Confessions of a Cynic

T W E N T Y - T H R E E

Enjoying the breeze, enjoying the meal and enjoying the sea view, the two couples spent their afternoon at a restaurant near a beach in Skopelos town.

"So tell us, you two, have you thought of how many children you would want?" Wendy asked all of a sudden that Psyche almost choked out the octopus she chewed.

"Wa-wa-wa-ter-" Psyche reached for the glass of water as they hurriedly handed it to her. When she managed to swallow it down, she asked her."Where did that came from?"

"I just want to know. I mean, you two are getting married eventually. We need to plan these things." She told them, holding Robert's hand. "We wanted 12."

Eros and Psyche were shocked. "12?!"

Their reaction was so amusing that Wendy laughed so hard she almost fell out of the chair. "Oh my god! Look at your faces!-I was just joking, you two! This isn't the ancient times." She chuckled. "We want 3 but maximum is 4."

"2 girls and 2 boys. We wanted it to be equal but then, we really wouldn't mind as long as we've created a beautiful family." Robert said. "You? Plans?"

"Oh, well-uh,"

"4. She dreamed of having twins." Eros cut her off, "It's kind of hard but we'll just see."

Psyche starred at Eros and stunned at his answer. He remembered what I shared in that sex education seminar in their senior year where I was being teased right after. Wasn't he listening that time? Wasn't he just texting?

"That is nice." Wendy warmly said. "Oh! Oh! Let's go down to the beach!"

"This has been great." Robert sighed as he let the wind slapped on his face and watching his fiance' and Eros examining a starfish. "Thank you for taking us out with you." He told Psyche.

"Oh, it was Eros' idea. He wanted to roam around. It got me wondering why he decided to explore all of a sudden."

"Well, he said he just wanted you to be happy and enjoy your trip."

She looked at Robert. "He said that?"

Robert nodded. "Yep. You've chosen a good man. He has a chosen a good woman."

"Same as you."

He chuckled. And sighed. "Yup. Same as yours. Actually, I've never ever thought I could love again. You see, I've been to a bad breakup before. It was really bad, I never thought I could recover. But then, Wendy..it started int the most unexciting manner-we were already good friends. Met her during high school, lost contact and then we met again-a year later after the break up. I never thought I would fall for her." He looked at Wendy who was laughing with Eros as they tried to explore another starfish. "It happens when it happens, you know what I mean? Sometimes, the worst things could actually lead you to something better. We shouldn't let our past-worse pasts get the better of us. The better of our present and even the better of our future."

Wendy called out to Robert and waved at him, holding an orange starfish. He smiled at her and waved back. "She always love the beach, you know. I planned on having our house near a beach. She doesn't really mind where we are living but then I know she would've love that."

"What about you? Do you like living on the beach?"

"Well, honestly, I don't find living near the beach "livable" and practical. It's far from the city, its hot, there is a lot of things to consider living near the beach. But then, if it only means waking up with a beautiful smile like that, how could I resist it?"