27 – This Is Now

They slept late on Sunday morning. The woodpecker came and went without waking them. Felicity finally stirred at the sound of a horn honking outside, and the voices of company visiting the next cabin over. This is our last full day, she thought gloomily. She sighed and pulled back the covers, getting ready to swing out of bed.

Ben's arm tightened around her waist. "Don't get up yet. This is too nice to waste with being up."

She smiled and burrowed back under the covers, turning toward him.

Ben shifted, slid both arms around her, and pulled her onto his chest. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she beamed, taking in his smile and his tousled hair. She glanced over at the tiny clock on her nightstand. "It's kind of late, and it is our last whole day here. Any chance of getting you out of bed if I offer to make breakfast?"

He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Sure, try and tempt me with food."

Felicity giggled and started to sit up. "Isn't that what they say? The way to a man's heart—"

"Is not through his stomach, in spite of what 'they' say," Ben rumbled in amusement. He tugged on her arm. "Get back here."

Her arm swept out from under her, and she landed on him with a squeak. Ben jerked the covers up over their heads and grabbed her in a bear hug, kissing her. "There is no hiking. There's no lake, there's no hot springs, and there's definitely nothing out there to see today. It's boring. Yellowstone sucks…except for this cabin. This bed. This bed is the not-sucky thing about Yellowstone. You should stay here." He laughed.

Felicity laughed with him. It was impossible not to. The sound was too infectious to resist. When he pulled her even closer for more kisses, she kissed him back with equal fervor. They passed a few very pleasant minutes.

Ben pulled away at last with a wicked grin, spilling her off his chest. He swept the blankets off them and sat up. "On second thought, food doesn't suck, either."

"Hey!" she cried indignantly, flinging a pillow at him.

Ben laughed and fended off another flying pillow, getting to his feet to check the fire in the wood stove. He blocked a third pillow aimed at his head. "All right. All right! Let me get in the shower and—"

Felicity lobbed the last pillow at his midsection. With a grin, Ben caught it and tackled her on the bed, slapping the pillow over her head. Felicity gave a muffled squeak and kicked at him, but he pinned her down. "Okay! Uncle! Whatever!" she hooted, attempting to wrest her arms out from underneath him.

"I win," Ben said smugly, taking the pillow off of her and letting her up.

"Nuisance."

He pulled a change of clothes from the dresser and left the room laughing.

Felicity sat cross-legged in the middle of the rumpled bed and just glowed.

- - - - -

Their last full day was somewhat bittersweet at first, but they had so much to do that Felicity soon forgot that this was nearly the end of their stay at Yellowstone. The first order of business was to find a car wash for The Baby. After that, they began working their way through their list of remaining things to check out. They saw quite a lot of birds and a herd of bison on their drive up to the hot springs. Felicity took two rolls of film at the springs alone as they steamed into the bright air.

They were on their way through a half-mile hike when Ben grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her on the trail. "Felicity, look," he murmured.

She turned and looked where he pointed, down a slope into a large meadow many yards away. Something moved in the grass. And another something behind it. And another.

A shaggy grey head emerged from the tall grasses in the lead, and Felicity saw her first wild wolf. She gasped and covered her mouth in awe. Several feet behind the first wolf, a second lean grey form loped into view. That one glanced right toward them before continuing on its way. The last wolf to emerge from the high grass was pure white. She was afraid to speak above a whisper. "Oh, my God. They're so beautiful."

Ben grabbed her camera and snapped a photo before the lupine trio before they trotted away into the trees at the end of the meadow.

Realizing he'd caught them on film, Felicity came back to herself. "Oh… Thanks. I completely forgot about my camera."

Ben grinned at her, then looked back in the direction the wolves had gone. "That was cool."

Felicity fizzed with enthusiasm, unable to help jumping up and down. "We saw wolves!"

He laughed and took her hand, and they continued on their hike.

They stopped for lunch alongside the trail, then turned back the way they came to get the car. For the rest of the afternoon, they toured various spots that they had previously missed. Felicity finally got her picture of Old Faithful, just by chance, when they decided to make a stop at the visitor center nearby.

In the evening, they joined a ranger-led campfire program discussing Yellowstone's history. Afterward, the group enjoyed cocoa and roasted marshmallows. The brisk air was filled with the sound of popping fire and laughter.

A young couple sat beside them holding hands with their heads bent together in intimate conversation. Felicity smiled at the romantic sight.

The woman turned around. Seeing Felicity, she asked, "Could you pass us a refill on the cocoa?"

"Sure," Felicity smiled, reaching for the pot beside the fire. She handed it over to the woman. "That was a cool presentation, don't you think?"

"It really was," the woman agreed, brushing a lock of long, straight brown hair away from her face with a mittened hand. "We've never been here," she added, indicating the broad-shouldered blond man beside her. "We just got married, so this was our honeymoon present to each other."

"Oh! Congratulations, then!" enthused Felicity, saluting them with her mug of cocoa.

"Thank you." The woman leaned toward her and held out her hand to shake Felicity's. "I'm Noelle, and this is Michael."

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Michael said. He reached forward and shook hands with Felicity and Ben. "How long have you two been here?"

"This was our last day," answered Ben. "If you haven't seen it yet, you should take the short trail up by Mammoth Hot Springs. We took it today and we saw wolves passing through a field."

"Oh, wolves! Honey, we have to see the wolves," Noelle smiled, squeezing her husband's hand.

Chuckling, Michael helped himself to another marshmallow from the bag passing around the fire. "And the elk. And the bison. And the eagles. And the bears—"

"You just stop it," Noelle scolded in good-natured tones. She grinned at them. "He picks on me because I love animals." She settled against her new husband with a comfortable ease that made Felicity smile wistfully. "It's a shame this is your last day. I don't know how we'll ever leave this place. Where are you from?"

"California," supplied Felicity. "What about you?"

"We're from Vermont. Kind of the polar opposite," laughed Michael.

The four of them talked a while longer, and eventually the fire began to die down. People trailed away in twos and threes, reminding Felicity that the night was over. Ben was talking avidly about the hiking in the park. She looked from him back to the newlyweds, who were cuddled close together holding hands as they chatted with him. I wonder what it must be like to know that you get to spend the rest of your life with someone you love. They look so happy together. She gave a dreamy sigh.

Ben reached an arm around her, bringing her out of her reverie. "We should get going."

"Us, too," Noelle agreed, beaming as she and Michael stood up. "I hope you have a safe trip home to California."

"Yeah, thanks. And congratulations, again," Ben said, shaking their hands.

They went back to the car, and Felicity fell silent for the drive.

"Something wrong?"

Realizing how quiet she'd been, Felicity smiled. "No. Nothing. It was just so sweet how they held hands the whole time. It must be so romantic coming here for a honeymoon." She saw Ben grin. "What?"

"Nothing. You're just funny."

"How am I funny?"

Ben shrugged amiably. "The way you get about little stuff, stuff like that. Holding hands and everything. You get all… I don't know. It's just funny." He reached across the seat for her hand, and Felicity burst into an automatic grin of her own. "See what I mean?"

She giggled, and he gave her hand a squeeze.