Chapter 3.4 – Family Life

Following the death of her mother, Danielle went back to work and tried to re-build her life.  Due to her extended absence, she had fallen behind in her work and she knew that if she still looked the way she used to, she would have been demoted by now.  Thankfully her boss kept her on as an Anonymous Source Handler, which meant that Danielle had to manage all the hot tips that came off the wire from the town.

One evening she was standing on her porch starring at the night sky when Ben turned up. She had not seen him since they had returned from France, as he had had to go back to Sunset Valley to work his notice on his job.

“Hi Danielle,” he said softly.  “I’ve just come to see how you are.”  Danielle turned to look at him and was faced with the kindest, softest eyes she had ever seen.  She did not know what came over her, but before she knew it, she had grabbed Ben and pulled him into her, taking him by surprise.

Nothing was said, it did not need to be.  Ben drew her in closer and kissed her softly on the mouth.  Hungrily they started kissing more passionately until they were ripping each other’s clothes off there and then on the porch.

Ben scooped Danielle up and continuing to kiss her the whole time as he carried her upstairs to the bedroom.  The experience was so different to what she had had with Jacques and Danielle realised that this was making love, not just making out! 

Following this, Ben moved straight in with Danielle.  He had just moved back to Angel Falls to start his new career as an Illustrious Author and had yet to find a place of his own yet – so it made sense.  After a few weeks, Ben took Danielle down to the beach and proposed to her.

Danielle had never seen a ring so big in her life and did not hesitate in saying yes.  She was so excited about her future, but at that moment, all she could think about was the sparkling diamond on her left hand.

They chose to have the wedding at the old church on the west side of the island, where Danielle had buried her mother only a few months before.  They invited only their close friends and family and Danielle’s best friend Josie was her bridesmaid. 

As Ben slipped the wedding ring on her finger, Danielle reflected on how she had got here.  It felt only yesterday that she was the over weight spotty teenager with no friends.  Now here she stood, marrying the man of her dreams with all the people she loved around her.  Dixie was there of course, though she wore black.

The reception was held in the grounds of the church.  They played Danielle and Ben’s favourite pop music and everyone danced the night away.

Josie had a great time too.  She ended up hooking up with Jay-Z, Danielle’s cousin.  Even though he did not have much money, it looked like they really liked each other.

It did not take long for Danielle to fall pregnant.  She had a difficult first two trimesters with lots of morning sickness. As Ben was not working as he was busy writing his first novel, Danielle had to stay in work as long as possible and worked almost right up to her due date.

Ben’s first book was a romance novel entitled: “Finding the love of my life”.  Danielle could not help but think she inspired it.

In their spare time, Danielle and Ben read every baby book they could get their hands on. They were determined to bring their first born into the world as prepared as possible.

Eventually the day came when Danielle went into labour.  Her waters broke first and being a big softy, Ben did not freak out but got all excited.

Danielle was not so excited, she was petrified and it was the only time she had ever hated Ben for smiling while she was in so much pain!

I am proud to announce that Danielle gave birth to a healthy baby boy she named Edward.  He was born a genius and inherited one of Danielle’s old traits of being a coach potato.  He had his mother big blue eyes and complexion teamed with his father’s dark brown hair.

From the moment he was born, he was a daddy’s boy.  Ben was so in love with his son that it made him love Danielle ten times more for giving him to him.

As Danielle’s maternity pay was so feeble, Ben had to continue writing his book to make sure the money continued rolling in, so Danielle took on most of the childcare duties.  Which was fine by her as Edward was a dream child.

Within a few weeks of Edward’s birth Danielle found herself pregnant again.  She was not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but if her next child was anything like Edward, she could not wait!

This pregnancy was a lot harder on Danielle.  She was even sicker then before and was constantly tired.  Ben helped as much as he could by making all the diners and Josie even came over as often as she could to help with Edward so Danielle could get some rest.

Danielle loved her new family life.  Every evening they would all come together and have dinner round the table.  Edward was getting so big and he was soon able to feed himself his baby food. He was very advanced for his age.

Edward was not the only one getting big, so was Danielle.  She was much bigger with this pregnancy than she was with Edward and Ben would joke that she was having twins by listening to her tummy and insisting he could hear two heartbeats. It scared the life out of Danielle.

The birth of Danielle’s second baby was ten time more painful than her first.  Turns out she was not having a twins – just a very big baby weighing 10lbs 2oz!

I am proud to announce Danielle gave birth to a baby girl. It was Ben’s turn to name the baby and he chose the name Freya. She looked just like her brother but had Danielle’s blond hair and her father’s green eyes.  Her traits were excitable with commitment issues.  Danielle had a feeling her second child one would not be such a dream child as her first!