My European Honeymoon (Completed)

Chapter Four

The next morning, I woke to find he had disappeared from the room. Isabella was stirring, and I took her into bed with me. Taking a moment to revel in the tiny creature we had created together. I still just couldn't get enough of her. I started blowing raspberries at her, for my amusement more than hers. Just then, she let out the cutest little giggle. I shot up in bed. Absolutely gutted that Luca had missed the heavenly sound.

When he came through the door seconds later, it was as if I had conjured him. "Isabella giggled. Look." I blew another raspberry and got absolutely nothing in return. Luca came up behind me and leant over to her and mimicked me, and she giggled away.

"Well, that might be the most adorable thing I have ever seen. It's not surprising though, she's got her daddy's brains, haven't you, Isabella?" Another giggle emerged, and Luca's smile widened. He had taken it as her agreement to his statement. I had been so excited that I hadn't seen the bags he had been carrying.

"What have you got there?"

"Just the packages needed for the day's activities. Emily and Aurora arranged them for you when I told them the itinerary."

"Well, if I had known they knew what we were doing, I would have probed them about it. The pair of them are much easier to break than you are." He passed me two gift bags which had been carefully closed to make sure the contents stayed secret. All three bags were a simple pale pink, and they were all rather large for gift bags. I opened the first one eagerly and found a lovely cream woolen short coat.

I looked at him, puzzled. "Aurora said you wouldn't have packed anything warm enough for our first stop of the day." I ripped the next one open, half expecting to find gloves and other winter accessories, but instead found a boring pair of sturdy walking boots. The two items didn't even remotely match each other. "Emily said to remind you that practicality is sometimes necessary."

"With each day, that girl completely surprises me. She would have been the first one to throw practicalities out of the window, once upon a time. Are you going to tell me what we are doing now?"

"Absolutely not." I tutted at him and headed off to get ready before stopping short.

"What's in the last bag?" He had kept one aside.

"It's not for you, it's for my number one girl."

"Charming."

Before I knew it, we were piling into the car. We had been for breakfast and Luca had checked us out, which I assumed meant we were moving on to somewhere else later in the day. It was driving me crazy, not having a clue where we were going or what he planned to do with me. The idea alone sent a tingle down my spine. I had hoped that the night before would have dampened my appetite, but instead, it had left me raging even more than before.

We were barely in the car before he was ushering me out again and onto a train, of all things. Isabella was in her sling, wearing the little cream snowsuit which I found out had been in the other gift bag. "Are you intrigued yet?"

"You know I am." It became clear really quickly that the train ride wasn't the transport, but the destination. We snaked our way through the trees and the views were amazing. When we started to go uphill, I panicked a little. It wasn't like I was good with heights. Once we started, we never seemed to stop, heading so high it seemed like we were going to break through the clouds. Luca just sat there, watching me more than the landscape. I just couldn't take my eyes off it.

When the train stopped, I didn't even wait for Luca. Spotting a viewing area, I headed straight there. It felt like I was gravitating towards it. The view was amazing, looking down on Innsbruck and the surrounding mountains. I knew he was standing just behind me and was no doubt checking the view out over my shoulder. I took a couple of photos. I couldn't help myself.

"Come on you, we're not done yet." He ushered me into a nearby cafe that was slightly elevated. Ordering some coffees and giving me a chance to feed Isabella while we looked over the view. I couldn't believe I was even there. I imagined my childhood self had never dreamed of being so close to the landscape which she obsessed over. Wishing I could remember having been standing there staring at it out of my bedroom window. Trying hard to remember if it had been a dream of mine to be perched on the side of the mountainous backdrop.

My coffee was pretty much stone cold by the time I got to it, which was probably a good thing given that I was drinking it over Isabella's head. Luca headed over to the counter again and seemed to be up to no good yet again. I loved that he wanted the whole week to be a surprise, but every time he sneaked off, it irked just a little. All I knew was we were heading to Paris. I had expected us to drive pretty much straight there, but it turned out he had other ideas.

As he steered me into the nearby cream building, I felt his grip on my hand increase. Once we had gotten fully inside, I understood why. I came face to face with a glass box being suspended in the air by nothing but a cable. I followed the cable with my eyes, but all I could tell was it headed even further up the mountain. "No, no, no. There is no way I can get on that thing. I have a panic attack just driving up to the vineyard."