43. Happy Endings
“Alright, Matt. You’re off-duty,”Ben said as he returned to Gia’s car and opened the door, taking her hand in his. As she went to remove the blindfold, he stopped her. “Nope. I don’t think so. Not yet. Soon.” He helped her rise from her seat in the car, then held both hands to lead her, acting as her eyes.
“Ben, don’t you think this is getting a little ridiculous now? I can’t see a thing,” Gia whined.
“As it should be. All part of the plan, my dear.”
Gia could feel the pink flush into her cheeks as Ben said, “My dear.” The words were simple and innocent, but she hadn’t heard him say them in many years. Her reaction surprised her, triggering a weakening combination of nostalgia and desire. She used his shoulder to steady herself and get her bearings. “Oh, I—the blindfold. It’s hard to balance,” she said, lying.
Ben chuckled, seeing right through her. “Mmhmm,” he said. “Hold my hands, follow where I lead.”
As Ben led Gia to the backyard, he was surprised she didn’t immediately know where they were. It was interesting just how important the role of one single sense—sight—could be. Soon, though, Gia breathed deeply through her nose, taking in the sweet aromas of her flowers and herbs dancing on the breeze. Ben could tell she had a general idea of where she was—a garden—if not the full knowledge that it was, in fact, her garden.
“Where are we? It’s so familiar, but it feels so strange not to see. Are we—” Gia stopped speaking when her feet caught on one of the slightly raised paving stones that led to her patio. She knew that stone. She had tripped on it several times that year, always saying she’d fix it the next time she had a free moment in the garden—but somehow never got around to it.
“Why are we—” Gia began.
“You’ll see,” Ben whispered. “It’s a surprise. Follow me.” He kissed the top of her ear, just as he had the other day. Her body shook as if it had sent shivers throughout. When they arrived at the table, Ben pulled a chair for Gia and guided her to sit. As he did so, he flipped on the TV screen using a remote resting in front of his place setting. Music filled the garden area, and he slowly removed the blindfold from Gia’s face, allowing her to see the extraordinarily decorated garden and dining area.
Gia’s jaw dropped. “Wow—you?”
“And Carla and Matt. A few things had to get moved around. Pretend it’s just before dusk. There were supposed to be twinkle lights, fake stars, and fireflies, but this will be just as good. Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
“Watch.” Ben gestured to the TV screen. Ben hit a button on the remote, and the music became softer. The screen illuminated with images of Gia’s garden amidst the background sound of children’s laughter. The camera zoomed in on three children at play in the yard, then focused on one—Aiden.
“If I could have anything I wanted on a children’s menu,” Aiden said, “I would choose chicken nuggets—but in the shape of cars!” Aiden’s smile grew large as he held up a chicken nugget in the shape of a race car, then another in the other hand unmistakably shaped like a VW Beetle.
Gia laughed. “Oh my gosh! I love that.” Ben paused the video as a waiter emerged from the sliding glass door and walked to the table carrying a platter full of car-shaped chicken nuggets.
“Dinner is served,” Ben announced. “But, save room. It’s going to be a bit of a long meal. We are developing a long history of making attempts to try everything on the menu—why stop now?”
“What menu is this?” asked Gia.
“I give you the brand-new Gia’s Charmed to Table Children’s Menu. I think you’ll find it hits very close to home. Eat your nuggets while you watch.” Ben hit the play button again.
Mark’s face filled the screen next. He held what looked to be a smore in his hands, but one large marshmallow had been cut into three sections—one red, one white, and one blue. Two graham crackers were on each side like a regular campfire smore, but a piece of white chocolate was beneath each. It had an unmistakable superhero vibe to it.
“Superhero Smores!” Mark shouted, flinging his Superman cape over his shoulder and raising the smore skyward. “The dessert of superheroes!”
His toothy smile made Gia laugh. He’d always been such a sugar junky, it wasn’t surprising he picked a dessert. Again, Ben paused the video, and a waiter arrived with all the materials needed to make the smores right at the table, including a mini campfire and stakes to toast the marshmallows!
“Ben, this is amazing!” Gia squealed.
“Lightly toasted, burnt, or flaming?” the waiter asked, grinning.
“Ball of fire,” Gia said. “But I don’t think that should be one of the options at the restaurant.”
“No, no,” Ben began. “This is just for us. No rules here!”
As the chef prepared a plateful of smores, Ben clicked the video on again.
“I’m Autumn. If I could make a kids’ menu, I’d make sure it had pancakes. But, special pancakes for each season or holiday. Snowflake and snowman pancakes in winter, maybe Christmas, Leaves and pumpkins in the fall, suns in the summer, you know—like that! Maybe flavors, too.”
Autumn reached down and lifted a platter of pancakes toward the camera. Many were shaped like different seasonal shapes, while others were decorated with cookie frosting and sweets to make them fit their themes. As Autumn lifted the plate, she couldn’t help but grab the Christmas tree-shaped pancake and dip it into a “snowbank” of whipped cream, stuffing it into her mouth.
Gia laughed at her wild child’s antics. “Ben, this is perfect,” Gia announced as a platter of pancakes arrived. Ben stopped pausing the video and letting it play out, knowing that each food and drink option would eventually be brought to the table for sampling. It was a complete menu of appetizers, entrees, and desserts curated by kids!
When the video ended and the table was laden with food, Gia shook her head in shock.
“How’d you manage to interview the kids?” Gia asked curiously.
“Carla, again,” Ben said. “You thought she had been ignoring your calls, probably. But the past couple of days have been hectic for her. She had to strategically get you out of the house WHILE situating herself to watch them for long enough to finish the videos. Matt helped, too. It”s a good thing he knows his way around a camera. Quite frankly, my dear, it was a logistical nightmare—but well worth it.”
Gia grinned and began to eat more of the food that surrounded her.
“It’s all locally sourced, so it fits the Charmed to Table model. You’re, of course, welcome to adjust, remove, or add anything you want. We pulled this together very, very quickly.”
“Ben, it’s perfect. I love it. I don’t want to change a thing!”
“Well, good. We won’t have to do too much work on these menus,” said Ben as he pulled a design proof of the new menu out from beneath the table. The menu featured hand-drawn superheroes, race cars, seasonal items, and more.
“Is this?—?”
“Yeah, your kids did the art, too. They’re really excited—and when they get home in an hour, I’m sure they’ll be more than ready to eat some of the rest of this food under Carla and Matt’s watchful eyes while you and I go somewhere quiet to talk. I have one more surprise…”
“Ben! No more surprises. This is unbelievable. This is perfect. How did you do all this? Why did you do all this for me?”
“Gia, you know the answer to that question. You’ve always known it. I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you through everything. Leaving you behind wound up being the biggest regret of my entire life. Now, I want us to have the start we should have had in the first place.” Ben stood up from his chair, walked over to Gia’s side of the table, and leaned downward. He got down on a knee.
“Ben, no. No, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Ben asked. “Oh. OH! No, no. No. I’m not asking you to marry me! I just—I—wow—pretend that didn’t just happen. I was just trying to—” Ben finally managed to stop talking and show Gia his intention by lifting the wide vase of cut flowers. There, beneath the vase, were seven plane tickets.
“Gia, will you go to Brazil with me? For a vacation. All of you—even Carla and Matt. To the original eco-lodge. I want to share it with you. I… I still own that first one. I couldn’t let it go.”
“Oh my gosh, Ben!” Gia struggled to hold back tears. She’d spent her entire adult life feeling like she’d missed the travel opportunity of a lifetime. All the pieces of her life she thought she’d missed out on were falling into place—all because of Ben.
“Yes,” Gia finally said. “Yes, I’d love to go to Brazil with you, my love. I love you.”
“I love you, too, my dirty hoe. Does this mean we can delete our Only Gardeners accounts now?”
“YES!”