Falling Dawn (II)

Chapter 7

Back on the plane, I went through the past three days. It was already dark outside, the kids were playing on the screens while Tom was reading the newspaper, occasionally looking up, smiling at me.

It had been one of the best weekends of my life. Tom had taken us to Dreamworld on Saturday and Movie World on Monday. He and the kids had a ball and I simply enjoyed their good mood, the attention the kids got, and me being left alone from nagging. My favourite was Tiger Island and Dreamworld Corroboree. Apart from cuddling a koala the kids had not been too impressed, keen on going back to the rides. But first, Tom had us all adopt a baby koala together which the kids named Pouchy. Very creative. The platinum certificate we received had all our four names on it. Even though I was not much of a rides person, I did enjoy the water rides, even more though the frozen yogurts and slushies. On Sunday, Tom had surprised us with a snorkling trip around Fingal Head. He'd hired a yacht – again – and taken us around some marvellous islands. The underwater world was magnificent: The reefs, tropical fishes and turtles. Out on the sea we even saw dolphins - again. On one of the islands we got off for a walk and found the most beautiful waterfall in the middle of the bushland.

My two wonderful children pulled me out of my daydream by arguing over the double-armrest. I couldn't believe it. They were flying business class and still found something to fight over. To be fair, they had been quite good for most of the weekend. From behind I stuck my head over their seats and hissed at them to stop. I, of course, got ignored.

"If you don't stop it immediately, I'll swap seats with you, Sam," I threatened.

Sam turned around, "Cool, can we swap now?" Great! He wants to swap.

But Emma didn't. "No, I want to sit next to Tom if we're swapping."

"Just be quiet, please." Defeated, I leaned back and closed my eyes. They were quiet for a minute when the seats in front of me started jiggling again. I gasped, opened my eyes and prepared myself for round two of the battle, when Tom calmly informed the kids, "I'm pretty sure they have plenty of seats left in economy. You might each get your own row."

"You wouldn't," Emma shot back, but they both were quiet, not wanting to jeopardise their seats. Relaxed, I leaned back. Tom looked at me, contend.

"Thank you!" I beamed at him. "Also for this perfect weekend."

He gave me a kiss and pulled me into him, leaning his head on top of mine.

"Thank you," he whispered back. And for the first time, I truly believed that we could work out.

Sam and Emma were still tired when I woke them up the next morning. "No playdates this afternoon," I warned them at the breakfast table. Tom had gone to the bedroom when his phone rang. I was actually quite surprised that he didn't spend more time on the phone and computer.

"We should go on holidays more often. This weekend was so much fun," Sam proclaimed with dark rings under his eyes, but he had a lovely tan.

"We might just be able to," I voiced under my breath, thinking of all the money in my bank account. I had to start thinking about what to do with the money. I realised that Tom wouldn't accept it back, but I couldn't just have it sit there.

"Have a good day. I love you!" I sent both kids off to school, before heading to the bedroom to get dressed. While Tom was making business calls, I decided to go for a run. Not to disturb Tom, I quietly opened the door. Unnoticed, I stopped in the door frame to enjoy the view. Tom was sitting in just his trunks on the bed, looking out the window. His backside alone woke the fire in me. Intensely, he was listening to whoever he was talking to, only an occasional nod and "mhm" were evidence that he was following the conversation. I was just about to walk over to hug him from behind, when Tom spoke, clear concern in his voice. "Is he fit enough to do his exercises?"