We went to the middle of Main Street toward the Castle where we'd agreed to meet after dinner and we all sort of converged there at the same time.
Jenna and Manuel hurried toward us from Main Street holding hands. "Okay, where to first," she asked breathlessly when they arrived. The first thing I noticed was that they were holding hands; the second thing...her shirt was on backwards. Hmmm!.
"Steph," Ranger turned to me. "You've been studying that map for days. Where do we go first?"
I raised a brow at Manuel and he grinned at me. Yea, they were enemies all right. Disney World really was the happiest place on earth and it was clearly magic. I shook my head and met Ranger's raised brow. "Oh. We go left toward Adventureland. The first ride is on the Jungle Cruise. Then after that is Pirates of the Caribbean."
"Oh boy," Cal grinned. "I want to ride the Pirate ride."
"You will big guy," Natalie said with a laugh. "We'll do the Jungle Cruise and then the Pirates okay?"
"Okay," he sighed.
She grinned, "Lead on Stephanie."
"Will do," I laughed and headed back to the left. I leaned over as Manuel and Jenna got even with us. "Er…Jenna."
"Yea," she smiled at me.
"Your shirt is on backwards," I said sweetly.
"Shit," she groaned and hit Manuel. "You let me out of the room like that."
"My mind wasn't really on your clothes," he said with a leer.
"Men," she rolled her eyes. "I'll catch up." She ran toward a ladies room.
"We'll catch up," Manuel grinned and went after her.
As we wandered we found out that it was Extra Magic Hours night in the Magic Kingdom so we went to the guys giving out the bracelets. The bracelet let us stay in the park till 2AM that night. I wasn't sure we'd all be up to it, but we'd give it a shot. The lines were all pretty short. It was Sunday and I guess a lot of people had already left or were in other areas of the park. Our line at the Jungle Cruise was only about fifteen minutes long. As we stood in line we read all the warnings (that were really jokes) for instance there was a menu with outlandish things on it that all tasted like chicken. There was a tiger warning and a few other things as well.
We were fortunate that all of us were loaded onto the same boat with one other group of teenagers with us. The teenagers looked at us a little wide-eyed. I still say it was mainly Cal in the Donald Duck shirt with the flaming skull tattooed on his head, but Ranger said it was the hot women. Right… No, I didn't believe him either.
Our captain's name was Rebecca. She told us to make sure the boat was complete balanced so when it sank it would go down evenly and they'd have an easier time finding it later. She said it with a straight face too. I was impressed. I was even more impressed that she didn't go into the Rangeman Trance. That could be because they were wearing character shirts though. It sort of takes the sexiness out, but it adds a certain sexiness back in. It made me hot.
We passed some alligators or crocodiles and she told us that you can tell the alligators from the crocs because the crocs are plastic and the alligators are Plexiglas. Hmmmm
She showed us guys climbing a totem with a Rhino beneath and his horn about to do the butt stuff to him. I shuddered in fear, but Ranger just laughed and hugged me to him. She showed us some hippos and headhunters and the best part of it all…the back side of water. That's right, you heard me, the back side of water. I didn't want to tell her that I'd already seen the back side of water when Ranger and I went to the falls in Belize. Quite frankly, the back side of water at Disney was nice, but it was much more spectacular in Belize at Big Rock Falls.
We exited the boat carefully and walked toward the park with everyone giggling over the silly jokes and how she'd made fun of Tank the entire time we were on the boat. It was pretty cool though.
We went next to Pirates of the Caribbean and once again, there was virtually no line. Each of the boats held fifteen passengers so we were able to get on all together, even though we didn't get to sit with our partner necessarily. I still got Ranger so I was okay. There was a small water slide type thing and the blaring of music. 'Yo ho Yo ho a pirates life for me'.
We all excitedly pointed out Johnny Depp in the three locations we found him on the ride. And by the end, we were all singing…even Ranger…'yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me'. We loved it so much that we ran around to the entrance and rode it a second time. Yea, there's nothing funnier than a bunch of guys towering over six feet laughing manically to get on a Disney ride. I swear to God if they do the same thing on It's a Small World I'll pee myself.
When we exited the second time we were breathless but gleeful.
"Okay Steph," Tank grinned in excitement. "Where do we go now?"
"Most of us can ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and or Splash Mountain. I know Padma can't ride Big Mountain, we'll have to check about Splash Mountain, but I'm guessing no. So…you guys ride it and us pregnant chicks will find a piece of bench and a Mickey Bar and wait for you."
They blinked at me in unison. "You can't go with us," Mitch said forlornly.
"Sorry honey, but those two rides say that pregnant women and people with heart problems need to skip them. We'll shop. We'll eat junk. We'll be fine. You guys go on."
"Shop," Padma said with bright eyes.
"Come with me," I said and linked my arm through hers and pulled her toward some shops.
"Babe," Ranger called out.
I stopped and turned, "yes honey?"
"I love you."
I grinned, "I love you too. Go ride the rides."
"Thank you," he grinned and ran off to join the others.
"Men are so cute," Padma grinned.
"I know," I laughed. We bought some shorts and stuff and had them sent to our resort…or in our case The Contemporary. We bought stuff for everyone since Padma still had the size list with her. Then we went to the pin store and shopped there until we figured they'd be done. We spent a lot of money. We found everyone as we walked toward the mountains and they were walking toward us. They were soaked.
"Boy…I'm really sorry to have missed that ride," Padma said wide-eyed.
"Babe…you didn't mention we'd get wet at Splash Mountain," Ranger said pointedly as he squeezed the water from his tee shirt.
"Er…only every third car gets that wet," I bit my lip to keep from laughing hysterically at them. "I guess…that was you." That was as long as I could hold it in."
"You weren't one of the evil one's shooting us from the bridge were you," Brian asked mopping his wet face with his hand.
"No…but believe me if we'd known we could, we would have…right Padma?"
"Oh hell yea," she giggled.
"I can see they feel our pain," Gabe said dryly. That was the only part of him that was. We walked a little farther to the Hall of Presidents. Lula declared that she needed something sedate. The Hall of Presidents is really an animatronics story about the Revolutionary war. It ends with all the presidents; including Barack Obama standing for introductions at the end and a few say a few words. Honestly, I never wanted to be president, but that just about convinced me to give it a try. Our big former Army guys got really misty during that. Okay…I cried too.
After that we headed for the Haunted Mansion. This line was a little bit longer, but it was still not bad. We were entertained by the headstones in the cemetery as we waited in line. In one of them the face seemed to follow you and move. The epitaphs were funny too like 'dear departed brother Dave. He chased a bear into a cave', 'Rest in peace cousin Huet, we all know you didn't do it', or my favorite 'Here lies good old Fred, a great big rock fell on his head'.
After a few moments our line moved forward. The unsmiling attendant herded us into an oddly shaped room and then the lights flashed off. There is a lightening flash and the walls seem to get longer and longer and the paintings change from staid Victorian to tales of terror including one man straddling the mouth of a crocodile and another standing on the head of another in quick sand. The disembodied voice challenged us by saying, 'Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination? And consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows, and no doors. Which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out! Of course, there's always my way.' Then he told us 'actually, we have 999 happy haunts here, but there's room for a thousand…any volunteers? If you insist on lagging behind, you may not need to volunteer.' I was giggling like crazy, but I didn't let go of Ranger's arm. There was no chance of that.
Then a door opened on the other side and we filed toward the moving loading station onto our doom buggies two at a time. Ranger and I had already ridden this ride so we knew what to expect. We weren't even taken aback when our ghost hitchhiker joined us. Ranger even pretended to strangle him since he was a little too close to me. Tank and Lula just stared at their hitchhiker wide-eyed. I don't think they particularly enjoyed it.
We left that ride and headed for Fantasyland.
"Are you going to make us ride It's a Small World," Cal raised a brow at me. I studied his face. His mouth said one thing, but his eyes pleaded with me to demand everyone ride it. It was all I could do not to laugh.
"I think, Cal, that you guys owe Padma and me a nice quiet boat ride. We did step aside sweetly so you could ride two of the mountains and I have a feeling we're going to have to do it again when we get to Space Mountain. The least you can all do is go on this ride with us."
"Yea," Padma proclaimed crossing her arms and glaring at them.
Then shuffled off to the line grumbling but every single one of them turned around and winked at us. Big Army men, you never know what they're going to do.
I love that ride. It's cheery. I don't think I could ride it a million times in a row without wanting to grab an automatic weapon and open fire, but I love it in doses. I sang along as we went, "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world." By the end of the ride through the colorful doll filled attraction we were all singing it…but Ranger. He crossed his arms and firmly declared he was not going to do it. So…we ganged up on him and took a billion pictures of him pouting through the rest of the ride as we sang along. Payback is a mother.
By the time we exited that ride it was almost ten thirty and I admit it, I was getting a little tired. I thought I could maybe handle one more thing and the main thing I wanted to do was Mickey's Philharmagic. I pleaded for about three seconds and we all walked into the building and almost directly into the auditorium.
The attraction is a 3-D experience with music featuring mainly Donald Duck. A lot of other characters make an appearance, but Donald is the main guy. In the end though, he turns the baton over to Mickey to conduct the orchestra and things are all better…sort of. You have to see it to believe it.
When we left the theater I was about pooped. "Ranger…"
He stopped and hugged me to him, "let's go back."
"How did you know what I was going to say?"
"I know you Babe," he smiled. "Hey Mitch," he called to the nearest one of us.
"Yea," Mitch grinned from Ali's side.
"We're heading back. Steph's done."
"Oh sure…sorry Steph, we weren't thinking. You've got to take care of yourself. Padma," he called.
"Yea," she turned.
"Are you tried too?"
"No, I'm good. I had a nap this afternoon and Steph didn't."
"Okay," he nodded. He leaned over and kissed my head. "Get some rest." He clapped Ranger on the shoulder and hurried off to join the others.
I grinned watching them run off happily.
"You really like these people, don't you?"
"Yea," I nodded. "I really do. It's the first time in my life that I feel completely safe with everyone I am close to. You know what I mean," I smiled as his fingers threaded through mine. "I trust everyone. Nobody here judges me. They love me as I am. I feel the same way about them. It's a good feeling."
"It's what you deserve in life Babe," he said softly and kissed my head.
"Thank you," I smiled. "It's a beautiful night." I took a deep breath. "I'm so happy Ric. I mean really happy. I'm madly in love with my husband. We're expecting a baby. I had no idea I could have this much happiness inside of me."
He swallowed, "I'll do my best to keep you that happy for the rest of your life."
"You won't have to try that hard," I assured him.
We walked lazily through the park smiling at the families with children. It was amazing to see the children still up at that hour. And it was more amazing that I was so tired. Ric leaned over and kissed my head, "they had a nap." Him and that damn ESP. Thank God for it.
We paused at the front of the park and sat on a bench for a while and watched. I completely understood where Sandy was coming from. This was a totally surreal experience. I knew why she loved it there. I needed to know why she was afraid of it. I needed to clean it up for her and for everyone. It was an incredible place. It was filled with incredible people. One bad apple couldn't be what spoiled the whole thing.
Finally I smiled up at my husband, "okay, I'm better. Let's keep going."
"Do you want to walk or ride?"
"Walk please," I smiled.
We strolled lazily hand in hand along the sidewalk to the hotel. We deftly avoided other walkers and strollers and busses and cars as we walked across the street. The sky was filled with stars and the monorail zoomed above us. Sleepy happy people were going back to their rooms to dream Mickey Mouse dreams and to wake refreshed for another day of magic. That would be happening to us too if it wasn't for this thing that I have.
"Babe," Ranger shook his head with a smile.
"How do you do that," I sighed.
"I can feel your body tense," he said softly. "I'm very in tuned to you."
"If I had not seen her…"
"Babe…if you hadn't seen her it would have been a very long time before her body was found and any evidence that might have been collected may have no longer been viable. This was meant to be. It was fate. You can't control fate."
"I can't control much," I said with a wry smile.
"Maybe not," he agreed. "But you handle whatever is thrown at you with grace."
"You're just saying that because you love me," I laughed.
"And because it's true," he said using his pass card to get into our building. We stepped right onto the elevator and went up to the top floor.
I wrapped my arms around his waist, "I love you Ric. I mean I really, really love you."
"I know Stephanie," he said nuzzling into my curls. "And I really, really love you."
I tilted my head up and met his seeking mouth. As always just the touch of his lips was enough to make me breathless. I knew now that he was human. He wasn't a superhero. He was a man. He was a man who did the best he could to be the best person that he could. He made hard choices. He did hard things. He made the world better day by day. And he loved me. He also made me weak in the knees in a way that nobody else in the world ever could or ever would. He may not be a superhero. But he was my hero and he always would be.
When the elevator doors opened, he swung me up in his arms and strode down the hall still kissing me. He has some kind of radar or sonar or something. If he was looking where he was going, I didn't see it.
He put me down on the bed and dropped over me holding his body off of mine with the strength of his arms. His lips brushed over mine again and then over my face tasting and remembering. Then they skimmed my neck and bare shoulders. With his teeth he bent and tugged the tank top up and with his teeth. Even barely touching me, I was so aroused I was vibrating. He had that power over me. He sat back on his knees straddling me and unbuttoned my shorts and tugged them down along with my panties and tossed them aside. Then he pulled my shirt over my head and carefully removed my bra.
When I looked at him in amusement, he just grinned, "I really like that one."
So…lingerie is a turn on to the Sizzlin king. He moved back over me and skimmed back over my body with his lips. This night there were no promises of sky rocketing orgasms. He never had to promise me something he was sure to deliver anyway.
After a few moments of torture he groaned, "I can't wait." He quickly shed his clothes and settled back over me and sank into me slowly with a groan of completion when he was fully sheathed inside of me. "This is where I want to be forever," he whispered.
"Quit work and stay there," I said wrapping my legs around him.
"You wouldn't care," he smiled.
"Not at all," I admitted.
"Someday I'll take you up on that," he said as his hips shifted.
I gasped at the sensation, "that's okay. You always come through with your promises of someday."
He smiled and lowered his mouth to mine and we were lost in each other…again.