The hour was late. By the time the empty trays had all been picked up, the passengers were standing up to go visit the WC. I watched the steady stream, thankfully not a push and shove procedure. Bob had earlier explained that the folks in First Class were classy, a statement he hooted over until Terry did the elbow in the ribs treatment to get Bob to stop laughing.
I got the pun, but it also seemed that Bob was right. Everyone seemed well mannered and polite. The people around us were softly saying, “Excuse me, please,” and thanking everyone for being equally courteous. It was nice to see.
I took my turn when the parade had slowed, Timothy right behind me with Ben and Terry not far behind. I half expected one of them to enter the tiny room with me, but at least the bodyguard business didn’t practice that level of strictness.
After we’d all done our business, we made our way back to our places only to find that while we were gone, our seats had gone from vertical chairs to horizontal semi-beds. And we had blankets and pillows. So cool!
I snuggled into my bed-chair while Timothy discarded the plastic the airline had wrapped everything in. A steward came by with a large black garbage bag, eager to collect it. Then, Timothy lay down beside me, gathered me close, so that he could fit in my chair-bed, and we kissed a couple of times, then closed our eyes.
Almost at once, a steward came by, requesting that we buckle up over the blanket, so they could make sure that we were securely buckled in, just in case of any potential turbulence.
“I’m sorry, Sir, but you will need to be in your own seat for that,” the same stew who’d served us dinner explained in a quiet but firm voice.
I thought Timothy might argue, but he didn’t say a word and merely moved back into his seat. We both buckled ourselves in, over the blanket, and once more started to close our eyes.
Just as we were doing so, I saw the cabin lights dim. It was sleepy time on the airplane. That was pretty exciting, actually. Eating a meal on a plane and now bedding down for a night of snores and . . .
When I woke, Timothy was bending over me, telling me that it was time to get up. How could that be possible? I yawned broadly as he helped me return my seat to a normal position. Up at the front, a cart was already bringing coffee down the aisle. That encouraged me not to nod back off in my seat.
I smiled at my husband and pecked him on the chin. He growled teasingly and said, “I will soon want more than that, my darling wife.”
That’s all it took to make me feel a most wonderful stab of contentment. Married life was going to be A-Okay.