Chapter 40 - Wings on fire

We stroll through the furniture store close to Seville. The first sofa I fall in love with, is a enormous light brown one.
I try to convince Ben to take that one, but he tells me to look further before we decide.
He is such a grown up man.

After walking around the furniture store for what seems like hours, we both decide on the first sofa I fell in love with. “I told you so.” I tease.

We found everything we need to start with. The sofa, a few cabinets, ceramics, glasses, cutlery and a gorgeous dark red velvet love seat.

“Can we go now?” Ben whines and I smile. “Gladly.” I say. My feet are sore and I really need a drink. “Can we go to the house?” I ask.
The people from the furniture store will deliver the big stuff in three days. I don’t mind that we don’t have seats or a table or cabinets. I can decorate the house without all that.

Ben parks the car in front of the house and we carry our stuff inside. I fall silent again when I see the living room.

This is our house.

Who would have thought this could happen.

My mind starts to wander. I’ve traveled through Europe, I met the love of my life. Got stabbed. Nearly died. Went to prison. Bought a house. Oh, yeah, and I killed a man. Or a monster actually.

If someone had told me this all would happen to me in only seven months. I would probably laughed real hard and turned my back on them.
How can someone’s life be this tumultuous. And I’ve got the feeling it’s not over yet. I have to start up a new daycare and get all settled in Seville. The town I dreamed about since I was young.
And Barcelona again next week.

Time flies when you are having fun. The house is almost done. The sofa and the cabinets were delivered and we are now fighting over where we want the sofa.
Ben bought a huge TV screen to watch all our movies on. Ben wants the sofa away from the window and in front of the TV to have a better view.
I want the sofa in front of the window, so I will be able to look outside when I sit there.

After arguing for hours we settle on the sofa in front to the TV and the love seat in front of the window.
“I know where I will be sitting all the time.” I pout. “I always win.” Ben grins.

That’s a side of Ben I never expected. Never giving up arguing and bringing in the best arguments he can think of. He’s the stubborn one. Wasn’t I supposed to be the stubborn one here?

We have never argued as much as we have the past three days. I can’t wait to go to Barcelona to forget about all this stress. Never thought that moving could be so tough. Especially with two stubborn people who want things done in their own way.

The bedroom and living room are almost finished. “Ben, do you think we should finish the other rooms upstairs? Maybe make guestroom out of one of them?” I ask. “And don’t forget about my music room.” Ben says. “My dad is bringing some of my instruments with him.”
“Yeah, but we still have two more rooms left. And if your dad is coming over, he needs a place to sleep right?” I ask.

“Dad is staying at Soñador. I told him about Erica and her Bed & Breakfast and he agreed to stay there.” Ben says.

I guess the upstairs rooms can wait.

“What we DO need to do, is think about a name for the house.” Ben says. “A name? For the house?” I ask
“Yup. I saw a lot of houses with names on it and I like that idea.” Ben replies.

“Then I want to name it Ventura.” I say immediately. “To the dog that saved our lives and to good luck.”

“I thought of the same name.’ Ben replies with a smile.

Finally an easy decision to make. One we both agree on immediately.

“That’s settled then.” I smile. Ben leans in for a kiss. “Let’s go back to Soñador. It will be our last night there.” Ben grins.

Erica made a big goodbye dinner. “I will miss your faces around here.” She says. “But I am glad you did not move to the end of the world.”

I hug her. “Thank you so much for everything and you can make sure I will be visiting you a lot.”
“And don’t forget the weekly barbecues that we will organize in summer time.” Ben laughs.

I throw a towel at him. “You and your barbecues.” I grin.

Our bags are waiting for us in the hall. Today we leave to Barcelona for a long, nice and quiet vacation. The last one we might have before all the madness begins.
The permit for my daycare is approved and I can get the whole thing ready when we come back from Barcelona.

Our flight leaves at eleven in the morning and we will arrive at one in the afternoon. We check in and go through customs. “Ready my lady?” Ben asks. “Very ready. You?” I ask. Ben’s face is a little pale. “Uhm, as ready as I’ll ever be.” He says. He tries to smile but I can see the fear in his eyes.

“It will be okay.” I shush. “I think that singing Wings On Fire, would not be very appropriate right now.” I tease.

“Not funny.” Ben mumbles. His face gets paler by the second. By the time we are ready to enter the plane, he looks like he is going to throw up.

I take the window seat and Ben plops down next to me. His hands clench the armrests and he bites his lip.
“How the hell did you make it from the United States back to Spain?” I ask. “And you weren’t this afraid when we flew from Amsterdam to Barcelona.” I notice. “Don’t ask.” Ben replies with a thin voice.

I shrug. “Okay.” I reply.

I look out the window, we sit next to the wings and I smirk. I’ll be the nice girl for once, and not sing any songs about wings on fire. But it’s hard to resist the urge.

The plane takes off and I look at Ben, his eyes are closed and his knuckles are white from clenching the armrests that tight. I place my hand on his and entangle my fingers with his. “It’s gonna be alright.” I whisper and rest my head on his shoulder.

Ben finally relaxes a bit when the plane is on its’ way without any traceable movement. “I am okay now. But do NOT sing that song.” Ben looks at me with a frown. “I have never seen you like this. Why are you panicking?” I ask.

“I don’t like heights.” Ben reply. I look outside. “You can’t even see anything but clouds.” I say.

“I just don’t like it!” He hisses. “Okay, okay. Didn’t know you would get mad.” I raise my hands and lean my head against the window.

We arrive at El Prat airport. Ben finally relaxes a little, but he is still pale and shaky.

Ben and I walk outside. It’s warm for a February day and I roll up the sleeves of my sweater. The best thing about Spain is that it never really gets cold.

Ben offers me his hand and I willingly take it.
We take the subway to the center of Barcelona and try to find our hotel in the crowded streets of the city.
I want to ask directions from someone, but Ben refuses to. “We can find it.” He assures me. “You are SO stubborn.” I say and I walk up to a lady.

“¿Donde está el Alguera Apartments?” I ask her the direction to the Apartments we stay in.
She starts rambling in quick Spanish and I nod. “Gracias.” I say. “And?” Ben asks. I laugh and point. “They are around that corner.”
“You really improved your Spanish.” Ben says stunned. “In only four months.” I say proudly.

We step inside a big, bright lobby and tell them our reservation number. The lady at the counter hands us a key and guides us outside to a big garden. This is not just a hotel. These are little houses you can rent in the middle of Barcelona.

Ben rented the penthouse with a view of the Sagrada Familia.

“Woah Ben, this is almost bigger than our own house.” I twirl around with my arms wide open.
“I love it.”