The one thing that keeps me sane...

DISCLAIMER : MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE...EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS STORY IS MINE!!!! STEAL IT AND YOU END UP WITH A VERY UNHAPPY KAYLEE AND YOU DON'T WANT ME UNHAPPY!!! BAD THINGS HAPPEN...

ONWARDS ------------->


Jacoby ran into the house and jumped up next to Lain, who was now sitting on the couch. “You crying Lain?”

“No.” Lain smiled. “I’m fine.”

“Lain!” Ryan ran over and hugged Lain close. “Are you okay Lain?”

Lain laughed and tried to breath through Ryan’s vice of death. “I’m fine Ryan. You can let go.”

He quickly let go and bopped Lain on the head. “That’s what you get for going out to talk to some strange guy! My goodness Lainy you had us all scared!” he turned on Ben. “And you are supposed to be in the hospital Ben! What in the heck do you think you are doing?”

“Hey, I’m fine Ryan.” Ben put his arms up and spun. “See? Fine.”

Ryan frowned, clearly not impressed. “Come on Ryan.” Michael cut in. “Lets let them catch up and whatnot.”

The two left and Ben walked over and sat on the couch with the other two. He wrapped an arm around Laraine’s shoulder and smiled as Jacoby walked over and sat in his lap. “Look at us.” Ben smiled. “One little happy family.”

Jacoby looked up at Ben. “Daddy I’m hungry.”

“Of course you are.” Ben smiled and stood, setting Jacoby down by Laraine. “I’ll go make something.”

“Benjamin let me-” Laraine went to get up but Ben held him down by his shoulders.

“Love, relax.” Ben leaned down and gave him a kiss, which got them an ‘eew’ from Jacoby. “Eew yourself monster.”

Jacoby turned to face Laraine once Ben had gone into the kitchen. “Lain?” he looked over at the boy. “What happened to my mommy?”

Laraine froze up. “Umm, didn’t, didn’t you talk to your dad about that?”

Jacoby shook his head. “I wanted to ask you.”

Well, uncomfortable. “Your mommy, she went to heaven Jacoby.” he sighed trying to think. “God, he needed your mommy in heaven so he had to take her.” he was basically just saying everything his mom had said to him, though he was saying it more simply. “And, I realize that doesn’t seem fair but your mommy is much happier up there.”

“Happier than with me?” Jacoby asked him.

“Oh no.” Laraine told him. “Of course your mommy would never be happy without you. She would love to be with you but she has a job to do in heaven. You’ll see her again, a long time from now of course, but don’t worry.” he brushed some of Jacoby’s hair from his face and smiled at the boy. “I know it’s hard to understand...and upsetting...but it’ll be okay.”
Jacoby nodded, his head lowered. “I miss her...”

Laraine pulled Jacoby over and held him close. “I know you miss her and no one will ever, EVER, be able to replace your mommy but,” he tilted Jacoby’s head up and smiled. “Know what?”

“What?” Jacoby smiled back.

“Eventually you are gonna find someone who makes all your unhappiness go away. You’ll never forget your mommy but...this person will be able to make you smile even to spite your unhappiness.” he looked up and found Ben leaning against the wall smiling at them.

Ben pushed himself off the wall and walked over. “Monster, go eat okay?” the boy jumped up and ran over to the table as Ben sat by Lain. “Thank you love. You explained that much better than I ever could have.”

Laraine smiled softly. “It’s just what I was told...”

Leaning over Ben kissed Laraine. Their mouths moved together sensually. “EEW!” Jacoby yelled and then giggled as the two parted. “Kissing is icky!”

“Can it monster!” Ben stuck his tongue out at the boy. He gave Laraine a kiss. “You watch him for me while I go clean up the back?”

“Sure.” Laraine nodded and walked into the kitchen with Jacoby. “Would you like something to drink Jacoby?”

“Yes please!” Jacoby smiled and jumped a little. Laraine handed him a juice box and put the straw in it for him. “Thank you!”

Laraine smiled. “You are very welcome.” looked back at the kitchen and sighed. Well, if Ben was going to clean the back then he could at least clean the kitchen, and then probably call his mom.

Jacoby turned in the chair and watch Lain pick up the kitchen. “Are you my new mommy?”

A blush broke across Laraine’s face and he turned to face Jacoby. “Excuse me?”

“Are you my new mommy?” Jacoby asked him. “Daddy kisses you and talks to you like he did mommy. Does that mean you are my new mommy?”

“Umm...no.” Laraine smiled and sat down at the table with Jacoby, the boy turning to face him. “I’m not your new mommy. Your daddy and I are dating...but I’m a boy and your mommy was a girl.”

“Boy’s can’t be mommies?” Jacoby asked. “Why?”

Laraine brushed his hair out of his face. “Well, for one, that would mean your daddy and I would have to get married and then I would have to adopt you...” Laraine sighed, why was he even trying to explain this to a three-year-old. “I just...I’m not your new mommy.”

The boy sat there as if trying to understand. “Do you want to by my new mommy?”

“No...” Laraine muttered. “I would never want to try and be your new mommy...”

“Do you not like me?” Jacoby asked him.

Laraine realized then how that could have sounded. “Oh, of course I like you Jacoby. I just meant that I could never even try to replace your mommy and I don’t want to. I’d love to be here for you, like a friend, but not like a mommy.”

Jacoby brought the sandwich up and took a bite of it, clearly contemplating the situation further. “Does that mean you can’t tell me what to do?”

“I’m still older than you!” Laraine pinched his nose a little. “So that means I can tell you want to do.”

“Mommy told me I only had to listen to her and daddy.” Jacoby argued. He seemed to realize something then. “Does daddy want you to be my mommy?”

Laraine blushed again. “I...I don’t know. You’d have to ask your daddy.”

Taking another bite of his sandwich Jacoby nodded sternly. “Hey monster.” Ben came into the room and tickled Jacoby’s neck. “Look at that! You’ve almost eaten all of your sandwich.”

“Daddy?” Jacoby asked as Ben walked up to Laraine and wrapped his arms around him from behind. “Do you want Lain to be my new mommy?”

The two froze and Ben looked back at his son. “What?”

Jacoby turned in his chair to face the two. Ben was turned so only an arm was around Laraine’s waist and Laraine was still facing the sink. “Do you want Lain to be my new mommy?”

“Uh...” Ben tried to think. “Not necessarily, monster.” Laraine was stiff, Ben could feel it from the arm that was wrapped around his waist. “I want him here with us. To be part of our family, but not like a mom.” he pulled Laraine back against him and set his head on the side of Laraine’s. “Just family.”

Laraine melted back into Ben and closed his eyes. “Benjamin...” he practically breathed.

The man tightened his hold on the boy. “What do you say love? You wanna be part of our family?”

“I’d love to be Benjamin...” Laraine accepted. “If it’s okay with Jacoby.”

That made Ben smile and he looked over at the boy. “What do you say monster? You want Lain to be in our family?”

Jacoby nodded firmly. “Yes!”

“Guess that’s that then.” Ben kissed Laraine’s cheek. “You’re one of us now sugah.”

“That kind of scares me Benjamin.” Laraine joked and turned his head to look back at the man. “Maybe I should think about it.”

Ben chuckled. “Love don’t play that game.” someone knocked on the door and Ben let go of Laraine so he could go get it. When he opened the door Brian and his mother were standing there. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Can Jacoby play?” Brian asked with a smile.

“Of course. I’ll get him.” Ben told them. “You can come in if you’d like.”

The two walked into the house, Angela holding Brian’s hand as they made their way to the living room. Jacoby came running up to Brian and the two immediately began to run around and play. Ben smiled at the two and looked up at Angela.

“They’re getting to be real good friends aren’t they?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, they are.” Angela smiled and kind of looked around. She saw the picture of Ben and Kathy that was on the window sill. “Is that your wife?”

Ben looked over at the picture. “Oh, no. That was Jacoby’s mom. We were never married. She died in a car crash recently.”

Angela’s face lit with concern. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine.” Ben smiled. “We didn’t really get along.”

She kind of stood there, looking around again before she found the picture of Laraine and Ben asleep in the back seat of the car asleep. “Oh, who’s that?”

He looked over at the picture. “That’s Lain. He should be here,” Ben looked around and Laraine came out of the kitchen. “Hey,” Laraine walked up to him. “This is my neighbor Angela. That’s her son Brian running around with the monster. Angela this is Lain.”

“Nice to meet you.” Laraine smiled.

“You also.” Angela nodded and caught site of her son. “Brian no!” she yelled as he and Jacoby went to grab a vase.

Ben gave Jacoby a stern look. “Jacoby you know not to touch that.”

Jacoby pouted. “Sorry daddy.”

“That’s right.” Ben told him. “Now, why don’t you show Brian your room huh? That way you can’t break anything.”

“Yeah!” Jacoby smiled. “Brian come on!”

Ben sighed. “Angela would you like something to drink?”

Angela shook her head. “No thank you.” she took a seat in the chair as Ben sat on the couch. “I’ve never been in here. It’s lovely Ben.”

“Only recently.” he smirked as Laraine walked back to the kitchen. “Someone is having to much fun cleaning the place.”

“So...if you don’t mind me asking...are you two...umm...” Angela kind of go uncomfortable.

That made Ben laugh. “Yeah, Lain’s my boyfriend.” he pointed to the picture of him and Laraine at the beach kissing. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know about that picture...cause he’d probably flip if he knew people saw it.”

Angela looked at the picture. “You two are cute. I’ve never really met someone...like that...before.”

“Well, I’m bi.” Ben told her. “So I technically swing both ways, clearly since Jacoby is running around here.” he smiled as Laraine came back in and sat down by him. “Lainy however is that way.”

“What way?” Laraine asked him. “Why are you talkin’ about me Benjamin?”

“I’m just talking about you likin’ boys love.” Ben kissed him softly. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Laraine glared at him and then looked over at Angela. “So, do you and Brian live alone?”

Angela nodded. “Yeah, his dad left six months ago. Just him and me.” she sighed. “Do you two live here together?”
“Might as well.” Ben muttered.

“What do you mean by that?” Laraine asked him. “If you want me to live here you could just ask.”

Ben gave him the “yeah right” look. “You wouldn’t say yes.”

That clearly upset Laraine. “Well, now I wouldn’t.”

The boy stood and walked into the back. Angela bit her lip. “Sorry, I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“It’s not your fault.” Ben told her. “Him and I, we’re a little unstable cause a lot has been going on.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything but...you look like someone kicked your ass.” Angela told him and the two laughed a little.

Ben nodded. “Yeah well, that kind of happened. I know some bad people, Lain’s related to some bad people that love him...and that leads to a lot of hell.” he took a deep breath. “We’re workin’ through it though. I think there isn’t much else we could go through. We’ve already been through hell and back.”

“That sucks. But it’s also really cool that you two are still together after everything that has happened. I don’t know what that is but it sounds bad enough.” Angela gave a reassuring smile. “So, you love him then?”

“Very much so.” Ben answered. “I really don’t know what I would do without him here.”

Jacoby came running out to his dad, followed by Brian. “Daddy, Lain is crying.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I went to ask him something he was on the phone crying...he sounds upset at the person daddy.” Jacoby told him.

“Uhh...” Ben looked around a moment.

Angela stood. “Come on boy’s. Lets go to my place and you can have some snacks okay?” she smiled up at Ben. “I’ll watch him for a while. It’s no big deal.”

Ben smiled. “Thank you Angela.” after they left Ben walked back and heard Laraine’s crying voice from his room.

“Tell me!” Laraine snapped. “Right now!” ben knew at that moment who Laraine was talking to. He walked into the room and grabbed the phone from Laraine, hanging it up. “Benjamin what do you think your are doing?”

Sitting on the bed with Laraine, Ben looked at the boy. “Sugah don’t worry about it okay? Just let it go.”

Laraine frowned. “I want to know what they did to you Benjamin!”

“They hurt me love.” Ben framed Laraine’s face with his own. “They put me in the hospital. You’ve seen the cuts. Leave it at that okay love?”

“I’m just scared Benjamin...” Laraine muttered and Ben pulled him over. “I’m so scared...I don’t want them to hurt you.”

Ben lifted Laraine’s head and kissed him. “It’s over and done with baby. We just have to move on.”

Taking a deep breath Laraine nodded and kissed Ben again. “I love you Benjamin.”

“Love you, sugah.” Ben kissed him and slid and hand up his shirt.

“Wait, where is Jacoby?” Laraine asked him.

Ben smirked as he lightly pet Laraine’s stomach. “Angela took them to her house. She’s watchin’ him for a while.”

Laraine smiled. “Don’t tell me you planned that.”

“Nope. Just happened that way.” Ben kissed Laraine again. “You taste good love.”

“Why do you say those things?” Ben got a confused look on his face. “Call me those names and say stuff like that?”

Ben sort of shifted. “Your uncle told you about Aaron didn’t he?” Laraine nodded. “He rubbed off on me a little. I wont if you don’t want Lain. If it’s weird.”

“No...no it’s fine.” Laraine smiled and kissed Ben again. They kissed for a few minutes, soft and sweet. “Benjamin?” Laraine whispered as Ben just hugged him close.

“What love?” Ben asked him.

Laraine was silent a moment. “I...I want to sleep with you...”

~*~*~*~*~

Hope you enjoyed...Ben and Laraine happy together!
*sigh* oh how lovely it all is...
REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~KaY