Falling Dawn (II)

Chapter 5

Excitedly, we entered the business class of the Qantas afternoon flight from Sydney to Coolangatta. Emma and Sam couldn't believe their ears when we picked them up from school and Tom announced that he'd booked us the long weekend at the Gold Coast, inclusive the theme parks of their choice. They first thought it was a joke. I'd believed him immediately, considering the amount of exaggerated and short planned events he'd organised in the little while I'd known him. Bonding time: That's how he sold it to me. Tom was at least as excited about the trip as the rest of us. I'd often promised the kids that one day we'd go to the Gold Coast, but we hadn't been able to financially.

Exiting the plane, we stepped into bright sunshine. Tom was carrying our hand luggage in one hand, in the other he held my hand tightly. This was perfect: The perfect man by my side, perfectly happy children. What else could I want?

The kids and I must have looked equally dumb struck when we entered the resort lobby. While the lobby was a temporary arrangement in an all-natural wooden look, without obvious doors to either side, the surrounding pools, slides and cabanas, the waterfalls and spas, the night illumination, blithely music and the resounding laughter from other guests was just breathtaking. From the corner of my eyes I saw Tom's smile widen when observing the kids and my reaction carefully.

After checking in, an attendant showed us to our beach villa. My jaw dropped at the sight of it. A two storey villa, just for us, right at the beach! It was ridiculous that Tom wanted to spend time at the theme parks. This was amazing. The view of the ocean reminded me of our night on the yacht. The villa was surrounded by sliding glass doors, which allowed stunning views with the doors open and closed. The wooden design blended from one open living space to the next.

After the attendant dropped off our luggage, Tom placed a note in his hand and joined me marvelling at the view from the front deck. In the background, the kids were running around the house like crazy.

"Stop running around and don't break anything," I called out to them. I could already see us breaking all kinds of things: Glass doors, furniture, vases, pretty much anything. We were good at that.

"Okay, mum," they both screamed back without stopping to run or making noise.

"I mean it. And be quiet please. There're other people holidaying here."

"Don't worry, Engel." Tom chuckled behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist, his head resting on my shoulder. "No one can hear them. And let them run around. If something breaks, so what?" His breath tickled against my neck. "Do you like it here?"

A heavy sigh escaped me. "It is the most beautiful place I've ever been to." Watching the small waves break only metres away felt so relaxing.

"I'm glad." I felt his smile against my neck when he kissed me, his gentle touch spreading through me like prickling champagne on my naked body. Oh, the memories.

"It is too much, Tom. I don't need all of this." I was worried. I didn't want him to think that he needed to spend a lot of money to impress me.

"I know. But I want to. I spent the first half of my life in hell, the other half waiting alone at heaven's gate. I'm in now, with you, and that's where I want to stay for the rest of my life."

I turned around to look into Tom's loving face. "I love you, Tom. But I would also love you without all of this around."

"I love you more, more than you think, more than I ever thought was possible." He sealed his promise with a kiss, making me forget where we were.

"Yuk!" Sam and Emma were standing behind us. Parting our lips, we both looked first at the kids, then at each other and burst out in laughter.

"Who's hungry?" Tom saved the situation. "Order in or go out?"