My dad of course, is worried. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go off alone, Rosalie. A single woman, as sweet as you, I don't want something to happen."
"Oh honey, let her have some fun,” Mom says. “It's a guided tour, isn't it?"
I nod, handing my father the brochure. "It's the only excursion with an available spot that's leaving this morning."
"You could stay at the pool with us."
I smile indulgently. "Mom, you told me you have a couples massage booked in a poolside cabana. You really want me to hang around?" As a twenty-four-year-old woman, I’m not squeamish about PDA, but my parents being lovey-dovey isn't exactly something I need to stick around for.
"Well, I suppose, if it's guided. You won't be alone at all, will you, honey?" Dad asks.
"No, it's like, twenty people on this excursion and a couple of guides. It's really safe. You wear headlamps and you go through these caves. I guess it's kind of murky, but..."
"Don't you get a little claustrophobic, sweetheart?" Mom asks.
I shrug. "I don't know. I suppose if I was in a closet with the lights off, I would be slightly freaked out, but I'll have a headlamp. I'll be fine."
"All right. Well, we love you, honey,” Mom says. “Did you get a chance to say goodbye to Samantha?"
"No, Mom, she's with Luke. They got married last night. I'm not exactly going to go knock on the honeymoon suite."
Mom laughs and Dad wraps his arm around her. They have the ideal marriage. It's a marriage I want for myself one day. Thirty years of happily ever after.
My dad was in the military and spent a lot of time overseas while I was growing up but he would always write my mom these amazing letters. Send her postcards from wherever he was in the world. He'd call us whenever he could and when he came home, the reunions were always the best. He would bring flowers and wrap Mom up in a big hug and tell my sister and me that he loved us to the moon and back. I believed him then and I believe him now.
Last night, at the wedding, I admit to getting emotional seeing him walk my sister down the aisle. Everyone was beaming. How could they not be? Samantha was a beautiful bride. Luke is devoted to her. Both sides of the family were there. It was like a movie moment. Standing next to my little sister, I got emotional thinking about how I will have that moment one day and how badly I want it. My dad walking me down the aisle after giving his blessing, of course, to my husband-to-be.
"I love you guys so much," I say, "and I'll see you tonight."
"All right, sweetheart,” Mom says, giving me a hug. “We love you more."
"To the moon and back," Dad adds, and I smile remembering those words from when I was a little girl and how much they meant to me then.
I kiss him on the cheek. "I love you most.”
The bus ride to the caves isn't too long. In forty-five minutes, I’m exiting the bus and being shuffled into a small room where we are instructed to watch a little video about the cenotes here in the region – which are underground caves. It looks like a maze of caves and I wonder if anyone ever gets lost in them.
“There'll be water in the cave,” a guide tells us. “So you’ll need wetsuits and water shoes.”
"I didn't realize the water would be so deep in the caves," I say as we are given headlamps by one of the group leaders.
"Don't worry, there's parts where you'll be up to your waist, sometimes up to your shoulders, but we'll all be together the whole time. Can you swim?"
"We won't be able to touch the ground?" I ask.
"In some spots, maybe not. It's totally safe, though, and it's incredible. You're going to have a blast," the guide says encouragingly.
"All right," I say, unsure if I believe her.
"So just get with whoever you came with and stay in that group, okay? So you don't get separated on our little hike into the jungle and the entrance of the cave."
"Oh, I’m here alone," I tell her.
Her smile falters. "Oh, well, no worries. Just tag along with the others, you’ll be fine."
"Right," I say, feeling like a loser for not having a buddy. Then, not wanting to be a Debbie Downer, I remind myself that I am young and single, and the whole world is my oyster. As an editor for a digital magazine, I’m always longing for fresh air and the outdoors, a reason to leave the stuffy office. This is the adventure I am always yearning for – now is not the time to second guess it.