"Almeida."

"Hi."

"Hey. You bored again?"

"Yeah. You know, as quiet as that kid is all the time, it's surprising how empty my apartment feels without her."

Tony laughed. "So has anything interesting happened since I talked to you, let's see... fifteen minutes ago?"

"Hey! It was more than that, it was... eighteen." Michelle and Tony both laughed. "And yes, I just saw a really funny commercial on TV."

"Was it the one with the reversible seat covers?"

"How did you know that?"

"I saw it too. Hey don't you have a hot date to be getting ready for?"

Michelle smiled. "Yeah, a really, really hot date."

"And smart too, I hear."

Michelle could hear the smirk in his voice. "And best of all, he can cook."

Tony laughed. "I'll see you in twenty minutes. Be ready."

Thirty minutes later, Tony sat impatiently on Michelle's couch, flipping through her girly magazines. She still wasn't ready. "Chelle? How much longer?"

Michelle's voice came from her bathroom. "Just a few more minutes, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay! I'm just deciding whether or not I'm going to need to shave again before we can go."

If Tony had been able to see Michelle, he would have seen her roll her eyes, but smile too.

When Michelle finally emerged from the bathroom, Tony complimented her on looking beautiful, Michelle ran back to unplug the iron, Tony stood up, Michelle put her shoes on, and they walked to the elevator, hand in hand.

Michelle was just a little bit surprised when Tony pulled into the parking lot of not a restaurant, but the beach. She stared at him for a moment, but came to a fuller understanding when he opened up the backseat and pulled out a recycling crate full of plates, utensils, and plastic food containers.

"Sorry," he began, looking at his blue plastic crate. "I didn't have a picnic basket."

They sat on the beach, eating pasta and watching the sunset on the water. "Beautiful," Tony said softly, staring at the colored sky.

"I know," Michelle said. "I love sunsets."

"No, I meant you."

Michelle turned to Tony and kissed him once on the lips. He smiled, took her hand in his, and turned back to the sunset.

Michelle turned to look down the beach a ways, to where three little children were playing. The two boys were digging a hole, trying to see how deep they could get it before the waves would come and fill it up again. Their little sister, who couldn't have been more than eighteen months old, was toddling around on the sand. When she headed toward the water, one of the boys ran after her, pulling her close to him and carrying her back to the hole. Their parents sat higher up on the beach, watching the kids playing together. Subconsciously, Michelle replaced the blonde children with curly-haired kids, and replaced the parents with herself and Tony. She was enjoying the view when she felt something cold touch her hand. Her left hand. It slid down her finger, and she suddenly realized what was going on as she turned back to Tony.

"Marry me?"