Chapter 21 #3
Surprised and a little disappointed that Ben was conceding the point so easily because she was spoiling for a fight, Ella replied, “Yes, actually, I have already got an appointment next week. It is on Wednesday at nine am. I would love for you to come with me if that is not too much to ask. I realize I am the last person on your to-do list at the moment.”
Ignoring Ella’s snarky response, Ben calmly said, “Of course I will be there.” Not wanting to fight with her, that was all he said.
The rest of the ride to his parent’s house was in silence.
By the time they got there, Ella was almost asleep.
It took only a few minutes to get inside and settled for the night, and once in bed, Ella fell asleep almost immediately.
On the other hand, Ben lay in bed next to Ella and watched her sleep as a late night sports channel played in the background.
He marveled at how angry she had been earlier.
He had not seen that coming. He was still not clear what he had done that was so wrong.
He was doing all he could to keep up with all the demands with his new internship and helping his dad.
He had done everything he could think to make the move to Arkansas good for her.
But it appeared he had not done enough. Going forward, he would have to try harder.
He felt his love for her to his bones. He needed her to be okay.
Without her, nothing else made sense. After tonight, he was not sure if he was going to be able to make her happy.
That scared him crapless. Refusing to even consider what all that might mean to his and their future, he just drew her closer and prayed that things would work themselves out because he had no intention of ever letting her go.
After their blowout argument about the doctor, things seemed to quieten down.
Ella met with her new OB/GYN, a young woman in her thirties named Dr. Rachel Jones.
Ella loved her immediately and felt totally comfortable with her.
Ben accompanied Ella to her first visit, and they were able to hear their baby’s heartbeat.
They also found out it was a boy. Seeing their son on the screen brought them together in a way they hadn’t been since the early days of Malibu.
That night as Ben watched yet another Arkansas Razorback basketball game, Ella perused baby name books for the perfect name.
Running her fingers through Ben’s curly red locks, Ella casually asked, “You don’t have some deep-seated need to name the baby after you, do you?”
Giving Ella a strange look, as Ben tried to decipher where she was going with her line of questioning, he replied, “Depends on what you mean by deep-seated. I want him to be a Carrington but outside of that? Not really. Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Your dad is Bennett, and you are Ben. I wondered if you wanted to continue that tradition.”
Thinking it over, Ben shrugged. “I don’t hate the idea of using some form of Ben. In fact, I would like to name him after my dad if you are okay with it.”
Without thinking about how it might come off, Ella asked, “Which dad? Bennett or Tommy?”
Surprised by Ella’s response, Ben blinked and then said, “Well I meant Bennett, but do you think that would be disloyal to my first dad? I really loved them both. I would never want to do anything that would be seen as ungrateful to either one.”
Ella thought for a moment then replied, “Well, since Tommy is no longer with us, I don’t think he could be offended. And, honestly, I like Bennett much better than Thomas. If you wanted to use it as a middle name, I would be good with it.”
At that moment, Ben jumped up, reacting to a call he vehemently disagreed with.
Once that moment passed, he sat back down and picked up the conversion without missing a beat, a skill only a true basketball lover could do.
“You know, I think you are right. So if it is okay with you, let’s use Bennett for the middle name. Do you have any name you really want?”
Without missing a beat, Ella replied, “What do you think about the name John? It is my Dabby’s name.” When Ben gave her a look that told her he had no idea who or what a Dabby was, Ella laughed. “Dabby, my grandfather on my mom’s side. You met him at the wedding.”
Nodding, Ben said, “Oh, yeah. I remember now. The tall dude with lots of white hair.”
“Yes,” replied Ella. “You mom told me that her father’s name was also John, even though she never knew him. I think it would be a nice way of honoring both of our families in one name. What do you think?”
Reaching over to give her a quick kiss, Ben said, “I love the name John. One of my best friends from high school was named John. I had forgotten that mom’s dad’s name was John.
That is not something she talks about much.
I am surprised she told you that. As far as the name goes, if you like John, I am good with it. ”
Nodding Ella said, “John Bennett Carrington. I love it.”
“Me too,” replied Ben. “But just one thing. I want him to go by John, not JB or some nickname. I hate when people do that.”
“Agreed,” said Ella. “John Bennett Carrington it is.”
The happy calm that seeing their son on the monitor and deciding on his name only lasted a short time.
The coldest days of winter hit them hard that winter with a large snowfall that stalled life in Little Rock and Des Arc as the load that Ben was carrying only continued to heat up.
By the first of February, Ben was working twelve- to fifteen-hour days, traveling all over the state working with the advance team, making sure that everything was ready for the next campaign stop.
They were trying to do at least one a day.
He spent time setting everything up and tearing it all down.
He also worked with local party reps to get out signs and set up speaking engagements.
If Ella knew anything about politics or Arkansas, maybe she would have been able to join Ben and work on the campaign as well.
But she didn’t, and the few times she brought it up, he said he preferred for her to stay at home and rest. That had made sense when she was first pregnant and waylaid by morning sickness.
Now she felt great but was bored out of her mind.
Realizing his wife was at wit’s end, he often encouraged her to have lunch with his various friends’ wives or to go shopping.
Most of the wives and girlfriends of his friends had careers or children.
The few who didn’t seemed to lunch and shop a lot.
It reminded her of her time in Aspen. At the time, she was grateful it was only a long weekend and had gotten through it. This had somehow become her life.
Ella’s mother’s words about wasting her potential and becoming a lady who lunched often ran through her mind.
It seemed to be a life-fulfilling prophecy.
She even suggested getting a job, but Ben’s response was that any job she got would have to be temporary because she would soon need time off to have the baby.
Ben was always kind and loving when they were together, but it was as if he wanted Ella to become another person. For as brilliant as she was, she could not find the words to make Ben understand this was not who she was.
For her part, Ella really tried to be what Ben seemed to want. She did the lunches. She shopped. She attended campaign events as a plus one when asked, even when that meant spending their first Valentine’s Day as a couple at a church banquet in a small town outside of Searcy where she knew no one.
At that particular event, Ella and Ben had not even been able to ride there together.
She had to ride with another staffer. Spending almost two hours in the car with a guy she barely knew, making small talk, was murderous for Ella.
But she did it because Ben asked her to.
She hoped that once she got there they would be able to enjoy some time together, but that did not happen.
When Ella arrived, Ben gave her a quick kiss hello, then disappeared to work his magic behind the scenes.
While Ella was quietly sitting, listening to people all around her talk, a conversation caught her attention.
A heavy-set man next to her was discussing what sounded like a major soil study that was about to begin in the nearby town of Des Arc.
From what Ella could hear, the purpose of the study was to develop best practices for soil conservation.
Ella knew that Arkansas was a major agricultural state, but she had not yet had any opportunity to learn about the crops or the growing practices.
She knew that most farms were corporate entities, but some large family farms still remained.
Listening, her interest piqued, Ella could not stop herself from asking, “Are you talking about a soil study?”
The heavy-set man next to her turned and gave her a once over.
He seemed to be shocked at her question, but with a kind smile answered, “Why, yes, that is what we are talking about. NRCS is going to be working with us over the next few months collecting data that will help us determine which soil degradation prevention strategy we are using is the most effective. But a pretty little thing like you would not be interested in some old boring soil study. I am sorry, we are probably boring you. Aren’t we? ”
Ella could not help but laugh as she responded, “Actually, this is the first conversation all night that has interested me. Just curious, what strategies are you currently using? Crop rotation, reduce tillage, mulching, cover cropping, or cross-slope farming?”