Chapter 34
The boat slices through the frigid water; icy sea spray blasts us in the face.
“This is really fun! I’m so glad we could do this for our honeymoon!” Hunter shouts to be heard over the engine and wind.
I grip the wet railing and laugh. “Just wait! It’ll be worth it!”
I still can’t believe we’re actually married—that he’s mine, legally.
Forever. The wedding was beautiful, with bursts of peonies everywhere and the most perfect weather we could have hoped for as we celebrated surrounded by our loved ones.
Hunter’s parents even came. Another miracle in a long line of miracles in both of our lives.
An announcement comes over the PA system of the large fishing vessel we’re standing on. “The pod has been sighted off the starboard bow! Keep your eyes and cameras ready!”
Excitement burns through me, almost hot enough to counter-act the frigid chill of the Alaskan wind.
And then it happens—a black dorsal fin breaks the surface, sluicing through the water, swiftly followed by two more.
“I see them!” I shout, grabbing Hunter’s arm and pointing.
Within moments, the entire pod surfaces, blowing spouts of water into the air. A baby breaches, and my eyes fill with tears.
It’s orcas. An entire family of orcas in the wild.
Bucket-list moment achieved.
“That was incredible,” I breathe as we gather our belongings and walk down the gangplank back to the dock hours later. “They’re even more majestic in real life than I ever could have dreamed.”
“That’s me, making my wife’s wildest dreams come true, one frigid, extremity-numbing day at a time.”
I grab his arm, pull him into me, and kiss him swiftly, our lips half frozen from the sea spray. “Thank you, Hunter. Thank you for making this happen.”
His eyes glow when he looks down at me, the green flecks brilliant in the Alaskan sunlight. “I’d freeze my rumpa off over and over again if it makes you this happy.”
I groan. “Rumpa? Really?”
“Hey, Farmor is very proud of my Swedish, I’ll have you know.”
“I’m sure she’s thrilled you can say bum in her native tongue.” I laugh as he takes my hand and we step onto dry land again.
Once we reach the sidewalk, he pulls me into him, lifting his hand to brush my wind-blown hair back. “Did I see ‘Have my husband take me back to the hotel to thaw our frost--bitten rumpas by making out in a sauna’ on that bucket list of yours?”
“In a sauna? That sounds really hot . . . and not the good kind.”
Hunter laughs—one of my favorite sounds in the world. “I think you underestimate how cold I am.”
“Ah, I see. Well, in that case, I better add it to my list.”
Hunter is grinning when his mouth meets mine, hinting at what’s to come, until my heart is racing, and the heat he promised skims over my skin.
We finally break apart, breathless and partially thawed but a little unsteady on our legs after a day at sea.
“I need to find that cab immediately,” Hunter declares, waving a hand in the air as if one will magically materialize from his enthusiasm, eliciting a husky laugh from me.
He tucks me under his arm, into the warmth and strength of his body. I lean into him, so much adrenaline still coursing through my veins from our adventure at sea that I could burst.
As we stand in the line, waiting for a cab, Hunter presses a kiss to my temple, and I exhale with a smile.
“I think that’s my second favorite sound I’ve ever heard—-your happy sigh.”
“Oh, what’s your first favorite sound?” I ask, cocking my eyebrows.
He smirks back at me, “You know number one is your laugh.”
We’re both laughing when we duck into a cab, fingers inter-laced. I rest my head on his shoulder and snuggle into Hunter—my husband—as we drive back to our hotel. The beginning of a lifetime, however long it may be, of moments like these.
It turns out we get a lot more than one or two miracles in our lives.
Every morning we wake up together is a miracle, I’ve decided.
The miracle of another sunrise, of another day to laugh together and love each other and, yes, even argue sometimes—but ultimately to live.
To choose each other and our imperfect but wonderful life together.
A daily miracle made all the more exquisite because of the pain we walked through.
Together.