began to play. He laughed slightly at the irony of the song when Makena ripped at his t-shirt and took his hat off.
------
"You're in a happy mood," Gavin said. Benji raised an eyebrow slowly but smiled as Gavin buckled himself into his seat.
"Are we still going to the music store?" Benji asked. Gavin nodded.
"I wanna learn today!"
Benji laughed. "You can't learn how to play in just one day," he tired to explain. "You have to practice and stuff."
"How long did it take you to play?"
"A long time."
"Oh." There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, but he shrugged anyway and let Benji drive him to the music store down town.
------
Makena sat down on the couch, tired and happy to be free from work for the day. She had already finished cleaning the kitchen and doing the laundry, and she figured that pizza would be a good idea for dinner.
She yawned deeply and began to nod off when she heard what sounded like two acoustic guitars, one playing quite well and the second not so well. Tired, but still curious, Makena got up and tried to follow the source of the music. It was coming from Benji's room upstairs.
"You can't change the way you feel," she could hear Benji singing. "And you can't tell me this ain't real, cause this is real."
Makena climbed the stairs and stopped at the doorway, leaning on the door frame and watching the two. Gavin had his own acoustic and was watching Benji closely, trying to copy the way he played. Benji continued to play, finally ending in front of a mesmerized Gavin.
Makena clapped and he looked up at her, smiling slightly. "I didn't see you there," he told her. "How long have you been standing there?"
Makena shrugged. "Long enough," she replied. Gavin looked up at her and grinned.
"Look, mommy!" he yelled. "I got one too! Just like his!" Makena smiled and laughed slightly.
"I'm going to teach him how to play," Benji told her. "If - that's okay."
"Oh, go ahead," Makena said, slightly surprised Benji had asked her. "I mean, he's six, but - go ahead."
Benji nodded. Gavin stood up, clutching his new possession and ran past his mother. "Let's go play video games!" he yelled. Benji laughed slightly and put his guitar down. He stood up and stretched slightly, walking to her and kissing her softly on the lips. She kissed him back when he kissed her a second time, and then a third.
"DAD!" Gavin screamed from down stairs. They laughed and walked down the stairs together.
------
He could hardly believe it. He didn't understand - he had gone his entire life without it, but now - there it was. Right in front of him. So easy, simple. He kissed his sleeping head and smiled down on him. Gavin. He couldn't believe how much he loved him. He noticed, from the corner of his eye, Makena walk into the living room and watch them, a smile slowly creeping across her face.
Gavin and Benji had been asleep on the couch, both exhausted from staying up late and watching TV. It was a Saturday, and nothing had happened yet all day. Benji looked up at Makena through tired eyes and smiled slightly. She blushed a little and sighed, looking down at Gavin's sleeping figure.
"I was going to take him shopping today," she said randomly. "I don't know, though. He seems a little tired."
Benji shrugged and sat up, rubbing his eyes a little. Neither of them said anything for a while, looking between each other and Gavin in complete silence.
"You were going to tell me something," Benji said quietly after looking back down at Gavin.
"Um..." she began, but stopped. "Wait - how did you figure I had something to say?"
Benji shrugged and looked at her. "I knew you didn't come in here to just watch us sleep."
Makena shrugged, caught. "Okay," she confessed, walking into the living room. She sat down on the overstuffed chair and sighed, trying to remember where she should begin. She was wearing what she had worn the day she had arrived in Waldorf - the black capri pants and the red tank top with the star on it, covered by a black zip-up hoodie, currently un-zipped. Finally she sighed and looked at Benji.
"I don't - I don't know how to begin," she admitted. Curious, yet slightly nervous, Benji let out a deep breath and looked her over.
"Well... um, what's it about?"
Makena sighed nervously. Finally, she shook her head and began to get up. "Oh, nothing," she sighed. "Never mind... it's... never mind."
Benji frowned and looked quickly down at Gavin to make sure he was still asleep. "Just tell me," he said with a long sigh.
"No," Makena said, shaking her head. "It's nothing." She paused and looked at Benji. "Okay - I... where are we?"
'Oh shit,' Benji thought. 'Not this conversation.' He groaned slightly and rubbed his face tiredly. Makena sighed.
"Never mind," she said. "Just - forget it. I know you don't wanna talk about it, so I won't either."
"Makena..."
"I mean, it's gotta come up again, but... we don't have to right now."
"Just, stop," Benji said. "We'll just talk about it now."
Makena hesitated, crossing her arms. Finally, she sighed and looked back over at Benji, waiting for him to say something.
"What do you think?" she asked him once she realized he wasn't going to say anything more.
"Honestly? I have no idea." They sighed as Makena sat herself on the bottom step.
"Me neither," she said. She paused and looked over at Gavin - he looked so much like his father it was scary. And Benji was such a good father to him, too. "We have a kid," she said finally.
"Yeah," Benji admitted. Neither of them said anything for a long time.
"What are we going to do?" Makena asked finally.
"I don't know," Benji said. "I don't know."
Makena sighed. "Okay," she said, standing up. "Never mind then."
"No," Benji said. "Let's talk about this. Now."
Makena shook her head. "Neither of us know what to do, so we'll just drop it."
"Makena, you brought it up. We're going to talk about it."
"No, Benji. Just - never mind."
There was a second of silence as Benji quickly made a decision. "Mary me," he said, standing up, trying not to wake Gavin up. Makena stopped walking towards the kitchen and slowly turned to face Benji.
"...what?" she asked in surprise.
"Mary me," Benji repeated. "Like you said, we've got Gavin. And we don't have anyone else. And… marry me."
Makena stood between the kitchen and the living room in complete shock. "I... um... Benji..." she stuttered, not sure what to say. She paused and bit her bottom lip.
It was then that Paul walked into the room and flipped his keys in his hand a little. He stopped short when he noticed Makena and Benji, sending the tension between them. From the couch Gavin was slowly waking up, blinking and rubbing his eyes.
"Am… am I interrupting?" Paul questioned, looking between Benji and Makena. Makena shook her head.
"No," she lied. "We were just talking."
"Oh..." Paul said, not exactly believing her. "Um... ready to go, then?" Makena nodded and grabbed Gavin's coat from one of the chair's in the kitchen.
"Come on, Gavin," Makena said, walking over to Gavin. "We're going to get you some new clothes today."
"I wanna stay here with dad," Gavin complained. Makena sighed.
"Put your coat on," she said.
"But I wanna stay..."
"Gavin Levi, we're going shopping, so put your coat on and lets go." Gavin pouted but put his coat on. Benji watched the three walk out the door and sighed.