Your Time

Chapter 19

Harrison and Carrie woke the next morning at noon. "Morning sweetheart," he whispered, pushing a few strands of hair behind her ears.

"Morning Harry," Carrie said back to him. "I had so much fun yesterday."

"Me too. Although I'm ready to tour the city before we leave."

Just hearing him say that made her excited. After he said yes to coming to the gala, she put together a list of places she wanted to visit. The thing she wanted to do the most was walk along the streets and visit some of the shops. Other places on the list were the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and the 9/11 memorial. And if they had time, she wanted to ride on a ferry down the Hudson River.

"What time is it?" Carrie asked, not bothering to turn over.

"Noon."

"NOON!?"

Harrison simply nodded. "We didn't video chat with the kids!"

"We can do that now."

Carrie flew out of bed, unplugging her laptop and bringing it back over. One of the kids answered on the first try. As it connected, Carrie rested her laptop on her legs so Harrison would be in the picture as well.

"Mom!"

"Hey Emma."

"You said you would video chat us earlier!"

"Well dad and I were tired from yesterday."

Adam popped his head in the background. "We saw you on tv!"

"How are Billie and Ben doing?" Harrison asked.

"Billie! Mom and dad want to see you. And dad, Ben's sleeping."

Emma moved to the side of the picture so Billie could get in. "Hi mommy and daddy."

"Hey sweetie. What are you doing with grandma?"

"Grandma's going to take us to the park."

"Fun. And you guys have been good for grandma right?"

"Yes mom and dad."

"When are you coming home mommy?"

Carrie glanced over at Harrison. "We're coming home tomorrow."

"Why can't you come home today?"

"Dad and I are going to explore New York City."

Adam held his arms crossed over his chest. "You better send us a bunch of pictures."

"We will Adam, don't worry."

"Mom and dad are going to get going so we'll call you guys later okay?"

"Okay dad."

"We love you."

"We love you too daddy!" Emma exclaimed with a smile before Adam ended the chat.

Harrison and Carrie were left to hurry and get out of bed if they wanted to make it to all the places. They flew out of the hotel, caught a cab, and made it to the Statue of Liberty an hour later. The Statue of Liberty was a lot bigger than Carrie thought. It was huge. Taking Harrison's hand, she followed him to the base of the statue.

There were lots of people visiting today, making Carrie happy she and Harrison were wearing what she called their 'disguises'. The disguises included wearing casual running clothes with hats and sunglasses to keep attention away from their faces because people no doubt would recognize him. "Feels odd to be a tourist huh?"

"Yeah," he answered, taking a few pictures.

"It's really nice to take a break from everything."

"Everything as in the kids?"

She swallowed. "I guess."

He laughed. "It's a well needed vacation."

Carrie agreed wholeheartedly as she followed him closer. Harrison then took a few pictures of her standing at the base of the Statue of Liberty, then sent it to the kids. After that, they took a walk around Liberty Island. Out in the Atlantic Ocean, there were several ships making their way towards New York. "It's so pretty."

They turned back to face the city with all the skyscrapers looming under the coming cloud cover. From Liberty Island, they could see the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building. "We should bring the kids here," Carrie suggested.

"Totally. Especially when Billie and Ben get a little older. They would love it."

Harrison and Carrie took another walk by the Statue of Liberty before taking the next ferry back to the mainland where they then headed to her favorite place; Central Park. This being the first time she saw Central Park in person, she was blown away. It was so beautiful. There were people everywhere having lunch, walking, or even playing fetch with their dogs.

Before going to Central Park, the couple stopped back at their hotel for food. They packed a basket full of fruit to tide them over until dinner before taking off. Carrie and Harrison walked several miles through the park before he complained he was hungry. They found a nice spot against a tree to sit and eat. Carrie opened the basket and passed him his favorite fruits, strawberries and black berries. She pulled out the blueberries for herself.

The two of them ate a snack, watching the little boy and his father fishing on the edge of the pond. "Looks like you and Adam," Carrie said as the little boy reeled in a big bass. The smile on his face was priceless.

"That looks like the smile on Adam's face when he reeled in his first lake trout."

They continued to watch as the little boy's father took the hook out of the fish's mouth. He then set the fish in his son's hands for a picture. To the right of the pond was a family playing catch with a football. What looked like the father overthrew his daughter and the ball bounced towards the two of them. Harrison caught the ball off the bounce and threw it back to the girl who looked a little surprised at how fast the ball came back. She thanked him before running back to join her family.

Once they both finished the fruit, they took a walk around the pond. The entire time Harrison complained his feet hurt and he wanted to go back for dinner. Finally having enough of his complaining, she stopped and kissed him. He picked her up and spun her around before setting her down while still kissing her.

Then it started to rain hard. Standing out in the open in the pouring rain, she kissed him again, not caring they were getting soaked. "I love you," she whispered into his ear before kissing his cheek.

"I love you too Carrie. Now lets get something to eat."

After writing these chapters, I really want to go to New York City.