Ben had suggested this once before. Back when they hadn't known of Nora's existence and she hadn't yet learned of his son. They were on the cusp of divorce then, her trunks already packed as she anticipated having to run. The holiday they spoke of hadn't happened then. Instead, things only fell apart more, just as they always did.

"Where would you want to go?" Melody asked as she struggled not to get lost in those memories. She hadn't ever gone further south than Paris, and even that she didn't get to explore as much as she would've liked to. Besides, Paris wasn't an enjoyable holiday but a hideaway while the storms blew at home.

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Ben glanced down at the hand resting on Melody's knee. When he answered, his expression was almost shy. "I was thinking Egypt."

He'd spent a long stretch of time in Egypt, so he'd have plenty to show her and tell her about, but it was considerably less personal than some of the other alternatives: America, the places he'd stayed as a young man in Europe, his childhood home. Canada.

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It took longer than it ought to have to place why Egypt was significant to him. Still, when she remembered tales of his cursebreaking days a smile — her first of the evening — spread across her face. It wasn't some random tour of the continent that he thought to take her on, but something meaningful to him. Maybe they did stand a chance at fixing things.

That was, at least, if the trip happened at all.

She placed her hand atop his. "I'd love to go to Egypt. Will you be able to take time off work with the Season being in full swing?" Melody didn't know much about his job as a promoter, but she knew that June was one of his busiest months. The trip would almost certainly not happen if they had to wait until the winter to go.

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"Probably not right away," he admitted. Ideally, if he traveled, he'd be able to pitch it to Jewell as something that would help the business; then he could keep getting paid while he was abroad instead of simply losing income for however long they were away. That had been relatively easy to do for France, which had a plethora of wine companies he could try to make deals with and a sizeable export market if Jewell wanted to sell there. Egypt would be harder, but not impossible. He would, however, need some time to research what the liquor market was like there if he wanted to sell Jewell on the idea of funding his trip, particularly if he was planning to bring Melody and Nora along.

"If I play it right we could probably go in August," he speculated. "If you want to go to Egypt in August, that is." Not that it was ever particularly cold in Egypt, but the summer was sweltering hot, whereas the winter was generally more tolerable for delicate English complexions.

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While Melody didn't know much of Egypt, she knew it to be mostly desert. She didn't want to wait until August (largely because it diminished their chances of traveling altogether) but she also had no interest in their daughter suffering heat stroke in the extreme temperatures.

"I don't think it would be safe for Nora to experience that kind of heat while still so young." She explained a bit hesitantly. "When would you suggest we plan for?"

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Ben was disappointed by her practicality, but tried not to show it. "It cools down there around October or November."

That was a long time to wait. Not exactly the fresh new start he'd been hoping for. Travel anywhere during the season would be difficult, though, so he didn't think he could swing anything farther afield than the Mediterranean. He could have taken her somewhere in the continent, but sharing anything about his time on the continent would mean sharing his reasons for going to the continent in the first place, and Ben wasn't sure he was ready for that level of vulnerability.

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"What if we did something smaller in the interim?" Melody suggested. Everything could have unraveled by the time they made it to Egypt. Something sooner, perhaps more local so they could reasonably consider leaving Nora home with the nurse. "One of the Scottish isles, maybe? Or Ireland? We could try to arrange it so it wouldn't affect your work too terribly."

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Ben rubbed his brow. If they were just talking about a vacation, Ireland or the Isles might have been a fine suggestion. Given that he was trying to use this as a vehicle to share something of his life with her, however, they weren't ideal. Ireland was where he'd kissed Bella Scrimgeour. He'd played a spent a week or two here or there with friends around Scotland. It wasn't really the sort of thing he'd had in mind for this purpose.

"We could spend a weekend in Norfolk," he eventually said. He was reluctant to bring it up, but he wasn't sure what other options he had.

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The suggestion was so oddly specific that Melody paused to flip through all she knew of him to understand its significance. Egypt had been meaningful to him, after all, so he was looking for less of a vacation and something more of ... sentimental value? She felt somewhat embarrassed to have even suggested anything not inherently meaningful, but how was she to know the trip meant two separate things to each of them?

"Norfolk sounds lovely, I just don't know the meaning behind it." Melody commented after a long pause. From what she understood, the houses there were gorgeous. The Queen had a residence at one too, she believed. The muggle royal family couldn't be the item of significance though, that made no sense at all.

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Ben looked up at her, honestly a little surprised. Obviously they had never had a typical relationship, but they had been living in the same house for years. How had this never come up before? Ben didn't tend to talk about his childhood because he didn't like to talk about his parents, which inevitably led to talking about how they'd died, but he assumed someone would have mentioned something about it to her sooner or later. The fact that she didn't know anything about his life prior to eighteen was wild, but that probably wasn't the worst of it. Did she know about anything prior to when he'd met her, and perhaps the six to eight months earlier? Why would he ever have bothered to tell her?

"It's where I grew up," he said simply. "We lived there until my parents died."

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"Oh." Melody murmured, withdrawing her hand from his in her embarrassment. How could she not have known that? Perhaps it wasn't something he would have shared after their marriage, but it had to have come up before he was sent away to Canada? Melody couldn't remember.

She frowned, her mortification obvious to see on her features. His parents had died in a horrific tragedy, hadn't they? A fire? No, that didn't feel right. It had something to do with their home, of that she was certain. Merlin, how could she not know how his parents died?!

"I'm sorry for not knowing its importance." Melody quietly said.

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"It's okay," Ben said, but he was obviously uncomfortable. He had pulled his hand back a second after she removed hers, and now he scooted his chair back to stand. It was his fault she didn't know anything about his life, but there was a reason he hadn't brought it up. There were a lot of things he didn't necessarily want to talk about, and he hadn't been preparing himself to get into all of this today.

"Let me know when you want to go and I'll set it up," he said by way of closing the conversation.

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"No, wait. Please." Melody stood quickly from her chair, nearly tripping over its legs in the process. This was a terrible end to a conversation that was meant to be hopeful and, while not necessarily happy, positive. She moved over so that she was closer to him, not close enough to touch but not an ocean away like she would've been had she stayed by her chair. "I'm happy we're going to try. I want this to work, Ben. I just - thank you for wanting to try, too."

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