The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and today was the first day of the rest of my life.

Funny, how things came full circle. This time just over six months ago, I had been sitting in a chair before my wedding, hoping to escape. This time just over six months ago, I had been about to be kidnapped by the man I was going to marry instead.

“You sure the bright pink is okay?” Lux asked for the fifth time.

“Yes. I love it,” I said for the sixth.

“But Melinda said—”

“I fired Melinda last week,” I reminded Lux.

She grinned and ran her fingers through her now purple hair.

“Really, you’re a saint for keeping her on that long.”

I shrugged.

“Had to appease Papa for not having it in the Ritz-Carlton somehow.”

Barking joyously, Randolph scampered up to me and licked my hand, Pip not far behind.

I would have been the last to believe that the two would get along. But ever since we’d introduced them five months ago, the pair had been inseparable.

I gazed out the window at the beautiful spring day I’d be going out into soon enough. “Inseparable” was not unlike Jake and me these past few months—these past six months, I reminded myself. It was still hard to believe that the swirl of job hunting (a ranger position for Jake, the foundation of my charity for me), forest walking (us and the dogs), and love-making that had felt like one glorious month had actually been six.

“He’s gonna pass out when he sees you, I bet,” Lux said confidently, running her hands over the folds of my dress affectionately.

I did a twirl in the mirror, smiling at my reflection, who finally looked just as happy as I felt. The simple, flowy gown had felt right the moment I’d put it on. All of this, Jake popping the question after he’d filled our pond with roses, slipping the turquoise-flowered ring on my finger in the moonlight, being him every day and night—all of it had felt so right.

I smiled at the girl in the mirror who knew the same secret I did: I was the luckiest girl in the world.

Today, I would renew my vows with the man who had already transformed my life so much that it was nearly unrecognizable.

“Hey, Alice, check this out.”

From a window on the opposite side of the room, Lux’s highlighter pink nails waved me over.

Kneeling beside her, I peered out. The Denver botanic garden was in its full, lush glory—all the plants so green they looked fake, all the flowers so vibrant they looked painted. The sky was a spectacular bright blue, while all the guests milling about looked like flowers themselves, draped in dazzling frocks as they were.

“You ready?” she whispered.

I grinned.

“Hell yeah.”

And so, out we walked.

* * *

The air was clear and warm, with just the slightest kiss of wind. Birds were rejoicing in the ceremony already, basking and fluttering and twittering in the ornate stone bird baths.

The guests had all sat down on their white metal seats, while at the end, my father waited for me.

Dressed to the nines in a striped black Armani suit, Papa beamed when he saw me and Lux.

The small orchestra set off to the side began its music, and Lux walked up alongside Tom, whose long hair was done up in a neat ponytail.

The sweet flute melody bid my legs to walk, and so Papa and I went, my eyes floating over the rainbow of flowers and flower-like guests, over to the man at the end of the aisle who was waiting for me. My husband. My Jake.

He was perfectly handsome in his tight navy suit, looking terrified and excited and delighted and, just as Lux had said, about to pass out.

When I reached the end, we clasped hands, and the minister, Dmitri—a family friend with a bowling-ball-shaped bald head—began talking.

“Thank you all for coming here today to celebrate Jake and Alice’s wedding.”

He smiled, which was even shinier than his head, and then continued. “We offer thanks this day for those who are gathered here, for Alice and Jake, and for their marriage which we are here to rejoice in.”

Then it was Jake’s turn, who, his hand clasped in mind, turned to the crowd and said, “Thank you everyone for coming and being here with us for this joyous event. We really appreciate your support and are happy to have you.”

Then it was my turn.

“Dad, thanks for being here and for supporting me all these years. And thanks to Lux and Simone for always being there.”

Dimitri turned to Jake.

“Jake, will you have Alice to be your wife, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, keep her in sickness and in health, and be faithful to her? Do you promise to do this?”

Jake’s eyes were shining as he spoke.

“I do.”

Dimitri turned to me.

“Alice, will you have Jake to be your husband, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, keep him in sickness and in health, and be faithful to him? Will you also promise to do this?"

“I do,” I said.

Dimitri turned to the crowd.

“Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage? Will you do this? If so, answer ‘we will.’"

“We will,” the crowd chorused.

Dimitri turned to both of us with a smile.

“You may now make what promises you’d like to each other.”

And, just like that, Jake was turning to me once more with eyes that were somehow shining even more than before.

“Alice, oh, Alice. Finally, this day has come. It seems like just yesterday I was spilling out my soul to you in that Las Vegas chapel. I was scared then, but I’m not scared anymore. No, I know now that this tidal wave of feeling is not something to fear, not something that will hurt me, but something to celebrate, something that lifts me up each and every day.

“I keep waiting for these feelings to dull, to experience what everyone says has to happen—a settling—and yet, Alice, something tells me that I’ll die waiting, that I’ll never stop loving you with this body-aching, mind-crushing, soul-stretching feeling that swallows everything. No, Alice, for love like this, true love, there is no diminishing. Not when I see how, every day, you lift me up. Every day you are considerate, compassionate, and funny.

“You are my best friend and my dearest lover, and, Alice, you’re making me the happiest man in the world today. I could stand up here for hours and list out all the ways I’m a new man because of you, but instead I’ll say this: I will love you as long as there is breath in my body, and I will be happy as long as your hand is in mine. Thank you. Thank you with all my heart, my dear, sweet, Alice. Thank you.”

Then it was my turn, except my throat was choked up and I could barely see through my tears of happiness. But the words came anyway.

“It’s not fair that you get to go first. That you render me so overwhelmed that half of what I prepared rolls down my face with these heartfelt tears. I’ve said everything already, but I’ll try to do it again, try to explain just what you mean to me, just what transformation I’ve undergone thanks to you.

“Everyone around me sees it: the smile that comes from the inside, the light skip in my step. Everyone keeps asking me what’s changed. And always, always, the answer is the same: I haven’t made any change but you. And yet, that change has sparked a thousand others. Your support, your unconditional rock of love, has given me the strength to make a thousand other changes, to stumble closer to the life I’ve always wanted.

“Before, I didn’t have the courage to pursue my passion, to start my charity. But you—you, Jake—you gave me that. Your love and your strength, your fearlessness and tenacity these past few months as you pursued your own dreams, as you held my hand every step of the way, it was nothing short of inspiring.

“Every morning I wake up excited because of you, and every night I go to bed with a smile on my face, eager to see what the next day in paradise with you will bring. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. And, Jake, I will love you until the day I die.”

The silence brought applause, the applause more silence. And then Dmitri said, “Jake, you may now kiss the bride.”

Suddenly, the garden was thundering with more applause, but I was lost in those lips, those hands on my waist, the miracle of the man before me. My husband, Jake Harker.

The greenhouse was a light in the dark. We escaped a minute before the cake cutting and took off into the night, trailing unlikely excuses behind us.

The real reason was, seeing her in that dress, I couldn’t hold off kissing her any longer. And something told me that squeezing Alice’s ass in front of fifty or so of her closest family and friends was less than ideal.

“Jake!” Alice squealed as I shoved her against a tree, running my hand up her thigh. I snapped the garter, and she moaned.

Our lips entwined and our tongues danced. Her hand ran along my belt, undoing it. Far-off twangs of guitar reached us. The night breath was cool and sweet with flowers. It was perfect. All of it. Her white lace panties that fell to the ground, her eager soft thighs that welcomed my touch, her. My wife. My Alice.

When I slipped my dick between her legs, it was like coming home; we pressed into each other, sighed, and smiled. This was the best day of my life. We didn’t rush; we didn’t hurry. Our guests were waiting, but let them wait.

This was our night. This was the best day of my life, and I was going to cherish it. Me in my wife, my wife on me, panting slightly, that soft smile. Our hips swayed together to the far-off rhythm, our hands clasped, and there was not a thing that could have made it more perfect.

Slowly, our sway picked up; I slid myself in and out in slow circles. Around and around we went, our breathing picking up, our hips thrusting, our hands unclasping and reclasping. Then a tremor began in both of us, and we moved faster. I slid in deeper, and we were both panting more.

The tremoring was growing and taking over us, and then the pleasure exploded from man to wife and back to man again as our orgasms flowed through both of us. We collapsed back on the grass, my wife and I, my Alice and me.

“I love you,” she whispered as she shook.

“I love you,” I whispered as I shook.

And a passing bird somewhere in the dark chirped the same.

We just lay there, not moving, not saying anything, not even thinking. For this was a moment of pure perfection, an instant that couldn’t be improved on. This was something only to be present for and to marvel in and to thank God for. So we did, for minutes, hours—who knew?

All we knew was that, by the time we got back, the cake was half gone and the music was just starting.

“Where were you?” some asked, but we brushed their questions away with the movement of our hips.

It was the first dance. It was time.

I took her hand and we made our way to the dance floor.

Together we were joined arms, swaying hips, and laughing smiles. Everyone’s gazes were riveted on us, and ours were on each other. The music thumped on, and we danced, and everyone else came and danced too. The whole dance floor was a sea of bobbing bodies, rising smiles, and shining eyes, all of us one beat, one song, one love, one joy.

There was Tom and Dalia and Lux and Gabriel and Heston and even Randolph and Pip barking and twirling, going ‘round and ‘round. And when the next song came on, the beat jerked out legs and arms, and there was no way to stop this moment, this perfection. And so I took her hand, my wife’s, my Alice’s, and I kissed it.

And I didn’t say “I love you,” because the whole night was saying it, because it was there in her eyes already.

During our break we had two pieces of cake each. We had started with one, but how could you say no to a second chunk of chocolate mousse with icing?

Licking my chin, Alice giggled.

“It really turned out.”

I kissed her chocolatey lips.

“Told you. How could we pass up an opportunity to eat this?”

We toasted cake pieces and finished our seconds in three ambitious bites. Then it was a glass of Jake Daniel’s each and back to the dance floor.

My favorite angsty rock band was yelling over the speakers at my request, and yet the plentiful alcohol and delicious food had worked their magic: no one scowled, scandalized, and no one froze awkwardly. No, everyone rocked out and yelled along, their heads bobbing, feet moving, hips grooving. The whole dance floor was alive with frenetic energy, and it was so touching that I wanted to laugh, or cry; I just couldn’t tell which.

As everything I had thought I’d known about the “rich and powerful” crumbled to my feet, as my heart swelled and opened, I took Alice’s hand, the one responsible for all of this. I kissed her, and she grinned and kissed me. And it was perfect. Every last bit.

“Are you ready?”

As I stepped off the plane, Jake looked at me expectantly.

“For our Sierra Leone honeymoon? You bet I am.”

He took my hand, and I squeezed his.

“You’re going to love the village; you’ll see.”

Jake nodded.

“I’m just glad I’ll finally get to see your work.”

His hand sliding into my back jean pocket, he gave my butt a quick squeeze.

“But, first things first.”

I smirked at him.

“Oh yeah?”

Pushing me into a wall, Jake ran his hand over my body.

“Yeah. We have to re-consummate our marriage.”

Trembling under his touch, I asked, “Didn’t we do that at the Denver Botanic Gardens?”

Jake shook his head.

“It has to be after, not during. And besides, it’s been a whole two days since then.”

Kissing Jake and then taking his hand and leading him back to the line of passengers, I said, “Maybe.”

His hand slipped back in my jean pocket and squeezed again.

“We’ll see about that.”

Getting our baggage and going through customs took longer than expected. And yet Jake was indefatigable, copping surreptitious feels when no one was looking, slipping his fingers over my bra strap, whispering in my ear.

The whole post-plane experience was one long bout of foreplay.

By the time we got to the taxi, I was the one kissing him in the back.

“What did I say?” Jake said in my ear.

I pawed at his crotch.

“Take me now,” I gasped in his ear, and he laughed.

“We’re almost there.”

And we were, though it wasn’t enough. It seemed to take the staff of the Kingdom Resort forever to show us to our room, and Jake wasn’t helping with his periodic brushes against my breasts and ass.

By the time we walked into our airy oasis of a room, I had unzipped and taken off my jacket.

The concierge couldn’t leave fast enough for us to dive into the white sheets.

Jake was all over me, ripping off my jeans, his tongue snaking up and down my legs, along my thighs, devouring them while I trembled with pleasure.

God, it felt so good. He made quick work of my lace thong too, yanking it down and tossing it aside in one rapid motion.

He slipped his finger in between my legs and then slapped my ass with a hand.

“So wet already, princess.”

Biting and sucking at his neck desperately, I moaned. “You’ve been tormenting me all day; just fuck me, won’t you?”

Patting my head, his eyes glimmering with want, Jake shook his head.

“Not yet.”

He moved closer so his dick was at my mouth. Then he rammed himself in and let out a low groan. I grasped his ass. He slid out, sending a little saliva dribbling down my lips. I licked it up, flicking my tongue against his dick. I opened my mouth wider, so he could slide it in deeper. Then he slid back in, my hands pulling his cock in deeper, my chin nestling his pelvis. He slid out and then slammed himself back in. Each time, both of us let out grunts of pleasure. It wasn’t long until I could hardly breathe from the pleasure and excitement.

His hands picked up where they’d left off, caressing me slowly and softly, feeling every part of me, covering every inch. I was trembling with every movement, moans gurgling out of my lips. Then he cradled my head in his arms, slipped his dick inside me, and fucked me good.

There was no need to start off slow—by now, I was so wet I was nearly dripping. Instead, he lifted both my legs up to my head and fucked me deeply and roughly. Already I was almost there, and his cock was rock-hard. By the time he flipped me over for doggy style, I was almost shaking. One slip of his dick in me from behind and I was gone, an orgasm overtaking me while his hot cum shot inside me. Afterward, we lay there, his dick still inside me, his hand stroking my head over and over again.

* * *

Perfect wouldn’t have been a good enough word for the rest of the trip. Every day, I thought that it had been the best day, that the next couldn’t top it, and every day I was proven wrong. We tanned on the beach, reveled in the quiet nature of so many wildlife sanctuaries that I lost count, rolled around in bed, laughing at how we acted, and ate the delicious food they delivered right to our door—grilled meat and succulent vegetables.

We also went into the villages, danced with the locals, learned how to weave and make bags. We went to my non-profit’s headquarters; we built a well. And, when it was time to go, we were ready to. There was no way to top it, this perfection. All there was left to do was be grateful for the experience and take the plane back to Denver.

Inside Lungi Airport, which looked like two gray lumps, we stared dismally out the window as our flight was declared full.

“A horrible mix-up. Bad, very bad. Very sorry,” the porter said, not looking sorry at all.

He kept sneaking looks at Jake, although I was the one who had asked what the situation was.

After another three hours of waiting, they directed us to a “special direct flight” that was apparently “complimentary.”

So, onto the passenger-less flight we went. It was only when we stepped inside that I realized something was very, very wrong.

“What’s going on?” Alice asked in a low voice, and I wanted to kiss her then.

Kiss her and tell her everything—only that would ruin the surprise.

I did kiss her, but I only whispered in her ear, “You’ll see.”

The fearful look on her face changed into a mischievous smile.

“Jake, you’re the worst!”

Laughing, I took her hand and led her to the padded seat by the window.

“Well, babe, you always said you liked the window seat after all.”

The plane roared to life, our hands clasped, and we were off.

Soon my sweet Alice was slumbering, and I studied her face. She looked tired, and for good reason. We’d been going nonstop for a whole week—activity after activity after activity. Was what I had planned a good idea?

I looked out the window at the expanse of blue below us. We were hours out of the airport, hours away from anything. Whether it was a good idea didn’t matter anymore; it was too late now.

Alice slept the entire flight. Every once in a while, I’d glance over and marvel at her ability to block out the rumbling of the engine, the shaking of the plane, the uncertainty coiling in my chest (me, who knew where we were headed!). But on and on she slept, even after the plane touched down. I had to shake her several times before her eyelids finally opened.

“We’re here?” she asked, and I nodded.

“We are here.”

She smiled, and I kissed her and then took her hand. Once we were a few feet off the plane, she giggled.

“I know where we are.”

I squeezed her hand.

“Oh yeah?”

She kissed my cheek.

“New York City.”

I shrugged.

“Yeah, well you don’t why we’re here, princess.”

She lightly smacked me.

“Don’t call me that.”

As I led her to the building, I only smiled in response.

“Where are we going?” she asked when we reached the building and started angling our way past slow travelers with their hulking luggage.

“You’ll see,” I said.

“Don’t we have to get our luggage?” she asked.

“No.”

In the airport, I bought her a hot dog—New York was famous for them after all—and then we continued on. Outside, the limo pulled up just in time. Inside, we sat on lush, blue velvet sheets.

“When will I get to know where we’re going?” Alice asked.

I patted her head.

“You’ll know it when you see it.”

And she did. When we pulled up to the hulking, columned building, she let out an astounded little “oh!”

Taking her hand, I led her up the steps, past the throngs of camera-bearing tourists, and through the tall black doors. And then, there in front of us they were. The dinosaur bones. The first time we’d met and not even known it.

When I glanced over, Alice’s eyes were filled with tears. Maybe she was seeing what I was—the little boy and the little pigtailed girl, the first sign of hope in a dark world.

Holding her hand, I whispered, “Thank you, Alice, for everything. You have saved me more than you can know.”

Staring up into my eyes, her own an impossible shade of blue, she murmured, “Thank you, Jake. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

And then I kissed her, my wife, my love, the woman of my dreams, the girl who saved me. Alice.

As I held her, all I could think was that I had never been happier.