Chapter Nineteen - A Thousand Miles

"Well John, it's been a pleasure sir." Said Derek shaking John's hand as they said their goodbyes.

"The pleasure was all mine Derek." Replied John smiling.

"Abby. It was nice to meet you."

"You too." She answered shaking his hand.

"Goodbye Father." Said Carter as he shook hands with the Welsh priest.

"Have a good flight Dr Carter. And Abby, you too."

"Thanks Father." Said Abby clutching Carters other hand.

"Congratulations by the way." Said Derek. "It was a lovely ceremony."

"Yeah, it was. Thanks." Replied Abby.

"Goodbye Mr doctor." Said the Puerto Rican cleaner.

"Goodbye Alehandro. Thanks for keepin' the place clean."

"It is no problem sir. Have good trip maam." He answered Carter, then turned to Abby.

"Thank you Alehandro." Abby smiled at him as he kept nodding his head and telling them it was a pleasure to have them there. Strange little Puerto Rican.

They boarded the plane, and began the 6 hour flight. Lunch was served at three. Melon for starters, and main course was a choice of lasagne or carbonara. Abby chose the carbonara but Carter stuck with the lasagne. Ham on a plane didn't sit well in his mind for some reason.

"What time do we land?" Abby asked the steward as he placed the meals in front of them on the table at the side of the main lounge area.

"9pm Miss."

"Actually, it's Mrs." Corrected Carter smirking at Abby who was immediately embarrassed by his remark.

"I apologise Maam."

"It's okay. I'm not used to it either." She replied cheerfully giving Carter the evil look.

He sniggered and tucked into his meal. Abby scattered parmesan cheese on her meal then began eating. They were alone in the lounge when Carter suddenly broke the silence.

"Who are you gonna tell first?"

"Tell what?" She asked swallowing a mouthful.

He looked at her as if to say 'you know what' and she smiled and took another bite.

"I don't know. If somebody asks, I'll tell them."

"And if not..?"

"Then I won't."

"You're not going to tell anybody unless she guess?!"

"Pretty much yeah."

"Nobody will guess."

"Oh I'll bet they will."

"I'll bet they won't."

"John of course they will! They definitely will when they see the ring!"

"The bamboo ring. Yeah okay." He said sarcastically.

"No. The ring we are going to buy tomorrow."

"The ring we're going to buy tomorrow?"

"Yeah. That ring."

"Oh. THAT ring."

"Yeah."

"What ring?!" He said trying to hide his smirk which was slowly appearing across his face.

"John I'm not wearing a bamboo for the rest of our married life!"

"Why not?! I think it's unique."

"Unique. Yeah. Ugly. Yeah."

"Oh come on it's not that bad!"

"Oh it so is." "Fine fine. Whatever you say MRS Carter." He sniggered and continue to eat his meal.

"Less of the Mrs please."

"What's the problem?!"

"It makes me feel..old."

"Old? Well then how do you think it makes me feel?!"

"I seem to remember that your name doesn't change when you get married therefore it shouldn't make you feel any different!"

"I didn't mean MY name."

"What then?" She said, losing her patience a little while Carter continued his wind up.

"I meant how do you think it makes me feel being married to someone 'old'."

"Very funny John."

He laughed and took a sip of his distilled water he had just poured.

"I thought it was."

"I can see that!" She replied.

She put another mouthful in her mouth, trying her best not to laugh at his immature joke but failed miserably. She stifled a laugh and then finally a huge smile spread across her face and she laughed with him. He laughed more when she laughed, it wasn't nearly as much fun when it was just him. He loved her smile, that smile when she laughed was so beautiful. He didn't think she could get any more beautiful, but every time he saw her he was proved wrong. The more time he spent with her, the more he loved her even more than the last time. They hadn't really been apart from each other for longer than a few minutes for the past few weeks and that's the way he wanted it to stay. He loved them, together, as a couple, always together, never apart. It was, heaven. Cliché he knew, heaven didn't exist. But when he was with her, it did, and everything else seemed to fall into place because of her.

"I love your smile." He said as he continued to watch her beaming across the table.

"Thank you." She replied, slightly embarrassed by his random comment. "You'd think I'd be used to your compliments by now!"

"Maybe. It could just mean I don't say it enough for you to realise I'm not lying." He replied, matter of fatly.

"Could be. Or it could just be that you are actually lying out of your back teeth so you can get me into bed."

"Oh would I?!"

"I don't know. Probably."

"You're so wrong!" He chuckled as he stuffed another spoonful of lasagne in his mouth.

"Nice?"

"It's okay. Nothing special. Yours?"

"It's good actually. Better than how you cook it." She smirked and carried on eating.

"That's not nice! Especially as it's plane food!"

"Shows how good your cooking is."

"You're so gonna regret that!"

She laughed and placed her spoon and fork next to each to signify that she'd finished.

"I'm stuffed."

"Me too." He sighed as he put his cutlery together too. "So what do you wanna do?!" He said, lifting one eyebrow as he moved and collapsed onto the couch.

"Well.." She began, as she slowly got up and moved over to sit with him on the sofa. "I've got some ideas.." She continued as she moved in for a kiss.

"Actually.." He stopped her as she came close to kissing him and put a finger against her lips. "I was hoping to catch the game."

She looked at him and was a bit shocked to say the least. She moved back and went over to the other couch.

"Fine." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Fine." He said back casually as he flicked on the remote.

She sat in a huff for a while as Carter tried to hide his smile. He loved to wind her up, she was so cute when she was angry. He continued to watch the 'game' which he was totally uninterested in, while Abby kept sighing loudly and trying to get his attention. 'It was working!' he thought as he crossed his arms and laid back a little supposedly watching the 'oh so important' game. This carried on for ten minutes when finally she got up and announced she was going to the bathroom.

"Kay." He answered her statement not taking his eyes away from the TV.

She walked out quite loudly and closed the door to the bathroom pretty hard that it made Carter jump suddenly. He laughed to himself and got up. He locked the other door so the crew couldn't come in, and the only other entrance was from the toilet into the main lounging area, where Abby was going to reappear any minute. He tidied the place up and switched off the TV.

All blinds were closed, soft music was put on, Enya obviously, and candles were lit. He scattered those dried petals over the silk sheets of the bed and poured them both some sparkling cider. He waited for a while when after ten minutes, Abby had still not returned. He thought this was weird so he got up and went to the door.

"Abby honey are you okay?"

Silence.

"Abby?"

Still silence.

"Abby! Answer me!" He became a little worried.

Then he heard muffled sounds, and something which sounded like a reply.

"What?" He said eagerly, trying to make out her quiet words.

"I'm locked in dammit." Abby repeated.

"You're what?!" Carter replied, trying his best not to laugh.

"The door won't open. It's stuck." She said irritably.

"Oh that's okay it's always playing up."

"Easy for you to say you're not in here." She replied sarcastically.

"It's okay just lift it up slightly and push to the left, then it should unlock."

He heard a shuffle and the lock suddenly clicked. She appeared looking pretty pissed off and not amused.

"That, was not funny." She said as she saw the amusement on his face.

"I'm not laughing."

"I don't blame you, I'd laugh."

"I'm sorry. It's funny though." He laughed.

"I'm surprised you noticed being so involved in the game."

"Well I needed a drink!"

"You'll be lucky. I'll bet the game was boring too."

"I was really enjoying it actually!"

"I'm sure." She replied, still a little annoyed.

"Come on, watch it with me." He said as he pushed her towards the door.

"It's not really my thing."

"Come on, it'll be great!" He said enthusiastically as he shoved her into the room.

"No I.." She broke off when she saw the room.

It was like their first time. Petals, music, candles. It was, perfect.

"So am I forgiven?!" He asked sorrowfully.

"I guess!" She said slowly, still taking it all in.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd take it seriously."

"What?"

"The game. I wasn't really watching it. I just wanted you to leave for a bit so I could prepare!"

"Prepare for what?!" She said seductively as she turned around to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

They kissed for a while when Abby suddenly stopped and pushed him away.

"What's wrong?" He asked surprised.

"The door. It's not locked."

"It's locked."

"It isn't I went through it a while ago!"

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"Did you lock it?"

"Maybe." He said with a cheeky smirk. "And I put the 'Do not disturb' notice up."

She smiled mischievously and wrapped her arms around his neck again.

"Well I guess there's only one more thing to do then.." She said as she moved closer for another kiss.

The rest of the flight was spent in bed. Making love, talking about love, being in love, just love. A thousand miles went by so quickly that when they landed they were still in bed, albeit with the bed belts buckled after the announcement minutes before.

"The flights' gone pretty quickly." Said Abby as she moved in for another kiss.

"It has. I'm pretty tired actually!"

"I should hope so! If you weren't then I'd be worried."

"Didn't you know I'm Superman?!"

"If you were I wouldn't have you!"

"Why not?!"

"Cos I'd be with somebody else, preferably exactly like you!"

"Oh well I guess that's fair." He chuckled back and returned her another kiss.

(Announcement) "Thank you for flying with Hartley's airline Mr and Mrs. Carter, we hope you enjoyed your stay and your flight with us."

"I guess that's us!" Said Abby as she grabbed her bra which was hanging from the light on the wall.

"Awww do we have to?!"

"Not unless you wanna stay on the plane!"

"That's sounds appealing..!"

"On your own may I add!"

"Not so appealing."

"I didn't think it would be!"

"I really don't want this to be over." He said regretfully.

She stopped fussing about where her jeans had gone and walked slowly over to him.

"Me neither." She said stroking his hair. "But we gotta go back to work sometime."

"Yeah, I know." He said sorrowfully sighing as he clambered out of bed and grabbed his crumpled shirt off the floor.

They set about clearing up the mess they had created and got their hand luggage together. Carter unlocked the door and waited for Abby to walk through before he followed.

"Thank you for the wonderful flight Jerry." Said Carter as he passed one of the stewards as he got off.

"You're very welcome sir. Maam. It was our pleasure."

"Thank you." Said Abby. Slightly embarrassed as this wasn't the first time she had been called Maam.

They walked down the stairs leading off the plane and stepped onto the solid ground of Chicago.

"Do I look like a Maam to you?" Abby said suddenly as they were collecting their baggage underneath the plane.

"No. Why?" Answered John confused.

"Cos I've been called it so many times recently I'm beginning to think I'm ageing by the day!"

"Of course you're not! You'll always be beautiful to me anyway, even if you have got a few wrinkles." He winked and lifted their baggage onto the trolley.

"Ha ha. Seriously though, do you think I look old enough to be a Maam?" She continued.

Carter sighed and turned around to her with her arms crossed frowning to herself.

"Abby, they were just being polite. People call my nine year old second cousin Jenna 'Maam', so I wouldn't let it bother you."

"I guess."

"No it's not 'I guess', it's 'yes John you're right'!"

"Okay."

"Let me hear you say it otherwise we're not going home."

"Yes John you're right!"

"Thank you." He smiled, gave her a peck on the nose and continued stacking their bags.

"Hey, you know what?"

"What?" He said as he carried on with his back to her.

"You just said when we get 'home'." She replied.

"Yeah!" He replied excitedly. "Home. Our home!" He repeated.

"Our home." She said calmly.

He stopped what he was doing and turned back around to Abby who was smiling so much she thought her face would stay that way. He leaned down and softly kissed her on the lips as she tilted her head to reach him. She moved her hands around his waist and tucked her hands into his belt at the back.

"I can't wait." He said smiling.

They kissed again and Carter decided it wasn't his job to load the bags anyway so they asked Alger to carry them when he appeared, and walked closely together in the same position, to the car.