CHAPTER 35
Elsa
We made love in the morning before we even made it out of bed, sweet and slow. I had to shower to tame my wild hair, and Aidan went to get some coffee and muffins while I jumped into the spacious stained glass shower. I used the products that Angela had given me and smiled as I thought back to her house. That had been both wonderful as well as hard on both of us, making me shudder as I remembered our drive here. It had been one of the worst days of my life, but now we were stronger. We were going to move forward together.
I got out of the shower and remembered Aidan’s words to dress comfortably for this trip. I picked out my clean pair of skinny jeans and a red camisole with a cream button-up shirt over it and tied at my waist. I smiled as I remembered the woman that did my make up for me telling me to take care of my skin and applied the cream she’d given me for free before I put on the barest hint of makeup over it. Aidan made me feel beautiful without it, and I braided my hair in a loose braid over my shoulder as I gazed into the mirror. “You look gorgeous, Angel,” I smiled at Aidan in the mirror as he handed me a coffee. I gave him some space to shower before we left and drank my coffee as I nibbled on my muffin on the balcony in the warming air.
He came out and wrapped his arms around me before he suggested heading over to the train. There were a few families and other people gathered and Aidan got our tickets while I looked over the hills in awe. He returned, and the whistle blew as he led be to the train by the hand. We found a seat by the window, and he moved me beside him so I could see the best as he kissed my hair. I was so happy that he’d picked this train as it started even as I trembled a little bit in fear. I’d never been on a train and the speed that it was gaining gave me a rush as I gave Aidan a nervous smile. “We’re fine, Elsa. Enjoy this…every part.” He whispered as I looked out and watched as the hills turned into deep valleys with water and trees along with rocks. It was stunning, and I pressed myself against him tightly as I took it all in with a big smile. I tried to take pictures, and I was thrilled when Aidan showed me how to take a video to remember this by. Not that I would ever forget it. If this place was so beautiful and just one place, what else was there to see in the world? “This is everything that I thought it would be and more,” I whispered to him as he chuckled and kissed my hair again.
“It’s something. It makes you feel small somehow, doesn’t it?” Aidan asked as I shook my head.
“It makes me feel invincible, Aidan. It makes me want to see everything that I can.” He pulled me closer, and I leaned my head against his shoulder as I breathed him in. I was so in love with him, and the risk of his treatment entered my mind again as I allowed a moment of self-doubt to fill my mind. I could still lose him. There had to be more that I could do than just fighting with him, and ideas started forming in my head as I smiled to myself.
We enjoyed the ride with a light lunch midway through and talked about all that we were seeing. Once the ride ended, I bounced off of the train and dragged him by the hand to the first place that I saw people. It was an overlook that looked over an enormous part of the valley, and I sucked in my breath as I looked over the edge with his arms around me. “You’re not scared of heights, are you?” Aidan asked me as I shook my head. He laughed and told me that he didn’t think I was scared of anything. I didn’t even know how high we were, but it had to be hundreds of feet.
I took several pictures of the scenery as we made our way around to see different parts of the canyon. Aidan balked at the walkway that extended over the canyon, but I scampered over it like a little kid as he reluctantly followed. The view below us was intense, and he shook his head with a smile as I wrapped my arms around him. “Is my big military man scared of this?” I teased as he smiled and shook his head.
“Look down. It’s infinite,” he told me as I did and realized that we were so far above the ground right now. It was scary in some ways but to me, it was nothing compared to what I’d faced so far with him. We walked around and took pictures and a sweet family of four offered to snap one of us as we leaned back against the railing together. Our arms were wrapped around each other, and we were smiling as the woman smiled and shook her head. “You two look truly in love,” she told us as her toddler tugged on her hand. “Enjoy the time alone. These take up a lot of energy.” Her smile showed how happy she was as she gazed at us and Aidan nodded.
“Not too long, “Aidan teased as I grinned and she laughed. “I wouldn’t mind twins.”
“You’re young. You could keep up.” Her husband called her as he stood at the railing with their older son and she told us to have a good time as she handed my phone to me. I turned and hugged him as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Twins? Did you see how busy those two were at Melissa’s?” I laughed as he spun me around.
“We’re going to get through this, Elsa. We’re going to have the most beautiful babies and the best life. You’ve made everything worth it to me again.” He kissed me as I stilled under him and prayed for his words to come true. I wanted him forever and losing him would hurt more than anything in my life ever had before. I couldn’t focus on the low success rate, and I happily took his phone as he finished taking a picture and handed it to me as he told me that he had to use the restroom.
I put my plan into action. I glanced up to see him disappearing into the men’s bathroom and opened his text app to see the messages from the men. I opened each thread and made sure that was who it was before I sent what I’d been planning over the course of the train ride. There was a total of three men contacted that promised they would help me with the rest, and I closed the phone after I was done, just in time for him to come back over to me and kiss me. “Want to catch a shuttle and head down to see more close-up?”
I nodded and kissed him again before we got into the line for the bus. We got a seat in the back, and he kissed me hard and long as we drove the road down into the canyon as the driver filled us in on some of the things to see. There was wildlife as well as rivers and waterfalls to see, depending on how much we wanted to walk. Aidan asked me if I wanted to stay the night and look at the stars as I whispered ‘yes’ and kissed him again.
We joined some people on some hikes and saw the Colorado River as it rushed over the rocks and onto the small shores. Aidan was still in good shape, and I resisted the urge to ask him if he was up to this since I trusted him now. I didn’t imagine that he would hide anything from me, and I took his hand and followed him along to see some waterfalls deep into a moderate hike. We headed to one of the lodges for some cold water and rested as settles on a couch and talked about what we’d seen.
Aidan surprised me by telling me he’d reserved a room from the get go, and I smiled. We had packed a small bag just in case, and he had been carrying it along with us since it was just a backpack. He took me to the desk, and we got our key, and he led me to the room as I laughed. It was a simple room, but the view was stunning as I looked out of the window and over the rocks in the canyon. There was even a small balcony, and I felt Aidan behind me. “How did you get this room?” I asked as I remembered all of the people that were here. There was well more than the rooms offered, and he smiled as he explained that he was lucky, and there was a cancellation early on. “Thank you,” I told him as I turned in his arms and kissed him softly. We fought the urge to make love again and left the room to finish looking around together before dinner.
Aidan got us down to the water, and I sat down and watched as people slipped off their shoes and walked through it. Aidan convinced me, and I slipped my shoes off before wading over the stones and feeling the cool water nip at my ankles. I rolled my stretchy pants higher and followed him just a little deeper as he held out his hand. We played for half an hour before we let our feet dry and made the hike back to some of the overlooks and then the lodge.
Dinner was at a cute little restaurant in the hotel, and we ate hungrily as we snuggled in the same side of the booth. There was a candle on the table with dim lighting, and I felt his eyes on me as I took a bite of my steak with a smile. “What is it?”
“You’re beautiful, Elsa. Inside and out. Your face in this candlelight takes my breath away.” I stared at him as he kissed me and smiled against his lips. We paid for the food and headed to our room to take our seats as we watched the sun set and the stars start to shimmer in the sky. Aidan provided a bottle of wine and some glasses, and I snapped picture after picture of the process as I sipped the white. It was amazing to see the colors of orange and pink over the edge of the canyon before it went dark around us. “I can’t believe this, Aidan. Look at it.”
“It’s more than I have ever seen before,” he replied as I looked over at him.
“You’ve been here before?” He nodded. “Isn’t it the same?”
“Nothing is the same with you. It never could be,” Aidan told me as I pulled him to me in a hug. The stars were brighter and more abundant here, and the colors in the sky were breathtaking, and I tried to capture it on my phone as Aidan laughed at me. “We’ll buy a lot of postcards, Elsa. Not that I could ever forget this.”
We watched the stars until our eyes were closing and Aidan locked the door and led me to the big bed. He stripped my clothes off before kissing me and pulling me over his body onto the mattress. Aidan taught me how to ride him and feel it the deepest inside of me as he guided me with his hands on my hips. Our breath and moans mingled together as I felt myself letting go and coming for him in a way that I hadn’t before. Even though he was my first, I knew that Aidan and I were different now. I recognized the difference between just sex and something more intimate and I thanked God that I found it all with him.
“I want to see the world with you, Aidan.” I dropped beside him in bed and wrapped my arm around him tightly.
“You will. I want to give you everything that you’ve dreamed about, Elsa.” He removed the condom and wrapped it in something before dropping it into the trash. Aidan rolled over to kiss me, and we fell into a deep sleep as I listened to the sounds of the canyon through the open windows.
In the morning, we made love again and showered before we went out for the day. Breakfast was a quick trip to the restaurant, and we took a different shuttle to see some of the sheep with the big rounded horns that lived amongst the tourists as well as some more of the smaller creeks. I was thrilled and exhausted when we caught the train in the late afternoon and headed back to the original hotel. I relaxed in Aidan’s arms and looked at the scenery as I felt the sadness of leaving such a magical place as well as the uncertainty of the future. There was so much promise with Aidan, and I didn’t want to lose that.