
Alex and Robyn were on vacation in the Caribbean, celebrating their second anniversary on a cruise. The couple spent their first three days relaxing at sea, getting acquainted with the layout of the ship and trying out some of the fun activities that were available. On that third day, December 1st of 2015, Alex and Robyn went to the gym after lunch, got in a nice workout, then returned to their room. There was a little bit of time to relax before their next activity, wine tasting in the main dining room. Robyn, still in her gym clothes with her hair tied back, settled onto the bed for a few moments to read. She was in the middle of an excellent book, and liked to steal any available moment to read a page or two. Alex tinkered around the room, as was his way, and she thought nothing of it. "Honey," Alex called, from across the room. Robyn didn't look up. "Mm?" She flipped another page. "Before we go wine tasting..." "Uh huh...?" Her nose remained decidedly stuck in her book. Did he want the shower before her? Was he wondering what clothes to change into? "Will you marry me?" Robyn dropped her book and looked up. Had she heard him correctly? She looked around for clues. Stateroom, gym clothes, fluorescent lighting, Alex standing in the middle of the room looking down at her. It didn't necessarily LOOK like a proposal... Robyn wanted a little clarification. It came out elegantly: "WHAT?!" Alex nodded and smiled. He said, "Yeah," very simply, and dug through his luggage for a small box. He lightly tossed it to her from several feet away, ever the romantic. She opened the box, and inside was a silver ring embellished with small diamonds. She knew she was intended to wear it until they chose her engagement ring. She had MANY questions. "Really?" "Yep." "Seriously?" "Uh huh." "Are you doing this because YOU want to do this?" "YES." "I mean... I thought... Didn't you tell me this wasn't going to happen for a while still?" "I changed my mind." While all of this went on, Robyn had slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. While it wasn't the proposal she had expected, all of her questioning probably wasn't the answer that Alex had expected, either. She continued on with it, anyway. She couldn't help it! "Did you talk to my parents?" He detailed the exchange he'd had with Robyn's father, and the texts he'd gotten from her mother. That information, somehow, finally gave Robyn the context she'd been looking for. It was real. She cried. They hugged. And at some point, she did actually say yes.