Generation 1, Chapter 4: Honeymoon drama, adventures and mysteries

As sweet and adorable as Alex is, he is VERY predictable. The moment he said "We're going overseas for our honeymoon", I could already guess that we were going to France. And I was right. So, early this Friday morning, our bags are packed and zipped up, all ready for the flight to Champ Les Sims. Just before I climb into our taxi, I grab Alex in a tight embrace.

"Thank you for everything. I wasn't expecting this trip, to be honest, but I'm glad you organized it!" I say.

"You're going to be even more shocked when we get there, then," Alex replies, a smile tingling at the edge of his lips. "I have a few more cards up my sleeve that I haven't revealed yet."

Many hours later, after a long struggle through a storm over the Atlantic, our plane finally lands at the airport. From there, it's another struggle to get a taxi. The driver eventually manages to navigate the heavy traffic and make his way to Champ Les Sims. Seeing the beautiful landscape has me speechless.

After such a long journey, all I really wanted to do was crash on a couch for a short nap. But persistent Alex doesn't allow me that comfort, and now we're standing in front of a "mysterious" door.

"So, behind this door is our bedroom for the honeymoon? Why so secretive? It's just a bedroom!"

"Oh, gosh, you always underestimate me... I had it renovated for us. Now open the door, please! Let's see if I managed to impress you," Alex teases.

I do as he says, and I can't repress a tiny gasp. What I see in front of me looks absolutely perfect, and I wish my own bedroom looked like this.

"Did I succeed? It seems you're speechless, so I guess I did...," my husband chuckles.

The bedroom is a soft color which creates a calm environment, but it still comes across as fancy. As for the bed itself, it looks just like a Princess' bed. I have no idea how much this room cost to design, but it must have been quite a lot.

"Alex, it's PERFECT!" I say in exasperation. "Forget how I'm always saying you suck at romantic things... You're wonderful at it." And like the giddy person I didn't know I am, I jump into his arms, which he was expecting - he just knew me so well.

"Thank goodness. I was worried there for a second... Speechless-ness could be a bad thing, sometimes."

Seeing the room was like a wake up call, and suddenly I'm all re-energized for the day. Alex already had a schedule planned out, so we start reading off of the list.

Apparently the Art Museum was first on his list.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go there? I know I love art, but I don't if I can say the same thing about you."

"Come on, Rose... Dammit, I can't call you that anymore... Um, okay, Des, how's that? You should know I could perhaps learn to like it!"

I roll my eyes. Sure, he was definitely not going to understand the deeper meaning behind art. How in the world do you learn to love art?!

The first exhibition we encounter contains art from China. And of course, here Alex expresses just how little he knows about art.

"Dragons? That's pretty freakin' awesome... I think this is my favorite exhibition right here. How cool would it be if they start to breath actual fire?"

Ignoring his silly comment on dragons, I further investigate the art piece before me. It's magnificent, and yet again, I'm impressed.

The next floor consists out of art work from Egypt, which always freaked me out out in the past, with all the Anubis figurines, or the bigger Pharoah heads.

Looking at the gold plated sarcophagus made me instantly curious as to its contents. Being sneaky for the first time in my life, I climb over the security railings and start to slowly open the door...

...Only to find it completely empty. No mummies, not even a treasure in sight.

"Well, that's a buzzkill...," I mutter.

"Des? Wh-what are you doing? If you get caught there by security we could be arrested!" Alex whispers urgently.

"You know, we're only in France for a few days. And in that time I want to see some cool stuff. This is one of them. And if I get arrested while doing it, it was at least worth it," I answer, cheekily sticking out my tongue in his direction.

Our next stop is a place that roughly looks like Stonehenge, but turns out to be an old burial ground...which is creepy. I don't feel comfortable at all, but Alex enjoys the thrill of doing something crazy.

After dusting off some old pieces of pottery I found under a rock, I head off to find Alex. He seriously is crazy, as at that precise moment, he's sticking in his hand inside a hole in the ground.

"Did I ever tell you... You're wacko? There could be a snake in that hole for all we know!"

"You're exaggerating...," Alex replies, rolling his eyes.

"EUREKA!" Alex yelps out a minute later. "I am NOT wacko: in fact, I'm a treasure hunter, because I just found this beautiful gem!"

Okay, I'll admit, he's adventurous... But he's still wacko in my eyes.

The day quickly passes, with exploration having been the big theme of the day. Now is the time to appreciate the time that passed, and to relax a bit more. As dusk approaches, Alex takes me to the local park, where we sit on a bench in each other's arms the whole time.

"I never want this moment to end...," I sigh.

"I want to wrap this memory up with a little bow and place it in my back pocket, so I can always remember this moment...," Alex smiles.

"I still win - I said I never anted the moment to end. You're moment ended, seeing as it's just a memory!" I counter.

"True, true," he chuckles. "But who's keeping count?"

Just across the road, there's a cute café that I would love to visit. I suggest to Alex that we go there, and he relents, following my lead. 

Alex is quick to order us some of the local French cuisine, and comes back outside just after two minutes, with two interesting looking dishes in each hand.

"Ya sure there's no weird ingredients in that we're not used to? Because I'm not excited for the concept of someone spending the entire night in the bathroom, puking or whatnot," I wonder, with a serious tone.

"Um..." That's answer enough - Alex has no idea what sort of ingredients or spices are in the food.

But after that hiccup, Alex and I end up enjoying the meal, yet we don't know what we're eating.

Just before going back to our hotel, I urge Alex towards the bookstore. I couldn't understand French of course, but at least there are some nice books that were translated to English.

"Why are you so excited over having some local books? You're like a historian!" Alex chuckles, while I pile yet another book in his arms.

"These are like souvenirs, you know. It's not everyday we get the chance to be in France, and I want some tokens of my visit."

It's a silent walk back the hotel, and we're both exhausted. Alex quickly changes into his PJ's and is off to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

I, on the other hand, am facing a dilemma. I have no idea what to wear. Seeing as it's a...special night... I have to at least look good.

But seeing as I didn't pack any special lingerie, I just go with mu usual nighties.

My husband finally finishes up in the bathroom, and goes to relax on the bed.

"Why don't you come cuddle next to me?" Alex invites, while I finish brushing my hair back into a bun.

I go snuggle up next to him, and one thing leads to something else.

I won't go into any details, but it's definitely one of the best nights of my life.

The next morning, we're up early and working in the kitchen. Well, I'm working in the kitchen. Alex is just lounging against a countertop waiting for me to finish up making food.

"So what do you have planned for today?" I ask Alex.

"I dunno... I thought we could perhaps go on a trip to the Nectary. In the brochures they said it's a lot of fun, making nectar."

"There's a difference between what the brochures say, and real life," I point out, chopping up the last pieces of fruit.

"I know," Alex grimaces.

Turns out the brochure was right - the entire process of squishing the fruit (with your feet) is a really fun process. I volunteer for dancing around to crush the grapes, and Alex does the processing work, turning the wheel to manufacture the nectar.

As Alex waits for the machine to finish up, I notice how he looks...bored. He looks bored. Alex is a very adventurous kind of person, and he wouldn't like being stuck doing menial tasks when overseas... He would want to do dangerous things, like tomb exploration. And France isn't a good location for doing such things.

Without consent from Alex, I get on the phone with the Travel Agency, booking two tickets to Al Simhara, Egypt. The romance part of the honeymoon is over, so there might as well be some adventure.

As he changes back into his normal clothing, I approach Alex rather abruptly.

"Alex, you may hate me for the rest of your life, but I booked us tickets to visit Egypt."

For the first time, ever, I leave Alex speechless. And that gives me such a satisfied feeling.

"Egypt? Why? I thought you liked it here..."

"I do!" I answer quickly, worrying that I made him feel bad. "But I can see you're bored, Alex, and that ruins everything. You're adventurous, I'm the romantic one... You spent a few days in my world, so I can at least spend some time in yours."

It's starting to feel like a routine, but we board yet another plane to Al Simhara, after just being in France for three days. On the plane ride, I could already sense Alex's excitement building up.

First thing I do when we get to Egypt - have my hair cut. The climate is extremely warm, and with long hair, I don't think I could survive.

Alex yet again doesn't pause for rest, and immediately faces the Adventure board, trying to find a mission we could pursue.

When he finally finds a mission that sounds appealing, we have to meet up with a guy, that will give Alex the gist of what we have to find in the tomb. Thinking of the word "tomb" just gives me the chills; I sincerely hope I did not make a mistake, giving Alex free rein.

"You sure this is the house?" I ask him.

"Not really... Al Simhara is a confusing place," he frowns.

Luckily, it happens to be the right place, and Alex soon comes back to me with the information. Apparently he has to find some missing documents, hidden in a treasure box in a tomb. The only question is, how did modern day documents of a technology company find its way into a tomb?

The tomb's entrance happens to be inside a building just behind the arrival camp we're staying at.

"Ladies first," Alex gestures to me, when we reach the entrance of the fence.

"Usually, that would be accepted as very good manners. But here, I'm wondering if you're just sending me in first to test out if there are traps... I'd say 'I'm gonna kill you', but I think if there are traps, they'll kill you."

"Aw, I love you too," he teases.

We don't have to search long for some treasure. Just down the stairs, in the main room, is a box... But it turns out it's not the one we're looking for.

"Still, there are beautiful jewels in here... Hopefully no one will notice they're gone."

"Nope, no one will, except only the next tomb explorers that come in here and found there's nothing of value..."

Navigating a range of obstacles, and stomping on some floor triggers, the treasure chest we're looking for is finally revealed. Alex quickly peeks inside of it, and takes its contents.

"Okay, mission number 1 is done... Now what?" I muse out loud, not really wanting an answer, because I know what it will probably be.

Unfortunately for me, Alex already has another mission in mind: exploring Abu Simbel. It is a magnificent structure, one of the structures Egypt is known for.

"There is only one problem... I don't know how to get us in there. There doesn't appear to be a door, or the thing that appears to be the door, is sealed tight."

"You definitely don't watch too many movies?" I laugh in Alex's direction. "There should be a hidden switch that activates the door.

And armed with my knowledge of hidden doors, we finally get the door opened.

What waits inside for us isn't that friendly... Fires rage all around us, and there is no way to get to the other side to the door, that will lead further into the tomb.

There happens to be a switch in the middle of the room, but to get there, someone has to navigate between the fires - not an appealing factor.

I finally manage to turn the fire traps off. From there, we have to swim through a pool of water, maneuver some objects to turn off another set of traps, and voilà! 

Down the stairs and into a hallway which turns purple when we walk through it, we reach a room with four sarcophagi in it.

"Search for a trigger in one of the dive pools. One of them should open the door...," Alex advises. And so I jump into the first pool, activating the switch. It has some bad consequences... A mummy jumps out at me. Strangely enough, I find myself calm, wanting to whip out a camera to take a picture of this creature.

"Oh, this is too funny... It's not everyday you get to see an ancient mummified pharaoh!"

With the same speed of that of a hummingbird's wing when it flaps, Alex leapt out and attacked the mummy. I stand awkwardly in the background, flabbergasted. 

After the dust from their brawl settles down, I notice only Alex lying on the floor, passed out.

"Oh, no, you freaking don't!" I yell at another mummy exiting its sarcophagus. "No one messes with my husband and gets away with it!"

Like an expert fight, I fight and defeat the mummy, causing it to dissipate into dust.

"Argh... Ugh.... Euuuuugh...," disturbing sounds come from where Alex is passed out, and after a few more groans, he finally manages to stand up.

"What happened?" he mutters.

"You were beaten by a mummy...," I say matter-of-factly.

When Alex regains all his sense, we push on through the tomb, trying to locate the legendary Soulpeace statue.

"Ugh... I'm not feeling too well...," Alex exhales, then subsequently falls to the floor.

"Alex? Alex! Honey, talk to me, please...," I urge. I hope with all my might that he hasn't received the evil Mummy Curse all explorers warn you about. The Curse means death, if you don't cure it in time.

As Alex wakes up again, I immediately drag him towards the Soulpeace statue.

"Start meditating. Now," I command him.

"Why?" he asks with a groggy voice.

"Because I'm seriously scared that you might have the Mummy's Curse, and by meditating here by the statue, you could be cured."

After meditating for an hour straight, and with nothing spectacular happening, I deduce that he must have gotten a concussion.

It turns out not to be a concussion, but just one of those cases where Alex didn't get enough sleep on the plane, and didn't rest in between travels. The fight with the mummy was the last straw, and that is why he passed out from exhaustion. During the rest of our stay at the camp, I make sure he gets PLENTY of rest, and that tomb exploration has reached a halt.

We spent a total of five days in Egypt, and three days in France, bringing the grand total of days to 8. After only a week and a day, we return home, being sick of the sight of only sand around our toes. But it was a great journey, something I would love to do again in the future. As Alex drives back into Sunset valley, I can't help but cheer; home sweet home!

Like an old married couple, we sit out on the deck, looking at the waves roll by, waiting for sunset to arrive on the horizon. After all that adventure, I need a long time's peace and quiet.

"I'm gonna go head inside and start on dinner, m'kay?" Alex looks towards me, then gets up and enters the house. 

As my handy husband starts cooking dinner, I get up and walk towards the beach, taking in the full beauty of the sunset. But it's not as pleasant as I would have hoped. With each step I take, I become more and more nauseous, until...

...I puke.

I remember eating some local French food, but I figure that wouldn't have given me food poisoning. I stayed away from most of the Egyptian dishes, so it couldn't be that.

The only other logical explanation is, I picked up some other kind of illness, or... I'm pregnant.

I skip over dinner, spending most of my time in the bathroom. Alex is already in bed when I break the news to him.

"Alex, I'm not sure whether you'll see this as good or bad news, but, I'm pretty sure I might be pregnant."

~♥~

I'm sorry for the crappy shots during their tomb exploration. I couldn't enter the camera mode through pressing tab, as it kept giving me a blue screen, and I had to exit all the time.

Anywho, thank you for reading this chapter, and...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I wish you all the best for the year, and hope you'll have an awesome day!

:)