Is this destiny?

They finished the last course, and the plates were taken away. It's time for the cake!

The servers wheeled in a low and wide white three tiered cake. The bottom two tiers are circles, and the top tier is a heart. Each of the tiers has intricate details in white icing, accentuated with specs of gold and certain areas are airbrushed in black. It goes with the theme of the dark and light (just like their wedding bands).

The top tier (the heart shaped one) has 'Sarah and Aiden' written on it with white icing dusted in gold. And next to it are two figurines which look like Sarah and Aiden in an embrace while gazing at each other lovingly.

Sarah was delighted that the cake is her favorite: vanilla flavored with fresh strawberries. There were even shaved almonds and thin layers of melted chocolate. Perfection.

Sarah cut the first slice for Aiden, and he cut an extra-thick slice for Sarah.

"I loaded myself with cake before leaving home. And now again…", Sarah said between bites. "At this rate, I will be fat in no time and you will not like me."

"That will not happen.", Aiden said while offering her another bite.

"Will you like me even if I'm fat?"

"You will not get fat.", he said with a straight face and continued with a mischievous grin: "I will make sure you have enough activity to burn all these calories."

Sarah widened her eyes at him. Why is he talking so loudly when people are around? And why is he wiggling his eyebrows?

"Eat up.", he urged her with another spoon full of cake in front of her mouth while ignoring Sarah's silent protests. "You will need it.", Aiden said with a knowing look.

"Can you at least lower your voice?", Sarah whispered.

"Why?", Aiden asked innocently.

"You don't need to announce what we will do… after this."

 Aiden grinned. "I was talking about dancing. Did you think about something else?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Aiden. She knows very well that he was not talking about dancing. He tricked her. She wanted to argue back, but people around them are listening and he is offering her another bite of cake... well, at least she can eat cake. It's her favorite.

Few tables away…

Penny is enjoying this whole experience. Everything is great! The atmosphere, the nature, the food. She loves it!

"We should travel more often.", Penny told Ben.

Ben smiled. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know.", Penny admitted. "I love Switzerland and I hope we can stay here for few days longer before going back."

Her mood dropped a bit when she remembered that Ben needs to work. And because Sarah and Aiden will be on their vacation (aka honeymoon) for the whole month of June, he probably can't take any time off now.

"Maybe in July we can go somewhere.", she added.

Ben glanced at her belly. "We can go as long as junior does not complain and your body can handle it."

"Oh…", Penny rubbed her belly absentmindedly. With all the excitement, she forgot that her belly will grow even bigger and it will be difficult to move and travel. Her baby is due in August. "Well… we can go somewhere nearby, after our wedding... And after junior is born we can plan for something bigger, as a family of three."

"Sounds like a plan.", Ben confirmed. "Until then, we can take weekend trips, or even be tourists in Los Angeles."

Penny approved. "Yes. There are so many places we can visit within few hours drive… We can go to Vegas, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe… so many places!"

Two tables to the right…

Nala, Haru, Oni, Michael, Zula, Ron, Tejan and Daniel are seated at the same table, enjoying the cake.

Nala leaned on Haru and dreamily watched Sarah and Aiden feed each other cake while talking in whispers.

"When are we going to be like that?", Nala asked Haru.

Haru glanced at Nala. "You are too young."

"Ah?", Nala was surprised by this answer. She wanted to ask him, why is he calling out her age now, and when they are alone in the bedroom he has no problems treating her as a grownup!? But there are others at the table, and it's not appropriate to talk about those things in front of them.

Zula giggled and asked Nala: "Did you just propose to him?"

Nala bolted to sit straight in the chair. "What?"

"You just asked him when are you going to be married.", Ron clarified.

"No, no… I meant like lovey-dovey with the cake and stuff…", Nala said clumsily.

"Are we not lovey-dovey?", Haru asked.

He poked cake onto his fork and offered it to Nala. "And here is the cake. Is there something else missing?"

"Uhm… I am not talking to you!", Nala exclaimed while glaring at Haru. She was full blown embarrassed.

After a second of hesitation, Nala bolted from her seat and rushed outside.

Oni sighed. "I will go and see what is going on."

Haru wanted to go, but Michael stopped him. "Let them talk."

"Shouldn't Nala talk to me?", Haru objected.

"She did, and you told her that she is too young. That is what got her upset.", Michael reminded him.

"What was I supposed to say?"

Michael shrugged indicating that he is not sure, but he still offered his advice: "Girls have tender hearts. They are more emotional than us. Instead of telling Nala bluntly that she is too young, you should handle it smore smoothly. Girls need romance."

Haru frowned. All that sounds complicated. "If you know so much, how come Oni is avoiding you?"

Tejan and Daniel perked up their ears. It seems there is something worth listening to!

It was Michael's turn to frown. "She is not avoiding me."

"Maybe not avoiding-avoiding, but we all see that she is much colder toward you.", Zula chimed in. "Did you mess up something?"

Michael sighed and admitted: "Big time… I am working on fixing it. Slowly."

"Slowly? If you go too slow she will escape you, man.", Ron said.

"I can't go fast. She is too young.", Michael defended himself.

Haru snorted. "And you gave me the advice not to call out Nala for being young. Do you listen to yourself?"

"It is different for you. The two of you are much closer in age.", Michael responded.

Haru shrugged. "Excuses. Both Oni and Nala are going to be seventeen in few months. They are both girls capable of romance and crave for the attention of the person their heart is set on. What does that have to do with my age or yours?"

…

Outside…

Oni found Nala leaning on the fence and looking at the Lake Brienz.

"Hey, are you OK?", Oni asked softly.

"I made a fool of myself.", Nala grumbled.

"No one thinks that way. Everyone believes that Haru is the one who missed an opportunity to be romantic."

Nala sighed. "Sometimes he is so… thickheaded. And sometimes he does all the right things."

"And you still love him.", Oni reminded Nala.

"I do. To tell you the truth, most of the time he is gentle and sweet and treats me well. But sometimes he does something stupid and it takes me by surprise." Nala paused and observed Oni. "How are things with Jesse? Ops… I meant Michael. It will take me some time to get used to call him by that name. I noticed that the two of you are acting differently. He is more caring while you are… distant."

"To use your words: he did something stupid and it took me by surprise."

"He hurt you?", Nala guessed.

"Yeah. And I am not even sure if I have the right to be hurt. I mean… nothing ever happened between us. It was always me chasing after him and him tolerating my proximity." Oni looked at Nala and asked pleadingly: "Tell me, do I have the right to be hurt because I saw him going to another woman?"

Nala didn't have an answer to this question. But she saw tears swelling in Oni's eyes and she hugged her.

---

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