The ship was equipped with an automatic timer that slowly lit up the room as if the sun was coming in a window, which was to help passenger stay on a regular day and night schedule while on board the ship.  When Sara woke up the next time, she knew it was morning by the light filling the room.  As she laid there slowly waking, she heard Travis singing in the shower.  She couldn’t make out the words but could tell he was enjoying himself.  Sara decided to join Travis to help him wash his back as she felt frisky and adventurous this morning.


    Sara quietly opened the bathroom door, slipped into the room, and then quietly closed the door.  Travis continued singing, so Sara figured that he hadn’t heard her come in the room.  She pulled her nightgown off and threw it down on the floor.


    She began to wonder if she should just put her gown back on and leave the room before Travis realized she was in the bathroom with him.  Maybe she shouldn’t be doing this.  Would he think she was cheap or something even worse, a whore?  No, Travis was now her husband, it was okay for a wife to join her husband in the shower.  She took a deep breath, slowly and quietly letting it out.  She walked to the end of the tub, pulled the shower curtain back, and stepped into the tub.  Travis had his back to her and didn’t know she was there until she touched his back.


    Travis jumped when Sara’s touch startled him.  He turned quickly and faced Sara with a smile on his face.  “I need help washing my. . .”  His eyes looked down towards his waist and then back up to her face in time to see her blush.


    “Yes, I just bet you do,” she told him seductively.


    It was sometime later before the two occupants were dressed and ready for the day.  Travis told her today they would spend part of the day with their friends and the rest of the day, it would be just for them


    Kayla opened her eyes and looked around the room, the clock on the bedside table showed 6:00 a.m.  She needed to make an urgent trip to the bathroom before her bladder burst, and when she glanced over at Alex, she saw he was still sleeping.  She crept out of bed quietly so not to wake him, but then suddenly she knew she was going to be sick.


    She put her hand up to her mouth and made a mad dash for the toilet.  Luckily, for her, the lid on the toilet was up.  She quickly bent over, putting her hands on the sides of the toilet, and forcefully emptied her belly.


    Alex heard the commotion and was beside her in an instant, helping by grabbing a washcloth, poured cold water on it, and applied it to her forehead.  After the sickness past, Kayla sank down onto the cold bare bathroom floor to rest.  She looked over at Alex, threw her head back, and let out a peal of laughter.


    “Kayla how are you feeling now?” he asked as he continued to wipe her forehead with a wet cloth.


    “Better.”  She smiled at his expression.


    Alex looked at her strangely.  “Why were you laughing?”  He asked with concern, hoping she wasn’t becoming hysterical.


    “Alex, look at us.  We are as naked as the day we were born, and here we are sitting on the bathroom floor next to the toilet.”


    Alex’s body tightened by the sight of Kayla’s naked body.”  Alex stood up and helped Kayla to her feet.  “Kayla let’s get you back to bed before you catch a chill.”


    “I need to use the toilet first.”  Kayla didn’t move when Alex didn’t leave the bathroom.  “Alex, could I have a bit of privacy?”


    “Honey, you don’t have anything that I haven’t already seen.”  As Kayla’s eyes met his, he realized she meant what she said, so he stepped out and slightly closed the door.


    When he heard the toilet flush, he opened the door.  He stepped inside the room, putting his arm around her waist and they walked together back to the bed.  He could feel she was chilled and hoped his body heat would soon warm her.  Alex tucked Kayla in first, and then he crawled in next to her, put his arm around Kayla, bringing her cold body up against his.


    “Kayla, how are you feeling?”  A wave of apprehension shot through him as he wondered why she had vomited.  He was worried that maybe she was physically sick and would make sure they saw Dr. Miller today.


    “Better, I think I’ll go back to sleep for a while,” she said sleepily, she yawned and closed her eyes.


    His sexual need for her was beginning to build, but it would have to wait for another time, as she needed her rest right now, not sex.  Alex couldn’t seem to get comfortable with Kayla’s butt positioned right against his groin, making the matter worse.


    Kayla turned over to face Alex and kiss him on his lips as she put her hand on his body part that was giving him so much trouble.  Alex gasped because she had surprised him with her touch.  Alex figured Kayla wasn’t going to get much sleep now.


    Afterwards, they fell back to sleep and the next thing they knew it was 10:00 in the morning.  They needed to hurry so they could get some breakfast before they saw Dr. Miller.  Kayla was hungry, but she ate a light breakfast just in case the nausea returned.


    When they arrived at the doctor’s office, Alex waited in the waiting room while Kayla went in to see the doctor.  He couldn’t seem to sit still, as his nerves were on edge, instead of sitting, he roamed around the office.  It seemed forever before Mrs. Miller asked Alex to come in to talk with the doctor.


    Alex tried to tell himself that he was going to hear good news, not bad.  Tammy showed Alex in and he sat in the chair next to Kayla, quickly taking hold of her hand just in case it was bad news he was about to hear.


    Kayla looked over at him and smile, a smile that showed a twinkle in her eyes.  “Alex, we’re pregnant.  Dr. Miller says the baby is due in January.  He gave me some medicine to settle my stomach and everything is fine with me and the baby.”


    Alex let out the breath he had been holding, “Thank God, you are okay.”


    “Kayla is in excellent condition and will need to see her again in about a month.”  He handed her a card with his name and phone number on it.  “I’ll see you two again in a month.  Make an appointment with Tammy before you leave today.  You know, you two will be the first ones to have a baby from this important endeavor of ours.”


    They said their good-byes and left the doctor’s office.  The two newlyweds were in shock with their news, they slowly made their way back to their room, each deep in thought about their news.


    “Alex, Dr. Miller is right about the baby.  We’ll be the first parents to have a baby from this trip.  Some babies might be conceived on this trip, but ours will be the first born from this venture.”


    Alex smiled at her.  “Would you believe that I planned it that way?” he asked seriously.


    Kayla giggled.  “No, I wouldn’t.”


    Maggie woke to found herself with a big hairy arm across her chest, and smiled, as last night had been wonderful, she had been worrying for nothing.  Matt understood she was scared about this marriage and the idea of sex with him.  She now felt surer about starting this new relationship with Matt.  She was confident their marriage would go more smoothly for them in the sex department the next time they made love.


    She glanced over at the clock and saw it was time to get ready and retrieve their boys for the day.  They had made plans to spend part of it with the rest with the other couples, and later just the four of them.


    She shook Matt’s arm to wake him.  The next thing she knew she had a large hairy man on top of her.  “Would you please behave yourself?  We have two children who are waiting for us to go get them for breakfast.”


    “A few extra minutes won’t make much difference.”  Matt teased.


    “It will to the boys.”  Maggie tried to hide her excitement from Matt, as the thought of having sex with Matt again made her go all mushy inside.


    “I promise five minutes, no more.”


    Maggie laughs, “Five minute?"  You think we can have sex in just five minutes?”


    “Yes.”  Matt stated with confidence.


    “You want to bet on it.”


    “Yes.”  Matt stated again with confidence.


    “What is the bet?”


    “The loser gives the winner a backrub.”


    “Okay, I’ll time you.”


    Five minutes later found the two lovers dressing and Mathew with a large grin on his face.


    “You are going to be impossible to live with today,” Maggie tells him.


    “When I’m right, I’m right,” he said with smugness in his voice.


    They left their room and quickly made their way to where the boys were staying.  Matt knocked on the door, the door literally was thrown open, and a child flew into Matt’s arms.  The force of Cole running into Matt knocked them both onto the floor.


    “Daddy, what took you so long?  I have been waiting for hours.”  Cole cried.


    Matt looked up at Maggie.  He saw she had her arms around her own son and had an ‘I told you so’ look on her face.


    “I’m sorry buddy, it’s my fault we are late.”  Matt detangled himself from his son and stood.  “Let’s go eat some hot breakfast before we start our day.”  Matt picked Cole up and put him on his shoulders.  He leans over to Maggie’s ear.  “We’ll call it a tie.”


    Maggie simply nods her head.


    Brianne slowly stretched her arm reached out and touched a bare chest, then quickly jerked her arm away and sat straight up in bed.  Now wide-awake, she glanced to the other side of the bed and remembered why she was in bed with this naked man.


    After she lay back down, Luke moved in his sleep, which brought his bareback side up against her, and then he snuggled with her.  Brianne smiled, last night had been wonderful, and it hadn’t been like anything she had expected.  She turned so she could put her arm across Luke’s chest, “Luke, it’s time for you to wake up.”


    Luke slowly opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder at Brianne.  “Why?” he asked in a sleepy voice.


    “I’m hungry.”  Brianne tells him.


    Luke turned so fast engulfing Brianne in his arms that she let out a squeal.


    “Luke!  Behave yourself.”


    “I’m hungry too, and I want you for breakfast.”


    Later, much later found the two newlyweds making their way to the dining room, holding hands as they walked.  When they arrived, they saw Austin and Amy eating their breakfast together, Luke and Brianne helped themselves to the food on the buffet table and joined their siblings.


    When Amy saw her sister, she searched Brianne’s face for any signs of distress or pain, but instead of seeing anything bad, Brianne looked happy.  When Brianne reached the table, she put her hand on top of Amy’s and gave it a light squeeze, then bent down and kissed her sister’s cheek.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    She whispered into Amy’s ear.  “I’m okay.”  Brianne looked over at Austin.  “How’s the food?”


    “It’s great!”  Austin stated with his mouth full of breakfast, and the other three laughed.


    “Let’s eat.  We are to join the others in an hour.”  Luke held the chair out for Brianne.


    “Luke, what line of work are you in?”


    “Would you believe I’m independently wealthy, and own my own company?”


    Brianne looked over at Austin to see what his reaction was to Luke’s comment.  Austin continued eating as if nothing was out of the ordinary.  “Yes, I do believe you.  What kind of business do you have?”


    “I have an air delivery service.  I have my pilot’s license and own several planes, so I can deliver anything to anywhere, including people.”


    “That sounds exciting.”


    “It is, but it’s a lot of work.  The company is slowly growing, and I have just bought two more planes and hired another pilot.”


    “Is there something for me to do at your company?”


    “Yes, there’re plenty of work you can do.  Answer phones, filing, paying bills, you name it and you are welcomed to do it.  Right now, I have been doing it all, I would appreciate any help you can give me.”


    “Is Amy going to be living with us?”


    “Yes, Amy will live with us until she and Austin are married, until then Austin will continue to live at home with our parents.  They will have plenty of time to get acquainted before they are married.  Austin is going to a local college working on a BS degree in engineering.  Amy, do you have any college plans?”


    “Yes, I want to be a teacher for the hearing impaired.  I have already started taking college courses in sign language through my high school.  Sometimes I talk to Brianne in sign before I realize she doesn’t understand a word I’m signing.”


    “Wow that sounds great!  Can you teach me to sign?”  Austin asked Amy.


    “It will be my pleasure.”  Amy says sweetly to Austin.


    Soon they were finished with their breakfast and headed out to join the others.


    Sara’s first day with Travis was wonderful.  After the tour of the ship, they met the other newlyweds, who were all near the same age.  Sara was 32 years old and Travis was 28, Sara laughed when she learned she was married to a younger man.  She had heard you should marry a man at least five years younger because women lived longer than men did.


    Alex and Kayla were 25, Matt and Maggie were 30, and Luke and Brianne were the youngest married couple and were 21 and 20 years old.  Austin was 19 and Amy was 17, they were the youngest couple of the group who would marry sometime in the future.  Amy and Austin decided to spend time with their siblings and the other newlyweds instead of the other young people on the ship, while becoming better acquainted with each other.


    There was a large range of activities they could do aboard the ship.  There were several movies showing at the theater, there was also gambling, bowling, both ice and roller-skating, and even an arcade with video and other games to play.  They decided to go bowling first and then have lunch together before going their separate ways.


    Everyone had a great time, spending time getting acquainted with not only with the other couples, but also with their new mates.  After lunch, everyone went their separate ways, planning on meeting again for dinner.


    Travis and Sara decide to see the movie, “Forever Young” with Mel Gibson, as it was Sara’s favorite movie.  Travis and Sara held hands during the movie, and she felt as if she was on a date rather than spending time with a husband.  Travis laughed when Mel Gibson suddenly sat up in the time capsule, making Sara jump.


    “That part always startles me, even though I know it’s going to happen,” Sara whispered.  By the end of the movie, she was softly crying.  “I always cry too.  It is such a good love story and has a happy ending.”


    Travis smiled at her, “That’s what we are going to have.”


    Sara looked at him, wondering what he meant.  “What are we going to have?”


    “A happy ending.”  Travis stated.


    “Oh, Travis, what a beautiful thought.  I never dreamed I would ever meet a man like you to love, especially after my marriage to Paul.”


    After the movie, they held hands as they walked back to their room.  Travis suddenly stopped walking, and there was a slight tug on her arm before Sara realized Travis wasn’t beside her anymore.


    “What’s the matter?”


    “Tell me about Paul and your marriage to him.”


    Of all the things he could have asked her, she wasn’t prepared for this question.  “Travis, I don’t want to talk about it right now.  The pain he caused me over the years is still too raw.”


    Travis shortened the space between them.  “I promise you I’ll never intentional hurt you.”  Travis kissed her in the middle of the hallway, with people walking all around them staring, but neither of them care.


    After the kiss, Sara put her right hand on the left side of his face.  “I know but thank you for telling me.”


    They started walking again, for a few moments the silence became increasing uncomfortable between them, but then Sara softly started her story.  “Paul was so romantic while we dated.  He was also kind and gentle.  He never got angry with me, but after the wedding, he changed.  He started drinking soon after we were married, and it became heavier the longer we lived with his father.  I had hoped he would stop his heavy drinking after we moved out, but instead his drinking became worse.  Our marriage was never a great one, but the drinking destroyed what was left of it.  I guess I hoped our relationship would change for the better, but it didn’t.  One evening he almost killed me.  He would have been successful if I hadn’t hit him in the head with an iron skillet.”


    She had to stop a moment to regain her composer.  “After the attack, I filed for a divorce and we put the house up for sale.  When the house sold, we celebrated with some champagne and ended in bed together.  After I signed the paperwork on the house, I should have left, but instead I let him make love to me, as I was lonely and wanted to feel loved again.”  Tears were running down Sara’s cheeks, she quickly wiped them away with a tissue from her pocket.


    “Thank you for telling me.”


    “What about you and Allie?” she asked as they reached the door to their room.  “Did you and Allie have a good marriage?”


    Travis unlocked the door and they entered the room.  He slowly shut the door, then he rested his head against the door, keeping his back to Sara.  He realized he had started this by his question about Paul.  Even after all this time, it was still hard to think about Allie and Jean without hurting.  Travis gradually turned to face Sara.  “We were high school sweethearts and were married as soon as we graduated.  Jean was born after our fourth anniversary and Toby was born two years after Jean.  Everything was perfect, then that damn epidemic came and destroyed everything.”  Travis’ tears had started shortly after he began his story, but by the end, he was sobbing and couldn’t talk anymore.  He put his hands up to cover his face because he was embarrassed for Sara to see him crying.


    “Oh, Travis, I’m so sorry.”  Sara put her hands covered his.  “I didn’t know.  I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to talk about Allie.”  Sara tried to comfort Travis by putting her arms around him and holding him as he cried.  He moved his arms, so they were now around her, while his head rested on her shoulder.


    “No, you have the right to know.  I want you to know I plan for Toby to know about his mother and sister, but I afraid of you hurting in the process.”  Travis looked into Sara eyes, hoping she understood.


    “We will do all we can to keep their memories alive for him.”


    “Won’t that bother you?” Travis questioned.


    “Travis, this is important to you and Toby.  Your memories of Allie and Jean can’t hurt me.  I understand how much you loved her; your previous life is part of who you are.”


    “Thank you for understanding.”  Travis began kissing Sara, first it was a light kiss, without any passion, but quickly it changed into one of hunger.  He picked Sara up and carried her into the bedroom, set her down and slowly began undressing her, never removing his eyes from hers.  “Sara, I want to make love to you.”


    Sara gave him her answer by giving him a passionate kiss.


    Afterwards Travis looked at the clock on the bedside table.  “We better get dressed if we are going to meet the others on time for dinner.”


    “Travis, I had a lovely afternoon, maybe we can do this again sometime soon.”


    Travis laughed, “You can bet on it.”


    After leaving the others, Alex and Kayla decided to return to their room for a nap before dinner.  They hadn’t mentioned their news about the baby to the others yet, as they wanted to tell Alex’s parent first.  Kayla had felt good all day, but now she was getting tired and was looking forward to a nap.  She couldn’t wait to be lying in bed with Alex beside her and making love with her new husband before their nap.


    As they headed back to their room, they ran into Alex’s parents.  Kayla had been introduced to Emily, Alex’s mother, at the reception and of course, his father, Kevin, had walked her down the aisle.  She like both of his parents, and they’d made her feel welcomed in their family, asking her to call them by their first names.


    “Alex, Kayla, how has your first day as a married couple been?”


    “It has been enlightening,” Alex stated.


    Alex’s parents looked at each other, then back at the newlyweds.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”  Emily asked.


    Alex looked at Kayla, she nodded her head, “Go ahead, and tell them.”


    “Tell us what?”  Emily asked impatiently.


    “We are pregnant.”  Kayla and Alex said together.


    Emily grabbed Kayla, giving her a big bear hug.  “Oh boy!  I’m going to be a grandma.  When is the baby due?”


    “Dr. Miller says my due date is the middle of January.  This was unexpected, as we hadn’t planned for this to happen.”


    That’s what we said about Alex,” Kevin said with a straight face.


    Emily hit Kevin playfully in the arm.  “Kevin, that’s not true.”


    “Mom, we are going back to our room to rest awhile before dinner.”


    “We will see you both later.”  Alex gave his mother a quick peck on the check.  “I love you, Mom and Dad.”


    “We love you and congratulations on your news.”  Alex’s parents watched as the two lovebirds headed towards their room.  “It is a good thing Kayla decided to marry Alex after all, or otherwise Alex would have never learned about the baby.”


    “Alex would have found a way to either stayed on Earth with her or would had returned to her on the next trip.  You didn’t see his pain when she left.  I did, so I know how much he loves her.”


    “Yes, for once you are right,” Emily said.


    Kevin playfully smacked her bottom.  “Is that so?  For your information I have been right at least one other time.”


    “When was that?”


    “When I decided to ask you to marry me.”


    “Yes, that’s true.  I love you Kevin Gordon.”


    “And I love you, Emily Gordon.  Let’s go take our own nap.”  They laughed together as they made their way to their own room with their arms around each other.


    After leaving Alex’s parent, they were forgotten because the newlyweds had other things on their mind.  The door was barely shut when Alex started unbuttoning Kayla’s blouse, and they laughed at their urgency to make love.  It would be awhile before either of them was napping.


    * * *


    Maggie had a great time with her new husband and their new friends.  She was surprised how great Ryan and Cole hit it off together, and were seen everywhere together during the day, two head together, telling each other special secrets, laughing and having a wonderful time.  Maggie felt better now about her new marriage, with the boys getting along so well, it would make the marriage easier for all involved.  If the boys had disliked each other, it could have caused problems for the new family.


    Matt didn’t leave Maggie’s side all day and was always within an arm length from her.  Throughout the day, he would occasionally reach out to touch her, it was as if he was afraid, she would up and disappear on him.  Sometimes he would lean over and peck her on the cheek.  Maggie found herself wanting more than a kiss on the cheek from him.  One time while they were bowling Matt leaned over to kiss her cheek again, but this time Maggie turned her head, so the kiss landed on her lips instead.  Matt had a surprised look on his face for he wasn’t expecting her to move.  After the chaste kiss, Maggie put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him again, this time the kiss was full of passion.


    “Mom, it’s your turn to bowl.  Mom!”  When she didn’t respond Ryan yelled, “Hey Mom!”


    The newlyweds quickly broke apart and saw everyone was staring at them.  Maggie felt herself blushing.  “I guess we got caught.”  Everyone laughed including the two caught kissing in the middle of a crowed bowling alley.  Someone said, “Looks like a good idea to me.”  Soon there was more kissing, this time all the newlyweds were involved.  The young boys looked at each other and made a face, as if to say, ‘yuck’.


    After lunch, Maggie and Matt took the boys to the arcade and had a great time.  No one knew who enjoyed themselves more, the little kids or the big ones.  Soon it would be dinnertime, so they returned to their room to change clothes.  Cole came into the master bedroom where Maggie was standing looking in the closet.  He took her hand into his.  “Maggie, may I call you Mommy?”  Cole looked up at Maggie, waiting patiently for her answer.


    Tears quickly appeared in her eyes as she squatted down on her knees to Cole’s level, “I would be honored for you to call me Mommy.”  She grabbed him in a big bear hug.


    Matt was coming out of the bathroom when he saw his new wife hugging his young son to her.  He wasn’t sure what just happened, but it brought happiness to his heart to watch them together, feeling this was a good sign for his new marriage.


    Ryan ran over to Matt.  “Cole is going to call my mother, ‘Mommy’, so can I call you Daddy?”


    Ryan’s question surprised him, but at least now Matt knew what was going on here.  This was all so sudden, as Matt thought it would take the boys longer to want to call them by these names.  “Yes, Ryan.  I would like that.”


    They quickly finish getting ready so they could meet the others for dinner and were the last ones to arrive.  They sat at one huge table, everyone was talking at once, the only time it was quiet was when the food came.  After dinner they stayed at the table and visited awhile, and soon the clock showed it was 9:00.


    They wondered where the day had gone, for now it was time to end the day for Cole and Ryan, as the boys were nearly asleep in their chairs at the table.  Matt took the boys back to their room, and then rejoined the others.


    Luke suggested going to the ballroom for dancing, as he wanted to slow dance so he could have an excuse to touch Brianne.  Amy and Austin didn’t want to join the newlyweds, deciding on going to the movies instead.  The four couples danced for about an hour before they decided to call it a night and planned to meet again in the morning after breakfast.


    Travis wanted to take a quick shower before bed, so Sara used the bathroom first.  When Travis came out of the bathroom, he found his wife was sound asleep, looking so peaceful lying there he didn’t have the heart to wake her.  He crawled into bed, snuggled with her, and was asleep instantly.


    Kayla and Alex almost ran back to their room, stripping off their clothes as soon as their bedroom door was closed.  They looked at each other and fell into bed laughing at the sight of two adults stripping off their clothes as fast as two horny teenagers would.


    Matt and Maggie were both quiet as they walked back to their room, each were deep in their own thoughts.  Maggie felt more relaxed tonight compared to last night, she found herself humming a tune as her did her nightly toilette.  Matt could hear her from the bedroom since Maggie hadn’t closed the bathroom door.  He smiled, it had been a great day, and it looked like it was going to be a great night as well.


    As Brianne and Luke walked back to their room, they talked about themselves, about their childhood, and some of their interests.  They talked about everything except sex, but they were both thinking about it, each wondering if the other would want to make love again tonight.  At least now, Brianne knew what to expect and was slowly falling in love with her new husband.