New Mutiny

Chapter 7

"That doesn't look like Florida." Becky had just woken up, but apparently her old flight attendant instincts kicked in when the pilot came over the loudspeaker and announced that their descent was going to begin. She had been using Seth as a combination of pillow and stuffed animal, hugging his arm while resting her head on his shoulder, her legs hooked over his knees, and now she was half on his lap trying to get a better look out the window.

"No, it's not." Seth gently pushed her back into her seat. He was more than happy to cuddle, but he knew the flight attendants would be coming around to make sure people were buckled in safely. "I got our flights to connect through Chicago, remember?"

Becky let her legs slide off his as she sat back. "At least it's not winter, I guess. I never thought to check the weather before I packed." At what felt like the last minute, at least to Seth, Finn had come through with her territorial rights, giving Becky permission to travel through the United States and Canada without any repercussions. "How long's our layover?" she asked, buckling herself in and then reaching over to check Seth's belt.

"Well, that sort of depends on you." Seth turned her face towards him and kissed her. "Since Hunter's paying for the flights, I thought we could take a day to check in on my house, my family. Then we can fly back to Chicago in the morning and go from there to Orlando. If that's cool with you, I mean." He had wanted it to be a surprise, but now he doubted himself. Maybe it's too much? he thought, hopes and stomach descending faster than the plane; big plans like that should be agreed upon, he knew, and he could see how it might feel daunting—or worse, controlling—from Becky's perspective.

Judging from Becky's blush, though, she was taking it the way he had hoped—as a pleasant surprise, not an overbearing decision made without her input. "How long's the flight from Chicago to Davenport?" She said the name of his home city with a bit of hesitation, and he wasn't surprised: compared to the giant cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, Davenport was small and not likely to come up in conversations overseas.

"Not long," Seth promised. "Maybe half an hour, forty-five minutes? Honestly, it feels like the security check takes longer than the flight most times." He still hesitated, and Becky misread it as apprehension, so she grabbed his hand as the descent began in earnest. "We don't have to, though. I checked before we left and there's a flight to Orlando that leaves Chicago in a few hours and there were plenty of seats left, last time I looked. It wouldn't be hard to transfer...."

Becky shook her head. "No. I don't think I've ever been to Davenport. I'd like to go." Squeezing his fingers, she added, "Does Hunter know? Is he expecting you on a certain day?"

"He knows I wanted to make a quick detour," Seth said evasively. He hadn't mentioned Becky being the major motivation, but he was sure Hunter had figured that out on his own. "And then there's jetlag to contend with. He's fine with it. So what do you want to do?"

The cacophony of the plane landing drowned out Becky's reply, and Seth wrapped an arm around her head, trying to shield her ears from the worst of the noise. The plane had barely come to a complete stop before people were already in a rush to unbuckle their safety belts, collect their bags, and disembark. "Let them rush," Becky advised, leaning against Seth's arm again. "Unless that flight to Davenport leaves right away?"

Seth grinned. "So that's a yes?"

Becky smiled up at him. "It's me asking when the flight is. You said the Orlando flight leaves in a few hours. When does the Davenport flight leave?" Leaning closer, she whispered in his ear, "In other words, which one is going to get us to a bed faster?"

"Well, when you put it that way...." Since people were still clogging the aisles, Seth took his time kissing her. They would still have to go to Customs, so they couldn't linger too long, but there was something almost magical about kissing her so close to home. For the entirety of their admittedly short relationship, they had always been on her home turf, and he was glad to have the chance to showcase his. "Davenport. I'd want to stop in quick at my mom's to make sure that my cat isn't being a complete asshole and I'm sure she'd like to spend some time with me, but she understands about jetlag, so... maybe we could take her out to breakfast tomorrow before our flight?"