Chapter 7

Maria woke up the next morning, in her own bed, at first she thought the night before had been dream, but then she realized that Ben's arms were around her. She felt so comfortable in his arms, so at home. She thought back to the night before and smiled. She remembered Ben professing his love for her, they had headed upstairs to make love, but Ben stopped it, saying he wanted everything to be perfect, he wanted it to be just right. Ben woke up minutes after Maria and saw her watching him he smiled at her, "So how is my beautiful wife this morning." Maria smiled at Ben. "Well I'm better then I've been in a long time, but I'm worried about Theresa too. But Ben before we start our search there is something that you need to know. I should have told you last night, but I was scared." "What is it Maria?" Ben asked instantly on guard. He could see Maria's expression changed and that she was distressed. Maria knew she couldn't put it off any longer. "Ben I don't know how you are going to feel about this, but I'm pregnant." She really was terrified, she knew that Ben loved her but she didn't know if he was ready for another child. "Ben, I was really scared to tell you because, the timing is so off, I found out, while you were in Seattle so we weren't even together. I thought about having an abortion but I knew I couldn't go through with it." Ben put his hands on Maria's arm. "Maria, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for how much I hurt you, I'm sorry I led you to even consider something like that. But ofcourse you're to good a person to go through with it." Then his expression changed into a smile. "Maria, with this little baby we'll have three children. That means we have the family we always dreamed of." Ben hugged and Kissed Maria again. About an hour later they were up and dressed and told Tess about the family vacation. They went to the childcare service and set Benji up with a good babysitter, who promised confidentiality. Then they were on their way to Seattle. They were on their way to find their daughter and start their new lives together.