"What the future holds.."

[Ashley Maldano]

"What the future holds.."
Antoinette Sands & Markus Frei
September 7th, 2018

Markus Frei glared at the bounce house for a moment, a rare frown on his face as he stares down his inflatable nemesis. The lack of cute puppies jumping around inside of it is still a sensitive topic for the big Swiss, even despite the success of the party he’s put together for his girlfriend, Antoinette Sands.



“Puppers would’ve made it so much better...” he mutters to himself, leant against the side of the house they’d soon be seeing the back of, hopefully. Markus breaks eye contact with the bounce house, sighing dismissively before taking a small sip from his red solo cup - the indicator of any good party, to him, at least. Turning now, the frown is instantly wiped from his face as he notices his girlfriend Antoinette walking towards him, bouncing with each step, managing to balance at least a quarter of her birthday cake on a paper plate far too small for it. The sight alone causes Markus to crack a smile.



“Are you sure you have enough cake, babe?”



Antoinette looked down with a face covered in blue frosting, looking down at the giant slice of Alien cake on her plate. With a wide eyed grin her head looks up making sure here eyes meet his, before she laughs covering her mouth.



”Nooo! This is only plate one! Ya know the best things about surprise birthday parties??” She asks, tilting her head before playfully dipping her finger in the frosting on her plate before smearing some on his cheek.



”All the yummy leftovers we get to have later! We’re gonna have cake for daaaays babe!” Antoinette says with a smile, before taking a sip of her own red solo cup, smiling at him.



”You really outdid yourself with the party, I know you were stressing about it but you really didn’t even need to do anything! Anything you would have planned would have been good for me, but thank you so much for everything.” She smiles before leaning in to kiss him, right on the now frosting covered cheek.



He laughs, wiping away the frosting with a finger before popping it in his mouth to have a taste. “Mmm,” he approves, “that is really good frosting.” Markus smiles down at her, the blue frosting matching her hair. “You’re more than welcome. I’m still...sorta pissed I couldn’t sort out the puppers in the bounce house thing. But I’m glad you like everything.”



Markus reaches forwards, softly caressing her cheek for a moment. “It’s no less than you deserve, you know. I’m really proud of you.” He uses another finger to wipe away some frosting from her cheek, wiping it onto the tip of her nose with a giggle. “Aaaaand you really do like your alien cake.”



Antoinette smiles up at her boyfriend, looking into his eyes as she nods her head. ”Awh...you were working so hard this week trying to find that but it’s alright! I love everything!” She smiles, before giggling as he puts frosting on her nose.



”Hearing that means the world to me. All I ever really wanted to do was make people proud of me, which I know it shouldn’t matter what others think and normally I don’t care..but I wanted to make sure I never disappointed you.” She says with a smile, before nodding taking another huge bite talking with her mouth full. ”It’s out of thiiiis world!”



He chuckles at the bite, shaking his head. “You could never disappoint me, Ant. I’ll always be proud of you.” Markus takes a long swig of his drink, setting his cup aside before he takes hers, then grasps her hand. “...I was going to give you this in front of everyone, but...I’ll just give it to you now. Come with me.”



”Always?” She asks as she raises an eye brow before smiling wide as he nods his head. ”More presents?! Markussss you got me wayy too much already!”



She says with a laugh as she takes his hand and follows him. She holds it tightly not wanting to let go as she follows. He smiles, nodding to himself slightly - he did buy her way too much this year, but seeing the smile on her face? Worth it. Markus eventually leads her into their bedroom - no present in sight. Antoinette glances around slightly, her eyes scanning every corner of the room before she’s interrupted by Markus’ voice.



“You’re not gonna find it, Ant.” He chuckles. “Close your eyes.”



With a pout, she obliges, and Markus reaches into his back pocket.



“Okay so...I really wanted the bounce house full of puppies for this. But...I mean, you know about all of that. I had fireworks planned too. I mean, they’re all set up...and I was totally gonna do it later, but, I can’t wait. I love you, Ant. You’re my whole life. And I want to spend the rest of it with you. So...uh...will you marry me?”



Antoinette didn’t open her eyes for a minute. The words he was saying was too good to be true, and it’s something every girl thinks about their whole life. This moment right here. A smile crept on her face as she breathed heavily and slowly, not being able to help the slow tears starting to fall down her cheek.





”I was fully expecting an alien head grilled cheese or something….” She laughed before finally opening her eyes, seeing how real this moment was. How real he was just as real his words were.



”Yes… yes yes a million gazillion a trillion times yes!” She nearly screamed with excitement as she pulled him close, giving him one long passionate kiss holding onto him not wanting to let go again. Markus grins through the kiss, eventually mutually pulling away from each other.



“Easy there, alien...gotta put the ring on, right? I’m not sure about the size, but I think it’s alright. Here.” He plucks the engagement ring from the velvet box it was perched in, gently taking her left hand and sliding the ring onto her finger. A perfect fit. Markus sighs in relief, running a hand through his coarse black hair. “Oh man, I’ve been so nervous about this for...too long. And then everything went wrong and...man. I’m sorry it wasn’t perfect.”



He shakes his head. “Damn bounce house.”



”Stop...stop. Everything was perfect. You’re perfect and I can’t wait to spend every single day of my life with you. You’re honestly my favorite human….I couldn’t be anymore happier than I am in this moment baby.” She says as she looks down at the ring on her finger, getting lost in it for a moment.



”This has by far been the best birthday I could have ever had. Thank you...thank you so much.” She says before getting in close with a small kiss.



Markus smiles, the wave of relief still washing over him. “Good. I’m glad. I love you.” He reaches back into his pocket not, retrieving the small velvet box. “Here,” he begins, opening it, “let’s put your ring back, and uh...get back to the party. This day is about you, not us...so I think we can hold off telling people for a while, right?”



Antoinette nods happily, sliding off her ring and placing it back into the box with the utmost care. Slipping the box back into its hiding place, Markus heads towards the door, looking back and holding out a hand for Ant to take.



“Come on, alien, let’s get you some more cake.”