The next morning after cleaning up their breakfast dishes, JC turned to Laura with a sparkle in his eye.  Both were still flying high from their engagement even though neither had slept all night. 

“What if we change our plans a little bit?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been thinking…”  Wrapping his arms around her waist, he finished his thought.  “What if we left LA a couple days early and head back through Chicago so you can meet my parents and Tyler and Heather?  And I can meet your brother?”

Laura pretended to think about that for a minute, wrinkling her nose.  “I think that is a wonderful idea, when did you have in mind?”

“Well…I thought we could get some sleep this morning then spend a little time talking about dates and other important wedding stuff, then,”  he paused placing a kiss on her lips.  “then, tonight I want to take you out to celebrate, and tomorrow catch a flight back to Chicago and spend a couple days there.  Then I would fly home with you and spend some time with your parents.”

“Hmmm…”  She nibbled on his Adam’s apple, lips curling up when it bobbed as he swallowed hard.  “Sounds perfect, I am getting a little tired and need a shower.”  He chuckled as she yawned against his neck. 

Reaching down he took one of her hands in his and pulled her behind him up the stairs.  “Just crash here for a couple of hours, then we can get busy planning our wedding.  Do you know how nice that sounds – our wedding?”

“Are you sure?  I don’t have anything to wear.”

“I’ll find you something.”  He stopped at the closet in the guest room, pulling out a couple of items.  “These are Heather’s when she stays here, she won’t mind a bit.”

Tossing them on the bed, he turned back to Laura and pulled her into his arms.  He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “Thank you for saying yes, you have made me the happiest man on this earth.  I love you so much!”

“I love you.  I keep thinking this is a dream, one that I don’t want to wake up from.”

“No, sweetheart, this is what dreams are made of.  This is real life and I can’t imagine it getting any better.”  He captured her lips with his, deepening the pressure that she returned wholeheartedly.  Her fingers twisted in the locks at the nape of his neck before she pulled back and tucked her face into his neck.  Taking a shuddering breath, she stepped back and out of his arms. 

Smiling at his dazed expression, she gathered the clothes from the bed and went into the attached bath.  “Good night.”  She called as she shut the door behind her, leaving him standing there staring at the closed door. 

***

Several hours later, Laura was awakened by a knock on the door and JC calling out, “Come on sleepyhead, you need to get up or you won’t sleep tonight.”  Moaning, she pulled the covers over her head.  When JC heard no response, he cracked open the door and peeked in.  Seeing her buried under the covers, he walked to the side of the bed and sat down.  Curling his fingers around the covers, he slowly pulled them down until he could see her face. 

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she finally opened her eyes to look up at his smiling face.  Trying to hide a smile, she said, “Is this going to be how you treat me after we get married?  Waking me up all the time?”

“I figured you wouldn’t mind especially if I wake you up to do this.”  His last words were whispered against her mouth. 

She wound her arms around his neck and said after he pulled back, “I don’t mind a bit actually, you can wake me up anytime to do that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…Are you hungry?  Get up, we have wedding plans to discuss!  I’ll meet you in the living room so hurry!”  Patting her leg, he stood and walked out of the room, leaving her alone to get dressed. 

After washing up, Laura padded down the stairs to see JC sitting on the leather couch in the living room.  He had soup bowls filled with something that smelled delicious beside a computer and notepad. 

Curling up next to him, she accepted the bowl he offered.  “Did you sleep at all?”

“Yeah, for a couple of hours, but I’m on top of the world right now so I was just doing some research.  I know a lot of brides say hands off and if that’s what you want, it’s all yours, but if you want help just know that I’m there for you.”

“I love how you are so into this, most guys would run away from all the planning.  I would love to have your help, but your schedule coming up looks terrible.”

“You let me worry about that.  This is our life and future together and nothing will come before that.”

They finished their soup in silence.  And depositing their bowls on the table in front of them, they turned their attention to the wedding.

“First things first, we need to pick a date.”

“I’ve always wanted to get married in December, between Christmas and New Years.  That way our families could spend Christmas together and then we could disappear for a while.  Start our own New Year’s tradition alone together.”  She said with a blush. 

“Perfect…does that give us enough time?  I mean it’s already the middle of August, is 4 months enough time to plan the kind of wedding you’ve always dreamed of?”

“It doesn’t matter what kind of wedding it is as long as you are there.”

He groaned as he leaned over to kiss her, “This wedding can’t get here fast enough for me.  Our wedding night,”  he left out a long slow breath.  “Wow!”

“Wedding night!  Is that all you think about?”

“No, baby, but I can’t wait until we never have to be apart again, when I can fall asleep with you in my arms, wake up with you in my arms, and in my life forever.”

“How did I get so lucky to have found you?”

“God had a hand in it for sure!  Now back to these wedding plans…”