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Paradise

Seth wakes me up the next morning. His hair is dripping wet. He probably just got out of the shower, but I’m not sure. I tell him good morning, and he chuckles, telling me it’s early afternoon. “I’ve arranged for us to have an ‘us’ day. We need it.”

“That sounds great, babe,” I yawn and pull the blanket back over me.

“Don’t you want to get up?”

I shake my head even though he can’t see me. “Us day takes place in bed,” I inform him.

I feel the weight of the bed shift as Seth sits next to me. He pulls the blanket back. “Come on, Shay, get up.” I can feel Seth’s wet hair on my skin, and I try to pull the blanket back onto me.

I am not a morning person. I can’t stand being woken up by anybody. I have a hard time functioning if I don’t get myself up. I don’t think Seth knew that before today. I mumble something about putting on True Blood, mostly so I can just sleep. Seth takes the bait. He scrambles for the DVD set. He makes me verify which season and disc we’re on, and then carefully sets the correct disc into the player.

Once it’s started, he hops back in bed. “Only one episode,” he tells me. I mumble that it’s fine, and then fall right back asleep. Seth wakes me up two episodes later, emphasizing that it really is time to get out of bed now.

This time I get out of bed. I kiss Seth’s cheek and apologize for taking so long to wake up. “What are we doing today?” I ask.

“Well, we’re turning our cell phones off. I wanted to sight-see, but we won’t see too much because of all the fans that would approach us. But I did find a small beach about an hour away. We’re going to go there for the day,” He sounds so excited, I can’t help but feel the same way.

“That sounds perfect, babe,” I grin.

“I packed everything but your swimsuit,” He adds, pointing to a bag off in the corner. Next to the bag is a small cooler.

I don’t think my smile could get any bigger. “This is amazing. You’re amazing. I should be ready in, like, twenty minutes. Is that okay?” Seth tells me to take my time. I get out of bed and look for my yellow swimsuit. I head to the bathroom and put on the pale suit. The top is strapless with a deep ‘v’ that exposes some skin, but not too much. The bottoms are small, but keep most of my butt covered. I run a brush through my hair, brush my teeth, put on lotion, and go back out to Seth. “Did you pack sunglasses?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No, they’re still in your purse.”

I grab my worn pair of aviators. “I think I’m ready,” I tell him. Seth grabs the bag and gets up. “Can we have one phone with us? For pictures?”

“I’ll grab mine,” He tells me. He slips his phone into our bag, and we leave for the beach.

It’s a sunny day, but the heat isn’t overwhelming. The beach is beautiful. The few people here are scattered about in the golden sand. Seth and I choose a spot farther away from people. He sets up our cliche umbrella a few yards away from the water. I put two towels out for us to sit on, and put the cooler between us. I look around the beach, completely in awe from it. I don’t even remember the last time I was at a beach. “This is perfect, Seth. This is exactly what we needed.”

I open the cooler. It’s packed with beer, Mike’s Hard, and a few bottles of water. I grab a Mike’s Hard and hand Seth a beer. “Right? We need a break. I want us to forget about anything other than us for just one day.” He pulls out his phone and tells me to pose for a picture. I let him snap a few before grabbing the phone from him. I take a couple of him, one of the view, and some of just us. Once I’m satisfied, I give the phone back to him.

We lay together, partly shaded by the umbrella. We finish our drinks and head out to the water. It feels like we spend hours there. We splash around playfully, race each other in the water, and even make out in the water. It’s almost like we’re just kids having fun.

Seth carries me over his shoulder back to our towels. As he walks, I laugh and hit his chest in protest. He lays me down on my towel and kisses my forehead. He takes a seat next to me. He takes two new drinks out of the cooler and hands me one.

I open my drink, take a sip, and once again take in my surroundings. To my left, more families have filled the nearly vacant beach. My right is a little more empty. There’s a small building that is most likely a bathroom, but that’s it. Looking ahead, there’s nothing but sand and water. It’s soothing to watch the waves crash onto the shore. Right beside me is Seth. His hair is a little curlier due to the water and slight humidity, but he looks perfect, as always. He’s looking at me, and he has the biggest smile on his face. “What’s on your mind, baby girl?” He asks curiously.

“I don’t think I want to leave here. Can we stay?” I joke.

“Of course. Let’s quit our day jobs and get a home on the beach and grow old,” He says, playing along.

I smile. “We can retire in a beach house. We’ll probably retire in our forties, because we’re wrestlers. Me before you, probably. I think we could live on the beach.”

“We’d be really tan,” Seth laughs. He looks ahead of him, straight into the blue water. “I hope we really do get to grow old together,” He talks so quietly, it sounds like he’s talking to only himself.

“I do, too.”