A North Carolina Autumn

Chapter Forty-One

Rylie laughs. "I hope I'm part of the reason you're exhausted."

I giggle, feeling my face redden. "You know you are." I press my lips to her neck gently, enjoying the sigh she lets out.

"You're distracting me again." She murmurs with her eyes closed, and I grin.

"Yeah," I laugh. "I definitely am." I kiss her neck once more before moving to stand beside her, and we glance down at the nearly empty dock.

"When do we leave?" Rylie asks, and I check the time.

"Five minutes. If there is anyone not on the ship yet, they're cutting it about as close as they can."

Almost as if on cue, we see two dots emerge from the building at the end of the pier, moving at a brisk walk. Rylie and I laugh as other passengers on the ship begin cheering. The couple on the pier begin waving and bowing as they near the ship, earning more laughter.

We spend a few more minutes on the balcony enjoying the view and the music from the Lido deck. Just before we decide to head inside, another figure appears at the end of the dock.

"Ry, look!" I point, excitement filling my voice. Down on the dock below us, the workers are nearly done putting away the last gangway ramp when they also notice the figure sprinting down the dock.

As the man nears, we can see the multiple bags clutched in his hands, slowing him down. About halfway down the dock he stops, turning around as if waiting for something. Sure enough, we see another figure emerge from the building. Instead of running, she hops into a small carriage hooked to a bike. The owner hops onto the bike and beings paddling down the dock. When the man sees this, he continues his sprint towards the ramp that was being set up again.

As he and the carriage get closer, cheering erupts once more on the ship, this time much louder than the first. Rylie and I cheer along with them and watch as the man helps his obviously pregnant wife from the carriage and to the gangway.

"Awe, well that is a very good excuse to be a dock runner." Rylie turns to me with a smile.

"Yeah," I laugh, watching her as she turns back to the couple below. "It is." I was suddenly very happy we'd come out here to watch this. I would never get tired of watching Rylie's excitement and joy. Actually, I'd never get tired of watching her in general. I think with a smile as I take her hand and lead her back into the bedroom to finish what we'd started earlier.

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The next day is our final day at sea and we don't waste a minute. We take full advantage of the breakfast buffet, guys burgers for lunch, and endless ice cream. Dinner wasn't for another few hours, but I was already preparing myself for the large amount I knew we'd be eating.

After dinner tonight we were going to go to the adult comedy show, and I knew Rylie was just as excited for that as I was. I'd heard that it was the adult one for a reason, and that only made us look forward to it more. But until then, we planned to just hang out on the lido deck enjoying the sun and activities.

They'd just announced the hair chest competition, which could either be very funny or very... uncomfortable. I was hoping for the first. As I have the thought, we hear our cruise directors voice over the speakers and I sit up to see a line of men on the main area of the deck, and three women sitting on chairs in front of them. It looked like they would be the judges.

I turn to Rylie and gently shake her arm. She opens her eyes and pulls out her earbuds before giving me a sleepy smile.

"Did you have a good nap?" I ask with a laugh and she nods happily.