The Continuing Adventures of Alexa & Jenny: #1 The Honeymoon

“UGH! This suitcase isn’t going to be big enough!” Jenny exclaimed as she looked at the pile of clothes that was laying on the bed. We were getting ready for our honeymoon trip through Europe, Well, mostly the UK. We were flying to London on Wednesday night and then a few days in London hanging out before taking a little road trip up to Scotland for Jessica and Paige’s wedding. After that we were going to Paris for a few days and then back to London before we came back towards the end of August. But our plans were not of the utmost importance right now, getting all these clothes sorted to bring what we needed was the most important.

“We could cut back on some things, just take the essentials.” I offered up.

“And what exactly is essential?” Jenny asked me. “Is this Man City sweatshirt essential?” She asks, and I nod my head.

“How about these three dresses? Or maybe these jeans? How about these skirts?” She continues. I finally throw my hands up in the air in defeat. Just about then, Marty appears in the doorway. He looks at the four suitcases laying on the bed and hears the discussion. He doesn’t say anything but walks over and picks up the phone sitting on the night stand.

“Yes, General Mason? It is Marty Thompson. I was wondering if my daughters could borrow a C-130 Starlifter to ship their suitcases on their honeymoon. You don’t think the Army needs to move anything do you?” Marty is instantly bombarded with various clothing items.

“Just be nice daddy. We are going to be gone for three weeks, at least. And you never know what we are going to need.” Jenny said to her father. A smile comes to his face.

“Well if you are taking everything you need, I guess you won’t have to go clothes shopping at Harrods or in Paris.” More clothes are launched at my father-in-law, who makes a quick retreat to the hall.

After three more days of this, we are finally packed and seated in the Delta Sky Club Lounge at MSP, waiting on our flight over to London and the start of our ‘official’ honeymoon. I only say official, because we were really had done nothing since our wedding a month ago. Jenny was checking her email on her phone as I paged through some of the ternary information for our three-week tour of England, Scotland and Paris.

As I was looking through everything, I looked over at my wife, still the greatest thought in the world, and asked if she had told Sarah we weren’t staying at their flat. Jenny got a guilty look on her face.

“Um, ah, no. I figured we would tell them when we got there.” I shook my head at Jenny as she tried to tap dance out of this one.

“You lost the coin flip, and it was your job.” I told her as I stood to get us each another glass of wine. As I bent over to grab her glass, I whispered “I already told Nikki.” This earned me a giggle and a swat in the rear as I walked away. It also earned a groan from an older woman seated near the two of us.

When I got back, I could see Jenny was upset about something. I asked her what it was. “Its that woman back there. Went on and on about how she just couldn’t understand how two pretty young girls like us would rather be with one another than some man.” The disgust in Jenny’s retelling was obvious. Jenny had to plead with me to not say something. I still couldn’t believe how some of these people could bad mouth us. And before I could confront the woman our flight was called. Unfortunately, the woman and her traveling companion also got up. This was going to be fun.

At the gate, they called for the Delta One passengers. The two older women practically raced to the front of the line, causing us to laugh. Remembering something from our past, I leaned over and asked Jenny if we are on Southwest this time. The growl from my wife when I mentioned her ‘favorite’ airline made me giggle. “If you mention Burger King you can sit in tourist” Jenny warned me. I quickly wrapped her in my arms and kissed her on the cheek. The smile I was used to returned and was told I could sit where I was assigned.

We boarded the plane and moved into our designated ‘pods’ 1 B and 1 C. And it was just our luck, our two new friends were sitting right behind us. The pair gave me the evils as Jenny stored her carry on. I was not going to put up with these two all the way to Heathrow. As Jenny turned around, I pulled her in my arms and laid a long deep kiss on my beautiful wife. As we parted neither one of us said anything but just stared deep into each other’s eyes. The moment though was broken by the pair behind us.

“That is just sick! Can’t you two control yourselves?” The woman asked. Feeling a bit mischievous, I looked her in the eye.

“Why should we? We are on our honeymoon.” I sat down in my pod with a smile of victory. Jenny leaned over and said I was evil before we shared another kiss.

“What do you think those two would do if they knew the whole story about you?” Jenny asked. I thought for a moment, before coming up with a great answer.

“I figured I would save that for when they complain about us sharing one pod later.”

Thankfully, the two women didn’t say anything to us on the flight, though we could hear the groans from them as Jenny and I shared our dinners with each other. Maybe we made a bit more of a scene than we normally would, mostly because we were feeling a bit haughty ourselves. We settled down after dinner because while we knew it was only about 7:30 our time, it was 1:30 AM in London and we wanted to be fresh and ready to go when we landed.

The scene at Heathrow was one that we were becoming used to, after all this was our third trip here in less than nine months. That familiarity helped us clear customs easily, while our two new friends were hung up arguing about what they were brining into the country. But our last laugh with the two didn’t come until we were leaving the terminal. While the pair trudged their way to a taxi stand dragging their roller bags behind them, we were met by a driver that Marty had lined up. I gave the two women a little wave and told them to have a good trip. Jenny was laughing as she pulled me in to the back seat of the Rolls. “You are evil Mrs. Quinn-Thompson”

The two of us giggled away as we were whisked to our hotel. We had decided to go all out on the hotel, even though I still tried to fight her over the cost. “Its our honeymoon, besides we can afford it” Jenny told me. I expressed some doubts over that then remembered what family I had married into. I had conceded but still thought we were being a bit extravagant.

Following the forty-five minute drive from Heathrow, the limo pulled up in front the hotel we were going to call home for the next few days. A doorman in what looked like a morning coat and a bowler hat opened the door for us and we slowly slid out of the backseat. We must have looked funny staring up at the clock tower that stood proudly over the entrance of the Landmark Hotel. Jenny and I linked hands a proudly walked through the opened door.

It takes a lot to floor Jenny, but the lobby of this grand old hotel did. The wood paneled walls and ornate marble that lined the floors was incredible. I heard her whisper a ‘wow’ under her breath as we made our way to the desk. After going through the standard paperwork, the clerk told us if there was anything that we needed to not hesitate to call. I am sure the young woman said that to every guest, but it seemed genuine. She pointed over to the bellhop who was going to take us up to the suite that we had reserved. And even though I was now part of one of the wealthiest families in the world, I still couldn’t believe I was here. The hand that tightened around mine and the smile flashed at me let me know that this was now my life.

Once again, our breath was taken away. Our room overlooked Marylebone Station. After tipping the bellhop, we collapsed back on the sofa and took in the room that surrounded us. I leaned over and asked Jenny, “Your grandmother is paying for all this?” and Jenny just nodded her head. “I think this beats sleeping on the air mattress” I exclaimed. Jenny giggled and leaned u against me. After taking a moment to relax we checked out the suite and hung our clothes. After getting everything settled, we returned to the couch.

“So, what do you want to do?” Jenny asked. I just grinned and told my wife that there was only one thing we should do. In unison we yelled out “Harrod’s”

And that was exactly what we did. We got lost inside the opulent store for the rest of the day. We tried to be good, but it was hard. Besides some casual skirts and tops that we fell in love with, we also had to look for dresses for the wedding. That’s where the shopping got serious. We had listened to Nikki and Sarah tell us how hot it had been over here for the last week, and packed light summer dresses. On the flight over we got a copy of the Times and saw that it was supposed to be in the low to mid Sixties next week in Scotland. We were not prepared for the forecasted cooler weather and need to modify our wardrobe. I think I could hear Marty groan all the way across the Atlantic.

The fun came as we went through the various dresses and looks we were shooting for. We got some interesting stares from both other customers and the clerks as the two of us giggled away as we held up various dresses. Jenny did put out one stipulation. “No purple this time young lady” my wife stated in a stern voice. I tried flashing Jen the puppy eyes, which had the effect of causing her to break her serious look and get her giggling a bit more. “I’m serious Lex. You have tons of purple, time to change it up.” I nodded at her request because I knew she was right, but I still looked at few purple ones.

After about an hour, we had our choices. Jenny had settled on a long sleeve green dress that featured a bateau neckline and billowy sleeves. It was cut right at the knees and she radiated a glow as she modeled it for me. It was form fitting enough to make me a bit excited, but it was conservative enough to be respectable. Her choice for me though made me question if I was going to be showing a bit too much.

Unlike Jenny’s dress, the hemline of the dress stopped a few inches above my knees. It looked like an oversized double-breasted suit coat with six large brass buttons on the front, two of which were placed strategically on either side of the deep V-neck of the dress. “I can’t wear this! I will look like a tramp!” I verbally protested, but I actually loved the dress. The dress hugged my ever-developing body perfectly. It made me realize how far I had come in my journey.

“You look great! You better get that dress! Even if we have to get you another dress for the wedding, you have to get it” Jenny said. I acted like I was trying to decide whether or not I wanted it, but I was getting it. I just had to lead her on like I was trying to decide om it. As I stood there admiring my new look. It was then I hit on it.

I spun and looked my soul mate in the eyes. “There are three things that have to happen for me to get this dress“ I told her. She just rolled her eyes and moved closer to me.

“Yes, we will get you a new pair of shoes to match the dress” she said.

“And a hat.” I said.

“And a hat. Hats for both us” she said as she pulled me into her.

“And” I said as I wrapped my arms around the most incredible woman in the world. “You have to wear this sometime for me” She giggled before she gave me a long kiss.

“I will wear it. Why do I put up with you?” Jenny asked as she gave me another kiss.

“Because you love me?” I asked.

“More than anything in the world. Come on and get changed so we can look for a hat and shoes.” Jenny said. I slipped away and put back on the clothes I wore to the store and we took off to pick up the requested items. We decided we had done enough damage for one day, so we decided we should head back to the hotel. Plus, we had reservations for dinner later tonight at The Aqua Shard. We gathered our purchases form guest services and caught a cab back to the hotel. A few hours later, after a brief nap and a shower, which of course we shared, we were seated at our table looking at a beautiful sunset as it set over St. Paul’s Cathedral. At that moment, “Tupelo Honey” by Van Morrison came on the restaurant's sound system. I reached out and took Jenny’s hand and smiled. I looked deep into those deep blue eyes that had captured my heart. I smile came across her face, I whispered.

“Happy Honeymoon, Jen.”