My body was pleasantly sore when I woke up the next morning. I woke up to the sound of Roman’s voice. When I opened my eyes, I peered up at him as he chatted pleasantly on the phone. I smiled up at him curiously. He hung up the phone and looked at me with a pleased expression. "Pack your bags. We leave right after brunch," he announced.

"Really? That fast?" I breathed, sitting up.

"It’s amazing what money can buy," he said, wiggling her brow at me.

With a shared laugh, we got out of the bed and took a quick shower. We moved with an excited buzz, getting ready for the day and packing our bags. I packed every swim suit in my closet, along with an array of sundresses, cocktail dresses, sarongs, sandals, hats, shorts, and the like.

"How long are we staying?" I called to him as he finished in the bathroom.

"We come back this time next week," he replied, stepping out in only his boxer briefs.

"You know, it’s rather unfair for you to seduce me after keeping me up halfway through the night," I flirted.

He paced over and wrapped his arms around my hips. "Oh really?" he chuckled, kissing my neck as he towered overhead. "This is all it takes to seduce you? I’ll have to keep that in mind."

As he walked away, I turned and slapped his butt and had a laugh. "Use your powers for good, not for evil."

He turned in a way to jut his butt in my direction. "I’ll use this weapon of mass destruction as I please."

We both laughed and carried on packing. Every time he showed me that goofy, carefree side to him, I felt like I was floating. It was so, so nice to be able to finally let our hair down and kid around. Things weren’t so heavy, strange, and toxic anymore. It was just us. There was only us. And I couldn’t think of a better way to spend this new time than on a vacation. That way, if anything did come back up, we were away enjoying ourselves. Anything that could happen, could wait for us to get back.

Once our bags were packed, we headed downstairs to find a brunch prepared for us. Fruit, coffee, and French toast. I couldn’t think of a better breakfast for how I was feeling right then. After basically skipping dinner the night before and working up an appetite all night, I was famished. We ate together, unable to stop making eyes at one another from across the table. We held hands with our free ones as we ate our little feast.

"You guys are enough to make someone sick," Kristen stated as she stuck her tongue out and passed by.

"Excuse us for being a loving couple in our home," Roman called to her with a laugh.

"You guys make eyes at one another more than horny high schoolers," she retorted as she grabbed a coffee for herself. It was then that she noticed the bags by the entryway. "Are you guys going somewhere?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Taking off for a second honeymoon," I explained with the widest grin ever seen.

"How romantic," Kristen cooed. "Have fun, kiddos."

With that, she was gone.

Again, my thoughts returned to worrisome thoughts of what would come of her. What if she took off while we were gone? I had to remind myself that it wasn’t my place or anyone else’s to babysit her. Kristen wouldn’t have ever stood for anyone trying to do that, anyway. She was out of my control and I needed to focus on my own life and what would come of it. Roman was my future, and our honeymoon was our present. A new wave of jitters came over me.

Once we had our fill, Roman and I took our bags and headed out to the town car. At some point, without me noticing, Roman had organized a driver. Our bags were loaded in the back, and then we were off. I squeezed his hand from excitement as we made the usual journey into town. Only that time, we drove through it and out toward the airport.

One thing I don’t think I would ever get used to, was Roman’s use of private jets. It was so above the top and luxurious, it didn’t feel real. So instead of heading for the usual terminals, we took a little road to the other side of the airfield. Waiting for us was the jet with their little crew standing outside, waiting to greet us.

"I can’t believe it’s happening so fast," I breathed as I watched the jet grow closer through the window. I then peered over to Roman. "But I’m glad for it. I don’t think I could have been able to cope with all that excitement for too long."

"Your wish is my command," he winked.

We got out of the car and approached the jet. The pilot, copilot, and stewardesses all shook our hands and greeted us before we got on. The cabin was large, but had only a handful of seats. The seats were huge and cushy, looking more like lazy boy recliners than seats that belonged on a jet. We settled in and before much longer, we were already taking off. It felt like warp speed compared to how long it usually took to get onto the plane at an airport and then take off.

Once we were stable in the sky, I unbuckled and enjoyed the view from the window for a bit. I loved the larger than life fluffy clouds, the big open sky, the massive city landscape reduced to nothing more than a splotch on the earth below. It was magnificent, magical, and breathtaking.

The only thing to break my gazing was the flight attendant. "Care for a drink?" she asked.

I turned to see her caring flutes of champagne. Of course I couldn’t resist, why would I? It was my honeymoon, after all. I took the glass and thanked her before grinning at Roman. "You think of everything, don’t you?"

"I like to add a little personal touch to everything I do," he smiled. "Besides, if there was ever a time to day drink, I would say it was vacation."

"I can’t say I disagree," I giggled.

We had a bit of a flight ahead of us, but I couldn’t have thought of any better way to pass the time than playing cards with Roman while sipping champagne. He taught me poker after I had beat him just a few too many times at go fish. By the time we tired of the games, we were a bit tipsy and had taken to trying to build card houses. Every little bump of the plane, however, made it all come crashing down. We didn’t mind though, laughing each time and taking our time to collect the cards.

My heart was so full. We weren’t even in the Bahamas yet, but I was already having such a good time. Roman and I spent time together every day, but it was rare that we ever had much undivided time with one another. If it hadn’t been the investigation, then it was drama with my family, or his work. It was so nice and refreshing to have that time.

"Maybe one day we will have to go to Las Vegas or something," Roman suggested.

"You think so?" I asked, stacking another little triangle on top of our new card house.

He nodded. "I think we would have some great fun. Have you ever been to a casino?"

"Nope," I replied.

"It can be fun. I always walk in with a budget, of course. Some thrill seeking, a nice suit or dress, cocktails... Not much could be better than that," Roman smiled at me. I could see the champagne bubbles fizzing in his eyes. He was feeling the buzz too.

"Next vacation, maybe," I grinned back at him. "I would go just about anywhere with you, though."

"Just about?" Roman questioned. "Where exactly would you not go, even with me?"

I put a finger as I thought about it for a moment. "Antarctica," I answered. "Too cold."

We shared a laugh and when our card house fell again, we cleaned up the cards before putting the cards away and resorted just to chatting and holding hands. It felt like we had only been in the sky for a little while before the flight crew was announcing we were about to begin the landing.

Strapping down in our seats, we waited through the smooth landing. My eyes were glued to the window. Oh, how I loved the sea. It was such a glorious blue. The island with its pure sand and beautiful palm trees were breath taking. Finally, we had arrived. It was time for our second honeymoon. I turned to Roman and gave him a big kiss.

He creased his brow at me and asked curiously, "What was that for?"

"For everything," I replied. "I’m so lucky to have married a man like you."