Chapter 2: Kat and Ray

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"We went to Europe together," Kat said as she stood and stretched. Wolf might have gotten them all upgraded, but eighteen hours on a plane was never comfortable.

Ray snorted, reaching past Kat's head to lift their bags from the overhead compartments. "Chasing the seeds around the Mediterranean doesn't count."

"We saw lots of the area around Rota," Kat pointed out, squeezing into the aisle next to Ashley.

Maddie, who had been several rows behind Kat and Ray for the flight, came up behind them. "Are the two of you planning a vacation?"

Ashley, who had been forced to endure this discussion for the past eighteen hours, sighed. "They're trying to decide where to go for their honeymoon. Apparently, the wrong spot will set an entirely wrong tone for their marriage."

"Let's go to Cuba," Ray interjected. Everyone waited while Danny picked up four-year-old Mark, who had finally fallen asleep sixteen hours into the eighteen-hour-flight, but only after a solid thirty minutes of screaming. Thankfully, Kara was prepared with plenty of earplugs. Unfortunately, Mark was loud enough that they only drowned him out about halfway.

Kat's face furrowed. "We went to Cuba last year. I want to go somewhere new for our honeymoon. Asia is a possibility. We've both been there, but not together."

"China, Japan and Korea are definitely out," Ray muttered, before suggesting. "What about South America? Closer and we both speak Spanish."

"Yeah, but we've been there several times," Kat replied. "Africa?"

Ray snickered. "Only if you want to spend our honeymoon with the Kandie family. Because you know that the moment they hear that we're on the same continent, they'll be there. What's a little two-thousand mile road trip?"

"Scratch that idea." Although Kat loved Azima, her extended family was somewhat overwhelming. Fifteen versions of Azima, all extroverted in the extreme, could only be handled in small doses. Kat stepped out of the plane door onto the ramp, blinking against the bright son. Pulling her sunglasses out of her pocket, Kat felt the heat already seeping into her bones, banishing the chill from the airplane. "Ah. Do you feel that?"

"We could always come back here," Ray murmured. "It's warm, at least."

This time Kat laughed, as she made her way down the tarmac. "It won't be in June. Not warm enough to go swimming, anyway."

"The two of you should pick somewhere you both like and go there for your honeymoon," Danny said, interjecting himself into the conversation.

Behind them, Mike started laughing. "Says the man who never managed to actually go on a honeymoon."

Ray frowned, before asking. "You and Kara never went on a honeymoon?"

"No, we did not," Kara answered for Danny. "I vote for Chile. You can take a flight from Punta Arenas to Antarctica. Voila, somewhere that neither of you have been but still a country where they speak a language that you know."

Kat rolled her eyes at Ray. She might want to go somewhere new, but she also wasn't looking for an extreme experience either. Ray looked back at Mike and Maddie. "Where did the two of you go?"

"Hawaii," Maddie replied promptly. "Mike suggested Glacier National Park but I vetoed anywhere with snow. I am not a snow person."

Ray turned back to Kat as they entered the air-conditioned terminal. "I've always wanted to go to India."

Kat paused, considering the idea in her mind. "I've never been. That would be fun."

"It's settled then," Sasha announced. "Your honeymoon will be in India. Now that having been decided, everyone head towards baggage claim and, head's up, Wolf seems to have brought his family. So try not to fight for a few minutes. We don't want to scare them off immediately."

Turning, Kat could see Wolf approaching, along with Azima, two men that Kat recalled were Wolf's brothers, a younger woman who looked like she was Wolf's sister, and his mother.

Kat reached over, squeezing Ray's hand. "India it is."