Sam groaned as he slowly woke up, blinded by the sunlight coming through the window. He definitely had one or two too many beers last night - probably three or four. This peer pressure was horrible, but the reason for their celebration had been sad and beautiful at the same time. Yet they had returned so late and he had been so dizzy that he had fallen asleep before he had cuddled up to Penny. He wanted to roll over on his back, but was immediately stopped when Penny slid her hand, which had just been on his chest, into his back and held him tightly to her. He opened his eyes and looked at her smiling face.

"Good morning, my darling. If you don't want to fall out of bed again, I would advise against rolling over."

"Good Morning my angel." He kissed her gently. "I'm glad we don't have to worry about that anymore, although it's nice to have you so close to me every night," he replied with a smile and kissed her tenderly again before wrapping her up and pulled her a little closer to him and hid his face at her cheek while he felt her fingers running down his back and into his neck, almost driving him crazy.

"I agree with you, but it has nothing to do with the size of the bed, whether we cuddle or not." She couldn't help but grin as she felt the effect she was having on him again and enjoyed his breath on her neck and his hand slipping under her shirt and caressing her stomach.

"That's true, but it will be much more pleasant and worry-free if we cuddle a little...more intensively," he murmured in her ear and that was it. Her self-control was gone.

"More intense?" she asked in a strangled voice. "You'll have to show me what you mean," she whispered quietly because she could no longer control her voice when she felt his lips on her neck.

"With the greatest pleasure," he replied with a grin as she turned her face to him and kissed him. This day promised to be a good day if it started like this, Sam thought before he completely lost himself in the arms of his true love. It would be every day like this with her by his side, until the end of his life.

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"So you three. We'll say goodbye to you here, since we don't need a plane to get home," Franziska objected and she and Tom hugged everyone one after the other. "We'll really miss you," she said then with tears in her eyes as she snuggled up to Tom again.

"I agree with my pearl. Keep your ears stiff, don't let it get you down, but above all, let's stay in touch," he now admonished them in a playfully stern manner and briefly wiggled his cell phone in the air to demonstrate what he was talking about.

"Are you crying, Tom?" Penny asked him in surprise and Sam also saw that their German friend had tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Nonsense, I just got something in my eyes," he replied embarrassedly and quickly wiped his eyes dry with his shirt sleeve.

"Yes, of couse." Sam rolled his eyes with a smile. "Take good care of him, Franziska and remember to let us know the date for the baptism when the time comes so that we can all start our sponsorship."

"I'll do it," Franziska replied with a smile.

"Ha, ha, ha," Tom replied sarcastically and turned to Franziska, horrified when he realized what she had said.

"What? He said when the time comes. I would like to have the three of them as godparents for our child." Tom had such a stupid grin of happiness on his face that the rest of them had to stop themselves from laughing out loud.

"Let's retreat and give the two of them the opportunity to discuss this in peace," suggested Sam and they hugged the two of them again before finally making their way to their gate.

"I have to go to the bathroom, guys. Flying always makes me so nervous," Alex said after a few meters and stopped at a door.

"Okay, Alex. Then all the best to you too," Penny objected and hugged Alex briefly before Sam did the same to him.

"I'm not going to flush myself down the toilet," he said with a grin. "See you two then." He waved to them as he opened the door and disappeared.

"I think I'll miss the stupid jokes the most." Sam tried to suppress a sob, but Penny still looked up at him.

"You have wet eyes too, Sam. I knew that my tiger could also be a cuddly cat," she teased him.

"I admit that I will really miss the three of them. I have grown very fond of them, despite their rather strange sayings at times."

"They all have their hearts in the right place, just like you." She snuggled into his side a little more and he tightened his grip as they got in line to check in to board their plane. "But they're not out of the world. These days, thanks to the internet and cell phones it's become so easy to keep in touch with people, no matter where they are in the world."

"True, but it won't be the same."

"Perhaps we should suggest to the three of them that we have a video conference over the Internet once a week?"

"Once a week? Now don't exaggerate again," he replied, pretending to be shocked, and handed the employee at the counter their tickets and papers. She looked at it for a moment before warmly welcoming them on board. Sam was more looking forward to being seen off by her colleague at the home airport, but it didn't help. "I don't know much about this internet video stuff, but I would be very happy if we could make it work."

"I think we can do that and if necessary we'll ask the children. Mandy, Sarah and James seem to be quite experienced with this sort of thing."

Sam saw something out of the corner of his eye that caught his attention and took another closer look. That wasn't possible?!

"Um, Alex. What are you doing here?" Sam asked the young man behind him as he handed his ticket to the employee and Penny also turned around, confused. They hadn't even noticed that Alex had followed them.

"Well, check in," he replied with a grin.

"Aren't you at the wrong counter?" Penny asked him while he got his ticket back and the employee welcomed him to the flight.

"As you can see, I'm not. Shall we get in then? I can't wait to get to know your little town and Ellie promised me a helicopter ride."

"So, so. Ellie then?!" Sam grinned widely as they walked on and boarded the plane.

"I don't think it was the helicopter ride alone that persuaded him to come to Pontypandy that she promised him," Penny murmured and also grinned from ear to ear. "Where do you want to sleep when we get there?", she turned back to Alex.

"I'll find something. Hotels always have a room available." Alex threw himself into his seat and the couple were surprised to see that he was sitting in the same row as them.

"In principle, yes, except that there is no hotel in Pontypandy. At most a few holiday apartments and they are already fully booked in the high season," replied Sam and was thoroughly amused by Alex's horrified face when he sat down next to him.

"Couldn't you have told me that before?"

"We didn't even know until now that you were flying back with us to get to know your new lover," Penny teased him with a grin and Alex blushed, which only amused them both even more. "I have a guest room. You can have that", she then objected and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Really? Penny, you're the best! I could kiss you!" he shouted with joy and was just about to lean over Sam to make his words come true when Sam pushed him back into his seat .

"Stop it! Only I kiss this woman!" he murmured sullenly and Alex and Penny couldn't help but laugh. "Where do we sleep when he sleeps with you?" he then asked her quietly, but not quietly enough.

"You won't even notice that I'm there. Just have fun and take good care of our godchild. I'll be very decent and won't bother you," Alex objected with a grin and Sam pulled the headphones out of the backrest in annoyance in front of him, put them over his ears and turned on the radio. Alex winced because it was turned on too loudly and muttered something about how humorless and inflexible older men were when Sam felt Penny grab his hand and he gave her his attention again, looking into her beautiful and amused eyes.

"It wouldn't be very nice if we crashed at your place when Alex came to visit. I don't care where we sleep, as long as I'm with you. But we shouldn't leave Alex alone."

"That's what I was afraid of. But if he doesn't behave, he'll sleep in the station!" Sam now objected a little louder in Alex's direction and he raised his hands in surrender. The plane started moving and the request to fasten their seatbelt flashed, which they complied with immediately before Sam took Penny's hand again. "If we don't get home safely: I love you, my angel, please never forget that." Penny laughed quietly as Sam sat next to her again, tense and pale, struggling with his fate. She leaned over and forced him to look at her with her hand so she could kiss him. He instantly relaxed and completely lost himself in it. Neither of them could say how much time had passed, but they only separated again when the captain informed the passengers that they had reached altitude. "Wow, that's really how you can die," Sam murmured at her lips and both smiled at each other.

"You're still alive Sam and you're even completely relaxed,"

"Do you want to snog for the whole flight?" Alex then asked the two of them and Sam rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"What about your promise that we wouldn't even notice you were there?"

"It's okay. I'll get some sleep!" he replied and put his seat back. Sam watched in fascination as he actually fell asleep in just under a minute.

"Enviable," he simply murmured, and at that very moment the plane began to sway for a brief moment, which made him involuntarily grip his armrest and Penny's hand a little tighter.

"I didn't want to trade places with him," Penny replied with a smile and he looked at her questioningly. "I would rather use the time for something more calming," she said teasingly and Sam didn't have to be asked twice. pulled her close and placed his lips on hers.

To be continued...