The Next Chapter - Chapter 7

Riley woke up the next morning with a big smile on her face, she and Danny had made up, the world was good again. When she looked around, she was confused for a minute about her surroundings, until she remembered the night before. She and Danny had made love in the tree house on the roof of their building in the rain, and when they finished, they sought shelter underneath the roof of their childhood play place. They must've fell asleep, but after 2 months of nothing at all, they had plenty to make up for that would tire anybody out. She looked over at Danny who was still asleep. His face looked so peaceful when he slept, it made his chiseled features look even more perfect. He must've felt her stare because his eyes opened as soon as she started.

"Good Morning" he said groggily.

"Morning, how'd you sleep?" she asked.

"Best sleep of my life, how about you?"

"Same. I'm so glad we patched everything up, I can't sleep without you next to me anymore."

"Me too, I kept having these weird Princess Bride nightmares where I was hanging on the rope and you cut me down." Danny said.

"Oh my god, me too. Except mine was I was in the water, and you were in the boat and instead of helping me out you pushed me under. Weird right."

"Totally." he agreed. They cuddled for a little while before Riley burst their little bubble.

"Well as much as I would love to stay like this, I think we should head downstairs now."

"Why are you too cold?" Danny said.

"No, but I think I have a splinter in my butt from sleeping naked on this thing."

"I'd be more then happy to check for you." Danny grinned. He pulled her close and started nuzzling her neck, causing Riley to sigh.

"I wish we had more time, just the two of us."

That made Danny start nuzzling.

"Come on, now I think we need to go downstairs." Danny hurried and finished getting dressed as Riley did the same. He practically pulled her arm out of the socket, dragging her into their apartment and running in the bedroom. Riley went into the bathroom to see the damage. To her surprise, she looked great. Her hair had dried and her make up didn't run. It looked like being with Danny agreed with her.

"Hey Riley?"

"Yeah."

"Have you seen this brochure, I kept it in my sock drawer."

"Oh yeah," she said as she walked to the bedroom.

"I found it yesterday, it's a brochure for our honeymoon spot. I thought it was so sweet that you kept that. I put it in the scrapbook I made of our marriage so far, it's right here on the bed." she said as she handed it to him.

"Actually," he started, "that's not an old brochure, it's a new one. This was gonna be your anniversary surprise. I was planning a trip up there for the weekend. You know, so we could relive our honeymoon, and get some time alone. Now I thought that Operation Love Me Tender was done with,"

"Operation Love Me Tender?" Riley asked.

"Hey, when you plan a super romantic gesture you can name it whatever you want. I named it that cause Love Me Tender was the song we danced to at our wedding."

That was about all the sweet Riley could take before she had to kiss him. No one had ever gone above and beyond like this for her. She tried to show Danny, with a kiss, how much she appreciated him, but she didn't think anything could.

"Does this kissing mean it's a yes?" Danny asked sheepishly.

Riley thought for a moment. She really did want this, and she had spent a night away from the baby and the world didn't explode, so she figured what's a couple more days.

"Yes Danny. I would love to. When would we go?"

Danny thought for a moment, "How about the last weekend before you go back to work? That way you can go back to work all relaxed, and already use to being away from Jamie."

"Sounds like a plan." she said as they kissed again.

"Now I should probably go get him from your mom, before she tries to leave the country with him."

"Mhmm," Danny responded "or, you come back to bed, and we get him later."

Riley giggled for about the millionth time that morning alone.

"Well, you'll have to convince me." she said seductively.

And did he ever.

One of Riley's favorite things to do in the car was look out the window. Especially when driving through nature. She loved how the light bounced off the trees, and how the forest looked so still, even though she was moving. Her heart raced when she saw the familiar lake house come into view. The stone exterior made it look so rustic, and the brown paneled roof, with the solar panel, gave it a modern look. It had beautiful trees surrounding it, and the lake looked more beautiful then she remembered.

As Danny pulled his moms minivan into the driveway, Riley noticed that they had added a tire to the rope swing that hung on the tree that leaned over the water. As she got out of the car, she took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air.

"Welcome back baby." Danny said as he got their bags out of the car.

"Oh it is more beautiful here than ever." she replied.

They went inside to see what else had changed, but the only thing they noticed was that they installed a new shower head in the bathroom. Not that she or Danny would notice the difference. Once they were all unpacked, Riley asked the ever difficult question.

"So, what do you want to do first?"

"How about lunch?"

That wasn't what Riley had expected him to say, but she was hungry. After lunch, they decided to go for a walk enjoying nature. They talked for hours on end, never running out of things to say, but that's how it always had been between her and Danny. Friends first, always. When they got back from their walk they had dinner, and then went to go lay on the porch swing, or rather Riley laid with her head in Danny's lap as he sat down. When it got too chilly to stay outside, they went in and Danny made a very nice fire for them to sit by. As they sat there, sitting was the furthest thing from Riley's mind.

"Is this a new rug?" she asked, hoping Danny would catch on.

"Yeah, I think it is." he said with a grin that let her know he understood.

"Wanna see if it feels different?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." and with that they were off.

They made love in front of the fireplace that night, both feeling their test of the new rug went very, very well. As they laid in the glow of the fireplace, and the afterglow of amazing sex, Riley wanted to remember the feeling of this moment for the rest of their lives. So much to the dismay of her sore muscles, she got up, went to the bedroom, and came back with her camera.

"Whats that for?' Danny asked as she set up the camera, with the automatic timer, on the top of the fireplace mantle, angling it so that it would capture her and Danny where they just made love.

"Just hold me and don't look at the camera." she commanded. As she laid herself into Danny's embrace she heard him whisper.

"How could I look at anything else?" as he nuzzled her earlobe. Riley was so distracted she didn't even notice the camera go off. When she did, she jumped up to check how the picture came out. What she saw was better than anything that she could've imagined. In this perfectly lit picture, she and Danny looked amazing in the light of the fire, he was looking at her with eyes full of love, and she looked genuinely happy and sexy as she smiled with her neck tilted up as a response to Danny's touch. It was the best picture she had ever taken, and she knew the perfect spot for it. Right in the back of her scrapbook, so she always had a reminder of the best part of her life, Danny.