***Willow Pond***

Jennifer and Jonathan came inside the house, and waited for the police to come meet them.

"I'm going to run change clothes real fast, darling. I'll be right back".

She zipped up the stairs and changed into some leggings and a tunic, and quickly packed them another overnight bag.

She came back downstairs and set the bag by the door.

Jonathan yelled to her from the kitchen that Lt. Grey was at the gate.

She unlocked the door and after Jonathan let him in, they joined her on the couch.

Jonathan leaned back against Jennifer, as Lt. Grey informed them about how they had found Bob Stanton.

"He was quite foolish. He told everyone that he was a millionaire, and some undesirables tried to mug him. So, he filed a police report in Belize and gave them his American driver's license. They ran it, came upon our warrant, and took him into custody. He should be back in the states within a week. We will notify you what the next steps are going to be".

"That's wonderful news!"

"Thanks, Lt. We appreciate it".

They saw him out, and then left themselves. After hitting up the grocery store, they decided to spend another 2 nights on the boat.

***Jennifer Suzanne***

It was mid-afternoon when they got back to the boat. Jennifer went below with all the groceries and their overnight bag and put everything away. She put her swimsuit back on, and went to help Jonathan get the boat ready to take off again.

After they had shoved off and were on their way, she went and stood next to him and rubbed his shoulders some.

"How far out do you want to go?"

"About 3 hours or so. Far out enough that we won't be disturbed."

"Good plan".

She scratched his back some while he steered the boat, and finally they got to a place where Jonathan wanted to anchor.

They dropped all the anchors, and when they were confident the boat wasn't moving, they went down below.

They prepared dinner, and she helped him grill it. Chicken and veggie kebabs, and salad, and she made him some garlic mashed potatoes.

He poured them some wine, and they sipped it while he was grilling. She stood there with her head on his shoulder and her arm wrapped around his.

"You know just one week ago, I figured we would be splitting up our assets by now".

"Me too, and thanks to Bob Stanton, I didn't think there would be much to split".

"You think we can recover most of the money?"

"I would say at least ½, if not more. But to be quite honest, it's not really about the money for me anymore. He lied to me, he stole from me, he stole from us, and he's someone I trusted. Because of him, it's hard for me to trust other people now, that I haven't known very long, and I find myself checking up on people that I have known just as long or longer than him, and I hate that. I don't want to be like that".

"Well, nobody would blame you for being like that. You're human, it's an honest reaction. He stole from you, and from us".

"You know what gets me the maddest out of all of it? The fact that you were affected. If you hadn't been able to pay for your gas, you could have been hurt, kidnapped, who knows what. I mean, that punk broke into the house, and what if I hadn't been there? If you want to steal from me, steal from me, but leave my wife out of it".

"You are so cute when you are protecting me".

She leaned up and kissed him.

"I was fine then, and if it happened again, I will be fine then as well. I was mad, but if I hadn't come to yell at you, we wouldn't have known it".

"Truth be told I was glad you came and yelled at me."

"You were glad?"

"Yes. It was the most interaction we had had together in days. It wasn't my favorite type of interaction, but I will take any excuse I can to spend some time with you, especially when it's my fault that we have been so distant".

"I'm not blameless either. I shouldn't have pushed you away when you tried to reach out to me. I always say I am going to be more understanding, I just can't ever seem to actually be more understanding".

"You are far more understanding than I deserve, Jennifer. I hit the jackpot when I met you, and again when you agreed to marry me, and I would be a fool to let you go".

He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close for a long, passionate kiss.

When they came up for air, he held her close for a few minutes.

"I think our dinner is almost ready".

"I will go down below and finish the rest of it. Do you want to eat out here or in the cabin?"

"Out here would be nice. There's a nice breeze and we can turn the lights on again".

"Perfect. I will be right back up".

She gave him a lingering kiss and then disappeared below deck.

She emerged a few minutes later, wearing a strapless sundress, and carrying their plates, silverware, the mashed potatoes for him, the salad for both of them, 2 water glasses, and 2 cloth napkins, plus salt, pepper, and the grated parmesan she knew he liked for his potatoes.

"Darling, how did you carry all of that? You should have yelled for me, I would have come to help you".

"No need, darling. I waited tables my freshman year of college, I still remember some of those skills".

She set it all down, and they deconstructed the pile, and in about 2 minutes, the table was set.

They had a very romantic dinner, where they took turns feeding each other bites, and then they took the dishes down below and washed them together.

After the dishes were done, he grabbed her hand and led her upstairs to the deck.

"What are we doing?"

"I want to show you something".

He opened one of the compartments that they used for storage, and pulled out a telescope and a tripod. He quickly set it up, and then told her to look in it and tell him what she saw.

"A few stars, some faint white specs, and a lot of blackness".

"Did you ever take astronomy?"

"No. Did you?"

"Yes, for two semesters. And then I manufactured a magnifying lens for the telescope that I sold to NASA. I believe that was about 4 years after I founded the company, so about 10 years before I met you".

"I see".

"So, what I wanted to show you, is the cycle".

"The cycle?" She was trying very hard to understand.

"Yes. Remember when you and I were at the counselor's office and you told her that we couldn't break the cycle of us breaking plans and pushing each other away?"

"Yes".

"Ok, so that cycle is the one that we were on. This cycle, the one that I want to show you, is the one that we are on now".

"I'm confused".

"Let me break it down for you".

"Please".

"Ok, so in space, you have stars that are born, and then they live, and they shine bright, and then they die out, and new ones are born, and the cycles continue".

"Ok, that makes sense".

"This cycle takes about 10 billion years".

"That long? That's so interesting".

"So, what I am telling you, is that you and I are on this cycle. The black stuff is the old us-the ones who push each other away and don't make an effort to spend time together, and resent each other for things. That part of us is dying out. And the white stuff is the new part of us, this part right here, the part that is committed to putting each other first again, like we used to, and not letting anything get in between us, and agreeing that we aren't going to stop communicating with each other when we are upset".

"I love this new cycle. I hope we can stay on it forever". She leaned up and kissed him a few times.

"I love you Jonathan Charles, and I am so happy that you didn't give up on me".

"Me give up on you? Why would I ever give up on you?"

"Most husbands wouldn't have stood for their wives coming to their work and yelling at them, and saying all those awful things to them. You took it from me and still wanted to be around me, which is highly commendable".

"What can I say, I love you so much I will take any time spent with you, even if it's negative".

She teared up.

"I don't deserve you, darling. You are so good to me".

"We are good to each other. I couldn't do half of what I do without you next to me, and I wouldn't want to do any of it. No matter what crazy idea I come up with, you are right there by my side, willing to try it with me. You put up with more than your fair share of disappointments from me because of my crazy schedule, and 99% of the time, you take it in stride. And my favorite part is, you don't just love me, you love me with your whole heart. You make my heart skip a beat when you come in a room, and I go to bed every night knowing what a lucky man I am to have you. I hope I always have you, darling".

She kissed him, and softly caressed his cheek as he held her close.

He took the telescope down, and put it away, and turned off the lights. He secured the boat, and took the key with them downstairs, and locked the door to their cabin just to be safe.

"Darling, can you look at the radar and see if we are going to have a storm tonight?"

"Sure." He walked over to the shelf and got out the portable scanner, and looked it up.

"Looks like we will have showers, but nothing severe".

"I packed us a new overnight bag, and put you some fresh pajamas and your shaving kit in there. It's in the closet".

"You're the best, babe".

He kissed her, as she took her nightgown into the bathroom.

"Be right back".

He grabbed the overnight bag, and started looking for his pajamas.

"Babe, what pocket did you put them in? I don't see them in here".

"Keep looking".

"I'm looking, but they are not here, I am telling you".

By the time she came out of the bathroom, he had emptied every pocket of the overnight bag and still hadn't found his pajamas.

"Babe, they aren't in here. I have emptied all the pockets".

"Well then sailor, I guess you will have to just do without".

He turned to look at her, and saw that she had on a purple and black sheer lace spaghetti strap halter teddy, that left very little to the imagination.

He came to her and kissed her neck.

"You are so devious".

"Ain't I just?"

She kissed him, as he picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He carried her to the bed, and laid her down across it. She reached up and pulled his shirt off his head, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You are so gorgeous".

He started kissing her neck and her jawbone, and she ran her fingers through his hair.

He reached into her teddy and pulled her breast out, and sucked on it and kissed it, eliciting a moan from her, that made his toes curl.

She shuddered in delight and gripped his shoulders.

He slipped the halter neckline from her neck, and gingerly helped her out of the teddy.

She reached down and undid his shorts, and he quickly stepped out of them,

He reached over and got the pillows all stacked and then scooted her over to them.

"Comfy?"

"Very".

"Perfect. I want you to be extra comfortable so that you can enjoy this".

"Enjoy it? The thing we never do, or the thing that we hardly ever do?"

"You'll see".

He laid on top of her again, and focused his attention on her breasts, and squeezed them, sucked on them, nibbled on them, until she was shivering and digging her nails into his shoulders. He moved his kisses lower, and started kissing her inside thigh. He could feel her excitement begin to build.

He kissed his way closer and closer, and then finally flung her legs over his shoulders and used his tongue to part the folds of her innermost heat. She was writhing against his tongue and holding his head firmly in place. He licked and sucked and nibbled and kissed till she finally let go and let her orgasm wash over her whole body.

"Jonathan!"

He lightly kissed his way back up to her lips, and sucked on them and nibbled for a few minutes.

She was scratching his back, as he sucked on her left breast.

She leaned down and started rubbing his manhood, and then pushed him off her and straddled him herself.

"Your turn, darling".

She scooted down, and took him in her mouth, lightly stroking as she sucked and licked.

"Oh, Red, that's amazing".

She sucked and licked and squeezed him till he was moaning in delight, and then just before he was going to release, he pulled out, and tossed her onto her back, and thrust into her. She tightened around him as he fondled her breasts, and they rocked their hips together in synchronous motion.

"Come on, honey".

"Ok, baby".

He thrust into her again, and they both went over the edge together.

He laid down on top of her and wrapped his arms around her.

He kissed her cheek.

"I love you, you are so amazing".

"I love you too".

They straightened out the sheets and the blanket, and fell asleep together.

***During the night***

A big storm rolled in, and even though the boat was anchored, it started pitching and rolling. Jennifer woke up, curled up with Jonathan, and sat up. She was feeling nauseous. She decided to try some water, and was easing off the bed, when the boat rolled again, and she tumbled onto the floor.

"Ohhhh". Jonathan woke up and realized what was happening.

"Babe, you alright?"

He went to her and helped her up.

"I think I'm going to be sick".

He helped her to the bathroom, and she sat on the floor, bracing herself against the tub and hung her head over the toilet.

He threw on some clothes and went up top to see if the anchors were still set, and came back down, soaked to the bone.

She was still in the bathroom, and was getting up as he came in.

"Feel better?"

"Kind of. I don't think I am actually going to be sick, it's just the motion".

"I'll get you a patch".

"Darling, you are soaking wet".

"I went to make sure we were still anchored down."

He helped her up and she leaned against him, while he put the patch behind her ear.

He took his wet clothes off and hung them up in the shower.

He helped her back to bed, and she figured out that she would do better if they switched sides.

He readily agreed, and held her till she fell asleep, smoothing the hair off her face and kissing her forehead.

He fell asleep with her right after she did, and they slept together till well after 8. By then, all was calm.

Jennifer woke up first, and looked around the room.

She was astonished at what she saw.

"Jonathan! Jonathan!"

He began to stir.

"What is it, honey?"

"What the hell happened in here last night?"