Alex stood up to walk towards Robbie, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips.
"Good morning," Robbie smiled as he held her waist. "You looked lovely today."
"Thank you, my love," she whispered as she gazed at his eyes.
Toni cleared her throat and the couple chuckled as Sasha rolled her eyes.
"They have been like that since last night," Sasha commented as she went inside the cabin.
"That's what happens when two people are in love, Sasha. They will kiss and..." Michael trailed off as his eyebrows wiggled.
"And what, Michael?" asked the girl. The adults looked at each other and laughed. Sasha frowned, then suddenly, an idea came up in her head.
"Are you.... making a baby now?" she asked loudly as her parents laughed.
"No, honey. But maybe soon," Alex replied and her eyes went back to Robbie.
"So, you're planning this without my consent?" he teased.
"Well, I don't think you would protest," and they were about to kiss again when Sasha pulled their arms.
"C'mon, guys, enough of the kissing! Ughhh!" Sasha frustratedly cried, and everyone laughed.
"Sasha is right. Why don't you guys settle down and eat some before the army of ants swarm this place, hmm?" Toni teased.
So everyone gathered on the table except for Michael who brought the bucket of fish in the sink and Toni who helped him skinned the fish.
After they finished skinning and placing the fish in the fridge, they joined their friends at the table.
The hour passed by with everyone enjoying their meal. Soon enough, they had their fill and looked forward to another fun-filled day.
"What's in the bucket list today, Mike?" teased Robbie as he helped cleaned up the table.
"The other campers are joining us for zip lining. Want to come?" asked Michael.
"Zip lining?" Robbie could not stop the panic in his voice. The idea of being twelve feet off the ground, dangling into the air, trying to defy gravity was not his idea of adventure.
"Zip lining?" asked Sasha. "What is that?"
"Well, there is a huge rope that was strapped in to a tall tree from one side then the other one will be on another area in the camp. You're going to be strapped on to it then glide down on the rope like a pulley to the other end."
Sasha's eyes lit up in excitement.
"Sounds fun!"
"Yes, Sasha."
"Aren't she too young for that?" asked Robbie. His face suddenly turned pale as the image of it continued to linger on his mind.
"Rob, there's one for kids and one for adults. One of you would go with Sasha-"
"No, not me," dismissed Robbie. "Alex could go with her."
Even as a kid, he never rode roller coasters. One thing that he was afraid of was speeding through high places.
"Okay. I would go with Sasha first then it would be us next," suggested Alex.
"What? No, no! I am not going. I will just wait here in the cabin for you. Maybe swim in the lake."
"C'mon, Robbie, it will be fun," urged Alex. "We can get strapped together."
"No!"
"Daddy, c'mon!" Sasha insisted.
"Robbie, try it just this once. Have some thrill in your life. Where's your sense of adventure?" added Michael.
"Sense of adventure?!" His voice rose in irritation. "I do have sense of adventure!"
"Then why not try it, my love?"
"No. My sense of adventure does not include me defying gravity at all. What if we fall-"
"I assure you, the straps are safe, man," assured Michael.
"How come you can trek to the hill and not do this?" inquired Alex.
"Well with the hill, I can still feel the ground on my feet while with this, I am dangling several feet off the ground. See the difference?"
"But Robbie-"
"NO!"
After an hour of convincing...
"What the fuck am I doing here?" he shouted at Alex, as he tried not to look down. They were standing on a wooden platform, about twelve feet off the ground. He could see the trees surrounding them, slowly waving along with the wind, as if laughing at him for being such a coward. A few campers behind them whispered among themselves. Some were laughing as their eyes judged him.
He frowned as his eyes darted to the ground. His eyes could not hold its gaze long enough as he fet his heart palpitating wildly. He nervously reached for the hand of Alex, squeezed it, and regretted his decision.
Alex laughed as Michael and another male camp staff prepare to strap them. They gave their helmets and Robbie took his, heaving a deep breath.
"Shit!" he cursed, as he put his helmet on his head. "Alex, I hate you."
Everyone laughed this time including the campers behind them. Robbie suddenly felt embarassed thinking about how the other campers must have looked at him, like a toddler throwing a fit to his mom.
"Okay. Now, I need you both to jump off together from the platform. Alex, since you're going to be in front of him, you hold on to the strap while you, Robbie tried to assist her," Michael instructed.
"Assist her?"
"Just make sure you're strapped together. You're the guy so you need to take care of your girl. You don't want anything to happen to both of you, right?" and he winked at Alex who laughed.
"Michael, you said this straps are secured. I swear if something happens, I'm gonna kill you!"
Michale laughed. "Rob, its secured, alright? You got to relax, okay. Now, at the count of three, you must jump. One..."
"Shit, shit!" Robbie cursed as his mind tried to focus to the task ahead.
Why the hell did he ever agreed to this?
"Two..."
"Shit, Alex! If I die-"
Alex chuckled. "You're not gonna die."
"But what if the straps gave off-"
"Three..."
"Shiiitttt!" he cursed loudly as he tried not to scream his head off as they both jumped off the platform.
The metal that held their straps together hinged as it rolled down the rope along with them, he held on to Alex's waist as she giggled with joy.
"Relax. Hold on to me," shouted Alex in the midst of their speed. The wind blast through their faces, blowing through their hair as it swept through their bodies. The view on the top was better than below as the sun cloathed them with warmth, and the stream flowed freely several feet from them as they passed by it.
Alex wanted Robbie to enjoy the scenery and yet, here he was hanging onto her for dear life. She could feel his breath on her hair, panting heavily like he was on a race. She knew he was nervous and probably his eyes were even closed.
"Robbie..." she called again on top of the breeze. "Open your eyes and looked at the scenery."
She tried to reach for his hand on her side as she had one hand on the strap on top of her chest. Robbie felt her hand and he squeezed it tightly.
"Breathe, Robbie, slowly. I'm here," the voice of Alex made him feel slowly calming down as he opened his eyes. She leaned her head on him a bit as she tried to turn towards him on her side.
He reminded himself how lucky he was to have her as his future wife and mother of his child. A strong woman who faced the challenges of life raising their daughter on her own.
Now, she was his alone...
Right then, he forgot where he was and suddenly his body relaxed. But what happened next surprised both of them.
"Marry me, Alex," he whispered closer to her ear. Alex smiled at him as if he was joking.
"Are you proposing?" she asked.
"Yes. Why did it surprise you?"
"No. I knew we would marry but... are you really proposing?"
"Alex..." and he was getting frustrated. "Don't you believe me?"
"And why in the hell would you want to propose like this? Strapped as our feet dangled, and wind blowing on our faces....I can barely hear you. Don't you dare take out that ring!"
Robbie chuckled. "Let us say I'm in a rush right now."
Alex rolled her eyes. "Give me a proper proposal, stupid!"
"Well, if you haven't decided to let me jump in this stupid zip line, I could have taken you to the lake and proposed to you. But you want adventure. Now that we're here, you should accept it."
"Ugh! That's your excuse?"
"Why not? You're to blame why it was not romantic as you imagined."
"Now, I'm having second thoughts if I'm going to accept your proposal or not."
"Alex..."
"Why do we always end up in strange situations doing romantic moments like this?"
"It only meant that our lives would never be boring. I love you, Alex."
"And I love you, too. Now you better get down on one knee when we reach the bottom, okay?"
"Okay, boss!" and Robbie grinned.
Soon enough, they have reached the ground and the female camp staff helped them unstrapped. As campers came down one by one, Robbie took out the box from his pocket and get down on one knee in front of Alex as onlookers watched them.
Sasha, along with Toni, watched as she saw her dad bending down on one knee. Her mom was so elated that she even covered her mouth with her hands, as if she was about to cry.
What was her dad doing?
She wondered as she heard the words her father uttered to her mom.
"Allison Jane Macatangay, my best friend and now my lover, will you marry me?" Robbie asked as her as his smile reached his ears.
"Yes, yes! Of course, yes!" Alex cried and Robbie stood up as they embraced. The crowd cheered and clapped as Robbie pushed her slightly away to place the ring on her finger.
Toni was ecstatic. She ran towards them after they kissed, leaving Sasha gasping.
Are her parents going to get married?
"Oh my god, Alex! Congratulations!" Toni greeted and hugged Alex. "I'm so happy for both of you. Finally."
"Yes, finally, I said yes to her," teased Robbie and Alex punched his arm.
Sasha ran towards them, next and hugged them on their waists.
"I love you, Mom, Dad!" she said, as she looked up at them and smiled. "Does that mean I'm going to be a flower girl?"
"You'll have a much better role, honey," replied Alex.
"And what is that?"
"You'll be my Junior Bridesmaid. You get to hold my trail."
Sasha clapped in glee.
"OMG! Eeeee!" she shouted excitedly. She had knly watched weddings in movies and to be part of it was truly a dream for her.
Alex smiled, as she watched her daughter getting too excited about the wedding. It was truly a great fulfillment to see that her daughter wanted this as much as her.
"Is Aunt Clarice gonna come?" Sasha asked suddenly.
Alex suddenly remembered her sister. She had not talked to her sister for almost a week since they left Robbie's house and she knew her sister would definitely get mad at her.
But then, Clarice already knew they were getting married and perhaps, she would be happy for her since finally, this was all real.
"O-Of course," she replied to Sasha. Though deep inside she did not really know how would Clarice react to this news.
But the next question Sasha asked was not they all expected. She never knew that her daughter was still hoping that things would change... that there was still hope for it.
"Are my two grandpas invited too?"