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“If we go home for a while, we’ve got to promise each other that we aren’t done exploring,” he said quietly. “I don’t want life to get in the way, and I love our adventures together. To me, stopping in some diner on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere is just the best – because I’m with you.”
“It’s the same for me,” she whispered, stroking his hair back from his forehead lovingly. “If we go home, if we get stuck in the mundane minutia, then we have to make a promise to throw a dart at a map – and just go.”
“And if something happens?” he breathed, laying a hand on her stomach pointedly. “It might be tough to pick up and go.”
“Says the man who scaled several trails and hiked a mountain with a prosthetic limb,” she teased emotionally, realizing that he wasn’t saying ‘No’ or declining, but more of promising that they would have more adventures together as a family – and he was concerned for all of their well-being.
“We could take time to make plans… if you want?” he began, his eyes searching hers.
“We could start out small, too,” she invited. “Maybe Ten-Thousand-Lakes, Minnesota, before we fly out to explore Thailand?”
“I hear Disney with a child could be an adventure…” he breathed, and she paused, feeling a smile touch her face at what he was implying.
“Thought about this, huh…?”
“All night long,” he admitted, chuckling and not looking away.
“It’s a long drive home,” she murmured, holding his gaze. “I suppose we have plenty of time to dream and plan.”
“World’s Biggest Ball of Twine, here we come,” he joked, smiling at her and turning his head slightly to kiss her palm. “Maybe we should go back to bed and talk some more while the coffee brews.”
“Talk?”
“Shh…” he said playfully, winking at her. “It’s a new code word.”
“Talking to yourself isn’t good for anyone,” she chuckled and heard his bark of laughter as he tried to smother it, getting to his feet. “We should actually talk, Max…”
“Healthy relationships involve lots of ‘talking’…”
“Oh yeah?”
“Conversations that happenallthe time…”
Daphne ducked into the tent and felt a slight push on her backside as he was diving into the interior almost on top of her, laughing like a schoolboy and yanking the zipper closed. He grinned at her and yanked off his t-shirt, his metal dog tags he still wore clinking noisily, causing him to pause.
“You are a loudtalker, husband…” she teased and laughed softly as he yanked off his dog tags, tossing them onto the sleeping bag.
“You, my love, are about to hear a few choice words from a man who utterly adores you,” he whispered, laying a hand on her shoulder, urging her to lie down.
“Words like, ‘I love you’and ‘Let’s have a real adventure nine months from now’?” she asked emotionally, no longer playing around with him.
“Are you sure?”
“I think so,” she admitted. “Let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into, soldier… go ahead and say your piece.”
“I love you,” he breathed, no longer joking as his whole expression took on a serious look. “Let’s have an adventure…”
EPILOGUE
DAPHNE
Krabi, Thailand
Three years later…
Daphne stared out of the room they were renting and wished that the small A/C unit could keep up with the sweltering heat. She saw Max in the distance with his notebook that he tried to keep hidden sometimes. He was slowly diving into his artistic side but still nervous about sharing it with anyone – even her.
That was perfectly fine because she wanted to see him enjoy all of life that he could because he deserved it. Coming here had been a thought and wish that they’d pondered for a little while now, and after a miscarriage, they’d finally bitten the bullet and booked the trip just to get their minds off of things.
