I awoke sluggishly and felt Sam's arms holding me before I could open my eyes, but I sensed from his breathing that he must be awake too.

"Sam?"

"Hm?"

"What time is it?"

"If you wake up, probably too early."

"Lazy person," I replied with a smile and sat up a little in his arms, which he commented on with a disapproving sound. "Holy sparks," I now used his phrase and Sam immediately sat next to me.

"What is it?" he asked, alarmed.

"We have to be at your parents' in half an hour!"

"Oh?!" he replied with a grin and I looked at him questioningly before peeling myself out of bed and throwing a bathrobe over myself.

"What do you mean with Oh?"

"You're usually such an early riser," he replied with a grin and pulled on his boxers.

"It certainly wasn't my fault, you glutton."

"I didn't hear you complaining, more on the contrary," he replied with a grin and took me in his arms to kiss my neck, which immediately clouded my senses again.

"I wouldn't even now if we didn't have another date with your parents."

"Then let's try out your shower today and really together this time," he replied with a grin and pulled me into the bathroom with him.

-------------------------------------------------- ----------

"You're too late!" Padrig greeted us tonelessly as we entered the kitchen, where everyone had been waiting for us because we had brought the rolls with us.

"25 minutes, to be exact. I hope you've had enough fun?" Jenni agreed.

"It'll never be enough, but it's enough for now," Sam replied with a grin and was about to kiss me on the cheek when I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow. "What?"

"I thought you weren't bragging?!"

"That's right, I don't have to. Everyone can see that I have the most wonderful, beautiful and enchanting woman at my side that has ever seen the light of day," he replied and then kissed me.

"Why don't you tell me things like that?" We turned to Bronwyn, who was glaring at her husband, who was now sitting there perplexed.

"I thought you knew that I thought of you like that?" Charlie now defended himself.

"Take a close look at them. That's how marriage works once you've been married for a few years. Things only get better when the children are out of the house and retirement comes," Padrig now objected, chewing, and received another blow admonishment from his wife for this.

"That's not an option for me. How could I forget how wonderful she is in Penny's presence and not show it to her every day?" Sam said fervently and I absolutely believed his word that our relationship would never be boring or would become self-evident. I put a hand on his cheek and kissed him softly, so touched was I by his words.

"You're not exaggerating again, are you?" Sarah interjected. "I'm really happy for you and you're such a sweet couple, but this smooching session is really disgusting."

"I absolutely agree with my sister," James objected.

"We'll be able to control ourselves," Sam muttered grumpily while I tried to suppress a smile.

"Can you help us pack right now? We wanted to prepare everything today and bring to the boat what we no longer need n here," Jenni asked us.

"We have to check the Cafe, but of course we also take boxes down to the harbor," Bronwyn objected.

"Of course we'll help you too," I replied with a smile and turned to Sam, who also agreed as he only nodded.

"We'll manage it and Penny can check on the engine later. She can service pretty much any engine and repair it if necessary."

"Are you going to stop bragging now?" I said, smiling but also flattered.

"You make it so easy, my angel," he replied with a grin and gave me a quick kiss before at least finishing his breakfast.

An hour later, Padrig picked up a box and turned toward the door.

"I'm going to the harbor with your father."

"I'm still helping my mother and will follow soon." He kissed me quickly again before I turned away, grabbed a box and followed Padrig.

When we arrived in port, I spotted Ben up at the lookout at the ocean rescue center. I had completely forgotten what I had found yesterday. After the emergency in the Cafe we had cleaned the equipment used during the operation and had replaced the compressed air cylinders, then wrote the reports and placed orders. But it had been so much that we couldn't finish it and the evening with Sam's family had been so nice that I had completely forgotten about it. But now I knew again what I still had to do.

After Padrig gave me a private tour of his boat, which he seemed very proud of, I briefly apologized to him, saying I had to do something quickly.

I went to the ocean rescue center and examined my suit. Although I had expected this, I was still surprised that the flare was actually missing from my suit. I took my set of keys out of my pocket and unlocked the box at the foot of my cloakroom to remove a new one and examined the sticker on it. Everyone had their own flares and we had to mark them with a sticker with our initials on them before we had to keep them under lock and key. This served to ensure better affiliation in operations, as well as to reduce costs, but also to ensure that they were not misused. Which didn't work in this case.

I put it in its place in my suit and locked the box again. But when I turned around, Ben was leaning against the door to the outside and looking at me, smiling.

"So, you and Sam, then?"

"I don't know how that concerns you, Ben."

"Didn't I make an effort to impress you? Wasn't I nice and attentive to you? Aren't I good-looking?"

"Ben, I've always told you that I can't imagine myself with you anymore. Don't say I didn't play with open cards."

"I admit, you have. But with a beautiful woman you always have a chance, as long as she's single," he murmured as he walked around me before stopping, his fist against the wall next to me made me flinch. "And all this time you only had eyes for Sam?" he snapped at me.

"It's always been Sam and it will never be different, Ben," I replied firmly, but inside I was shaking at his reaction. I suspected that his hurt pride had something to do with the incident in the Cafe yesterday.

"What's so much better about him?" He stood in front of me and crossed his arms over his chest. "Is it just because he's Pontypandy's great hero?"

"Don't talk nonsense, Ben. His heroism has nothing to do with it. It's just him. You two are completely different and Sam is just more...my type." I certainly wouldn't list to him exactly what I liked about Sam - it would almost certainly just irritate him anyway. "Do you know anything about where the flare from my suit went?"

"Should I?" He raised a questioning eyebrow, but his grin told me he was lying.

"You're in charge here, Ben, and this door must always be locked. If something disappears here, you're responsible for it."

"And who says you didn't get it and shoot it in the Cafe? Maybe I saw you do that and kept my mouth shut as a loyal friend?"

"I didn't say anything about one being shot in the Cafe." Now it was me who crossed my arms happily over my chest, but he just shrugged his shoulders calmly.

"What do you want from me, Penny? The scrap piece of the rocket is out in the trash. Get it. It's got your sticker on it and you won't find any fingerprints except yours if you plan on giving it to Malcolm. Anyone out of the team who, like you, has a key to the ocean rescue center." He turned away and headed for the elevator.

"Why, Ben? Are you really just doing this because of your hurt pride?" He turned around so abruptly that I backed away before he even reached me.

"Yes, I have a problem with being rejected. By you. You're the only one I've cut my teeth on for so long. You're beautiful, smart, successful in your career and know what you want. And I want you!" By now I had backed away to the cloakroom.

"For the last time, Ben: I love Sam and nothing will ever change that. I'll figure out how to explain the loss of the one flare, but stop this nonsense or you'll be in real trouble."

"So far you have nothing against me, but all the evidence points against you." He spread his arms and went to the phone. "Should I call Malcolm? What will your Sami think about his sweetheart being a fire devil and setting his beloved brother's Cafe on fire?"

"Sam will believe me and not you. You have access to all of our uniforms and equipment at any time."

"And you should always keep that in mind."

"What do you mean by that?" I replied skeptically.

"I want you Penny and especially I don't want Sam touching you."

"You'll never be able to have me, especially not like this."

"Think about it, Penny," he now turned back to the elevator, but I didn't like his cocky smile at all. "You never know who or what will happen next, as long as you stay with Sam. And you should know, I won't end up in prison because of the little fire in the Cafe, which was just an unfortunate accident. But you'll never know if and when a bad accident will happen to Sam. As you said: I have access at any time to your equipment and engines." He entered the elevator as he spoke and pointedly ran his finger across his throat as he turned back to me. "And this conversation only took place in your dreams. I will deny everything. But you will be in constant fear for your loved one's live," he said before the elevator doors closed and with them a fear closed around me that paralyzed me, made me despair and mourn - mourning for a future with Sam that I would never have.

To be continued...