Over the years, Trixie Belden had grown far more accustomed to the fancy parties and elegant dinners so prevalent in the world of the Wheelers and Rikers.  She had grown slightly more comfortable than she used to be, but that had not lessened her paranoia of having a klutz moment or a major foot-in-mouth fiasco.  Her coping method for allaying these fears was to have herself firmly attached to the side of someone she trusted, who would never judge her should she screw up.  When at home, any Bob-White could comfortably serve this purpose.

Tonight, however, the only person in whom she could place such trust was her date.  From the moment his father had dragged him away to meet some “important people”, she’d had been feeling the fear rising up to choke her.  If he didn’t get back to her soon, she was going to have to run screaming from the room.

“Don’t fidget so, dear,” his mother’s whispered warning in her ear didn’t help at all.

Trixie scanned the crowd anxiously, and was relieved to see the tall, handsome blond headed her way.  Her bright blue eyes immediately filled with worry as she noted the tense bearing and the tight line of his lips.  She could tell it was a struggle for him to maintain a dignified pace as he wound his way through the crowd.

Reaching her side, Benjamin Riker grabbed her hand.  Raising it to his lips with a dramatic bow, he offered his most charming smile.  “My darling Sunshine, might I have the honor of this dance?”

With a coquettish flutter of her eyelashes, Trixie curtsied in return.  “But of course, my dear Benjamin!”

Once they were out on the dance floor, Ben pulled her close.  Trixie snuggled in, slipping her right hand inside his tuxedo jacket so she could surreptitiously massage his back.  “Forget about them, Benji,” she whispered as close to his ear as she could.  Even with her annoyingly high heels, their height difference meant that her warm breath caressed his neck while her words rose up for him to hear.  He shivered and pulled her closer.

Trixie smiled at his reaction and flashed him a sultry look.  “Pretend we’re the only ones here,” she whispered.

“If you keep that up,” Ben warned with a smoldering look, “you’re going to get us both in trouble.”

Giggling, she rested her head on his shoulder.  “That’s how I make it through these things.  Whenever we get a chance to dance, I pretend we’re all alone and I’m in your arms.”

“If we were alone,” Ben said with a smile, “I wouldn’t be wearing a monkey suit and you wouldn’t have lethal weapons on your feet.”

Trixie laughed.  She loved the way Ben could always make her laugh.  When he rested his head on her curls, she was relieved to feel the tension seep away from him.  She hated the way more than a couple of minutes with his father always rankled him, and she always made a point to try to soothe Ben’s ruffled feathers.  Suffice it to say, Walter Riker was not Trixie’s favorite person.

After a few moments of just enjoying the feel of holding his girlfriend in his arms – and he was still amazed to be calling her that – Ben sighed.  “I hope we won’t have to be here too much longer.  I’d rather be pretty much anywhere else with you.”

She started rubbing his back again.  “Really?  Don’t you enjoy dancing with me?”

Ben leaned back and used their joined fingers to lift her chin so she could see the earnestness in his eyes.  “I love dancing with you.”

Trixie offered a rather self-satisfied smile, and then moved on to teasing him.  “Isn’t it a more attractive prospect than, say, facing the Big Brother Brigade?”

“That’s not funny, Trix,” Ben glared at her and stiffened up.

She sighed, and attempted to reassure him.  “Benji, they’re okay about us.  Really.”

Ben snorted.  “No they’re not.  They’re behaving because Brian ordered them to.”  Seeing the flash of hurt in her eyes, he relented; he couldn’t stand to see her unhappy.  He pulled her close again and nuzzled her cheek.  “It doesn’t matter, as long as we’re together.”

Trixie was quiet until the song ended.  Since the band was taking a short break, she led Ben toward the balcony.  When they finally managed to find an unoccupied corner, Trixie turned away from the spectacular view of the Washington Monument and looked up at Ben.  “Brian has a great deal of respect for you.”

Ben studied her face for a long moment.  “You finally told him what happened at the club last month?”

“No,” she grimaced.  “He went there looking for me last Friday, and Craig spilled his guts.  When I got home, we had a talk… a very long talk.  About a lot of things.  Including the swimming pool incident three years ago.”

Ben’s eyebrows shot skyward.  “I thought you’d never tell any of them about that!”

Trixie shrugged.  “I didn’t intend to.  But the more we talked, the more I shared with him about our friendship.  And really, that day was the biggest turning point.”

“I still can’t imagine that he wasn’t livid about not finding out until now.”

When Trixie didn’t immediately reply, Ben realized that Brian had indeed been furious.  “How long did it take you to calm him down?”

This time Trixie smiled one of her classic, charming smiles that had had Belden men wrapped around her finger since the day she was born.  “A while.  It took some doing, but he finally came to the conclusion that he should be grateful to you for saving my life.  And really, as my brother, his biggest concern should be my happiness.”

She turned toward him and leaned forward, her eyes alight with joy.  “Right now, Benji, I’m very happy.  How about you?”

Ben ran a gentle finger along her brow and down her cheek.  “Sometimes I wonder if we have a right to be.”

Trixie frowned.  “Now you sound like your father.”

Eyes forming narrow, angry slits, Ben replied hotly, “No, I don’t.”

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Trixie offered up a silent prayer for patience before taking his hands in hers.  “Ben, your father is an ambitious person.  He has a whole lot of plans and dreams for himself, and for you.  He always has his sights on the next one before he’s even half accomplished the first.  His problem is that he doesn’t believe he can be happy until he’s done everything he’s set out to do.  Since there are always more goals, he will never have accomplished everything, and therefore he can’t ever be happy.”

Ben was quiet for a long time, and turned his head to stare out the glowing white obelisk rising above the city.  Trixie knew it was a good sign that he hadn’t pulled away from her, but she wished she could see his eyes, which would have given her a clue to the thoughts warring in his head.  When her limited supply of patience expired, she caressed his cheek while turning his face back to hers.

“Benji, you don’t want to be like your father.  Heck, most of the time you don’t even like him.  So don’t let yourself think like him.  There’s no reason you can’t enjoy the progress you’ve made already, and the plans you have to continue towards your objectives.  You don’t have to stop working towards something to be pleased about where you are so far.  And you don’t have to give up your dreams to be happy with where you are today.”

Allowing himself to fall into the depths of cobalt, Ben pushed his doubts from his mind.  He smiled and kissed her ever so softly.  “I’d be lost without you, you know.”

“So be happy you’re not,” she said with a smile.

Feeling lighter than he had in weeks, Ben grinned.  “I’m very happy.”

Trixie grinned back.  “Dance with me?”

Ben waggled his brows suggestively.  “Sure you wouldn’t rather go be alone somewhere?”

“We can’t,” Trixie made a face.  “I promised your mother I wouldn’t let you escape before ten.”

This was met with a rather exaggerated eye roll.

“However,” Trixie continued with a giggle, “I didn’t promise to make you mix and mingle properly.  I can keep you all to myself on the dance floor until ten o’clock, and still keep my word.”

“Sounds like pure hell,” Ben drawled.  Trixie smacked his arm and laughed.  Ben continued, “I supposed I can live with that, as long as you make it up to me later.”

“Don’t worry,” she whispered, stretching on tiptoe to bring her lips to his.  When they were both slightly breathless, she took his hand and led him to the dance floor.

Swinging her into his arms, Ben swept her along the floor and began to croon in her ear, “You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine, you make me happy…”

Trixie giggled and shushed him.  “You’re clashing with the band.  We’re not even dancing to the right beat!”

“Who cares?” Ben laughed.  “We’re having fun, right?”

He chose that moment to drop her into a very low dip.  As he lifted her, they both started to laugh.  Flushed and smiling, they continued to promenade around the floor, oblivious to everyone but each other.

Lydia Riker observed her son and his girlfriend from across the room.  She watched the way other people smiled when the two young, happy people passed by.  Their joy and zest for life were infectious.  Looking more closely at Benjamin, Lydia realized she had never seen her son look more peaceful.  Only in her most private thoughts would she ever admit to the jealousy that had often plagued her when Maddie’s family had raved about how much joy Trixie had brought to their lives.  Seeing the young couple together, Lydia couldn’t help but be happy that Trixie had brought some of that same joy to her only son.

Oblivious to his mother’s musings, Ben pulled his girlfriend into a tighter embrace and let his heart soar.  Trixie was right; there was plenty of happiness to be had right in this moment, with this very special girl in his arms.

Author's Notes:

Ahh, Bexenitri.  How could I stop myself?