A Flight's Desire

Chapter 33: The Hales

Ben was met by strange stares from his parents once Robin left. He knew what was running in their minds but he didn't confirm anything. But that didn't mean that he denied anything either. He was figuring out his own thoughts by himself, and he required some time to do that.

The day for him to go to Robin's house for dinner arrived. He was quite nervous, though he wasn't sure why that was so. He spent half an hour trying to decide what to take to their house. He knew that he couldn't take a bottle of wine. Melody was allergic to flowers and he did not know much about Lincoln. So, he got dressed into a thick black and white striped sweater and his signature black leather jacket. He wasn't Ben Summers. He was just Ben for one night.

One hour before seven, Robin was lying on the couch and watching television. She was browsing through really because she didn't know what to watch. She had finished reading the books that she had with her and was just really bored. "Robin, what are you doing?" She heard her brother's voice. "You're supposed to be getting ready! Ben is going to be here anytime."

She frowned. "We have time."

"Ignore him." Melody said, who sat on the settee with Rose, trying to make her talk.

"You know?" Lincoln started. "The apartment opposite is going to be vacant in a few weeks' time and-"

"And I'm up."

The apartment opposite to the Hale's was getting shifted out of. The couple that lived there received a transfer to Canada and they were going to be selling the house. Lincoln had put in a word with them to think of them first because Robin could shift there. But Robin did not want to talk about the idea of shifting from Budapest even though it did mean that she could be with her family. Unfortunately, she was going to write her pro/cons list only after the wedding got over. The wedding was the first priority and she had enough time to think about whether she wanted to buy the apartment or not.

Ben reached the door of Robin's apartment and after taking one deep breath, he knocked on the door. But once it opened, his anxiety was out the window. "Hey." One look at Robin made all the answers clear to him. He shook the thought out of his head. They were friends, and he should be respecting that.

"Hey!" Ben hugged Robin and they smiled at each other. Clearly, both of them were very new to all this. "This is for you." He handed her the package in his hands.

"Chocolates! Melody is going to love these. They are her favourites."

"I didn't know what else to buy and since these are close to us, I went with it." He shrugged. "I knew better than to buy flowers, thanks to you."

"I love it." She smiled. "Come on in." Robin was wearing denim overalls because she was feeling herself after a really long time. And since it was her home, she didn't really have to dress up fancy. Melody made a fuss with cleaning the house but Robin was fine with it. She just wanted to spend some time with Ben and her family.

Ben saw a man in his mid-thirties walking out to the living room. "Ah, Ben Summers." Lincoln shook hands with the celebrity.

"It's great to meet you, Mr. Hale."

Lincoln opened his eyes wide and then looked at Robin. "I'm really not that old, am I? It must be the beard. I should start use dye on it as well." He then turned to Ben. "'Sir' is just fine." Robin smacked his arm. "I'm kidding!" He laughed. "Call me Lincoln, please." He patted Ben on the back. "So, Ben. I hope finding the house wasn't that hard."

Unlike Ben's house, Robin's house's kitchen wasn't a separate one that was an extension of the living room. Their dining table was set out on the balcony where they sat with fairy lights all over the sill. Walking out into the fresh air made everyone feel better. Ben saw a beautiful raven-haired woman setting up the table with a very cute baby girl in her arms. "Hey!" Lincoln took the baby from Melody as she made her way to greet Ben. "It's very nice to meet you!"

"Same here. I've heard a lot about all of you."

"And we've watched all of your movies. You're absolutely wonderful!" Melody wasn't afraid to fangirl in front of him. She really was a fan and though she tried to control her emotions, she couldn't believe that she was standing in the presence of Ben Summers.

All of them sat down to eat because it had been a really long day. Robin and Ben sat next to each other where she introduced him to Rose. "Ah, so you are Aunt Robin, then."

"I was thinking that I would be Uncle Rob but Aunt Robin is amazing." Robin was going to convince Rose to call her 'Uncle Rob' anyway. It wasn't like she was going to be missing anything.

Ben wanted to hold Rose but the baby was a stubborn person and didn't stay with anyone for a really long time. One fact that she didn't know was that Ben was stubborn as well. He took the baby from Robin and held her in his arms. What was really surprising to everyone was when Rose rested her head on his shoulders, because she only did that to people that she trusted.

"So you've won Rose's heart as well." Lincoln said. "I need to keep my girls safe from you, Ben. I really do."

Robin went to help Melody bring out the dinner. The two of them walked out of the kitchen holding the platters that held their dinner for them. "Oh my God." Ben said.

"You're not the only one who wanted to bring nostalgia into this." Robin said, setting the platter of dosas down.

"I can't believe you remembered." He said as she took her seat.

"I did promise you that I would make you dosas, but hopefully they are edible."

Rose went off to sleep soon and the adults didn't have any reason to talk softly. "So, Ben." Lincoln clapped his hands together, resting his elbows on the table. "What are your intentions with Robin?"

Robin choked on the water that she was drinking and looked up at her brother with anger in her eyes. What was he doing? "Lincoln!" Melody exclaimed. She had been expecting the brother-talk to come but she hadn't been expecting her husband to be so direct. She had warned him to not be intimidating because Ben and Robin were good friends. Paige said so herself.

By this time, Ben knew that Lincoln was a very chill person and liked to mess with people with his jokes. "I do have an intention." He answered, making Robin's heart race. "I like Robin," She looked up at him in shock. "And we are friends."

Oh, she thought. That was where he was heading with that sentence.

Lincoln put his hand forward. "I like that answer." He said as they shook hands. "So when are you two heading back to New York?"

It took some time for Robin to come back to reality. "Tomorrow." She said, hoping that her voice hadn't shook.

"I wish we could come for the wedding but Rose is getting vaccinated. I'm so happy for Paige and Karen." Melody said. "How are all the preparations going?"

"Really great actually!" Ben said, after taking a sip of his drink. "We were able to get everything together in a short time. It's quite a surprise how we managed it."

"Go team!" Robin exclaimed, Ben's voice echoing in her ears.

The dinner went really well. Lincoln and Ben realised that they had the favourite football team and started talking about that. Melody asked him questions about his work and also about what he thought of being the inspiration for Robin's book.

The night ended in a sweet tone where Robin walked out of the apartment to drop Ben off till the elevator. She sat on the steps of the staircase as they waited for the elevator to reach their floor. "Thank you so much, Robin."

"Thank you for coming. I was sure that you were going to run in the other direction after seeing how crazy we Hales actually are."

"I'd disagree there," he said, politely. "And the food was incredible! Thank you for making my wish come true."

"Hey, what are friends for?" She shrugged.

The elevator pinged, announcing its arrival. The grey metal doors opened up, having already been called down to the basement to another person who wanted to use the lift. Ben walked inside and pressed the button for the ground floor. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said, but before the doors closed, she added one more thing to end the nostalgic night. "And don't forget to bring your kindle or book!"