Max was sitting in the small bar outside the Kelp Forest restaurant. He was wearing his smart light blue shirt, light brown pants and smart black shoes. He was really looking forward to this dinner because he was finally going to have it with the lady of his dreams. It was something he always wanted to do ever since he and his dad Goofy moved to Spoonerville when he was eleven and a half years old. This dinner started to remind him when he had his crush on Peg and all the romantic fantasies he had about her. Despite none of those fantasies ever came true, he still appreciated everything she did for him, including letting him come into her house to play with his best pal PJ, all the food she made for him, all the times she let him stay in her house when Goofy had to go somewhere for a few days and he couldn't take Max with him and all the adventures they had together with the other members of the Goof and Pete families, whether it be in their houses, their gardens, Spoonerville Park, Spoonerville Lake and other places in Spoonerville and on vacations and just for being the best mother figure she could be for him. In fact, Max still thought that it was Peg being his mother figure that made him fall in love with him and all the kindness, advice and guidance she gave to him just as much as she gave to her own children, as well as being one of the most beautiful ladies in the whole wide world.

"Hi, Max."

Max looked ahead to see Peg approaching him. She was wearing a sleeveless ruby red dress and ruby red shoes to match. He got up and approached her. "Hi, Peg. You look very beautiful."

"Thank you, Max. And you look very handsome."

"Thank you. Well, shall we?" Max offered Peg his arm, which she gladly accepted.

"Yeah. We shall."

Max and Peg were taken to a small table for two in the big restaurant and they were given the menus by one of the waiters, Cedro who was a white-tailed deer from Cuba and whom was one of Max's best friends on the cruise.

"So, what do you think you'll have, Peg?" Max asked, after a few minutes of reading the menu.

"I don't really know, Max," she replied. "Everything looks good on this menu, but I can't seem to make up my mind. Can you recommend anything? As you work on this ship, I'm sure you tried some of this food."

"Well, if I was you, if you want a starter, I'd go for the pea and dumpling soup. As for the main course, I really can't recommend enough for the crab and rice. The cooks have never let me down every time I have, but that's just my opinion and –"

"Your opinion is good enough for me, Max," Peg said. "What do you think you'll have?"

"I think I'll have the soup for a starter like you and then I'll have the baked mac n cheese for my main course," Max replied.

Then Cedro arrived back to take their drinks order. Peg ordered a glass of red wine while Max ordered a pot of green tea. Since they knew what food they wanted, Cedro took their food orders as well before he left. Then another waiter whom Max didn't know very well arrived at their table and offered them free bread rolls, which both Max and Peg took and ate.

"So, Peg, how's life treating you?" Max asked.

Peg decided to tell him the real story of her life now. Despite still being a successful real estate agent, she still felt like a failure in life, including failing to secure another relationship with another man ever since she divorced Pete for cheating on her and how she failed to raise Pistol and she had to send her to boarding school for better discipline and how she felt alone in the world.

"I take it that Pistol still hasn't recovered from your divorce from Pete?" Max asked. "And also that she had to spend most of her childhood away growing up without Peej? I keep thinking maybe that's why she acts the way she does."

"I know it's been very hard on her," Peg said, "and I know that me dating other men affects her too, but I couldn't stay with Pete after what he did to me, not even for the sake of PJ and Pistol. I tried my hardest to raise and discipline Pistol the best way I could and to help her become the best version of herself, but I keep failing. She kept failing at school, she kept acting up and she kept making friends with kids who do terrible things, which included breaking into buildings and stealing stuff. I had to send her to boarding school to see if that would help her, but I don't know how much progress she's doing and I can only see even less of her now so I'm lonelier than ever. And if boarding school doesn't work, the only option is to send her to military school and I really hope it never has to come to that." Then she put her face in her hands as she started to cry.

Max put his hands on Peg's right shoulder. "It's okay, Peg. You're doing the very best you can for her. You're still a great mother."

Peg stopped crying and looked at Max. "You think so, Max?"

"I know so," he said. "Because you've been a great mother figure to me ever since we first met. And even though I have Sylvia as a stepmom, and she is a very good one, I still view you as a mother to me and I'm very grateful for all you've done for me."

"Thank you, Max." Peg still had tears coming out of her eyes, but this time they were happy ones, not sad ones. "And I'm still very grateful for you being like a son to me and you've improved my life just as much as I've improved yours. And I'm very grateful that you became PJ's best friend when you did and I'm very grateful that you developed a brother relationship between you and I'm very grateful that you're the godfather of my grandchildren. You're an amazing godfather."

"Thanks, Peg." All that praise made Max feel touched and, since it came from the ladies of his dreams, that was extra special.

Then Cedro arrived with their drinks. Then Max and Peg toasted their drinks to a wonderful day in the Bahamas.

"So, how's Peej, Lucy, Patrick and Penelope doing, Peg?" Max asked.

This time Peg become more positive and told Max how proud she was of her son becoming one of the world's best renowned chefs and how she thought how great of a person Lucy was, being one of the world's most accomplished poets and being a great partner to PJ, and how both of them achieved success in their early twenties and how both of them were great parents, and how Patrick and Penelope were the best grandchildren a grandmother could ever ask for.

Then their starters arrived. They tucked in and enjoyed their bowls of pea and dumpling soups.

"Now, tell me what's you've been up to, Max," Peg said. "Are you still in a relationship with… what's her name?"

"Mona?" Max said.

"Yeah, that's her."

Max sighed. "No, I'm not. Not anymore." Then he told Peg about the most painful story he had ever been through in his whole life. He had dated a lot of girls, starting with Roxanne and then Lisa (after the former had to move to Hawaii with her dad) in high school. Then he dated a lot of women in college, including a gorgeous African American lady called Lola, a blonde-haired lady called Sasha and a redhead lady called Charlotte. Then finally he met Mona. They were in a relationship that lasted for two years, which was the longest relationship he had ever had. He was very happy in it and he kept thinking she was the one for him. He even proposed to her on their second anniversary of their relationship and she said yes. Then very shortly, he found Mona cheating on him. Not just with one guy, but with a whole bunch of guys and ever since she started dating Max. That incident scarred Max so much that he felt that he couldn't date anyone else again. And that was part of the reason why he chose to work on this cruise to keep himself occupied and to help him forget what Mona did to him and to forget about dating anyone ever again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry that happened to you, Max," Peg said. "I know how you feel. But you shouldn't give up dating. I'm sure you'll find a lovely lady who wants to spend the rest of her life with an amazing guy like you."

"You really think so, Peg?"

"I know so. I can feel it."

Then the main courses arrived. As they ate, Max explained to Peg that ever since he joined the cruise he had been enjoying working on the cruise and all the adventures he had been having and seeing the world and making as many friends as he could and proving his worth to the crew and the passengers.

Then they were given dessert menus. Max ordered three scoops of ice cream – one vanilla, one strawberry and one chocolate – and Peg ordered cheese and biscuits.

"So, when was the last time you saw my dad, Sylvia and Hannah?" Max asked.

"About four months ago," Peg replied. "They really missed you."

"I know," Max said. "And I miss them too. But I'm just not ready to give up working on the cruise."

After they had their delicious desserts and talked about the best parts of the day, which they both agreed were exploring the Thunderball Grotto and Blue Lagoon Island, it was time for Max and Peg to go back to their own cabins and get some sleep.

"Thank you for a wonderful meal, Max," Peg said. "And thank you for making this vacation an amazing experience."

"No problem, Peg," Max said.

Then an unexpected thing happened. From Peg, his dream crush!

"You've earned that, Max," Peg said. "For all the good you've already done for me on this voyage."

"Thank you, Peg," Max said, happily touching his left cheek.

"Well, good night," they said together and went their separate ways.

As Peg lied in her bed, she felt her life was beginning to get better and brighter and she thought it was all to do with Max. She couldn't ever remember being this happy ever in her life.

Max felt the same as he lied on his cabin bunk in his room and happily felt his left cheek where he had finally been kissed by the lady of his dreams. He couldn't be any happier if he tried.