The Quiet Moments ((Benjamin))

[katherine]

Katherine stepped out the bar, shaking her head and laughing softly before bracing herself against the cold night air. It was late and the only sign of life was the pumping music coming from within the building she'd just left. Yes, it was late but by the standards of everyone in there it was pretty early, still though, it was late enough for the Mum of two and she made a swift exit, a little disheartened that she'd lost her jacket. Still though considering how quick she could get home it wasn't too bad, freezing cold but nothing she couldn't handle for a few minutes. If anything was causing her bother it was the heels on her feet.

Though with a steady, graceful ease she began walking down the cobbled street, towards the small alley street at the end of it, in order for some shelter whilst she apparated home. As always nowadays her guard was up, her wand at the ready in her bag, never to far away from her fingers, just in case. It had been quiet as of late in regards to attacks and things but she refused to be caught defenseless. She kept a cautious eye on her surroundings, the only sound now the clicking of her heels on the cobbled ground and the distant sound of the bar music, getting further and further away the more steps she took.

If she was honest she couldn't wait to get home, she actually would've preferred a quiet night in with her Husband to this. However it was her friends hen party, and since she couldn't attend the wedding in Spain, she at least figured it was only right she make a show tonight. It'd been nice, a night out with the girls, but she did crave the warmth and comfort of her own home. Really she would've loved to be home with Benjamin, kids in bed, curled up on the sofa, legs on his lap just having one of those simple, quiet moments together. There were a lot of other things they could be doing with the kids tucked in bed, that she could consider a lot of fun and the thought of them made her laugh softly before shook her head.

Stepping into the alleyway she looked around her once more before closing her eyes, focusing and within seconds the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube surrounded her. Opening her eyes she smiled softly, happy to be just outside her own home. Glancing up at it, she sighed softly and pulled her wand out from her bag, and quickly lowered the wards, stepping through and putting them back up again. Leaning against the wall she opened her bag again and began digging around for her keys before finally found them, practically shivering now from how cold it was. As much as she loved British weather, what she was wearing didn't exactly suit the cold weather.

As quietly as possible she slipped the key into the lock and turned, trying to be quiet. For all she knew Benjamin could have gone to bed, though her husband did have a reputation for waiting for her on the rare nights she went out. Pushing the door open she quickly stepped inside and closed the door again, putting all the locks back in place before dropping her bag onto a small table they kept beside the door, along with her keys. Leaning against the wall she pouted slightly, slipping off her heels and sighing softly in relief, "Thank goodness for that..." she said softly, pushing her shoes to the side. Hearing a noise she looked up, a smile appearing on her face as she pushed herself away from the wall and moving forward...

Outfit

[benjamin]

Benjamin lightly closed the story book he had read to Jack in attempts to get him to go to sleep, though his son still seemed wide awake. John, the younger one, was already snoring, but the eldest of the two didn't appear to be anywhere near ready to go to sleep. "Daddy, where is Mummy?" asked Jack, a frown on his face. Ever since the argument the past summer that had caused Benjamin and his wife to endure an almost month-long separation, the boy had been sensitive whenever both his parents weren't in the house together. Sighing lightly, Benjamin sat next to Jack on the bed, easing his false leg into a bending position.

He lightly ruffled his son's hair. "Don't worry, Jack, she's just gone out with some friends for a bit of fun, you'll see her in the morning," said Benjamin, his heart aching. He wished he had been able to handle that situation better. All these months later and he still regretted how he had acted, the decision he had made spur-of-the-moment and how long he had stuck with it out of his own stubborn nature. It had hurt his family, and the damage still wasn't entirely undone.

"Her girl friends?"

[/color] said Jack, pulling an expression of disgust. Benjamin laughed, his son had gotten to the age where he found the opposite gender to be "icky," and was prompt to express his disdain for girls at any given opportunity. It seemed the only female exempt from the rule was Katherine, and that was to be expected, she was his mother after all. Benjamin ruffled his son's hair again. "Yes, with her girl friends, but she will be back, I promise," said Benjamin, now leaning down to place a kiss on Jack's forehead, "now why don't you lie down and go to sleep, hmm?"

Jack nodded. "Okay, Daddy," said he, laying back and curling on his side, immediately pulling the covers over his head. He couldn't help but smile, that was the exact same position he laid in to go to sleep, only he would have his arm draped around Katherine's waist... Once he was confident that Jack was going to drift off, Benjamin got up and quietly walked from the room, turning off the light and leaving the door open just a crack so he could have the scarce amount of light from the hallway.

Benjamin went about cleaning up as he waited for Katherine to come home, he knew she would be out late for her girlfriend's party, and he didn't mind, just as long as she came back to him he would be happy. Once the house was squared away, he sat down in the living room with a book. Benjamin hadn't realised that he had fallen asleep until he heard the front door open and the sound of his wife's footsteps in the foyer. Putting aside the book he hadn't read but half a chapter of, he stood to greet her, tiredness forgotten.

Benjamin rounded the corner and was quick to greet her with a kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. Ever since they had reconciled after their argument, he had been very affectionate indeed with his wife, as if he needed her to know just how much he loved her, as if he needed to demonstrate it with the things that he did. Benjamin smiled softly as he lead them away from the entrance area to where they could speak without worrying that their voices would carry and wake the children. "Did you have a good time with your friends, darling?" asked Benjamin.[/size][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[katherine]

Katherine smiled brightly, letting her hands rest against Benjamin's chest as he kissed her. She loved how affectionate he had become as of late, but worried a little he still felt the need to reassure her, to make things better between them because of their previous separation. If she was honest, the time away from him had shook her to the core, and she never wanted them to go through something like that again, it had been horrible, for the kids too. Though Katherine was safe in the belief that they'd somehow learned from the experience and come out of it a stronger, more secure couple. At least she hoped so.

Letting him lead her away she moved into the living room and smiled a little, nodding her head in answer to his previous question. "I did, left them all back in the bar though, wanted to get home." she told him, pulling the clip out of her hair and letting her curls fall free. Running her fingers through them she looked around, a smile gracing her face again when she noticed how tidy everywhere was, as though recently straightened out. As she turned back to Benjamin she leaned up on her toes, letting her arms wrap around his shoulders, pressing her body against his, before she placed a soft, lingering kiss onto his lips, savoring the moment before reluctantly breaking the kiss, though maintaining their contact.

"I think I'm getting old, can't seem to keep dancing the night away like I used to." she joked lightly, pressing a kiss to his lips again before pulling away and moving to sit on the sofa for a second before they would head to bed. Smiling and Benjamin she patted the seat beside her indicating he should sit, when he did she draped her legs across his lap, letting her chin rest on his shoulder as she leaned into him. "So how was your night, where the kids alright?" she asked, her fingers lightly playing with the buttons on his shirt, waiting for his answer and enjoying this closeness they were having. There'd been a moment months ago she'd worried they'd never have it again, but here they were, and she was more in love with him then ever.

Outfit

[benjamin]

Benjamin smiled lightly when Katherine returned his almost clingy physical affection, he had wanted to spark the old passion they had used to have when they were teenagers- when he had asked for her hand in marriage all those years ago when she was seventeen. It was hard to believe that it really had been that long, and that they had gone through such a severe argument... But Benjamin liked to think that they were entirely over it now, that they had both seen the errors in their ways and had come together once more, and their bond had perhaps gotten even stronger because of it.

The time he had spent away, not going home each night, had been almost like torture. It had taken him until that point for him to realise that he really did need Katherine, there was no one else that could fill that specifically-shaped void deep in his heart. She completed him. And while Benjamin did find it a difficult task to simply sit out missions where he knew he could be of use, he had learned to recognize that he was also needed at home, and that he was beginning to take far too many risks. Benjamin had left his children without a father and his wife without a husband for a month- what if it were to become permanent?

Though with the state their world was in, it might not take a mission for the Order to do him in... Benjamin shoved those thoughts away, they were grim, and he wasn't sure what had sparked them. At any rate, he wanted to focus on Katherine. Benjamin nodded as his wife explained that she had ducked out early and left them at the bar. In her defense, though, it was getting late. Later than he would ever stay out, of course, he wasn't the young man he used to be anymore, thirty-one, he definitely wasn't a teenager anymore.

Benjamin laughed lightly at her words, returning the kiss that she placed on him, feeling warmed from the inside. He really did love her deeply. After Katherine sat, he too eased himself onto the couch, his false leg giving him a little difficulty on the bend like always. He absently began to rub Katherine's feet after she placed them in his lap, smiling lightly. "It went smoothly, no hospitalization of the children or myself required, and nothing was set on fire so I'd say it's a success," Benjamin said teasingly.

[katherine]

It wasn't hard to miss the struggle her husband had as he sat back down, it had been the same since he'd lost his leg, or at least half of it during a mission. She was simply thankful he'd made it through it alive, there'd been a while as he'd lay in that hospital bed she'd worried she'd lose him, but Benjamin had promised he'd always come back and she knew he'd fight like hell so as not to break that promise. It killed him to not be out in the field all the time but she was thankful he understood he was needed here to, he still went out but it was no longer every mission for which she was thankful.

As he began to rub her feet she smiled lightly, letting her head come to rest on her arm as she let it rest on her hand, her elbow on the back of the sofa. When he began to tease her she laughed softly and rolled her eyes, playfully swatting his arm, "Well it's good to know you're so capable handsome..." she teased, shaking her head at him, she always did love this side of him, the playful kind of side, they'd both lost it for a while there, but they'd gotten it back, both realizing now what was important in their life and how important their time together was as a family. It had become apparent in the last few years things were getting worse, it wasn't right to waste time feeling angry.

Running her fingers through her hair she sighed, watching him carefully, "...do you remember how it was before we got married, that night before the wedding we were meant to stay apart but when everyone had fallen asleep I had you crawling through my bedroom window and into my bed..." she reminded him, a smile on her face as she reached her hand toward him, letting her fingers lightly brush through his hair, grazing down his cheek, replaying that wonderful night in her mind. Even then they'd been unable to sleep or spend the night without each other, it made her wonder how the hell they'd survived a month apart... stubbornness maybe...

Outfit

[benjamin]

Benjamin smiled softly, now that he had gotten himself comfortable he hardly noticed the stiffness in his leg. He was missing everything below the knee of his right leg, and while it had been over a year he still wasn't entirely used to the prosthetic. At least he didn't have to hobble around anymore, leaning on his cane. He walked more or less like an average person now, in fact it was hardly noticeable unless he encountered stairs or needed to raise or lower himself from a seated position- that was when things got difficult, his knee didn't bend the way that it used to.

He sighed softly, continuing to rub his wife's feet. He didn't mind doting on her in this manner, giving massages, doing whatever it was she needed of him. It had taken time for the intimacy to come back to their marriage after the separation, but now it had returned in full force- which Benjamin was more than grateful for, he had missed his wife. Benjamin laughed lightly at her words, though he knew that she was aware that he was capable of running the house on his own for an evening without any trouble. He just liked to tease her a little was all.

In all honesty, it was probably good for Katherine to have a nice out with her girl friends every once in a while, Benjamin couldn't remember the last time his wife had had an evening for herself, and he had wanted her to have it. He held in a yawn, swallowing it down, not wanting to give his wife any signs that he was tired, he would be ready to go to bed whenever she was, though she also seemed fatigued- at least enough so to the point where she had made the decision to leave the rest of the girls at the bar and head home.

Benjamin smiled when his wife spoke, allowing himself to go for a trip down memory lane, to back when he was just a young man, the night before his wedding... They were supposed to have spent it apart, but they couldn't stand the idea of all those hours without seeing each other. He leaned down to give his wife a lingering kiss. "I do," said Benjamin.