Page 38 of Only in Our Dream (Moonflower Cove #15)

Melanie

T he wedding ceremony had been more beautiful than Melanie ever imagined, even if it all felt like a blur.

Melanie had tried to imprint every detail into her brain so she never forgot what it felt like to marry Cameron West. From watching Cameron walk down the aisle with her mom to their handwritten vows to their first married kiss, Melanie treasured each moment in her heart.

After the ceremony, they had headed back into the limo to be driven to the reception.

Melanie had been thankful they were alone on that ride as there was an insane amount of kissing involved.

There had also been a fair amount of teasing when Cameron had slipped her hand down Melanie’s pants.

Had the ride to the country club been longer, it would have made for an eventful trip.

At the reception, Melanie and Cameron had danced their first dance, cut the cake, and mingled with all their friends and family.

Melanie was thankful that Mia and her nieces had come to the wedding.

She loved knowing they would still be in her life even post-divorce.

Although Rob wasn’t invited to the wedding, she had told him about it.

Mostly so she could still be the bigger person post-divorce.

Melanie had heard through Mia that Rob and Janet had moved to Augusta.

He had apparently gotten a new job, and Melanie was secretly thankful she didn’t have to run into him accidentally anymore.

Even though it had been a year since the run in at the hospital, Melanie still remembered the blindsided feeling.

It was why she didn’t want Rob to be blindsided by her wedding.

If only the common courtesy went both ways, they might have been able to remain friends.

But none of that really mattered now. They had both moved on with their lives and Melanie was happier than ever.

Not only were she and Cameron officially married now, Melanie’s adoption of Jonah and Dylan was also set to be finalized the next week.

Blaire had arranged everything and Melanie couldn’t wait for the kids to officially be hers, too.

Since getting engaged, she and Cameron had talked about fostering a baby and possibly adopting.

And with Cameron’s foster certificate approved, Melanie wondered if they would ever use it.

She felt selfish for wanting to raise a baby with Cameron when they already had two teenagers.

But the idea wouldn’t leave Melanie’s mind.

Melanie hoped that when the right moment and child arrived that they would be ready.

Of course, Melanie still had the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that they would never find a child she connected with.

Even after fostering several children before, Melanie never felt a motherly connection to them.

Not the way she saw time and time again at work when moms met their babies for the first time.

It was a magical moment and Melanie always admired it when it happened.

And that little part in the back of her mind wondered if she’d ever get that moment.

She’d seen it happen with adopted parents before when they met their child for the first time they just knew it was their baby.

If it was meant to be, Melanie knew the right baby would find her and Cameron.

As for now, they were solely focused on enjoying the sun and sand at their all-inclusive resort in Mexico.

They had visited the resort a few months ago as a belated Christmas gift and knew instantly they would be back for their honeymoon.

Their plane had barely landed before they were calling their travel agent to book another trip.

“Mama! Look!” Jonah ran up the beach with a conch shell in his hand and Dylan trailing behind him. “Isn’t it cool?”

“Totally!” Melanie matched his tone as she examined the shell.

It had been a mutual decision between them to bring the kids with them on their honeymoon.

Melanie knew that most couples might not want to leave the bedroom after getting married, but they both knew there was more to their relationship than sex.

Their relationship with Jonah and Dylan mattered as much as their own relationship.

The best way they knew to continue to foster the closeness the four of them shared was to celebrate the wedding together on a family-moon.

Their travel agent had booked them a large family suite with two full bedrooms, allowing the kids their own space away from Cameron and Melanie.

The kids had loved all the activities the resort offered while Melanie and Cameron enjoyed knowing the kids were safe as they went off and did their own thing during the day.

Jonah had loved getting to play soccer or volleyball with the other resort guests while Dylan had taken nearly every cooking and dance class offered.

Melanie loved the spa, as did Cameron. They joked they needed to schedule monthly trips to the resort just to have a spa refresh day.

“Can I keep it?” Jonah asked, taking the shell back.

“Sure. Just make sure nothing is living inside of it first.”

As Jonah and Dylan headed back down to the water, Cameron rolled over onto her stomach. The two had been alternating between putting the umbrella up and keeping it down. It was currently up, but Melanie could feel the sun starting to burn her skin.

“You okay if I put the umbrella back up?”

“What time is it?”

Melanie checked her phone in the beach bag. “Three thirty.”

“We’ve been out here all day. We should probably head inside.”

“But it feels so nice out here,” Melanie pouted.

“Yeah, but I know what would make you feel better inside .”

“Oh, really now?”

“I mean, it is our honeymoon, after all.”

“What do we tell the kids?”

“That Mom and Mama need some alone time?”

“Works for me,” Melanie laughed. “But first, I want to take one more dip in the ocean before you make me leave tomorrow.”

“I told you we should quit our jobs.”

Rolling her eyes, Melanie pulled Cameron to her feet as they walked to the water.

Jonah and Dylan were trying to perfect their boogie boarding skills—they both had a long way to go—but Melanie loved seeing how close they still were.

She worried about how Dylan would handle Jonah going off to college almost as much as she worried about Cameron.

The good thing was Jonah was going to stay relatively local for college.

He’d been accepted into the University of Southern Maine and wanted to study engineering.

Jonah was one of the smartest kids Melanie knew so she knew he would excel at any major he chose.

It had surprised her and Cameron that he chose not to play hockey in college.

After his last high school season, Jonah said he was ready to hang up his skates, and they supported him in his decision.

With Dylan starting high school in the fall, the big life events kept piling up for the West family.

Dylan was so excited about going to high school even if her mom wasn’t.

The night after the orientation, Cameron had cried that her babies were growing up.

Melanie felt her pain; seeing the kids grow up was both a blessing and a curse.

Once the water was up to their stomachs, the two stopped walking. Cameron leaned in, kissing Melanie as she wrapped her legs around her. Melanie put her arms around Cameron as she bent her knees slightly so more of their bodies were in the water.

“This trip has been amazing.”

“It was exactly what we needed.” Cameron ran her hands through Melanie’s damp hair. “I’m so happy to finally be married to you.”

“It’s been a long time coming.”

“I’m so glad we brought the kids along, too.”

“Me, too. They’ve loved it.”

“We’ve all loved it.”

“We’ll have to come back again with the kids.”

“I’d love that.” Sighing, Melanie could see a shift on Cameron’s face. “Do you still think they’ll want to hang out with us once they’re in college and high school?”

“Well, Jonah hung out with us through high school, so I have a feeling Dylan will be the same way. And since Jonah’s only half an hour away, I bet he’ll be home a lot.”

“I hope so.”

“They will.” Melanie kissed Cameron’s forehead. “You did a great job raising them. They won’t forget that.”

“I know, I know.”

“Come on. Let’s go to our room and I’ll make you feel better.”

Gathering the kids and their belongings, they said goodbye to the beach one last time on their trip.

While the kids headed to the pool for a last-minute dip before dinner, Cameron and Melanie headed up to their room.

They told the kids to be back by six so they could make it to dinner on time.

It didn’t take long for the door to be locked and their clothes to come off as they fell into bed together.

If engaged sex had been sexier than dating sex, then married sex was the greatest thing Melanie had ever experienced.

They had learned each other’s bodies so well over the last two years that just a simple hitch of her breath could tell Melanie exactly what Cameron needed.

Nothing in the world felt better than having a honeymoon orgasm, Melanie was convinced.

“I can’t believe we forgot the strap-on,” Cameron breathlessly groaned after their sexy time was over. She was lying on her back on the bed while Melanie cleaned up their discarded clothes around the room. “We should have just bought one here.”

“I told you; I’m not taking an Uber to a sex store. It’s too weird.”

“You’re such a prude.”

“That’s not what you said when we went skinny dipping.”

“We need to do that again sometime.” Tossing the clothes onto the nearby chair, Melanie straddled Cameron’s hips as she reached down and ran her nipple between her fingers. “We can ask Vera if we can have the beach house for a weekend. Alone.”

“Alone,” Cameron moaned, squirming slightly under Melanie’s touch.

“Mhmm. Just you and me and no kids.”

“You gotta stop talking dirty to me if we’re going to make it to dinner on time.”

“You’re the only thing I want to eat right now.”

By the time they were finished with the second round, they were officially going to be late for dinner.

They quickly changed into sundresses and sandals as they opened the bedroom door and received annoyed glares from Jonah and Dylan.

Both were showered and dressed for dinner with Jonah in a polo and cargo shorts and Dylan in a sundress as well.

“Well, well, well,” Jonah crossed his arms, smirking at them, “you told us to be ready in time for dinner and yet you two can’t do the same thing.”

“We could have stayed in the pool like a lot longer,” Dylan pouted as a smile hid behind her eyes.

“Well, this is mine and Mama’s honeymoon trip. What else did you expect?”

“Ew, gross. No.” Putting his hands over his ears, Jonah stood and walked over to the door. “I’m not listening to this. I’m going to dinner.”

As Cameron and Melanie laughed, they followed Dylan and Jonah down the hallway to the restaurant. They had delicious Mexican food with a mariachi band performing in the center of the dining room. They all loved it and talked about how fun the dinner was as the entire walk back to their room.

“Do we have to leave tomorrow?” Dylan groaned as she drug her feet behind them.

“Not until tomorrow.” Holding her hand out to Dylan, Melanie waited for her to take it before pulling her close as they walked. She’d grown so much the last two years that she was almost as tall as Melanie was now. “How about we have a family movie night tonight?”

“Can we finish The Hunger Games movies?”

After learning that Melanie loved those books and movies, Dylan had eagerly started to read them.

They had been watching the movies together as a family and only had one more to go.

Arriving back at the room, Cameron popped popcorn as the kids changed into the pajamas.

Melanie wrapped her arms around Cameron’s waist as she poured the popcorn into two bowls.

“I love my wife.”

“I love my wife, too.” Kissing Cameron’s neck, Melanie was glad the kids couldn’t see them from the living room. She nuzzled her nose by Cameron’s ear, causing Cameron to shiver. “You can’t do that if we’re supposed to have movie night.”

“Are you really going to make me wait?”

“ You’re the one that suggested movie night.” Turning around, Cameron smirked at Melanie as she handed her one of the bowls of popcorn. “But just know I’m well worth the wait.”

“Believe me, I know that.”

They kissed once more before joining the kids in the living room.

Dylan sat between them as Jonah sat beside Cameron on the end of the couch.

Each had their feet up on the coffee table as the movie played.

Reaching her arm behind Dylan’s head, Melanie began to play with Cameron’s hair.

When she looked over at her, Melanie mouthed I love you to her as Cameron did the same thing back.

After the movie, Melanie and Cameron tucked Jonah and Dylan into their beds. Even though they were probably too old for it, they didn’t protest which Melanie was thankful for. She kissed Dylan’s head and touched her cheek.

“Goodnight, sweetie.”

“Goodnight, Mama.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Changing spots with Cameron, Melanie did the same thing with Jonah.

“Goodnight, buddy.”

“Night, Mama. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She ruffled his shaggy hair before they left them for the night.

Closing their bedroom door, Cameron grinned at Melanie. She playfully pinned Melanie up against the walls as she kissed her. “So, are you going to tuck me into bed now?”

“Absolutely.”

Taking Cameron’s head, they spend their last night in Cancun wrapped up in each other’s arms.