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I raised my eyebrows at his suggestions. "I like them. How about Thora or Tyra?"
"Now, you're talking my language. I like Brenna the best."
"I like it, too."
We kissed and Luke smiled. "Feel like a cup of decaf coffee?"
"I thought you'd never ask..."
Luke fixed me a cup just the way I liked it, with lots of cream and sweetener, and together, we sat at the island and ate our toast and jam, with a fresh cut up orange.
"It feels so nice to be eating something real for a change instead of crackers and honey and tea."
"You're back," Luke said and leaned over, kissing me on the lips.
"I am. Better watch out."
He smiled.
When I still felt good later that morning, we put on sweaters and jackets and walked along the beach, hand in hand, enjoying the sunny break in the weather. I loved to hear the sound of the surf on the beach, and looked forward to having my baby in the spring, so we could all enjoy the beach house as a family.
We arrived back at the house around noon, and I felt good. Really good.
My cell dinged, indicating a message. I grabbed it and saw that my phone had rung while I was out. I checked my recent calls and saw that it was my PhD advisor. He'd left a voice message, which I listened to on speakerphone.
"I think your paper is fine as it is. I'd give it an A, so I don't see why you shouldn't hand it in. Polish it up a bit more and send it by the deadline. Call me if you have any questions."
I threw my arms around Luke's neck and squeezed him. He laughed and twirled me around in a circle.
"See? I told you it would be fine. Now, as long as you stay feeling good, I can make plans for our honeymoon."
We stood for a moment in each other's arms and just enjoyed each other's happiness.
With no nausea and with my supervisor so positive about my paper, I felt that finally, I could relax and look forward to my upcoming honeymoon.
Chapter Sixteen
Luke
While Alexa spent the week revising and polishing her paper, as her supervisor suggested, I spent it catching up on work and planning our escape to Bora Bora. She had to hand her paper in by the end of the week, which would mean we could leave any time afterward. She wanted to be back by Christmas, so she could spend it with her parents and friends, but I wanted to stay until after New Year's Day, so that we had a solid two weeks of time away from everything.
In the end, we compromised. We'd come back just before New Year’s and spend it with her parents. I wanted her all to myself for Christmas and New Year’s since it would be the last Christmas we would spend alone at an exotic location for years, but family was important to her, so we split the difference.
The best flight I could find was a United flight from JFK to San Francisco, and then a flight to Tahiti and finally a short hope to Bora Bora. The total travel time was over thirty-one hours, with stopovers taking up half that time to wait for connecting flights. It wasn't optimal. The price was outlandish, and while I could afford it, I thought it was crazy but I wanted the time to be perfect and so I wanted to travel First Class. It was going to be my only honeymoon, so I wanted it to be the best possible experience. While I plotted and planned our trip, choosing several options for the resort we'd say at, Alexa spent her time in her office, in revision mode. When she was finished polishing her paper, she sent it over to Candace, who agreed to proofread it for typos.
By the time Wednesday came around, we sat down for supper and considered our options. I'd picked several resorts and options at each one for Alexa to choose from.
"There's the St. Regis, with either a beach front house or an over-water house. What would you prefer?"
"I want to have an over-water house, so we can listen to the water beneath us. It'll remind us of our time on The Phoenix."
"My thoughts exactly," I said, glad that we were sympatico on that. I thought the beach front properties were nice, with crystal clear blue water just feet from the patio, but it would be nice to feel like we were back on the catamaran, anchored offshore like we spent on our trip. Those were such happy days for us both that it would be nice to relive them.
Then, I showed her the Four Seasons resort, which had amazing views of the mountains, and was just as nice as the St. Regis.
"It's so hard to choose," she said, examining each one closely. "I could be happy at either one. They're both fantastic." She turned to me and smiled. "You choose."
"No, you have to give me your choice," I said, shaking my head.
