Love, Laughter and the Pursuit of Kangaroo Sushi

The Flight to Japan

-Jack's POV-

"If you wanted a morning person you married the wrong Irishman."

Mark cheery smile melted away instantly at my scowl, and handed me the large black coffee I ordered before sitting back down and pulling out his phone. The airport was way too crowded for way too early in the day. A couple of gulps in I realized that my mouth is on fire. Not only are we going to be on an international flight for more of the day, but I'll be having to deal with second degree burns on my tongue.

"Bright Eyes?"

His deep voice was uncertain and tentative, as if he was approaching a ill tempered moose.

"No talking until after second cup," I muttered, placing my head on the small table we were sitting at. "We talked about this."

His sigh was way too familiar for me to ignore. It was the sigh that I learned from past situations would be followed up by a cheesy saying meant to make me feel better but would do the exact opposite. I brace myself for the impact.

"You know," he began. "It's always the early bird that gets the worm. Maybe I should buy you some gummi worms? You love candy, babe."

I groaned at the pun. I was ready for pain, but puns were way too horrible for this early in the morning. The nice thing about my husband is that he always takes my morning mood in stride. I try my best to remember how I act when the tables are turned. When I'm still up and chatting at 3 o'clock in the morning and he is about to face plant. The dark eyes glossed over as I ask him to look over a few more video edits because saner people who don't sleep with me, aka Robin, stopped returning my texts hours and hours ago.

"Sorry," I said a small time later after the second cup of coffee was placed a safe distance from me. "You don't deserve my sour attitude. Especially when we're heading out to our honeymoon."

I lifted up my head enough to watch the kindest brown eyes soften even more. Then was the warm hand wrapped around mine and squeezed just enough to make me realize that I made the best decision in my life.

"If I wanted a morning person I married the wrong Irishman," he giggled. I giggled back and then enjoyed the kiss he placed on my lips more than any second cup of coffee.

Soon enough we were boarding the plane to the first stop on our trip. We had been talking back and forth about where to go. The leading contenders were Japan and Australia. Neither of us could decide, so a compromise was made. We were going to both. First two weeks in Japan, and then another two weeks is Australia. Videos had been made in the meantime to be uploaded every couple of days or so with Robin's help, and we planned on at some point setting up vlogs on different parts of our adventure.

"That's after I enjoy every inch of you in our honeymoon suites," Mark growled into my ear as I tried to do some research on Japanese culture on my laptop.

"You better keep that promise," I rumbled back and he gave me a cute little wink.

It's during flights that I appreciate how soft Mark's shoulders and arms are. Sure, he looks like he's built with tons of muscle...and he is...but there is a wonderful relaxing place to always lay my head for a nap when I need it. Usually on short flights we just sit and chat, but only about an hour into my flight I was already knocked out completely. It was only him gently rubbing my right leg with his left arm that got me to open my eyes. I blinked up at him, with his headphones still plugged in and watching a movie on the screen in front of us. With a small smile he handed me a cup of apple juice and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"How long was I out?"

"Only a couple of hours. Nothing but water underneath us right now."

I yawned, stretched and wished I had given more instructions to Tyler and Ethan regarding taking care of Chica while we were gone. I'm really certain that Mark's directions went right over poor Ethan's head. The poor guy looked as if he was fighting back a slight panic attack once the large binder of notes was placed in his hands.

"Are you sure that Ty and Ethan will be all right with - "

"Babe, everything at home will be fine," Mark sighed with the patience that he had refined to an art form since we started dating. "And even if it isn't, we have really wonderful people in our lives that will make sure that our house, YouTube channels and anything else that could keep our minds on anything but our new marriage afloat until we return."

I wanted to argue, but the way he always could lull me into relaxation with his deep voice and confidence always astounded me. Plus it didn't hurt that he was kissing me again, and didn't stop until I moaned like a porn star.

"Damn it," I muttered as he pulled away laughing.

"Not bad, McLoughlin. I think I'm going to enjoy hearing those sounds for the next month."