27. This Is Now (1/2)

27 – this is now

they slept late on sunday

morning. the woodpecker came and went without waking them. felicity finally

stirred at the sound of a horn honking outside, and the voices of company

visiting the next cabin over. this is our

last full day, she thought gloomily. she sighed and pulled back the covers,

getting ready to swing out of bed.

ben's arm tightened around her

waist. "don't get up yet. this is too nice to waste with being up."

she smiled and burrowed back

under the covers, turning toward him.

ben shifted, slid both arms

around her, and pulled her onto his chest. "good morning."

"good morning," she beamed,

taking in his smile and his tousled hair. she glanced over at the tiny clock on

her nightstand. "it's kind of late, and it is our last whole day here. any chance of getting you out of bed if i offer to make

eakfast?"

he groaned and rolled his eyes.

"sure, try and tempt me with food."

felicity giggled and started to

sit up. "isn't that what they say? the way to a man's heart—"

"is not through his stomach, in

spite of what 'they' say," ben

rumbled in amusement. he tugged on her arm. "get back here."

her arm swept out from under her,

and she landed on him with a squeak. ben jerked the covers up over their heads

and grabbed her in a bear hug, kissing her. "there is no hiking. there's no

lake, there's no hot springs,

and there's definitely nothing out there to see today. it's boring. yellowstone sucks…except for this cabin. this bed. this bed is the not-sucky

thing about yellowstone. you should stay

here." he laughed.

felicity laughed with him. it was

impossible not to. the sound was too infectious to resist. when he pulled her

even closer for more kisses, she kissed him back with equal fervor. they passed

a few very pleasant minutes.

ben pulled away at last with a

wicked grin, spilling her off his chest. he swept the blankets off them and sat

up. "on second thought, food doesn't suck, either."

"hey!" she cried indignantly,

flinging a pillow at him.

ben laughed and fended off

another flying pillow, getting to his feet to check the fire in the wood stove.

he blocked a third pillow aimed at his head. "all right.

all right! let me get in the shower and—"

felicity lobbed the last pillow

at his midsection. with a grin, ben caught it and tackled her on the bed,

slapping the pillow over her head. felicity gave a muffled squeak and kicked at

him, but he pinned her down. "okay! uncle! whatever!" she

hooted, attempting to wrest her arms out from underneath him.

"i win," ben said smugly, taking

the pillow off of her and letting her up.

"nuisance."

he pulled a change of clothes

from the dresser and left the room laughing.

felicity sat cross-legged in the

middle of the rumpled bed and just glowed.

- - - - -

their last full day was somewhat

bittersweet at first, but they had so much to do that felicity soon forgot that

this was nearly the end of their stay at yellowstone.

the first order of business was to find a car wash for the baby. after that,

they began working their way through their list of remaining things to check

out. they saw quite a lot of birds and a herd of bison on their drive up to the

hot springs.

felicity took two rolls of film at the springs alone as they steamed into the

ight

air.

they were on their way through a

half-mile hike when ben grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her on the trail.

"felicity, look," he murmured.

she turned and looked where he

pointed, down a slope into a large meadow many yards away. something moved in

the grass. and another something behind it. and another.

a shaggy grey head emerged from

the tall grasses in the lead, and felicity saw her first wild wolf. she gasped

and covered her mouth in awe. several feet behind the first wolf, a second lean

grey form loped into view. that one glanced right toward them before continuing

on its way. the last wolf to emerge from the high grass was pure white. she was afraid to speak above a whisper. "oh, my god. they're so beautiful."

ben grabbed her camera and

snapped a photo before the lupine trio before they trotted away into the trees

at the end of the meadow.

realizing he'd caught them on

film, felicity came back to herself. "oh… thanks. i completely forgot about my

camera."

ben grinned at her, then looked back in the direction the wolves had gone. "that

was cool."

felicity fizzed with enthusiasm,