BAMBI

XXXVII

The last day of our vacation was bitter sweet. The precious time we'd spent together, just the two of us, was coming to an end and I couldn't help but feel a hint of sadness.

Prince was able to get around the island with a minimal amount of gawkers. We rode bikes to the farmers market, took a canoe out onto the crystal clear water and had a picnic; hell, we even laid out on the private beach in nothing but sunglasses. For once, Prince was able to break free from being Prince; from being a celebrity hunkered down within that invisible prison.

But only in a few hours time we'd be on our way back to reality. The time had come for the both of us to go back to our normal lives- music, meetings, work and home. Since that night of drunken confessions neither Prince nor I had mentioned anything else about moving in together. And I still didn't bother mentioning anything to him about our mishap that night. It would only stress him out and for what? I knew I wasn't pregnant. At least I was pretty sure anyway.

As I stood at the end of the bed, reluctantly folding my clothes and placing them into my already stuffed suitcase, I looked down at the pile of things I'd acquired while on our trip. One thing caught my eye, something I wasn't expecting to see in the heap of unique sea shells and rocks I collected along the ocean's shore.

Without hesitation, I reached into the pile and picked up the tourmaline and sapphire bracelet I'd seen in one of the antique stores Prince and I visited. But before I had a chance to call out to Prince, to ask him where it came from, I felt his arms wrap around me, "You like it?" He asked, his lips brushing up against my ear before lining the crook of my neck with soft kisses.

"How... how'd you get this?"

"I bought it." He said matter of factly. "What do you think?"

"Prince... it's beautiful!" Turning around so we were face to face, "But wasn't it exp-"

"Shh... Baby, you know that doesn't matter to me. Plus, I wanted you to have something to remember this trip by besides a pile of rocks."

"Mmm... you know I would never forget this trip." Meshing my lips with his, I gave him a tender kiss. "But thank you. I love it!"

"Here," taking the bracelet from my grasp, "let's see how it looks on you." He wrapped the dainty piece around my wrist, securing the clasp tightly.

"Aww." Stretching my arm out, I tried to get a better view of how the jewelry looked, "So how'd you know I had my eye on this?"

"Please! You were staring at it for like 15 minutes! And then when you went to go look at those creepy dolls in the back I had the clerk wrap it up."

"Those dolls were creepy!" I said, laughing. "But that's so sweet of you, thank you baby."

An hour later Prince and I were boarding a plane on our way back to Minneapolis. The time had come, our vacation was officially over and although I wished we could live out our lives on that little drop of paradise, I was excited to go home, to get everything back to normal.

While the steel bird lifted into the air my eyes stayed focused on the shrink ground below. So many memories were made on our trip. And although I'd never forget our time, that bracelet around my wrist would always be a constant reminder of the special moments the two of us shared.

Finally taking my eyes off of the islands below, I looked down at my wrist, thinking back to our first night on Turks and Caicos. Prince got so wasted and although he paid terribly the next day, it was nice to see him let his guard down.