20.
the honeymoon
“I LIKE THAT version,” she says.
She’s wrapped up in my arms where she’s been most of the weekend. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend the last forty-eight hours. I think back on everything we’ve gone through . . . everything I just shared with her. Everything she learned about me and I learned about her and how, by some miracle, I’ll leave this hotel room loving her just a little bit more than I did when we arrived. I kiss her on her forehead and close my eyes.
“Goodnight, wife.”
“Goodnight, husband.”
welcome home
I CAN’T COUNT how many times I’ve pulled into my own driveway. At least once a day since I’ve lived here; sometimes twice. But I’ve never pulled into this driveway with my wife before. I’ve never pulled into the driveway of a house where I live with my own family—a family other than my mom and dad. I’ve never pulled into this driveway feeling so complete before.
“Are you gonna turn off the car?” Lake asks.
Her hand is on her door handle and she’s waiting for me to put the car in park and turn it off, but I’m staring at the house, lost in thought. “Don’t you just love this driveway? I’m pretty sure we have the best driveway in the whole world.”
She lets go of the door handle and falls back against her seat. “I guess,” she shrugs. “It’s a driveway.”
I put the car in park and reach over and grab her hands, then pull her onto my lap. “But it’s our driveway now. That makes it the best. And it’s our house.” I slip her shirt over her head and she tries to cover herself, but I move her arms out of the way and kiss up her neck while I talk about all the things that are no longer just mine. “And the dishes in the kitchen are our dishes. And the couches are our couches. And the bed is our bed.”
“Will, stop.” She laughs and attempts to pull my hands away from her bra. “You can’t take off my bra, we’re in our driveway. What if they come outside?”
“It’s dark,” I whisper. “And it’s not your bra. It’s our bra and I want it off.” I slip it off her, pulling her against me as I rub my hands down the length of her back, then around to the button on the front of her jeans. “And I want to take off our pants.”
She grins against my lips and slowly nods. “Okay, but hurry,” she whispers.
“I can be quick,” I assure her. “But I’ll never hurry.”
AFTER CHRISTENING THE driveway, we make it inside to a completely empty, dark house. I flip on the light switch in the kitchen and there’s a note on the table.
“My grandparents left a few hours ago. The boys are with Eddie and Gavin across the street.”
Lake tosses her purse on the couch and makes her way into the kitchen. “Do we have to go get them right away? I sort of want to enjoy some quiet while we can. The second we tell them we’re back, the honeymoon will officially be over. I’m having fun; I don’t want it to end yet.”
I pull her to me. “Who says it has to end? We still have rooms to christen. Where should we start?”
“Besides your driveway?”
“Our driveway,” I correct her.
She squints her eyes, then they suddenly widen with excitement. “Your laundry room!” she says excitedly. “Our laundry room,” she adds quickly, before I can correct her. She grabs the collar of my shirt and stands on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to mine. “Come on,” she whispers, pulling me along with her while she continues to kiss me.
The front door swings open and someone runs through the living room. I squeeze my eyes shut and groan as Lake separates her mouth from mine.
“Don’t mind me, we just need the ketchup,” Caulder yells. He runs past us and into the kitchen. He grabs the ketchup and glances at us as he makes his way back to the front door. “Gross,” he mumbles before he pulls the door shut behind him.
Lake laughs and presses her head against my shoulder. “Welcome home,” she says unenthusiastically.
I sigh. “I wonder what they’re eating? You gave me a solid two-day workout and I’m hungry now.”
Lake shrugs and pulls away from me. “I don’t know but I’m hungry, too.”
We both make our way across the street. When we reach the front door, she puts her hand on the doorknob, but pauses and turns to me before opening it.
“Should I knock? It feels weird knocking on my own door, but I don’t live here anymore.”
I ease past her and grip the doorknob. “Nobody else knocks, why should we?” I open the door and we make our way inside. The boys and Kiersten are seated at the table and Eddie and Gavin are both in the kitchen, filling plates with food.
“Look who’s back!” Kiersten says when she spots us. “How was the honeymoon?”
Lake walks into the kitchen and as soon as Eddie sees her, she immediately takes her hand and pulls her down the hallway. “Yes, Layken. How was the honeymoon? I need details,” Eddie says. They disappear into the bedroom.
I walk into the kitchen and take over the plates Eddie was working on. “The honeymoon was perfect,” I tell Kiersten.
“What’s a honeymoon?” Kel asks. “What do people do when they go on one?”
Gavin spits out his drink with his laugh. “Yes, Will,” Gavin says, smirking at me. “I must know what people do on honeymoons so that I’m prepared for when I have mine. Enlighten us.”
I pick the plates up and glare at Gavin, then walk to the table. “A honeymoon is what people have after they get married. It’s when they spend a lot of time together . . . telling stories about their past. And eating. They tell stories and eat. That’s it.”
“Oh,” Caulder says. “Like a campout?”
“Exactly,” I say, taking my seat at the table across from Kiersten, who’s rolling her eyes at me. She shakes her head.
“He’s lying to both of you because he thinks you’re still nine years old. A honeymoon is when newlyweds have sex, traditionally for the first time. But in some cases,” she rolls her head toward Gavin, “people get ahead of themselves.”
We’re all staring at Kiersten with our mouths agape when Lake and Eddie return.
“Why is everyone so quiet?” Eddie asks.
Gavin clears his throat and glances at Eddie. “Suck and sweet time,” he says. “Sit down, ladies.”
“Me first,” Caulder says. “My sweet is that me and Kel are finally brothers. My suck is that I now know what Will and Layken did during their honeymoon.”
“I second that,” Kel says.
Lake looks at me questioningly, so I nudge my head toward Kiersten. “Blame her.”
Kiersten shoots me a glare that has become all too familiar from her. “My suck,” she says, “is that I seem to be the only person in this room aware of the importance of sex education. My sweet is that a few months from now, thanks to Gavin’s inability to wait for his honeymoon, I’ll have a steady job babysitting.”
Gavin spits his drink out for the second time in five minutes. “No. No way are you babysitting my daughter.” He wipes his mouth and stands up, clinking his fork on the red plastic cup in his hand. “I’m going next because I can’t wait another second to share my sweet.” He turns to Eddie, seated next to him, and he clears his throat. Eddie smiles up at him and he presses his hand to his heart. “My sweet is that the woman I love, as of last night, has agreed to become my wife.”
As soon as the word wife leaves his mouth, Kiersten and Lake are making high-pitched noises and hugging Eddie and jumping up and down. Eddie takes a ring out of her pocket and puts it on her finger to show the girls. Lake says something about this being her sweet and Eddie agrees, but Gavin has sat back down and all the boys are now eating while the girls are still squealing.
I look over at Lake and she’s turning Eddie’s hand back and forth in the light, admiring her ring. She’s smiling. She looks so happy. Eddie is happy, too. The boys, aside from learning what you do during your honeymoon, are smiling. Gavin is watching Eddie and looks genuinely happy. I can’t help but think back on these past two years and all we’ve been through. The heartache we had to endure to get here and the tears we’ve all shed in the process. I don’t know how one minute, a person can think his life is nothing more than a barren valley with nothing left to look forward to. Then, in the blink of an eye, someone can come along and change it with a simple smile.
Lake looks at me and catches me smiling at her. She grins and leans against me as I wrap my arm around her. “You want to know my sweet?” I ask her.
She nods.
I kiss her on the forehead. “You. Always you.”
The End.