The Unexpected Visit

Chapter 18

I wake to the sound of crickets chirping and birds singing. What a wonderful day today will be. I look over and see Anna, Brooke, and my mom still asleep next to me. I smile. I get out of my sleeping bag and hear the sounds of my father singing and a crackling fire. I wonder what he has in store for breakfast this time. I can already hear Lily's cheerful bark outside. She's always so happy around any of us.

"Hey honey, it's about time you got up. I sent the boys to get more wood; why don't you find some dry grass or small branches? That way we can have a nice fire for tonight. I decided that today we are going to hike the rest of the mountain, come back down, and maybe go home tomorrow. How's that sound to you?" he asks cheerfully.

"Yeah, I like that idea, plus, Brooke has her softball tournament in a few days and I have a soccer game next week. I wish that we could stay longer, though," I say, rather disappointed. I walk away from the campfire to get the dry grass and small branches.

"Nice of you to join the land of the living, sis," Jackson calls, whistling a tune that I don't recognize. I roll my eyes and drop the things I gathered in a pile not far from the wood pile.

"Hey, beautiful, how did you sleep?" Owen asks, putting his wood down in the stack and kissing me on the cheek.

Lily runs up to me, tackling me almost after her walk with Owen and Jackson. She's already licked my entire face by the time I get her off of me.

"She slept like a rock, other than the constant talking," Brooke replies, climbing out of the tent.

"Hey, I don't talk that much," I exclaim, punching her in the shoulder. Lily jumps in for the play.

"Girls, calm down. it's not even 8 am and you two are already messing around," Mom mutters, coming out of the tent, looking flawless as usual.

"Come on people, let's go for a run. It's a perfect morning and I'm sure Lily would love more exercise," Anna says, looking energized.

"Uh, no thanks," says everyone but Brooke and I.

"Well, if you still want to go on a run after breakfast I'll go with you. But please, not one of the really long ones," I moan.

"Fine, sissy, we'll go on a short one. What's for breakfast, dad?" Anna asks, approaching the fire pit.

"I decided on bacon and eggs today, since almost everyone but Jackson and I didn't like the fish. Go get dressed; you two can't go on a run like that," Dad says, shooing us away.

We race to the tents, stumbling through the door in order to beat each other. Anna wins but I'm the first one dressed and back to the fire.

"Hey, no fair, you got a head start!" Anna says, rushing behind me.

"That's not true! I'm just faster than you when I change," I mumble with food in my mouth.

"I can't understand you when you talk with food in your mouth. When is that going to sink in here?" She asks, knocking on my head.

"Hey, stop that! Which way are we going for the run?"

"I want to go north today, afterall, we went south yesterday. I also think we should race; that would be much more fair," Anna says with a glint in her eye. Of course she would beat me; she's been over this mountain more times than I can count.

"No racing on the mountain! How many times do I have to tell you girls?" Dad asks, also looking at Brooke.

"Last night didn't count! It was on solid ground, no rocks or anything!" Brooke explains, desperately trying to defend us.

"Yeah, there were no rocks. Plus, Anna won anyway, so why does it really matter?" I say, trying to dismiss the matter.

"Alright, but no running during your "run" or during the hike, only walking. Be safe, girls!" Dad shouts after us as we fast walk away from the campsite.

In 15 minutes, Anna says we should turn around and go back. Brooke asks for another 5 minutes, I ask for ten, but neither of us gets what we want, and we end up going back. We arrive right before they are ready to go on the hike. They luckily let us catch our breath and get a drink before we set off again.

We set off on the hike. At first, it's uneventful, but as we get closer to the top of the mountain, we start to see the wildlife. Deer not even 10 feet away from us, birds right above our heads, butterflies landing on our hands, and so many other creatures lurk atop these mountain trails. We take pictures of everything. Lily, of course, scared the deer away before we could get a picture. The view from the top is absolutely gorgeous; there are no words to describe it. It's about noon, so we stop at the top for lunch. Luckily, Dad did not pack fish sandwiches. It is about 1pm when we decide to head back. At this point, there is no wildlife that we can see; we can only hear them. Considering dad said he thought that there might be a bear cave around that he had seen, this is very lucky. Anna assures me that he was probably wrong but I'm still a little on edge.

"Finally! I don't really like when I have to go on hikes with my athletic family. Even Owen held his own pretty well, it's not fair," Jackson says, breathing heavily as he finally catches up to us.

"What happened to you? We have been at the top for at least 5 minutes now. How did you get that far behind? I don't play a sport like softball, soccer, or football like the rest of your family, and I kept up. Sorry, Beca's mom, I don't count volleyball as a sport," Owen gloats. Jackson just rolled his eyes. "I had to run every morning and do so many other things just to impress your parents and finally get permission."

"I assume it worked?" I ask, moving closer to Owen and taking his hand, wondering what he got permission for.

"Well, I was impressed that he kept up with us, not everyone can do that," Dad interjects. "Okay everyone, get in something more comfortable and I will get dinner going," Dad says, putting his backpack down and starting a fire.

"Before we do that, Beca can I talk to you? Alone?" Owen asks, his hand in his pocket.

"Sure," I reply and take his outstretched hand.

We walk side-by-side for about 5 minutes before approaching a clearing on the mountain. It's very pretty with the afternoon sun hitting the leaves of the trees. I turn around, expecting Owen to be standing right behind me, but am instead surprised with the sight before me.

Owen's on one knee, holding a ring box with a stunning ring inside. He hasn't said anything yet, but even if he did, I don't know if I would be able to speak. He looks at me nervously and smiles. "Beca? Will you bring me the most joy and the most love a man can ever feel by becoming my wife?"

I nod my head, overwhelmed with emotions coursing through me, as I wipe away tears of joy. He takes my hand and puts the ring on, hugging me. At this point, we're both crying, and I overhear crying from my family who followed us. I smile over his shoulder to my family, plus

lily, standing there, immensely happy.

"Time to eat!!" Someone shouts.

"You heard the man, let's move. Anna, don't forget your guitar. I am thinking of some great music that we can sing to as we speak," Mom says, looking excited.

Later, we gather around the fire, and are almost done with dinner, when Anna grabs her guitar and begins strumming the first few chords to Owen and I's song. We stop eating and listen to Anna sing a couple songs, joining in. Tonight is so good, I wish it could last forever. However, Dad later tells Anna to put away the guitar. Luckily, he tells us a story before sending us off, of four kids looking desperately for the one they don't know, running from others just to stay together. He sends us to bed thinking and wishing Lily didn't insist on singing with us.