Forever - Christian Yelich

Paradise.

Brooklyn~ 

"We've landed," I tell Christian and rub his shoulder before looking out of the window to see the bright blue ocean in the distance. We decided that we would head to Hawaii and island-hop to celebrate his birthday. First up, Maui, and get some sun on our skin. 

"You ever been to Hawaii?" Christian asks me as we head to our Airbnb we booked in advance. 

"Yeah, a couple of times. Once when I was four, but I didn't remember it. Then, it was a graduation gift after high school from my parents, but also more like a vacation to all of us," I tell him as I look at the huge palm trees and let my hand rest outside of the window. 

"Well, I'm glad I get to spend it with you," he says and rests his hand on my thigh. 

We get settled into our place quickly and get changed, "Beach or pool?" Christian asks me as I try to tie the back of my suit. 

"Let's do the pool. We're going to the beach tomorrow. Can you tie this please?" I say and stand with my back toward him. "Yeah, um when are we going to Kauai?" he asks. 

"On your birthday. We leave here at 6:00 a.m, the flight is about an hour, and then we head to our first stop which is snorkeling, then we are hiking to a waterfall, and our last stop will be dinner, and then we fly back here and get back around 10:30," I tell him as I grab my sunglasses from the counter and put them in my bag. "We ready?" he nods and we head out the door. 

Christian and I head back after a long day at the pool to change so we can head out to dinner. "Wow, we got some color today," I say as I look at our reflections in the mirror. "We needed it," he teases back at me. "You aren't wrong."

We head down to our rental car and head to dinner. "Wow this place is incredible," he tells me as we pull into a parking space. "How'd you find this?" he asks as we take our seats. "Research," I say and take a sip of my wine. "I'm really excited to spend a whole week with you in this paradise," he says and I reach over the table and grab his hand. "I am too. I think we both more than deserve this."

"Yes, we do," he says as our food is brought to us. We enjoy our dinner as we watch the sunset go under the horizon and disappear into the ocean. 

"Happy Birthday, Baby," I say as I kiss Christian and comb my fingers through his hair quickly before getting up and changing quickly so we can catch our flight to Kauai. 

"Thank you," he says and kisses the side of my face before packing a small bag. "C'mon, let's go explore another island," I say and grab his hand, and head down to our car. 

"Wow, look at the water. It's so blue and clear," I tell him as we arrive at our first attraction. 

"Have you been snorkeling?" I ask him as we grab our gear. "I don't think so," he says putting on his flippers in the water. "I think you'll love it," I say getting in the water. I put my goggles on and look down under me and see a small sea turtle swimming at the bottom. 

I come back up, "Look down there. It's a sea turtle," I tell him as he grabs my hand and we swim along the coast and look at the colorful reefs and fish. We come back up for some air and look around and see we are the only ones in the reef. 

"This is amazing, thank you," Christian tells me. "It's only the first stop. We still have a lot to do," I tell him and kiss his salty lips. "Yeah, but I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else."

We head to our next stop, Wailua Falls. "It's not that far of a hike and we can also swim in the water once we get there," I say, and Christian grabs my hand as we start walking on the trail. "Thank you," he tells me once again. "Hey, anything to make 29 extra special," I tell him and he scoffs. 

Soon we have made it to the waterfall and we take our fair share of pictures. Christian stands behind me and rests his chin on the top of my head and his arms around my bare waist. "You wanna jump in?" he asks and I quickly nod. "Let's go." 

"Ready?" I ask. He holds out his hand and I grab ahold of it. We jump in and come up near the waterfall. 

"Come here," he says and I follow him behind the waterfall to see a small ledge where we can sit. "Be careful," he says as I stand on the rock that is a bit slippery. 

"I should be telling you that," I say and sit down next to him and dangle my feet in the warm water. 

We sit behind the waterfall for a few minutes before I decide to dive under and back out into the open. I come up from underwater and look up at the sky and take it all in. The sky as blue as the ocean and the leaves and grass are a beautiful shade of green. The sun beats down on my face and I can start to feel it tingle, sensing I have a bit of a sunburn. 

"Should we leave soon?" Christian asks as he swims next to me. "Yeah, probably," I tell him and swim over to the side and get out of the water. 

"Let's start to head back," I tell him and gather our stuff and head back to the car. "That was insane," he tells me as we walk back on the trail we followed to the waterfall. "The pictures don't do it justice, at all," I tell him. "

Where are we headed to next, my lovely tour guide?" 

I scoff at his comment, "Well, next would be dinner that is near the airport so we don't have to go far before we head back to Maui. But, if you want to stop anywhere, we have time," I say and look at my phone for the time. 

We stop at one of the local tourist shops and find some shirts and other little things to remind us of our time here. Christian and I quickly change back into our fancier dinner clothes that we packed before we head into the restaurant. 

"For Yelich," he tells the hostess. She taps away on the tablet and immediately takes us back to the back of the restaurant where we are alone. 

"How'd you get us to be alone?" he asks and I smile at him. "I had a little help from your mom. She also told me that she is paying over the phone so don't even think about it," I tell him and laugh. 

"I absolutely love that you two are close," he says and rubs his thumb across my knuckles. "It's really important to me that I have a good relationship with her," I tell him and smile looking down at my lap. 

Our food is brought out to us and we dig in right away. Wow, Alecia was right, this place is amazing. "Look at the sunset," Christian points out as I take a drink from my wine glass. I turn and look towards the open window and the most beautiful shades of pink, purple, and orange fill the sky. "Wow," I say and let out a breath. 

Christian and I made it back to Maui and ride back to our Airbnb, "So, how'd I do?" I ask wondering what he thought of his 29th birthday. "How'd you do?" he questions, "Fucking amazing. When you told me all of this when we got here I was excited, but actually doing it was incredible. Like, I wouldn't have seen the things we saw today if it wasn't for you. From snorkeling and seeing the sea turtle to jumping off of a waterfall and a delicious dinner. Everything was amazing. Best birthday ever," he tells me and I smile down at my lap. 

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," I tell him and watch as the dark island passes by. 

I take my hair down and let my beach waves fall. "Is tomorrow a relax day?" Christian asks as we head up to our condo. "Yeah, we can do whatever we want. If that's going down the beach or pool. Or shopping. Or we can plan something in the morning," I say as he opens the door and I set my bag down on the couch. 

"Are you showering now?" he asks me as I head to the bedroom and change. "No, I don't have the energy for that right now," I say and laugh. "I'll take one in the morning or tomorrow night depending on what we do." 

I climb into bed and watch as Christian strips down into nothing but his boxers. He gets into bed with me and leans down and kisses me. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into him. "Thank you," he says into my hair. "You're welcome. Happy Birthday babe," I say into his chest. I look up and he smiles at me and I pull myself up to kiss him one more time before we both pass out.