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Her lips are so hard on mine, I almost stumble back as she leaps up into my arms.
“…Wife,” I murmur, feeling her lips bunched up against mine as she squeals with delight.
“I knew it!” she cries out. “I knew it was Richard… Or maybe something else, but Richard was way up there, and yes! The answer will always be yes!”
“I love you, Faith,” I tell her, gripping her hard and holding onto her like I’ll never let go because I never will.
“And I love you, Richard, Noah Templeton. Now and forever.”EpilogueSix Months LaterFaith“It’s just air sickness,” I groan, handing back the paper sack Noah just offered me after filling it.
“I’ll have a word with the pilot, maybe see if we can’t land somewhere sooner, get you to a hospital,” he says gravely. His jaw set hard and worry in his smoldering eyes.
“I’ll be fine,” I try to laugh, but another wave of nausea grips me hard.
Noah holds my hair back as I lurch forward again.
What the heck is wrong with me? I ate what Noah ate, I haven’t been this sick, ever.
Noah buzzes for the stewardess.
Some honeymoon.
We’ve waited all this time, finally just tying the knot after Dad insisted we stay with him until he got used to the idea.
He’s hardly ever home during the day and it turned out to be the only way he’d agree to marry us.
“If you can last six months under my roof with the man, you can last the rest of your lives,” My Dad had preached to us, bringing it up every time he got on our nerves or when we got on his, even though we had a total run of the upper floor of the old house.
I grip Noah’s hand. “I’ll be fine honey. There’s no need to make a fuss. Commercial airlines don’t just make emergency stops for-”
But it’s too late. I can’t finish what I have to say, filling another paper sack.
The stewardess agrees that Noah, a pilot himself should talk to the plane’s pilot. She sits with me while he does so and in a few minutes, he re-appears, looking a little happier.
“We’re diverting to another airport, near a hospital. There’ll be an ambulance waiting, Faith. Just hang on,” he says, his voice quaking with emotion.
I should be mad, but a part of me knows something isn’t right.
I’ve never felt so ill in all my life. My whole body feels like it’s hot and cold, puffed up and about to explode.
“But the bookings, Noah. Our holiday?” I protest. He shakes his head gently, mopping my brow with his hand, and clutching my hand in his.
“Only you matter, Faith. Everything else will just have to wait, we need to get you to a hospital, and quick,” he says in his deep, calming voice but I can see the turmoil in his expression, the helplessness in his eyes.
Everyone else on the plane is so supportive, not complaining at all as we divert to the nearest airport, only just big enough to hold our passenger jet.
Once I’m being stretchered off the plane, the whole plane claps, and cheers, wishing me well as I pass them, making me cry.
It’s a short trip to the nearest country hospital, with everybody waiting for us once the ambulance arrives.
Noah won’t let go of me for a second, and almost gets booted from the hospital once he stands fast against me, not wanting any male doctors to even examine me.
Eventually, he calms down, and for the first time in six months, I’m without him by my side. But only long enough for the doctors to do their work.
“Holidaying from America?” A doctor asks me, trying to relax me while they perform some tests.
I give a nod. “We’re moving here, to the North Island,” I tell him.
“Aww, that’s great!” he says, squeezing my hand. “Welcome to New Zealand!”
I must be imagining it, but the doctor actually looks like he’s smiling a little bit too much under his mask once he orders some more tests.
“We need to do an ultrasound now, Faith. Okay? Just have a little look-see at your tummy… won’t be long now.”
I’m wheeled into another room, darker, but Noah’s there, and I take his hand in mine, kissing it.
“I’m getting scared now, Noah. What’s happening?” I ask him, feeling his concern as well as my own.
“Everything will be fine, Faith. I know it, let’s just wait and see what the doctors say,” he tells me.
A female nurse comes in, cheerful, and setting Noah and me at ease quickly.
“Moving to the North Island, I hear?” she asks politely, making me jump with the cold from the ultrasound gel.
“We’re moving over here from the states,” Noah says proudly.
“Starting a family by any chance?” The nurse asks, grinning to herself as the doctor appears behind her, beaming also as he clutches a folder of test results.
