Hey all!
Eid Mubarak to all the Muslim readers! Sorry for the delay (again). I promise that I'll post the next chapter a lot sooner…. (Shouldn't be that hard since it took me ages to post this one) XD
Hope y'all enjoy it though!
You are now Detective Mal Fallon.
The blaring sounds of the alarm clock on your nightstand wakes you up. You groggily open your eyes and quickly turn it off. Then you turn on your side and look at Natara who's lying beside you. She's lying on her back, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, which you find incredibly cute. Once she's done, she turns her head and looks to you. As soon as you lock eyes, a smile finds its way to her face. "Good morning beautiful." you say as you stroke some lose strands of hair out of her face.
"A very good morning to you too, handsome." She says back, thus completing your morning ritual.
You lean in and kiss her softly on the lips before you get out of bed. You make your way to door, planning to go to the kitchen to turn on the coffee machine. In the mean time Natara gets out of bed as well. She immediately makes her way to the bathroom. Since you were paying attention to her, instead of paying attention to where you're walking, you accidently bump into the packed suitcases standing in the hallway. You yelp in pain and scowl at the suitcases as if it's their fault. "Ah hell! Forgot those fucking things were there." you softly cuss to yourself. You rub the sore spot on your leg. At least it's not bleeding, so I guess it could be worse.. Then you continue your way to the kitchen, making sure that you walk around the suitcases this time. After turning on the coffee machine you make your way back and join Natara in the bathroom. The two of you quickly get ready for an exciting day.
Not much later you're headed downstairs with the suitcases. Natara is still upstairs, busy perfecting her hair or something like that, while you load the suitcases into the back of your late 60s roadster. You take a seat on the hood of your car and wait for her. After a few minutes you impatiently glance at your watch, an expensive-looking Rolex that you received as a birthday present from Raj, and see that you're about to be late if Natara doesn't hurry up. You'd promised everyone at the precinct that you'd stop by around 8 AM to say your goodbyes before you left for your 1-week vacation.
Vacation.. I really like the sound of that. I mean, I can barely remember the last time I went on vacation… Although this isn't a real vacation, since it is combined with a family-event. Not that that matters to me; I'm still very excited about it! In fact, the family-event makes it even more special. It's going to be so amazing. I don't even care that it's a fairly short vacation, because we're going to spend it at a private island owned by Raj. From what I heard, it could easily be heaven on earth. This vacation couldn't be better. I mean, this is going to be the first time I'll attend an Indian wedding. But I think that the most exciting thing is the fact that I'm finally going to meet the rest of Natara's family.. I've been eager to meet each and every one of them ever since Natara has told me some funny family stories. They sound like some of the most friendly, pleasant people in the world. More importantly, they sound like a bunch of fun! Natara has been very enthusiastic for the past weeks, because she can't wait to see them again. And honestly, her enthusiasm has affected me as well, which is why I'm probably just as excited to meet them, even though I don't even know them. I think that the person that I'm most eager to meet is Molly, the woman who is getting married. Nat told me so much about her. And the fact that Raj cares so much about her that he's willing to pay for her entire wedding makes me even more curious.
Two months ago Natara received a phone call from a very excited Anita. She called because one of Natara's nieces, namely Molly, recently got engaged to her long time boyfriend, Tom. Since Mollys father, an older brother of Raj, recently passed away, Raj himself offered to organize & pay for the wedding instead, to keep up the family honour. He arranged for the wedding to take place on a private island, which is located somewhere between Indonesia and India. He chose that location because he wanted it to be a private matter. He didn't even care about the travel costs. In fact, he offered to pay them for everyone. He left the rest of the organization over to Anita, who asked Natara to help her. Together, and sometimes with a little bit of help from Neha, they organized a complete wedding. You offered to help a few times as well, but it soon became clear that you weren't the wedding-planner type of guy. So you left it over to the women. The wedding itself will take about three days, but Raj invited you to stay a little longer, an offer that you gladly accepted.
You get pulled out of your thoughts when Natara finally steps out of the door and strolls towards you. As soon as she's in hearing distance you get up and grin at her. "Your carriage awaits, your majesty." You open the passenger side door for her and extend a hand to help her in.
She smiles while she gladly takes it and gets in the car, after which you jokingly take a bow. You quickly walk around the car and hop into the driver seat.
"Well, someone's perky this morning.." Natara remarks as you buckle your seatbelt.
You grin at her as you start the car. "I'm just really excited about our vacation. Plus I'm finally going to meet the rest of your family! Although that kind of terrifies me as well, if I'm being honest with you.."
"It terrifies you? How come?"
There's a short silence, as you're contemplating whether or not to tell Natara what you're thinking, because you know that it sounds kind of silly and childish. Eventually you decide to go through with it. You take in a deep breath, while trying to find the courage to speak your mind, you breathe out deeply and sheepishly start talking. "I don't know... I guess because they all sound like really great people from what you've told me. And I want them to like me. But what if I don't live up to their expectations..? What if I'll get rejec-"
But before you're able to finish your sentence, Natara interrupts you. "Don't be so silly, babe. I'm sure that they'll love you. It would be crazy if they didn't." she takes your hand from the gearshift and gives it a reassuring squeeze. You quickly glance at her, and flash her a charming smile to let her know that you're okay when you see that she's looking at you.
Now that you're reassured, you adjust the way you're holding the steering wheel to a more comfortable, confident position. "Thanks, Nat.." Not too much later, you pull up in front of the San Francisco Police Department. You get out, and observe the building as you walk towards it. Man, I'm going to miss this place.. Even if I'll only be away for a week, the SFPD has been like my second home ever since I was a little kid.. These people are my family, and I'll miss them. All of them. Well, maybe not all of them. I could really use a Kalaba-break… Meanwhile you've reached the entrance, so you open the door and hold it open for Natara, who steps in after you. The two of you make your way to the crime lab, where you've agreed to meet the others.
"Hey gu-" you start as you open the door.
The door is barely fully opened when you see a flash of something white quickly headed towards you. Before you're eyes were able to identify what it is, you feel something tugging at your collar. "Oh my God! Amy just told me the bad news! You're leaving me for a whole week?!" You frown and open your mouth to answer when you're suddenly pulled into a hug, "I'm going to miss you so mu-"
You quickly shove the person away from yourself. "Kai, get off of me!"
You accidentally push him harder than you intended, causing him to trip over his own feet and fall backwards. There's a soft "Ow!" coming from him as he lands on his butt.
Before you're able to open your mouth to apologize, the sound of laughter fills the room. You quickly glance through the crime lab and see the happy faces of Jeremy, Blaise, Kai and Amy. Amy recently returned to the precinct after she did whatever it was that she had to do to process everything that had happened to her. She's the one who steps forward and helps Kai to get back on his feet. Meanwhile Natara places a hand on your shoulder. "Mal, baby, relax a little.. We're going on vacation after all." she says with a soft squeeze.
A sudden phone call breaks the laughter. Jeremy quickly answers his phone. "Hello? ..Where? …Okay, we'll be right there." He says as he motions for Blaise to follow him. "Can you fill me in on what happened?" he asks. While the person on the other line continues to talk, he mouths 'I'm sorry.' and gestures to his phone. You wave it away like it's nothing. He exits the crime lab, and Blaise is about to follow him when she changes her mind and walks back to give you and Natara a group hug. "You guys have fun this week. Have a few drinks for me and Jeremy, will ya?" she asks with grin.
Next to you Natara starts laughing. You can't help but smile yourself. You give her a 'thumbs up' before she turns on her heels and leaves the crime lab as well. You turn back around and see that Amy put Kai to work. She herself is waiting to properly say goodbye to you. She looks down to the ground
"I can't believe you guys are leaving so soon after I've returned.."
You immediately feel bad, because you know that Natara&you are one of the main reasons that Amy returned, and now you're kind of leaving her behind. Natara apparently feels the same way, because she pulls Amy in a deep hug. "I know Amy, we're sorry.."
You awkwardly scratch the back of your neck. "Yeah.. You know we'd love to stay, but..."
She flashes you a sad smile. "Don't worry about it. I get it. You have to go. But I'm going to miss you guys nevertheless." She releases Natara and stands on her toes to hug you as well.
You wrap your arms around her and rub her back as a sign of support. "We're gonna miss you as well. But one week is practically nothing. We'll be back before you know it! Plus, you have Kai to keep you company.."
You let her go and smile when you see that her smile turns into a more genuine one. "That's true.." she says softly, while looking back at Kai. He's busy typing something, and doesn't even notice it. "Well.. I guess this is it. Have fun! I'll see you guys when you get back."
You flash her a reassuring smile. "Bye Amy. Until then." Then you turn around to leave the crime lab.
Natara says goodbye as well, and gives Amy a last, quick hug. Just as you reach the exit, she says goodbye to Kai. He immediately responds when he hears his name and yells "Byeee! Don't forget to make some beautiful Maltara babies! I already picked out some names f-" You quickly slam the door shut behind Natara to drown out the sound.
After a quick drive to the airport the two of you check in and give them your luggage. Then you walk towards the gate. You notice that it's fairly crowded in the other hallways, compared with the hallway that you're heading to. But you don't think much of it. The other people are probably a bunch of early-birds or something. But as soon as you reach the gate and see that there's almost no one there, you start to get suspicious. "Nat, where are the other people?"
She shoots you a confused look. "What other people?" Meanwhile she flashes the ground steward both of your tickets and passports.
Now it's your turn to look confused. "The other people that are supposed to board the plane.." The ground stewards checks your names, nods in approval, and gestures that you can continue before she hands everything back.
Natara gladly accepts it, and puts everything safely in her bag. "Oh honey, haven't I told you that it's a private plane?"
"Wait, what? No, you haven't.."
She smirks at you. "Babe, we're going to a private island, did you really think a public plane was going to fly there just for us? Of course we're taking a private plane." She reaches over and softly pats your cheek, and then she turns around and walks through the door, towards the plane.
"Well.. If you put it like that…." You mumble to yourself. Then you quickly follow her. A few moments later your mouth almost falls open when you step out and notice the luxurious plane in front of you. It is huge, way too huge to be for just the two of you. It looks like it could easily fit at least 10 other people. You were so mesmerized by the plane that you didn't even notice the pilots standing in front of it until you were standing right in front of them and Natara started to greet them. You force yourself to take your eyes off of the plane and extend your hand to greet them as well. After a short introduction they board the plane, gesturing for the two of you to follow them. You obey and walk up the stairs behind Natara. Once you step inside, you instantly smile. Woah, this is awesome. The plane doesn't even look like a plane from the inside. It looks more like a fancy living room. There's a huge flat screen TV, surrounded with a couch and some comfy looking chairs. There's even a kitchen with an enormous fridge on the other side of the plane. Since you're not hungry yet, you walk over to the living room part. You let yourself fall on the couch and make yourself comfortable. You grab the TV remote from the coffee table in front of you and flip it on. "Hmm.. Yep, this is gonna be my spot. If you need me, I'll be over here, watching TV until I fall asleep."
Natara follows you and starts to chuckle. "You're going to sleep the whole flight?" She puts her bag on the table and starts to unpack it.
"No.. Just a part. I know I can sleep a lot, but even I can't sleep for 20 hours straight babe."
"Just checking…. Are you sure that you're going to sleep at all? You'll probably experience some major jetlag if you do."
You sit up, so that you can see Natara while you're talking to her, and support yourself with your arms. "Oh really? Why don't you enlighten me.."
"If everything goes well, we'll arrive just in time for dinner, and soon after that it's already time to sleep. Meaning that if we're going to sleep in the plane, we'll never be able to sleep once we've landed."
There's a short silence while you're thinking it through. "Okay.. I guess you have a point. But what am I supposed to do for the next 20 hours?"
"Well… I brought a book." She says, while holding up a book that she just got out of her bag. "Don't you have something?"
"Uuhm.. No, not exactly. I didn't think it was necessary…"
"But I told you to take some precautions!"
You mischievously grin at her. "I did!" You suddenly grab Natara and pull her on top of you. "Kind of…" You give her a long, tender kiss. "I brought you, didn't I?" you whisper in her ear, making her giggle.
*About 20 hours later.*
You're lying on the couch with your eyes closed, although you're awake. Natara's lying on top of you, probably sleeping. The last few hours of the flight both of you had gotten enormously tired and decided to take a quick nap, so that you wouldn't be zombies when you finally land. You fell asleep for a while, but you have no idea how much time has passed in the mean time. Not that you care.. You're simply enjoying the closeness with Natara. You're softly stroking her hair, careful not to wake her up. Somehow you failed, because you suddenly hear her voice. "Mal?"
You quickly open your eyes and look down at the person lying on top of your chest. "Yeah babe?"
She slowly sits up, while staring out the window with a big smile on her face. "I think we're here.. Look!"
She gets up and walks over to the window. You imitate her actions and stand behind her, watching over her shoulder. Your eyes widen as you see that the land underneath you spreads as far as your eyes can reach. From what you can see there is a huge house in the middle of the island. The rest of the island is decorated with smaller houses close to the beach. "Wait.. THAT is your dads private island?" you say, the astonishment clear in your voice.
"Yes, it is. I know it's kind of big, but-"
"KIND OF big? Are you sure that we aren't flying over Asia instead of your dads island? Because it looks more like a freaking continent than like an island!"
She playfully rolls her eyes at you. "Okay, now you're just exaggerating…"
"….Maybe a little.. But damn, I know that your dad is loaded, but this is crazy. How can he possibly afford all this?"
"Whenever my family isn't using this island for private purposes, my dad rents the small beach houses to his wealthy business partners, so this island practically pays for itself."
"Hmm, okay.." You look outside the window again. "I'll probably get lost if you'll leave me alone down there."
She kisses you softly on your cheek. "Good thing you don't have to worry about that then.."
Turns out that Natara was right, and you were actually flying over the private island owned by Raj, because a few moments later the pilots warned you that they were going to land. After a smooth landing, the doors to the plain open and a portable-stairs is being rolled towards it to let you out. You thank the pilots for flying you safely across the world before you follow Natara out of the plane. As soon as you do, you're forced to squint your eyes because the bright sunlight shines into your eyes. Your eyes take a second to adjust. Damn, should've put my sunglasses on, but they're in my suitcase. Oh well.. You look around and see that you've landed close to the huge house in the middle of the island. Then you look down and see Neha, Anita and Raj waiting for you. Natara practically runs of the stairs, into the arms of her family. You smile widely while you quickly follow her. You're getting hugs from both Anita and Neha, while Raj gives you a firm handshake. "I take it that you could use a good meal after such a long journey?"
As the words leave his mouth, you start to realize how hungry you really are. The snacks in the plane were great, but that's all they really were. Snacks. You nod. "Actually, yes. That would be great."
"We'll get some dinner in a minute, but first..." He puts his hand on your back and pushes you towards the other side of the house. When you walk around the corner, you see a huge open place. There are several trucks parked on it. You look back to Natara, and see that's she's just as confused as you are. Meanwhile Raj digs into his pockets and retrieves something small, that looks like a little remote control. "As you've probably seen from the plane, this island is pretty big. It would take a few hours to get from one place to another if you'd go by foot. So this is why I've arranged another way of transport. Since you're the first one here, you get to choose first." He says as he pushes a few buttons. The back of the trucks open, and you're completely stunned by what you see in front of you. Inside of each truck are a few of the most desirable cars ever made in human history. You don't even know where you should look, because there is so much eye candy in front of you. The cars differ from old roadsters, like your car back home, to some of the newest sport cars. There is one particular car that catches your eye. It's like the car is calling you to come over, and you automatically walk up to it and run your hand over the dark red hood. "The Ferrari F12berlinetta… Wow…" you say more to yourself, than to anyone else.
Raj suddenly appears next to you. "Do you like it?"
"Like it? I adore it. This is a beautiful car.." Your hand slides from the dark red hood to the matt black body of the car. "And I love what you've done with the colours. It's not your average red Ferrari. It's simple, yet stylish."
All of a sudden Raj presses a set of keys into your hands. "That's settled then. It's yours, at least for this week. The other keys are the keys to a small beach house where the two of you will be staying. I'll have someone programme the route in your navigation system as we have dinner. Now come on, it is time for dinner."
You're so overwhelmed by the fact that you get to drive the Ferrari that you barely understood what he said. But you quickly nod just in case. You let yourself get escorted towards what seems to be the main building. You follow them into the dining room, and within no-time dinner is served. Everything goes smoothly, but you can't help but wonder where the rest of the people are. This is a wedding after all. Eventually you reach a point where you can't stop your curiosity anymore. "So.. Where are the other people?"
"I thought it'd be nice to have a little family time before the others join us, so I scheduled them to arrive in the next two days. Molly's family will arrive tomorrow, and Tom and his family will arrive the day after that."
"Why does Tom's family arrive a day later?"
Raj shoots Natara a confused glance. "Haven't you told him?"
She just shrugs. "No, not yet. I thought I'd explain everything as it happened.." Then she turns to you. "But since you asked, it's customary for the grooms parents to travel to he bride's family home to formalise the relationship. Then a large feast is organised by the bride's family to celebrate this occasion."
"Oh, okay. That sounds fairly logical." You say with a slight smile. Raj continues to explain that this island holds enough houses for everyone who's going to attend the wedding. He tells you that Mollys family will reside on one part of the island, and Toms family will reside on the other side to avoid awkward encounters. During the rest of the dinner Raj, Anita and Natara inform you about the significance of certain Indian rituals. Meanwhile Neha keeps making funny faces, trying her best to make you laugh. Time really flies by, and before you know it dinner is over. You lean back into your chair, fully satisfied. You immediately regret it, because your eyes are starting to fall close. So you sit straight again and rub your eyes. You try your best to stay awake, but your sleep deprivation is starting to catch up with you. The same apparently goes for Natara, because she can't help but yawn, which doesn't go unnoticed.
"Oh I'm so sorry dear, I got so caught up in the fun that I almost forgot that you travelled from across the world. You two must be tired! Let's get you to bed.." Anita says with a worried expression on her face.
"Mom, it's fine. Really.." Natara tries.
But the look on Anita's face doesn't change. "No, no, I insist. Raj, is their car ready?"
"Yes dear, and their luggage has been delivered as well."
"Good, go and get some rest. We'll see you tomorrow. Good night."
The tone of her voice tells you that she's not playing around, so you quickly get up. Natara does the same next to you. Everyone wishes each other goodnight before Natara and you leave to find the Ferrari that you 'picked out' standing on the driveway. You take the key from your pocket and open the door. When you do, your stomach does a little flip from excitement. You feel like you're a little boy again, who just got his first police car from his dad for Christmas. You quickly get into the drivers seat and buckle your seatbelt. Then you take a moment to take in everything that is happening. I'm blessed. You turn to Natara, who's sitting in the passenger seat, and grin at her. "You ready?" You ask, while pushing the 'start the engine' button.
I have two questions for y'all this time :) 1; what's your favourite animal? If there's a clear favourite, it'll appear in the story! And 2; what do you think will be cuter; Mal&Natara playing with a cute little boy or a girl?
Oh, and since Natara's family is probably huuuuge, there's gonna be a few new characters.. So let me know if you'd like to be in my story lol. And if you want a bf/husband/whatever. Give me as much details as you like :p
Last but not least; I made the car black/red, because there was only 1 person who specifically mentioned a colour lol. But I felt like a Ferrari always should have a little Red, so I edited a pic to make it look like the car Mal's driving, it's on my tumblr (forever-teambreezy) if you'd like to see it! :)
Okay okay, this really is the last thing; How many of you thought that Mal&Natara were engaged & about to get married? Because BAZINGA! Fooled ya there :p mwhuahah, I'm soo evil XD
Review replies:
Claire: Hahah oops, sorry that I made you wait so long o_O
NaturallyFlaxen: Thank you! Hahah, like the way you think ,the 'Prius' idea was clever, but I guess they're not in SF anymore lol.
HopelessRomantic1994: Awww really? Thank you Jade! Right back at ya :)
Mozzi-girl: Oh hell yeah! Hahahahah! You're welcome, lol. Couldn't agree more, they're adorableee.
JustAnotherFreakyFangirl: BAM! Couldn't agree more with you! You were the only one who mentioned a colour lol. It's not a convertible though.. I wanted to do that at first but.. This car was so sexy o_O
CoDisgreat: Omg. I think I fell in love with that car. It's gorgeous :D You, my friend, are a genius!
Maltara101: Hahaha awww! *joins you* looool. Thank you for your ideas&review Tori :) sorry that the cars you mentioned aren't in the story…
NiekaWow: Thank you so much! :)
DizzyRedhead: Hahah, nope. Got you there ;) There aren't gonna be any Maltara babies yet :p
AKgirl2001: Thanks for the input! Sorry it's not a California, but it is an Ferrari? :D
