Chapter 23

He looked into her eyes and saw tears forming as she said, "Ohhh Jack, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me in a long time. I am yours forever, my love, and I will be a great wife to you and a great mom to our children. I love you with all my heart and soul forever and ever, Jack." He reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks before he laid her back on the pillows and kissed her deeply. He broke the kiss when he heard Ariel's stomach growl.

She giggled, he laughed and said, "Baby, I better make you some breakfast before your stomach starts sounding like an angry grizzly bear!"

"Ok honey. You go do the cooking while I get dressed." she said.

Jack got up from the bed and walked over to the table, moved the chairs out of the way and lifted the table, carrying it outside. He came back in and grabbed the chairs, taking them out too, while Ariel got dressed. She finished dressing and was brushing her hair when he came in and grabbed the eggs and butter from the basket, the coffee pot, coffee and a frying pan from the shelf. She put her hair in a pony tail then slid her sandals on. She was bent over putting her shoes on when Jack came in and gave her a playful swat on her bottom, but he ran out the door before she could swat his butt in return. She grabbed two plates, forks and cups from the shelf, then took them outside to the table.

Within ten minutes, they were sitting at the table, eating eggs, slices of fresh peaches, buttered toast and cups of hot coffee. They talked about what changes they wanted to make to the cabin and corral and stable, and other topics as well. Jack said that he wanted to enlarge the cabin and add a fireplace or a wood burning stove inside. With one of those in the cabin, they could come there even during the winter and fall, when the weather was colder. Ariel suggested enlarging the corral so it reached to the pond where the horses would be able to drink without having to haul buckets of water. Jack looked over at the corral and the pond, thinking about the changes to it.

He said, "Yeah baby, I think that can be done. It would give the horses more room to run, too. We just have to extend the corral by about fifty feet to reach the pond, and about twenty or thirty feet wide, extending over the shallow end of the pond by about ten or fifteen feet, so the horses can splash and roll in the water as well as be able to drink if they want to."

"That sounds like it would work, honey." she said, "but how would we enlarge the cabin without tearing it all down?"

Jack smiled and said, "With some planning and help, it can be done, baby. I'll have Andy help me with it if you can draw me a set of floor plans for it, baby. I saw the sketches of the floor plans that you did in school, honey, so I know you can do one for a simple little cabin in the woods."

Ariel smiled and said, "Sure Jack. I can do that. It should only take me an hour or two to draw up some plans for this place, honey. You just have to let me know what you want and don't want in it. If there's any specific things you want, or certain places for stuff, you are going to have to let me know before I start the plans. I'll work on them when we get home, since I don't have my drawing supplies here. You wouldn't happen to have a measuring tape, pencil and notepad here by any chance, would you dearest?"

"Yeah babe. There is a measuring tape, pencil and small note pad in the trunk inside." he replied. They finished eating and cleaned up together, and Jack put the table and chairs back inside the cabin.

Ariel took the measuring tape, notepad and pencil from the trunk, then went back outside and started making measurements of the cabin, writing them down in the notepad. Jack helped her with the measurements. When they were all written down, Jack and Ariel sat on the log by the fire and decided how much bigger they wanted the cabin and what would be done to enlarge it. They decided to leave the door where it was and build off the back and right sides of the cabin, adding a bedroom off the back, and a room for a kitchen off the side, with a second door in it, leading to the back of the cabin to the outhouse, which needed to be rebuilt, just behind the cabin in the woods.

They worked and talked most of the day, clearing away trees and fallen branches from where the additions were going to be built. They worked up a sweat with all that work, and around 3:00 pm, Ariel decided they had done enough work for the day. She winked at Jack, then ran toward the pond, throwing off her clothes on the way. She had to stop about halfway to the pond to take off her shoes and shorts. Throwing them aside and taking off her panties, she ran to the pond buck naked, splashing into the water with an excited squeal, diving under the water and swimming out to the middle of the pond before surfacing again.

Jack laughed and followed her more slowly, savoring the sight of her nakedness running to the pond and disappearing into the water. He thought that she reminded him of an exotic mermaid swimming gracefully through the water with her hair flowing out behind her. He undressed at the edge of the pond, piling his clothes beside Ariel's, which he had picked up on his way to the pond. He sat down to watch her for a few more minutes before going into the water himself. Jack was hot and sweaty, and becoming aroused from watching his beautiful fiancé swimming naked in the pond.