Page 25 of Maldives & Mistletoe

“No.”

His wife huffed, and he only grinned despite the fact she couldn’t see it. A simple call to the trip advisor they had hired to arrange most of their vacation had given him all the information he needed to make this night perfect. He had the boat, he knew where to go and what time would be best to see the show, and had no doubt once he got his wife there, she would understand just fine why he had needed to blindfold her for the half-hour boat ride.

“Almost there,” he promised.

Lily smiled a little, but kept quiet.

Damian hadn’t been lying, though. It took another five minutes, but as soon as he steered the boat near the small island where a colony of plankton had gathered to grow near a beach. Keeping the boat back just enough that it wouldn’t beach itself in the sand, he tossed out the cinderblock attached to a rope that would act as an anchor for them.

“Okay,” Damian murmured, “I’m going to get you out of the boat. The water is going to be waist deep, so don’t freak out.”

“What?”

“Lily, I will be right there the whole time. It’s only for a second, and then I will take your blindfold off. I promise.”

“But—”

“Relax.”

She sighed, but kept quiet as he helped her out of her dress to at least keep that dry for the moment. He made quick work of stripping down to the board shorts he’d slipped on earlier as well. First, he exited, then he helped to pull her down into the water, too. Once the two of them were in the water, and he had one hand tight on her waist, Damian reached up and pulled the blindfold off. It took Lily a minute, but once her gaze locked on his, he smiled.

“Keep looking at me, okay?”

“But why?”

“Just … for a second, sweetheart.”

Lily smiled, and shook her head. “What are you even doing?”

“You’ll see.”

He led them closer to the beach, and all the while, Lily kept looking at him like he had told her to. He saw it first—the glowing plankton resting under the clear blue water. Given the dark skies, the plankton gave off a bright neon blue against the sand.

“Okay, go ahead and look, Lily.”

He’d already seen the plankton, so he was much more interested in watching the way his wife’s eyes lit up when she saw what he had brought her here for. The Maldives really were a special experience in that way—beautiful beaches, fantastic people to welcome them, and once-in-a-lifetime sights.

Kind of like this.

The glowing plankton seemed to stretch on along the quiet beach of the island for a good mile or two. Almost as far as their eyes could see, really.

Going in further until they were just ankle-deep, every step they took lit up the plankton even more. Lily laughed, bending down to trail her fingers through the water and sand, causing lines to glow like little trails from where she had touched.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “That’s amazing.”

It was.

But she was better.

Standing straight again, Lily tucked herself into Damian’s side. He kissed the top of her head, and when she tipped back to stare up at him, he kissed her lips, too.

“Merry Christmas, Lily.”

“Merry Christmas, Damian.”