"Last chance, you gotta make a decision. Are we stopping at the cheese factory now or on the way back?"

Lindsay bit her lip and watched the miles tick down further and further until…

"Now, I want cheese now!"

He laughed and followed the signs and cows to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, the one place she'd been talking about going since they'd started planning this trip. At first he wasn't sure why she was so excited, but when she mentioned cheese samples and fresh ice-cream, he started to understand. It was the simple things in life that kept her happy. He shouldn't have been surprised.

"First I want to go on the cheese tour and have samples," she stared, looking just like Ben did when he was excited. "And then I want to have lunch. And then I want to go to the gift shop. After that I want ice-cream. In a waffle cone."

"Have I mentioned lately how much I adore you?"

"Yes, you have."

"Good. Can I ask what you want to go shopping for?"

"If I said cheese, would you still think I was adorable?"

"No."

"No?"

"Part of your adorableness is your intelligence, something you seem to be lacking in if you hadn't thought about how we're going to get cheese all the way back to New York."

"Oh that. Usually when I come to a block in the road I just whimper a little until you sort it out."

"I suppose we could employ some dry ice… but that's going to cost quite a bit. If we buy cheese we're not going to be able to do the glass blowing later."

"You're making me choose between food and art. You're evil."

"Think about this in the long term babe. There's cheese in New York."

"Okay we won't buy any cheese but I am sampling as much as is humanly possible!"

"Thank God we're not going to a cereal amusement park."

"We need to Google to see if this exists!"

"It sort of does. It's at the Mall of America. It was the second choice for our honeymoon. You can even make your own box of cereal."

"Why have we never gone there?"

"Because it's in Minnesota which is close to Wisconsin, which is also known for cheese. Same reason we never go to Vermont. Cheese and syrup. You'd go crazy."

"I have the palate of an eight year old."

"I love you anyway."

He found a parking space quite a distance away from the door, but they'd both become accustomed to the almost constant drizzle of the last two days, so they really didn't mind a longer walk.

"I feel kind of bad coming here without the kids," Lindsay admitted as they stepped through the doors. "They really wanted to go."

"Maybe someday we'll bring them back here. Besides, you and Avery together in this place might constitute a disaster."

"Hush you."

He smiled as they started the self-guided tour around the building, taking their time because they had so much of it.

"I couldn't imagine working in a place like this and having people constantly staring at you through windows, watching you work," Adam decided as they watched the workers packaging the cheese. "It would be intimidating."

"Yeah because all the people watching know the intricacies of cheese making and would be able to spot a foul up a mile away."

"You mock my pain."

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him.

"I think that's a health code violation."

"Well at least we're not down there then."

"I really love you babe."

"I love you too. Let's go have some samples."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him in the other direction and he went with her willingly because he couldn't say no.

"It's a freakin' cornucopia!" she whispered excitedly, seeing all the small cubes of various cheeses just waiting to be tried. "What do I pick first?"

"I don't know. Why don't you scope it out before you make any decisions?"

"Stop laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing. I am offering a legitimate solution to your seemingly unimportant problem."

She smirked at him and dropped his hand, wandering off to check out the goods. He watched her intently and took out his phone so he could call and check on the kids. Jo had to work today so it was just Mac on kid duty and he was certain they were giving him a run for his money.

"Hello, this is Ben."

"Ben are you supposed to be answering Mac's phone?"

"Yep! He said I could because it was you! Also because he's busy at the moment… what with cleanin' up sissy's mess and all."

"What kind of mess did Avery make?"

"Well… a bathroom mess. One what stinks."

"I'm sure Mac is really enjoying cleaning that up."

"Nope, he's not at all. Sissy is in the bath gettin' clean and Mac is doin' his best to clean up but he keeps stoppin' and comin' into the hall to breathe. What are you and mama doing?"

"Mama's eating cheese and I'm watching her."

"That sounds very boring. Are you at that cheese place what me and Cole wanted to go to?"

"Yeah we are. I think we're going to have lunch here in a little while."

"We haved lunch long ago. That's why Mac is flustered because it's almost time to get Cole from school. He said he was going to have to ask Austin to bring him because he's not gonna get cleaned up in time."

"You guys are really giving Mac and Jo a rough time aren't you?"

"Not on purpose daddy! We're just rough kids! Me and Cole are doin' our best to be good. It's sissy what's makin' things difficult."

"Well you tell her that she needs to remember that they're doing us a favor and she needs to be good."

"I'll remind her. How many sleeps until you and mama are home?"

"Three more sleeps and one very long day. We'll be back very late on Saturday night."

"Can we stay up?"

"That will be up to Austin and Danny. You're going over there after school on Friday."

"Oh yeah! Me and Dunner planned a fun game. I will tell you about it when you get back. What else is you and mama gonna do today?"

"We're going to eat some ice-cream and go explore a different city. Then we're going to go to a candy shop and pick up some surprises for you kids."

"That's fantastic! Mac said that we could watch a movie while we eat dinner tonight! He's making us cheeseburgers! Isn't that awesome?"

"That sounds great buddy."

"I think so too. I liked that picture what you sended yesterday of you and mama at the Goonies house. I would like to go there someday I think. Me and Dunner will go and have a trip together."

"That would be fun for you guys."

"We will have to wait a lot until we are old enough to drive. Or fly in a airplane without you grownups."

"Probably. How was school this morning?"

"It was okay. We learned some more math what I am bad at. But then teacher helped me and I understand now. And we had a good recess inside because it was rainy. So we played in the gym and even I seen Cole and Isa and Sarah! And all of us hugged each other and Dunner tried to sneak to class with his sisters but he was spotted. I think I gived him away for I kept yelling to him "Junior you're gonna get catched!" but it might not have been on account of my yellin'."

Adam chuckled and shook his head.

"Ben, you're one of a kind, do you know that?"

"Yep. Everyone tells me that. I need to hang up the phone now because sissy is splashing in the tub and I should stop her before she makes Mac more upseter. I will talk to you before bedtime daddy. I love you so much!"

"I love you too Ben."

The phone clicked off and he laughed to himself constantly amused by Ben's antics and his explanation of them after the fact.

"You look happy," Lindsay said, holding up a small bouquet of toothpicks with cheese cubes stuck on the ends.

"I was talking to Ben."

"Enough said. Are they doing okay?"

"Well apparently, "sissy maked a baffroom mess, one what stinks." At least they're happy, though I can't say the same for poor Mac."

"We'll have to bring him something really good to make up for it. Here, I swiped some cheese for you."

"True love."

"You can eat it while we stand in line for the café."

"You'll still love me when I'm fat?"

"Of course!"

Laden down with presents for the kids, ice-cream cones, and more calories than two people should consume in a meal, they sluggishly made their way to the car about an hour later, arguing about who was going to drive the hour to the next beach town. Lindsay pointed out that Adam was the man and he should have to drive, and Adam countered with a muddled argument about the feminist movement and revoking her right to vote if she didn't drive. They piled their purchases into the trunk and moved around to get into the car, Adam automatically going for the driver's side. He cursed quietly and shook his head when he realized what he'd done.

"Okay I'll drive but you have to stay awake and keep me company."

"Deal."

He reached across the top of the car to shake on it and she grumbled a little, having to open her door so she could have a foothold so she could reach his hand. He counted her discomfort a slight win, and they got in the car as if nothing had ever happened.

"I really love us," he said after they'd been on the road a few minutes. "We're pretty fun."

"Yeah, I'd be friends with us."

He reached over and took her hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

"Hey, slow down and turn your blinker on."

"What?"

"There's a hitchhiker over there. Slow down and turn your blinker on."

He would have questioned her but he obeyed, wondering what she had in mind.

"Now speed up and wave!"

Laughing, he stepped on the gas and waved at the man, who flipped them off for getting his hopes up.

"That was so not like us," Adam said, shaking his head. "We're not mean people."

"Maybe not but we are funny people. And that was kind of funny considering we just passed a sign that said there is a fine for hitchhiking in a national forest."

"I guess I don't feel so bad then."

They drove on for a while in silence, listening to classical music on the radio and watching the trees and towns along the road.

"Hey Linds, can I ask you something that might freak you out but I really want to know the answer to?"

"Um… sure. Go for it."

He took a deep breath and glanced over at her a few times, wondering why it felt so weird to ask her this.

"Babe, if I died… how long do you think it would take for you to be able to move on?"

"Never."

"No, seriously."

"Never. Why, do you want me to?"

"I just don't want you to be unhappy."

"Adam if you were dead, 'unhappy' would be the mildest of the emotions I would be experiencing."

"I just mean that I wouldn't want the rest of your life to be unhappy. I would want you to be able to smile again, you know?"

"I would smile again honey. I would be happy. I would still have the kids you know."

"I know."

"No matter how much I would miss you and how devastated I would be, it would never be enough to make me want to be with someone else. After all, if I can't have you, I don't want nobody, baby."

"Just promise me one thing then."

"What?"

"Promise me that you'll be happy. Promise me that I won't have to worry about you."

"You won't. I promise. Now please let's not talk about this anymore or I'm going to be really upset."

"Okay. I have another question for you."

"What's that?"

"Tomorrow can we stay in bed all day?"

"Yes. But you need to realize that when we go home, things have to go back to normal because we don't have as much time for… you know."

"I know. That's why I am not taking it for granted now."

"Okay then."

"Want to have dessert for dinner tonight? Live on the wild side?"

"If we can find apple pie, then yes. Or cobbler. I love cobbler."

"You just love food babe."

"Shh, that's not polite to say about a lady."

"How do you stay so thin?"

"I eat tiny bites of a lot of things. Also magic."

"You're very weird."

"Yes I am."

Adam was definitely in heaven. He wasn't the only one that could plan fun things to do on this trip, so Lindsay had taken it upon herself to find something that he would like. While they waited for their blown glass creations to be cooled and packed for shipping, they went down the street to an old building that seemed to be leaning from years and years of coastal wind. The once bright blue paint was now almost gray and peeling from the moisture and salt in the air, and the windows could never possibly be cleaned in a way that would make them functional again. Certainly it was a building that most people would overlook, but she'd done extensive research and knew exactly what was inside and that her husband would be overjoyed at what he found. She had been correct. Antique toys and games were right up his alley.

"Blokus! I haven't seen this game forever. The boys would love it."

"Colton would love it. Ben would get frustrated and cry, but I'm sure it would be okay if his daddy was on his team."

Adam nodded and tucked the board game under his arm, obviously forgetting that they had already agreed to get no more presents for the kids.

"Oh, and Connect Four! That's one the boys could play together. Hungry, Hungry Hippos, Avery will enjoy that one. She's getting good at counting too."

Lindsay snickered and took the stack of games from him so he could look through more.

"Ooh Fireball Island! We could all play this one together. Do you remember it?"

"No, I've never heard of it."

"Okay, we're getting it. You'll love it. I'm going to get Risk, Colton and I can play that together. What games did you have as a kid?"

"Trouble. I think we went through three different game boards because we kept breaking the Pop-o-Matic in frustration. And by we I mean my brothers because I always won."

"I'm going to add it to the stack."

"Oh my word the Mrs. Pac-Man game! We have to get this one, Austin and I were just talking about it last week."

"Mousetrap!"

"Get it."

"Ooh, Stop Thief. Did you play this game? My older cousins had it. It's great. It's like Clue, but you have to figure out where the thief is going to go next and there's an electrical scanner that you use. We can let all the kids play at the next family dinner."

"I have a feeling it's going to be the parents that are grouped competitively around the table."

"We'll invite Flack and Jess too, they can bring a little maturity to the situation."

"We just found nine board games that we can't live without."

"It's important for family bonding time."

"We'd better stay away from the toy section or we're going to have to leave all our clothes here in order to get all our stuff in our suitcases."

"I know. I'm going to ask the owner if there's any way we can order stuff online for Christmas."

"Adam, I love you so much."

"Look, Teddy Ruxpin!"

"No."

"But-"

"No. I had a recurring nightmare about Teddy Ruxpin where he ate my fingers off. No."

"Ate your fingers off?"

"Don't ask. He's looking at me. Like he remembers."

"Look, a fully intact Little People house set! Didn't you want to get one for Avery?"

"Yeah, I couldn't find it anywhere. This was my favorite when I was little. I wonder if I could get them to ship it to us."

"Maybe so. Should we keep looking, or would it be better if we were done?"

"I think we should be done. I feel like I'm six again, but with a credit card this time."

"Dangerous."

They went up to the counter and paid for everything with big grins on their faces. It didn't take much convincing for the Little People house to be shipped and while the store still didn't have a website, the owner assured them that they could call at any time with specific requests.

"Well now what?" Adam asked, putting everything into the trunk.

"Want to go put our feet in the shortest river in the world?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. The D River, right there. Of course, the Roe River in Montana is technically shorter, but they measured this one at extremely high tide, in order to regain the title."

"And that's how city folk fight out in the west."

"Shut up."

"Okay, let's go put our feet in. We'll tell the kids all about it and they will be jealous that we did something so monumental."

"I can hear Ben already. 'You done somefin' 'portant wiffout us? I finked families was s'posed to be togedder!'"

"I love the way he talks."

"I know. I wish it was appropriate for him to never grow out of it."

He chuckled and took her hand and they walked down to the beach, ditching their shoes and rolling up their jeans before stepping in the river that ran from a small lake into the ocean.

"Wow that's cold. Careful babe, some of these rocks are slippery."

His warning came too late as she slipped on the algae and landed in the water. It wasn't that deep but the resulting splash managed to cover her quite effectively.

"Are you okay?"

"I landed on a rock. I'm going to have a huge bruise on my butt. I'm going to have to sit on a plane for hours with a bruise on my butt."

He laughed and reached down to help her up, being careful to keep his footing, because it only made sense for him to fall in too.

"Honey you're going to catch a cold if we don't get you dry and warm fast."

"Do you suggest I stick my butt under a hand dryer in a random bathroom somewhere?"

"Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"Not happening. Do you know how far I would have to stick it out to get it under the air?"

"You're not exactly Kim Kardashian," he chuckled, patting her backside to prove his point.

Wrapping his arms around her he pushed her now tangled hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.

"Why don't I go see if our glass stuff is done yet, and you can sit in the car with the heat turned up, and if you have to discard the jeans, I don't think I will object."

"Of course not."

They grabbed their shoes and walked back up the beach as the wind picked up, causing her to shiver.

"You know, staying in bed all day tomorrow might be a good idea. I think it will take me that long to get warm again."

"Miss Dramatic."

"Shut up, my butt hurts."

He smiled as they got in the car and he headed back to the highway to drive to the art studio. She turned the heat up full blast and by the time they'd made the seven minute drive, he was ready to roll down his window.

The studio was almost ready to close when he went in and he inspected their pieces briefly. He hadn't been feeling very adventurous so he'd just made a glass float with different colors of green in it, figuring it would go in their bathroom quite nicely. Lindsay had been more artistic, choosing a starfish and coloring it with bright oranges and reds. He paid for the shipping and cringed and the total amount they'd spent, and the items were packed up. When he got out to the car Lindsay had taken his suggestion and her jeans were in a pile in the backseat and she was curled up in the seat with her jacket over her legs.

"You know, it's a two hour drive back to the hotel. If you lay those jeans out better they might dry enough that you won't have to streak through the hotel."

"While that would make a good story, you're probably right. Now what are we going to do about dinner?"

"Want to have a late one when we get back? If we hurry, that one place is open until ten."

"Okay, let's go. I'm starving."

He nodded and they got back on the road, heading north as the sky darkened even more. He reached across the console rested his hand on her knee, smiling when she yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'm going to sleep for a bit."

"Okay. Rest your butt."

She giggled and closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh as the car lulled her to sleep. He couldn't watch her as she slept, there were no streetlights once they got out of town, but he could imagine what she looked like with her eyes shut gently and her lips parted. He's slept next to her for ten years but he still couldn't grasp the concept that she could allow this kind of vulnerability in herself. How had he been awarded this kind of trust?

Automatically his mind wound back through the years to the beginning, recalling all the little moments and seeing them in a totally different light now. He remembered her little giggle that first afternoon they'd spent together, the way she'd shook her head at his bad jokes, but given him a smile that put him at ease. He remembered feeling so relaxed when he left, like he had a friend that understood him, at least a little bit. He remembered the first time he'd hugged her, chuckling because she was so stiff and standing there with his arms around her until she relaxed. That was the last time that his touch hadn't been received well, and he was glad he stuck it out. He remembered falling asleep on the couch late one evening, and waking up a few hours later to find her in his arms looking perfectly comfortable and happy. He'd sat there for a while watching her sleep before she woke up and gave him a half smile. That had been very early on in their friendship, but he could pinpoint that smile as the moment when his heart had given the first leap of attraction and hope.

Before he knew it they were back in town and headed to their hotel. She stirred awake as the car slowed, yawning a little and rubbing her eyes.

"I didn't mean to sleep the whole time."

"It's okay sweetie. You didn't sleep too well last night."

She nodded and yawned again, remembering tossing and turning, unable to take her mind off the kids and how much she missed them.

"I'm hungry."

"I know. We'll go up and you can change and then we'll go out, okay?"

"'Kay."

He parked the car and waited for her to slip into her almost dry jeans, then walked her inside, leaving their things in the trunk for now. She leaned against him heavily and he kept his arm around her shoulders, wondering how long it would be before she fell asleep again.

"Hey babe, why don't you just change into pajamas and I'll go grab a pizza."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Grab the couch and relax. I'll be back in a bit."

She gave him that same sleepy smile again and he hugged her tightly, still in wonder, but full acceptance of just how blessed he really was.