Chapter 4

On the river of love

Disclaimer: I just want to say before you begin reading that I have never been camping let alone river rafting. I few things here I got from research, other things just I made up. So I apologize in advance for not knowing much about camping and utilizing creative license. I am the type of prissy girl that refuses to travel anywhere where I do not have hot running water and a toilet. I'll do an outhouse if I have to….but no bushes. I am a spoiled city girl.

EPOV:

The next morning we got up and grabbed a quick breakfast before we had to be at the meet up spot for the rafting tour. Bella kept laughing at me because I seriously could not sit still and she swears that I was so excited that I was vibrating.

We were told to pack in a knapsack only what was absolutely necessary. We had arranged for the rest of our stuff to be held at the hotel. Obviously we were not the first guests to need to store luggage while taking an adventure. An adventure! What part of the last four days hadn't been an absolute adventure? This had all happened so fast and came completely out of nowhere, but I knew what I wanted and for the first time in my life I was going to do anything I had to do to get it. I went online when Bella was in the shower this morning and found what I needed to make it happen.

When we arrived at the meet up spot we were given several waterproof bags and had to sign these papers saying basically it said that they weren't responsible if the waterproof bags didn't work and our stuff got ruined. We also had to sign papers that said that the company couldn't be held responsible if we got lost, maimed, or killed on the tour.

Then we had to sit around for a couple of hours listening to the guides Peter and Charlotte teach us the lingo, how to river raft, and most the rules and safety guidelines. Some of those safety guidelines they said that they were required to tell us were insane. It's like the safety warning on a toaster telling you not to take a shower with it. It consisted of things like help point out obstacles, don't wander off without telling someone, keep your legs in the boat at all times, and my favorite, in the event of a capsize please save people before possessions. Really! I would hate to meet the person who would save a camera before a fellow rafter.

After we were quizzed over the lingo that he told us he would use to issue commands we were ready to head to the boats. Here was the bad thing about that. We were currently on top of the canyon and the boats were on very bottom and the best way, hell, the only way to get down there was by mule. I was very nervous to be on a mule. I had never ridden a horse before either. I looked over at Bella who looked absolutely terrified of the animal in front of her before Charlotte walked over and started reassuring her. I watched as Peter and Charlotte helped Bella up onto beast. Then I mounted mine. I tried to get it to walk over to where Bella was but only managed to get it to go into circles. Three times clockwise and then two times counterclockwise, by the time that I got the damn thing to stop Bella was laughing hysterically at me, so were the guides and a few other rafters. I guess it had to be a pretty funny sight. Even I couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of it.

Finally we started our descent down the canyon. We weren't actually going to get onto the boats until after lunch today. The ride down was amazingly calm and uneventful and slow. Every one was busy getting to know their fellow campers and taking in the amazing scenery. It was the most beautiful place that I had ever seen. And I live in Arizona. Everyone was snapping pictures of everything that they could before we had to store our cameras away.

After a few hours of riding down the trail at last we made it to the bottom of the trail and to the river. After eating lunch and some more quizzing by Peter and Charlotte we were ready to load the boats and go. There were twelve of us including the guides. We were to split into two groups of five with one guide per boat. Bella and I joined the group that was going to be in Charlotte's boat. They explained the reason for having a guide in each boat was that there needed to be a boat captain for each boat and the captain needed to be the most experienced. And just in case the boats were separated each boat would have a guide that would ensure there safety to the best of their abilities. In other words, they'd try to keep us alive but make no guarantees.

The first leg of our trip was fun and calm. We did not hit any rapids only calm waters. After we reached what was to be our first campsite Peter and Charlotte handed out our assignments. Some of us were to pitch the tents, others were to unload the boats, and the rest would go collect firewood. I was assigned to help with the tents while Bella went off with the group searching for firewood. I noticed that the guides had tried to separate people as much as possible. They liked the idea of using the chores as a get to know you activity. They said that you don't learn as much or grow as much from the trip if you seclude yourself only with the people you came with. I worked with Charlotte, Kyle, Sarah, and Jennifer. Kyle was thirteen and a huge flirt. He kept us entertained by hitting on the girls with the cheesiest pick up lines ever uttered. Before long we had all chores done and took some time to explore the camp site. We were even able to play in the water around the shore line to cool off. We were warned, however, to make sure that we always had dry clothes to sleep in.

After a supper of hot dogs and beans we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in front of the fire, chatting, telling scary stories, and eating smores. After the sun had completely set and the stars came out, I grabbed Bella's hand and walked her away from the group. We sat down away from everyone but where we could still see camp and they could still see us and lay there watching the stars. It was the most romantic night that I have ever spent and I didn't know how I would ever top it but I would find a way. I wanted to show Bella romantic evenings like this frequently, so that she would always know how much I love her and how much I cherish her happiness.

The next morning we got up and helped prepare the breakfast before loading up the boats again. As soon as Charlotte and Peter were positive that the fire was out we got into the boats and took off. The morning trip was a lot more exciting than yesterday. We hit a few rapids but nothing major. Charlotte told us that we would hit a spot that afternoon with some major rapids. We would see bigger ones in a few days, however.

The rapids, well, there are hardly words to relate what it was like. The adrenaline was running high amongst all of us by the time that the afternoon was over. We were bouncing all over the place while we made camp. After that was done I told Peter that Bella and I were going to take a walk along the beach. I wanted to make love to her so much but I didn't even press it. It was going to be a long eighteen days but I didn't want to pressure her. Even out here in the middle of nowhere there was a chance that someone from the group would hear us or heaven forbid stumble upon us. And with her history with the idiot she dated before there was no way I was going to even suggest that we go for a romp in the woods. So I was remaining a good boy. But as soon as we got back to civilization and to a hotel all bets were off.

The great thing about this tour was that we didn't spend all day every day in the raft. There were nature hikes and excursions along the way. A couple of stops had us exploring old Navajo and Hopi villages. They had long since been abandoned but the history and artifacts there were spectacular and fun to explore.

Three days after the stop at the Native American villages had us stopped midday at a camp site that had an amazing waterfall. We all spent the afternoon playing in the water and laying out on the shore.

The rest of the trip seemed to fly by so quickly. Before we knew it we were at the end of the line and mounting those damn beasts again for the trip back up and out of the canyon. Once we reached the top rim we were herded onto a small bus and taken back to the original meet up site where our vehicles were. It took over an hour after getting back to the bike before we were able to get away.

We were busy exchanging contact information with all of our new friends, especially David and Megan. They were best friends to like to take adventures together. David had just proposed to his high school sweet heart a couple weeks before leaving for the trip. I wondered initially how David's fiancé could trust him on a trip like this with a woman he was obviously very close to, until Meg told us that David dragged her on the trip to cheer her up since her girlfriend of three years just broke up with her. That explained the trust issue. Carolyn, David fiancé knew that she didn't have to worry about them. Plus there was the fact that the three of them grew up together. David and Meg were all about exploring and the outdoors and Carolyn was not. Meg said that when they announced the engagement to her, Carolyn actually told her "don't think that just because I'm marrying him that you get out of doing all the outdoorsy crap that he loves, that's still your job and will always be your job." David told us that as soon as they set a date he would call and let us know so that we could plan to be in St. Louis for the wedding.

The ride back to the hotel seemed to take forever. I practically dragged her up to the room telling her it was a good thing that the hotel had room service because there was no way that we were leaving the room, let alone the bed, for the next two days. Her answer, "you're kidding yourself if you think I am going to argue with you on that!"

However, I did end up leaving the room while she was sleeping at one point. I had ordered something to be delivered there while we were gone and I needed to retrieve it. I had plans to need it before we moved on to our next destination, which hadn't actually been chosen yet.

The night before we left, I convinced her to leave the room for a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. Then I suggested that we take a walk down to the over look and take in the canyon at sunset. I was lucky that there were only a handful of people down there and we had some privacy.

BPOV:

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I said to Edward who had been standing right behind me. His response of "Not as beautiful as you are" came from much lower than it should have. When I spun around, I found that he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand. I looked around and saw that the few people that had been here at the over look now were completely engrossed in what we were doing rather than looking at the scenery.

"Bella Swan, I love you with all my heart and all my soul. The night we met you ask me to follow my heart. Bella, you are my heart and I will follow you wherever your heart desires. I would be the luckiest man alive if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?"
"Yes. Oh Edward! YES!" As he stood up and pulled me into his arms for a kiss the people watching us starting cheering and yelling congratulations to us. My father was right. Love is not something that you search for but something that finds you when you aren't looking.

A/N

Hey there! I contemplated for a long time about how much detail I wanted to put into the rafting trip. I could have detailed all 18 days but I figured that not only would I be bored to tears writing it, but my readers would be bored reading such a long account. So I settled on some highlights. I also debated on where to end it. I was going to leave right before she answered the proposal, but I was eager to show off her ring which is on pictease and will be on my profie. I do have to list some sources that I used here real quickly

Nrsweb(.)com/safety_tips/putin_safety_talk(.)asp

www(.)maddogs(.)ws

Yes, maddogs bar from the previous chapter is a real place.

Watch for teasers at just a sip, pic tease, and fictionators.

Lastly, thanks to all who have read and reviewed you guys make my day with your appreciation of my little fic. Hugs to all of you! Oh. Little warning about the upcoming future updates. My son is starting middle school, conservatory rehearsals, and private lessons start again in one week. Plus my classes start a week after that. I am taking 3 classes this semester and I work full time. I may not be able to update weekly when things get busy, but I will keep every informed through my twitter and blog.

Again thanks to Courtney for being awesome and betaing for me!