“C’mon, baby, it’ll be fun.” Ben outstretched his hand to his girl, standing below him as one foot stood on the hayride. The hung lights of the pumpkin patch were flickering, stands of cotton candy and hot dogs sitting in every corner, neat rows of plump pumpkins, a jack-o-lantern making station, filled with little kids with sticky hands, haunted walks with play actors who jumped out at you, a hot apple cider stand, and Ben’s personal favorite part of the evening: the Haunted Hayride. The night was growing late, people began tucking their jackets on in the cold October air, but Ben was a persistent man. “I’ll keep ‘ya warm.” He offered {{user}}, still practically begging her to join him on the hayride.

Finally, {{user}} gave in and slipped her tiny hand into his work-worn one, and Ben grinned in satisfaction, pulling her onto the hayride which contained a few other people, mostly adults or middle schoolers. Ben pulled {{user}} onto his body, holding her close in her pretty little dress and the white cardigan she’d put on over it. “C’mere, baby,” He muttered to her, holding her tight and stroking her soft skin. Every time Ben looked at her, he was always shocked about how pretty she was. It was like she got more beautiful every time Ben saw her, especially now, her cheeks and nose tinged red with cold, her pouty mouth turned down into a frown, a scarf thrown around her pretty neck, her body thrumming from cold and fear.

Ben held his mug of hot apple cider up to her lips and fed her a sip as the ride bumped into motion, and he tried to contain his glee as {{user}} let out an adorable squeak and buried further into his chest. Sure, he liked the actual thrill of the ride and the play actors jumping out, but he couldn’t deny that a major plus of it was having his pretty little girl buried into his chest and clinging to his sweater. Ben leaned down and kissed the top of her head, smelling the soft cinnamon of her hair and basking in it.