Ben was as thirsty as he was hungry. Not himself of where he was, he just chased after Peter. In his mind, they would either succeed or fail together. As fate would have it, they made the right turns and found where it was that they needed to be. As they got what it was they wanted, Peter’s comment finally registered. He gave Peter a perplexed look and said, “Dad for real?”
For a moment, he remembered the chats he had with Erik, the chats about how much he cared about his Mom and the many smiles that would cross his face when they spoke of her. He thought of the times that he and Erik hung out together be it a day at the beach, a few hours where he worked to study science or just a casual game indoors on a rainy day. Between the memories and the comment, he turned to Peter.
“You mean your Dad wants to marry my Mom?” he asked with quiet enthusiasm and a growing smile. “I know they love each other but.....how come you know about it and I don’t?” Then his curiosity grew. Peter would have a new Mom and Ben knew of the mixed feelings Peter might have so he kindly asked Peter in a way that only his mother could ask and he did so with a kind face, “How do you feel about my Mom being your Mom. I mean....well......considering what happened to your Mom and all.” For the moment, Peter was wise beyond his years.