After I Do

Chapter 2 Home Again

"This moment here is perfect." Spencer thought as she tightened her arm grip around Toby's shoulders. Her head leaned on his chest with her eyes closed, his arms held tightly around her slim waist as they swayed together to the music.

"These last few days have been perfect." She added to her thoughts. Tonight is their last night in Aruba. Their honeymoon was sadly coming to a quick end. They've spent the last eight days living together in peaceful bliss. Their days were spent sitting by the water, taking boat rides in the late morning, having lunch on their own private dock at noon, napping in their king-sized bed at the condo they rented out in midafternoon, eating dinner on the beach near a bonfire at dusk, skinny dipping in the ocean after the sun went down, and then back to their condo to make love until the sun rose again.

Hanna sent Spencer a new photo from mobile at 2:21 p.m. on Tuesday.

Aria snapped Spencer Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Emily called Toby twice on Thursday.

'How are you?' Alison texted late on a Thursday.

'Where the hell are you?' Hanna texted Sunday evening.

But no response ever came from Spencer or Toby. Not a single text. No returned phone calls. Not even a post on Instagram. They wanted to spend the last eight days as peaceful as they could. They've spent so many years facing problems. All they asked for was eight days without problems or interruptions of any kind. That included messages from friends and family. They just wanted to enjoy time together, Just the two of them together as newlyweds.

On their last night together they decided to explore the resort. They ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant that sits out over the water. The sunset along the horizon as they toasted to their last night. After dinner, they joined a few couples on the dance deck. A live band was playing acoustic covers of love songs from the oldies all the way up until now. The band was currently playing an instrumental cover of "A Thousand Years". A warm breeze swept through the loose strains of Spencer's hair, the smell swept across Toby's nostrils and he took a big whiff of her sweet scent. His hands slowly caressed the material of her blue and white floor length dress.

"I never want this night to end," she whispered so only he could hear.

He kissed the side of her head and said, "me neither."

Her arms moved from his shoulders to around his neck, "can we just stay here forever?"

He smiled, "if that's what you want."

The current song ended and two singers, a male, and female, began to sing "Accidentally In Love", another perfect song for them. They stayed to dance for two more songs before heading back to their condo. After showering together, they packed their suitcases so they would be ready to go in the morning. They have an early flight to catch. After making love, they wrapped themselves up in the sheets and their arms, both wishing they could stay like that forever.

Line Space

Spencer's head jolted awake from Toby's shoulder when the wheels to the plane touched down. They looked out the window to see the sun just about to set. Spencer yawned and stretched out her arms. When it was time, Toby stood up from his seat to grab their carryon bags from the overhead compartment. Their hands stuck together as they walked off the plane and through the airport to baggage. After getting through check and baggage, they walked around the parking lot trying to recall where they had left the truck before jumping on a plane out.

"Do you want to find a place to eat?" asked Toby, while steering the truck through the jammed airport lot. "Or do you want to just drive straight back to Rosewood and eat at the Grill?"

"Let's pick something up on the way," said Spencer.

Fifteen miles into their drive, they got carry out and drove the 3 hours back to Rosewood. The sun had completely set by the time they pulled into the Hastings driveway. It was almost 9 so they knew Mrs. Hastings would still be awake. She probably wondered what happened to them when she returned home from her business trip in Chicago to find the driveway empty and a dark barn. But Spencer and Toby didn't leave without leaving a trace. Spencer left a message on her mother's phone to tell her they were going on vacation for a few days and they would see her when they got back.

"Spencer! Toby!" Veronica exclaimed when she opened the side kitchen door.

"Hi, mom."

Spencer hugged her. Veronica ushered them both inside and insisted they tell her all about their trip. Spencer and Toby sat side by side on the sofa sharing knowing looks while Veronica ran around the kitchen to make tea. Veronica returned to the living room carrying a metal tray with 3 teacups, the sugar jar, milk, and honey. She set the tray on the coffee table then sat on the couch across of Toby and Spencer. They poured the tea and sipped it while Veronica gave them the highlights of her business trip. Then she quickly changed the subject by asking again about their trip.

"We're sorry mom," Spencer said. "We didn't mean to just take off like that on such short notice."

Veronica waved her hand at them, "Forget that. I'm just glad you left me some kind of note to let me know you left. If you hadn't, I would've been worried another "A" or your sister did something to the both of you."

"We just wanted to get away," Spencer said. "Works been stressful, Toby had time off from building houses so we just decided to get out of Rosewood and go to Aruba."

Veronica smiled, "I'm glad you guys gave yourselves sometime together. And believe me; I know how it feels to need a break. The truth is Chicago wasn't a business trip. I went to a spa."

"Good for you mom."

"So tell me," Veronica said after taking another sip of her tea. "How was Aruba? Did you have fun?"

"Uh yeah," Spencer looked at Toby, smiling.

"It was very nice having our on condo on the beach," Toby said. "The food was great and we spent lots of time together."

"That sounds lovely," Veronica said. "Did you do anything exciting? Like did you tour any of the sights?"

Spencer nodded, "Yeah, we sure did."

Toby nudged Spencer's arm with his elbow and gave her a look then gestured to Mrs. Hastings. Spencer stopped playing with the ring on her finger and took a deep breath.

"Mom."

"Yes?"

Toby took Spencer's hand as she spoke, "this may come as a shock to you and again, sorry for not telling you but, Toby and I got married. We went to a courthouse in Philly and we got married. Aruba wasn't just any vacation for us. It was our honeymoon."

Spencer held up their intertwined hands to show off their rings to her mother. Veronica's face was expressionless. The three of them remained silent for a long time. Their tea turned cold. Toby looked over at Spencer and she just shrugged. Finally, Spencer looked back at her mother and said...

"Mom, would you prefer a glass of wine?"

End of Chapter. Please note that daily updates like this will most likely not happen. I just happened to have the next chapter ready to publish and decided to give you guys a little more to read to help hold you over. I will probably post one more chapter later this week. Stay tuned. Future updates will depend partly on reader activity, so reading, reviewing, sharing, etc. -Mellie