Delilah Fielding McGee looked at her ticket number as they called out the number. Her eyes widened as she realized they had called her number. She had won the grand prize! She was so surprised she couldn't speak for a moment, and then finally she waved the ticket over her head, and cried, "I got it, that's mine!" Various groans of disappointment and comments of congratulations followed her as she wheeled her way through the crowd towards the HR Director to collect her prize. It wasn't till she held the voucher envelope in her hand that it hit her. She'd won a ten day all-expense paid cruise for two to Hawaii…fly to Los Angeles, cruise from San Pedro, five-day island hop and fly home from Honolulu.

She'd never cruised before, and neither had Tim. Oh no! Tim had never cruised due to his getting seasick. But she desperately wanted to go on this cruise with him. There just had to be a way to work this out. She'd suggest Dramamine, but he used that at work, and he was starting to build up a tolerance to it, so he tried hard to have someone else go out on water scenes.

She decided to wait to tell Tim about the cruise until they were both home from work and the twins were in bed. Fortunately, that night, crime cooperated, and Tim actually got home at a decent hour. She fixed a really good dinner, and got the kids to bed with a minimum of fuss. They settled on the couch to watch a movie.

While Tim was idly flipping through the channels, Delilah nervously reached into her bag for the voucher. Silently she handed it to him as she spoke. "Remember that raffle from work? I won, Tim."

Without reading it, Tim grinned. "You did? That's great, baby! What did you win?"

"Umm, you better read it."

Tim looked at her oddly for a moment and then read the letter. He looked back at his wife, his eyes wide with abject horror. "A cruise? Are you kidding me? Why'd you even enter a raffle for a cruise?"

"Because it was for a good cause, and because I never win these things. I never thought about it again after I entered the raffle. The ticket was $25. and hundreds of people entered from what I understand. The odds were totally against me winning. Please, Tim. Let's do this. I've never been on a cruise. Maybe Palmer can give you a shot or something."

Tim sighed. "Yeah, maybe." He looked into his wife's hopeful eyes. "Okay. Yeah, let's do it. I have some vacation time built up. Let's coordinate our schedules. Besides, I've heard those ocean Liners are pretty smooth out there on the open ocean."

Delilah squealed and hugged Tim tightly. "Thank you, sweetheart! You won't regret this!"

Three Weeks Later

Tim was regretting coming on this cruise with all his heart and all his stomach. He lay curled in a ball on the bed in their stateroom. He was miserably seasick. It was just their luck that an underwater volcano had erupted several hundred miles from their location and caused an earthquake, which in turned caused abnormally rough seas. They were two days out of Los Angeles and Tim was sure he was going to die… or more precisely, he really wished he would. It figured he would wind up sick on vacation.

Delilah was doing her best to help him, since the Dramamine was doing nothing, and it had turned out there were no long-term anti-nausea shots after all. She bathed his forehead with cool, damp washcloths, held a basin for him when he needed it, and generally went above and beyond, according to poor Tim. She was just doing what she knew he would do for her if the situation was reversed.

A couple of days later the seas eased, and Tim felt slightly better. The Dramamine started working, and he was able to enjoy the cruise a bit more. Ironically, that evening, he felt up to floating in a rubber life preserver in the huge pool with Delilah and watching "Jaws" on the giant movie screen. Apparently, it was a tradition. They had a blast!

That night was a turning point in the cruise, and they had a wonderful time sailing from island to island, shopping, playing tourist, and learning about island lore and history. They decided they would have to return someday to the islands, to take more time to just soak them in. But for now, it was time to fly out of Honolulu and return home. One thing they were both very grateful for. Neither Delilah nor Tim got airsick.

The End

#sicktember2022