Fuller House - Cruising for Love Ch. 02C

~ Tuesday, May 25th, 2021 Evening Time ~

The horn from the cruise liner blew signaling to the passengers that the boat was departing for the next port. The cruise ship was due to arrive in the early morning. Jackson fell onto the bed where he first discovered what true love really was. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved Rocki during his time at Bayview High. The fact that they never had sex wasn't even a deal breaker, it was the fact that rather than being upfront and telling him in advance that she planned to break it off with him rather than try and have a long-distance relationship with him. He had grown emotionally over the years in no part thanks to her. In the short time that he has been on this magnificent cruise liner, he has shared the company of several beautiful women, been courted by one (Clara), and fallen head over heels in love with another (Daniella). Thanks to them he has been able to pick out the signs of several of his companions that fancied him as well.

As he moves his left hand in front of his face he sees the simple gold band on his left hand. The ring had not been there 24 hours ago but the photos and flash drive in the album currently on the nightstand beside him document the event for posterity. It was a lovely simple ceremony that took place after dinner but before they returned to their room. Daniella slips into bed beside her husband. She rests her head on his chest and sighs.

"I can't believe it's true," Daniella says as she looks at the simple gold band adorned on her left hand. Her hand is resting on Jackson's chest and she can feel his heart beating away.

"I looked at the video, Rowena's grandson stayed up late because the video was professionally edited AND subtitled so we know what was during the ceremony."

"What am I going to tell my family?" DD asks her husband.

"The same thing I tell mine." Jackson counters.

"Yeah... but the difference is that my family... and yours for that matter, will say I'm old enough to know better."

When Jackson and Daniella were awakened in the morning so that they could catch their flight the pair found that they were naked from their nocturnal activities. The first thing the pair noticed when they reached full coherence was that their bags were already packed and were sitting on the chairs in front of them. The next thing was that their clothes for the day which they had purchased themselves during their sightseeing the previous day were laying on the seats of said chairs. The final, and the most baffling thing they noticed was that gold bands were sitting on their ring fingers. Said rings were not there when they arrived at the Inn, nor were they there when they finished eating.

The ceremony, while not in either of their memories did happen. Once the pair showered and got dressed they went to settle their bill with Rowena and find out what had happened when their memories stopped. Rowena greeted the pair and presented them with their bill. Jackson pulls out his credit card and pays the outstanding balance and Daniella demands to know when their wedding ceremony occurred. As if to answer her question (demand), Rowena's grandson arrives, looking quite tired, and hands the agitated Latina a photo album. As he speaks perfect English he tells the pair that he edited the video of their wedding ceremony and even embedded subtitles into it. Not having time to look at the video the "newlyweds" flip through the album and see every essential moment of their wedding captured on film and displayed in vibrant color. The last page of the wedding album is the marriage certificate signed by the officiator. From the photo Daniella guessed he was a priest, she would know for certain when they watched the video.

Not wanting to miss their flight, Daniella thanked their hosts and collected the wedding album before they made their departure. The ride to the airport and the flight to meet their ship was a silent one. Daniella wore a worried expression on her face while Jackson sat quietly, clutching his wife's left hand and trying to be supportive. If it was a shock for her to wake up in bed with a former student he could only imagine what waking up married to said student must be doing to her anxieties.

Mr. and Mrs. Fuller did not immediately return to the cruise liner when they arrived on the new island. There were plenty of sights to see. Jackson was trying to be a considerate husband as Daniella had a rather long list of things she wanted to see. They missed one island due to the canceled flight so he was determined not to let that happen again. DD was only half attentive as she was worried. Not about anything illegal. They were both of legal age in the United States and Daniella was no longer hung up on their age difference after a weekend of lovemaking. No, she was now hung up on what their families would say. They had a nice lunch in town and after buying some souvenirs in town made their way back to the ship. They returned to their room to find everything was super clean as they have not been in the room in almost 48 hours.

Now they were laying in bed, sparsely clothed and looking up at the ceiling.

"What are we going to do?" Daniella asks her young husband."

"What do you want to do?" Jackson counters.

"I... I don't know." Daniella answers honestly.

Jackson takes his wife's hand in his. Their fingers interlace and bringing her hand to his face he kisses her ring. "I know this wasn't in either of our plans. Heck, it's something out of a rom-com or romance novel."

Daniella has to smile at that comment as she knows it to be true. She has read so many romance novels and seen so many sappy movies that featured plots like this. "What do you want to do oh husband of mine?" Daniella questions her 18-year-old husband.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"I do," Daniella says looking at his stoic face.

"I didn't plan this... but I would be lying if I didn't say that I couldn't imagine finding a more beautiful, intelligent, witty, fun-loving, beautiful..."

"You said beautiful already." Daniella points out.

Jackson strokes her face and kisses her nose, "You're so beautiful it needed reemphasizing."

"You are a charmer." DD retorts, kissing her husband's chest.

"And I fell in love with you the moment we kissed on the dance floor," Jackson tells the woman in his loving embrace. "Looking back, that was the moment you stole my heart, and then every time we made love, my heart became yours."

"Jackson..." DD had tears in her eyes at his beautiful words but was also worried he had not thought this through. She had to remind him of the real-world ramifications of this. "Jackson... you do realize... I... I might be pregnant... right?"

"I meant to ask you about that." Jackson declares. "I take it... you aren't on birth control?"

"No. I haven't been on it for almost a year."

"Fertile time period?"

"We're in it," Daniella says in a low tone. Since she recovered from her bender in the back of her mind Daniella has been worried about this possibility. She never expected Jackson to stand by her. Most guys would run as soon as they hit the last port. Jackson doesn't say another word on the subject. He wraps Daniella in his arms, kisses her forehead, and holds her tightly next to his body.

"Why don't we sleep on it, sweetheart? No need to decide tonight. Let's sleep on it and we'll see what tomorrow has in store for us."

Daniella doesn't say anything more. She nods her head, kisses Jackson's chest, and closes her eyes. Jackson lays awake until he can feel his bride breathing softly and knows that she is sleeping soundly. Daniella's words about what might be weigh on his young mind. His eyes started to feel heavy, and he knew that Mr. Sandman was paying him a visit. There would be no sexy play tonight. They needed to sleep and ponder what to do.

~ Thursday, May 27th, 2021 10:17 ~

Over the next thirty-six hours, the Fullers went out sightseeing at the last two ports of call on their cruise. Daniella's nerves were on edge as this time the following day they would be disembarking and getting on a plane bound for California. The older woman's stomach was feeling queasy and she wasn't sure if it was from her nerves or because she might be pregnant. Their sightseeing was very fun and relaxing and managed to help distract DD while they were about but the moment she stepped foot on the boat everything came rushing back to her.

Jackson learned that during his absence Clara had a family emergency and was forced to disembark at the port that he was not at. She left him a letter with her contact information and as he read it knew that he had to send her a letter telling her why they couldn't be. He felt awful because they were really close and she deserved to hear it from him in person about why they couldn't be.

When they returned to the ship at night Daniella wasn't in the mood to socialize at diner time so Jackson would order ahead and have one of the stewards bring it to their suite. Wednesday was very much like Tuesday event-wise. Mrs. Fuller was not feeling up to socializing at dinner so Jackson ordered in and much like the night before, other than lying naked in each other's arms there was no romance. Jackson was a bit worried but he was also mature enough to know that life would not always be one of sexual bliss.

Ramona, stopped by the room first thing Thursday morning as she had not seen her surrogate brother for the last few days and was actually worried. DD was asleep when she arrived so Jackson shut the door to their bedroom and sat on the couch beside the young Latina. Ramona took one look at Jackson and knew something was weighing heavily on his mind. Jackson, needing to talk to someone, unloaded on Ramona. To say the young woman was stunned by what has been transpiring aboard the ship was an understatement.

Jackson would remember the expression on her face for the rest of his life. Once she calmed down Ramona slid beside her surrogate brother and hugged him. While Jackson was not panicking like she thought he might she knew that he needed all the emotional support that she could lend him. Now that he had confided in someone Jackson felt a large weight lifted from his shoulders. He now knew why his mother was so lousy at keeping things to herself.

"So what are you going to do now?" Ramona asks.

"We haven't decided if we're going to have it annulled or not yet." Jackson calmly replies.

"What do you want Jackson? What is your heart telling you?" Neither person is aware that their conversation has roused the occupant in the other room. Daniella heard voices and slipping into a bathrobe, cracked the door separating the two rooms so she could listen in. She came in when Ramona asked Jackson what he wanted to do about the situation.

"Honestly... I'm in love with her." Jackson sees a slightly skeptical expression on Ramona's face. "I know that you think it's just a puppy love kind of thing... but since the first time we kissed, I just... I know she is the one that I'm supposed to be with. While I don't know everything thing there is to know about her we have learned so much about one another. When we're together, nothing else matters."

"Do you know if she feels the same way?" Ramona asks. She doesn't want to ask the question but knows it needs to be asked.

"I know that she has feelings for me. I don't know if they run as deep as mine do for her, but she could have thrown the wedding ring at me and left me long before now... so I have hope for a future with her."

"That brings me to my next question... how are you going to support your family? You're a high school graduate with no job and currently no prospects? If she is pregnant will she support you while you go to school and "TRY" and find a job? Minimum wage won't be of much help." Ramona bluntly states.

Jackson hears Ramona's blunt and realistic view of the future. Nothing she said is news to him. Those things are what has been weighing on him since they returned to the ship. But the way she put it, something else was on his mind now.

Prospects... prospects... prospects...

Then something clicks. Reaching into his pocket he tosses a few things about until he finds what he was searching for. "I have to leave Ramona," Jackson announces grabbing his satchel.

"Where are you going?" She inquires.

"To call in a favor!" Jackson says dashing from the suite.

~ 16:02 ~

Daniella was sitting in the bathrobe curled up on the couch in the lounge area of the suite she shared with her husband. Despite having several sites that she wanted to see here she just couldn't pull herself out of the funk that she found herself in. This was all so surreal to her. Less than two weeks ago she had a plan for her future. She was going to enjoy every moment of this cruise (which for the most part she had). She was going to return and begin working on her doctorate. In between, she was hoping her boyfriend would propose, and she would get married, and enjoy their life together. As the two of them were now 40 she wasn't sure kids were in the cards for them. Her boyfriend had never given any indications that he wanted children. At this point in her life, Daniella wasn't sure if she could have them or even if she could if she wanted them.

Her first major life-changing moment of late was discovering her boyfriend of 8 years having sex with a girl half her age in the bed they had shared recently. While they had not had sex prior to that she had planned a special night for them only for him to spoil it. This led to her alcoholic bender which led to her having sex with Jackson Fuller. Daniella now found herself in the precarious position of being married to said former student, a young man who was only just an adult.

Lost in her thoughts, the silence of the room is shattered by the electronic tones of the lock disengaging. The door opens and in comes a very happy Jackson Fuller. "Hello, beautiful." Jackson greets her. He has a box in his arm that has a ribbon wrapped around it.

"Hi," Daniella replies giving him a half smile.

Jackson leans in and kisses her cheek. This brings a bigger smile to her face, as does the box that he has placed in her hands. "For you my lady."

Daniella states the white box and gives a little shake. There is a slight rattle that intrigues Mrs. Fuller. "Can I open it?"

"Please do."

Daniella opens the box and within the box finds a brand new dress and a black velvet box. "We are having dinner tonight with some very important people that I want you to meet. This is very important to our future so please, will you do me the honor of joining me, Mrs. Fuller?"

Seeing that her young husband is being very sincere and earnest she holds out her hand and he helps her to her feet. Behind his back, he has the new heels that go with her dress. Looking at her watch she sees that it is just after 4 in the afternoon. "Do you think I have time to get my hair done? God... they're probably swamped since it's the last night for a large portion of the guests."

"They probably are... so it's a good thing I made a reservation earlier this morning for you. Your appointment is at 16:30." Daniella looks at him with a surprised expression. Daniella still had much to learn about this young man.

"You have 14 minutes to get there sweetheart... best make haste."

Daniella grins at the gesture from ear to ear. Leaning over, she kisses her husband on the lips and goes to their bedroom. Jackson watches as she shuts the door while she makes herself presentable to the public. Jackson smiles, raps on the door, and announces, "I'll see you when you get back Daniella, I have to go run a few errands."

~ 18: 42 ~

Daniella Fuller was behind closed doors putting the final touches on her ensemble. She walks into the bathroom and looks at her earrings in the mirror. Having seen what she would be wearing with the dress she decided to have her hair washed, the color of her dark brown hair brightened to more of a chestnut brown, and since her husband had bought the dangling diamond earrings she had her hair put into a low hanging ponytail with a center part. The dress was a White Mark Zunino Haute Couture gown with intricate beading all over the gown. It had tucked-in detail that cinched at her waist. Jackson must have had help from someone with exquisite taste as they paired the sexy va-va-voom style dress with the earrings and a stunning Lorraine Schwartz diamond bracelet. The earrings alone must have cost more than her car, she couldn't imagine how much the bracelet cost.

She had heard Jackson come in and he announced his presence so she knew that he was in the room. Now dressed and ready for dinner, Daniella exits the room and finds her husband. He is wearing a rented tuxedo with a red vest over his white shirt and instead of a tie he has a button.

"Mrs. Fuller, your beauty is absolutely show-stopping!"

"Thank you, Mr. Fuller. you clean up very nicely yourself."

"Shall we?" Jackson says holding out his arm.

The Fullers make their way from their room to the VIP Dining Room. Jackson leads his wife to the back center of the room. At the table for four is an older couple waiting for them. The gentleman stands as does the woman who Daniella presumes is the gentleman's wife. Once the gentlemen help the women into their seats they sit and the wait staff brings the menus with today's specials. The women order lobster and a salad while their husbands do surf and turf. The men have their steaks cooked medium rare.

Dinner is a lively affair and the women become very well acquainted with one another. Daniella learns that the jewelry that she is wearing was picked out by Pamela. Daniella wanted to return the jewelry to the Sourtherlands but she is told that they are a wedding gift from them to her. Daniella tries to beg off accepting them as she guesses they are quite expensive. However, she learns that the cost is minimal compared to what she and her husband could have lost had Jackson not fixed her husband's laptop.

Roger then goes into the tale of how Jackson heard him pounding on the laptop and how his fixing it allowed him to make contact with his company per their request. The Fullers come to learn that the important message that Roger needed to address dealt with a major business deal that was in the works. Had Jackson not assisted him when he did Roger's company would have lost almost a billion-dollar deal. Roger is not joking about the figure. It turns out that the merger he was working on and was supposed to go smoothly hit a snag when the company looked to be sold to another business. While things like that happened the business in question was a key part of Southerland's US expansion. Without that one piece, all other acquisitions that were in process of being closed on would be worthless.

"So, once Jackson informed us that he had just gotten married and was hoping that my husband could help him find a job to support his wife and possible additions... we not only hired him on the spot as the new Director of Southerland Conglomerate but I insisted on buying you the jewelry as a wedding gift."

Daniella was stunned into silence. "Thank you." She finally manages to whisper before hugging the woman beside her.

"You are quite welcome, sweetheart."

"How... how did you know they would suit me so well?" Daniella asks showing her appreciation with a giant smile and displaying them to the woman with exquisite taste.

"Simple, your husband showed me one of the many photos he had of you on his phone. With your facial structure and hair, I picked out something that would look good enhancing your beauty as opposed to distracting onlookers from your beauty."

"I'm not sure you accomplished that." Daniella states holding her right earring in her right hand (which also had the bracelet).