23. Chapter 23 The Perfect Honeymoon
JULIANA
On our last night in Namibia, the mountains turn to fire.
Standing at the edge of the deck, I soak in the beauty of the landscape as the setting sun burnishes the granite peaks from dusty rose to copper. Shadows pool between the boulders below our chalet, stretching across grass turned gold by the dry season.
Farther out, a pair of giraffes are silhouetted against the sunset. I've seen so much natural wildlife I never thought I would because of my travel anxieties. Now, the world is wide and open. I can go anywhere.
With Gabriel.
I'm not suddenly a different woman, but I am the woman I always wanted to be. It took some pain, some pleasure and a whole lot of love to get me here, but I made it and I love this new life I'm building with my sheikh.
He booked this honeymoon with my preferences in mind. A trip to the Erongo Mountains for an animal safari on horseback with time for rockhounding, relaxing and lots of making love.
The lodge is built into an immense granite outcrop as if the stone grew around timber, canvas, and glass.
With Gabriel’s usual disregard for moderation, he reserved the entire place for our honeymoon.
There are five other chalets scattered throughout the valley, but no other guests except our Royal Protection Detail and staff to occupy them.
We had to wait to go on our honeymoon because of the speed with which we got married. Also, I didn't want to fly anywhere until I was in my second trimester. King Harun teased me about being superstitious. Gabriel told me we would do whatever made me feel most secure.
Lady Aliyah decreed expecting a woman to travel during a time in her pregnancy when morning sickness was a consideration would be thoughtless.
We waited.
I'm four months pregnant and not really showing yet, but Lady Aliyah's prediction about the morning sickness showed pure prescience. It was really bad for a couple of weeks after our wedding until a week before we left to come to Namibia.
I feel wonderful and have more energy than I have had in weeks.
During the day, we ride horses along dry riverbeds and through grasslands where oryx watch us from beneath the ever-present thorn trees.
We follow giraffes across the valley and track zebra with one of the sanctuary guides.
We spend one afternoon observing a black rhino from a distance I considered respectful and Gabriel considers much too close.
To me. Because protecting me is his thing and I'm never not going to love that.
Most mornings, we go into the mountains to hunt crystals. It would be every morning, but even rockhounding takes a backseat to an aroused and ready to go Gabriel.
Sometimes, he's not done showing his appreciation for my body until lunchtime.
With his contacts from the mining consortium, Gabriel secured private access to a mineral claim we can explore to our hearts' content.
The owner and a local geologist showed us deposits where aquamarine, tourmaline and quartz occur within the ancient granite.
Armed with detailed information on what we can safely remove and what should remain undisturbed, I spend hours in rockhounding heaven.
Gabriel and I both find specimens to take home. It's sweet how my husband searched not for the perfect crystal, but for the perfectly flawed one. He finds his. I find mine. Souvenirs of the perfect honeymoon, arranged by the nearly perfect guy. Hey, if he was really perfect, I couldn't be with him.
Trying to live up to perfection is something I will never do again.
Strong arms wrap around me, Gabriel's hard body pressing against my back.
I nestle against him. "It's gorgeous, isn't it?"
"The sunset is beautiful, but not nearly so beautiful as the woman watching it."
"I love when you say stuff like that."
"Good, because not to speak the words would be to lie by omission and that is something I have promised never to do to you again."
I huff out a laugh. "Would waiting to tell you we are having twins be considered a lie of omission or me wanting to make sure I got my honeymoon before you went into all out overprotective mode?"
Gabriel's body tenses behind me. "Is this a hypothetical?"
"Not so much, no." I grin, my happiness too big, there's no holding it in.
Gabriel spins me to face him, his gorgeous face illumined with the gold of the setting sun. "Tell me you precious woman. Are you having twins?"
"Y…" My voice gives out for some reason, so I nod.
"How did you learn this without me knowing? I was with you at every appointment."
"The midwife heard two heartbeats during her examination but waited to tell me until you and the doctor were out of the room. She said we can have it confirmed with ultrasound, but I wanted to wait until we got back."
"Because you thought that I might try to put off our honeymoon if I knew you were carrying twins.
There is greater risk to the mother with multiple births," Gabriel points out in serious tones.
But then he grins. "Twins. A girl with her mother's stubborn disposition and a son with your love for horses. "
"A daughter with her father's commitment to family and a son with his father's stubborn disposition," I tease.
"Boys or girls, our children will be more jewels to encrust my heart because the most perfectly flawed jewel of all fills it. I love you, Juliana Al Qadir."
"I love you too, my sheikh. So much there aren't enough words in either English or Arabic to say it."
"Dā?iman wa-abadan."
"Always and forever," I promise right back.
Because there is no end for a love like ours.
The End