They woke up the next morning, Justin packing a backpack with water, trail mix, fruit, and sandwiches they’d night from the grocery store inside the hotel. He had Gatorade in his hands when Deana came out of the bedroom. 

Deana laughed. “Are we hiking or having sex?”

“I mean, we did one last night, so I’m gonna go with hiking. The other would get us in trouble.”

“Only if we get caught…”

“Another reason to love Montana, it’s acres of private land, we could have a picnic lunch under a tree, and go for it with no one else around.”

“Ok, you’ve already sold me on Montana…” she laughed. 

“I figure we’ll get breakfast sandwiches or breakfast burritos or something near the gift shop and the trailhead for the Lower Yosemite Falls trail.”

“You really do think of everything…” she said, kissing his cheek.

The gift shop and trailhead were a short walk from the hotel. They grabbed a quick breakfast they could eat on the go and headed off. They chose the easier of the two trails, one more difficult leading to the top of the falls, one staying fairly level and leading to the lower falls.

Upon reaching the falls, they stopped at the bridge in front of the falls.  Justin lowered his gaiter around his neck, taking a picture of the two of them with the falls in the background.  They took another picture kissing in front of the falls.  They opted for a side trail that went a little higher up to the top of the lower falls, compared to the bottom of the falls they were just at.  The day was starting to warm up, the mist of the falls helped keep them cool.

They took a shuttle to the Bridalveil falls trail, which consisted of going from the parking lot to the falls.  They took similar pictures upon reaching the footbridge at the base of the falls.  Then they took another shuttle to do a more strenuous hike to the footbridge of Vernal Falls.  They took breaks to eat and hydrate as needed, following Deana’s pace.  

They took a shuttle back to the hotel, fatigue setting in for Deana.  Her legs felt like jello, yet hurt like they were on fire.  

“Yeah, we may have overdone it…” Justin said, feeling upset.

“Hey, we have some wonderful memories and pictures to help us relive them.  I just need a soak in that jacuzzi and some Tylenol.”

“I’ll order room service so you can just stay in bed after the bath.  I promise, nothing sexual, as much as thinking about you in a bath makes me want to do things to you…”

“You’d have to do all the work if we did…” she sighed, exhausted.

“That’s kinda my wheelhouse…” he laughed.

“I mean, you’re not wrong.”

He got the water ready for her, putting in some bath salts and oils.  He helped her get undressed, and carried her into the bathroom, helping her get into the tub.

“You are an angel,” she sighed, enjoying the warmth on her sore legs.  He handed her a Gatorade and Tylenol, swallowing them with hesitation.  Justin went into the main room of the suite to order room service.  

“Anything more I can do to help you relax?” he asked.  “Do you want me to read your book to you?”

“If you want, I know I’ve been reading it to you, but we could switch it up.  I’d hate to have it fall into the tub…”

He pulled her book off her nightstand, picking up where she had left off.  She smiled as he read, imagining him reading the book to their daughter, should they have one someday.  She pictured them in Montana, out in a field, surrounded by flowers, reading about a garden in England coming back to life.  

“What’s the smile for?” he asked, noting her face.

“Just picturing the future.”

The water had cooled, Justin helping her get out of the tub and into a cozy bathrobe, carrying her to the bed.  Room service knocked soon after, and Justin brought it in to have with her on the bed, turning on the TV.  They watched for a while, enjoying a feeling of normalcy between life before the tour, and how they had spent time during the tour.  

After dinner, he cleared the plates, returning to her on the bed.  “Can I try something?” he asked.

“I guess, but I may not be in the mood…” she laughed.

“Nothing dirty.  I’ve picked up a few tricks over the years, thought I could practice a bit.  It will work best if you take the robe off, though.”

She took the robe off, and he had her lie naked, face down on the bed.  “Relax, close your eyes.  I can put on your meditation playlist if you want.  I could have done that during the bath, but I thought reading to you would be nice.”

“We can do the playlist,” she answered.  He took her phone and started the playlist, the gentle sounds of nature mixed with classical music.  She closed her eyes, and found herself melting as he began to massage her body.  She let out moans as he worked her sore muscles, from her shoulders and her back, to her legs.  “Another thing you’re perfect at that works to my benefit.  Especially once I’m pregnant.”

“I think I need to work this into some of our more romantic nights.  This could have been a nice lead in to last night.”

“Indeed.  It was still amazing.  This has been a perfect transition from the tour to being more slow paced.  Things grinding to a halt in LA or NYC would’ve made us crazy.  Here, it encourages us to slow down, and you don’t mind just doing nothing but taking it all in.”

“Tomorrow’s our last day, so let’s get some sleep.  If you’re up for it in the morning, we’ll do breakfast in the grand dining room before driving to our final stops before heading back.  We’ll stay at the LA house tomorrow night, then fly out sometime the next day.  It’s my plane, so we have some leeway while also being considerate of those involved in getting us back to NYC.  I want you to see your family, it’s been a long time.”

“Thanks babe.  I could stay in LA for a while, but you’re right, I miss my family.”

“We’ll be home soon, no rush of anything for a while.”

…

They woke up the next morning, Justin bringing a cup of tea to Deana.  “How are you feeling today?”

“Better.  A little sore, but much better thanks to you.  That and I really want to have their buffet…” she laughed.

They dressed, Justin packing everything up so Deana wasn’t overdoing it.  The dining hall was fairly empty, giving them a nice little table by the window with a beautiful view.  “Is Montana like this, too?  Beautiful views outside the window at breakfast?”

“Yeah, but it’s my cooking, so make of that what you will…” he laughed.

“It sounds perfect.”

After breakfast, Justin got the car packed and they checked out of their room.  They were disappointed that the Glacier Point road was closed due to snow still around up that high, but got up to Tunnel View and took some pictures.  

Deana slept most of the drive back to LA, waking up as they started to hit traffic upon getting back into civilization.  “Yeah, I don’t miss this,” Deana said with a chuckle.  

Justin took an exit to grab a quick bite before getting back on the freeway towards home. The GPS was nagging him about getting back on the freeway, so he turned the sound on the stereo down until he could continue his drive home. 

He pulled into the driveway, unloading their bags, before landing on the couch.  Deana sat down next to him.  “Movie before dinner?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s still early, we could do that.  What movie?”

“You’ll see.  Hopefully you saw the first one.  I didn’t think I’d like them, but after actually watching, I really like it.”

He sat up a bit on the couch, pulling out a secret stash of her aunt’s flavored cashews and pecans.  “You have a stash IN the couch?” she asked.

“Not IN it, just AROUND the couch…”

“As in more than one spot?”

“I was making a Friends With Benefits reference.  I never said UP, just lightly around… no? Am I getting the line wrong?  It took me a few times to get that one right…”

“Why, cuz it’s true?” she laughed.

“Hey now, are you trying to get yourself in trouble?” he asked, laughing. “Don’t make me tickle you as punishment…”

“It’s worked well before, so why not?” she laughed in reply.  “Close your eyes, I want it to be a surprise, even if you have seen it before.”  She pulled up the movie on the TV, telling Justin when to open his eyes.  He hears an opening music sequence.  

“Shouldn’t I open my eyes now?”

“I’ll reply it if you haven’t seen this movie…”

“I’m All Out Of Love” plays, followed by an explosion.  Justin smiles as he hears the opening line.  “Fuck Wolverine…”

“You like Deadpool??” he asked, opening his eyes.

She paused the movie.  “One of his friends, David, really likes Deadpool, so we’d go as a group to watch the movies.”

“One of WHOSE friends?”

“I’m avoiding his name for a reason…”

“Oh, got it.  Glad it was for a friend of his then, otherwise I don’t know if I could watch it without worrying about bringing stuff up.”

“Even so it’d be fine, we’d make new memories of the movie.  What gave it away?  The Wolverine reference?”

“That, and Ryan Reynolds is a national treasure on loan from Canada…” he laughed.  She pressed play and they watched the movie together.  Laughing, crying at certain parts.  The end credits finished, watching all the way through for hidden gems until it went back to the main screen.  

Justin looked at Deana.  “Pizza or Chinese?”

“Ooof, tough choice, Timberlake… Let’s go with Chinese, relive our early days.”

“Chinese it is,” he smiled, grabbing his phone to place an order.  They flipped through channels watching TV until the food came.  

“Can you get it babe?” Justin asked.  “I want to surprise YOU with something now…”  

She nodded, getting up and heading for the front door.  As she came back into the living room with the bag of food, she heard a familiar voice.  “Doctor Who?  You’re awesome, babe.”

“I figure the way you and Chris talked about it, I need to give it a try.”

They ate as they watched, Justin asking questions along the way.  Most of the time, her answer was “Spoilers…”  She smiled, knowing the hidden meaning in that word, Justin taking it at face value of not spoiling the surprise.  They stayed up later than they probably should for having a flight back to NYC the next day, but Justin kept wanting to watch, intrigued by the premise of the show.  

Deana fell asleep on his shoulder.  He carefully picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.  Yup, he thought to himself, I had no reason to worry about transitioning back to normal life.