Carl stretched his arms and yawned as he woke up. He turned to his left to see Felicia lying next to him. Carl smiled and kicked off his side of the covers, revealing that he was wearing the red chemise, the same one that he wore on his first night as Carly. He rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. Between the cute bedhead, the manicured nails, and the outfit, even the fact that he wasn't wearing makeup didn't seem to make a difference. He didn't look anything like Carl right now.

Checking to make sure that Felicia was still asleep, Carl tiptoed back into the bedroom of the suite and opened his suitcase, checking the zippered pocket. He pulled out the ring box and opened it, inspecting the diamond engagement ring inside.

"Almost time..." Carl closed the box and put it back into the pocket.

Carl and Felicia had been dating since college, and they had spoken a few times about marriage, but never to any great detail. But after the Valentine's Day incident, Carl had realized that Felicia was something special, and wanted to make it official. He didn't plan on proposing as Carly, he'd also hoped to have done it back home, but circumstances required it, since it was the perfect topper to Felicia's already perfect birthday. As he ruminated over his plans, he heard rustling from the bed and immediately shut the suitcase.

"Whatcha lookin' for, Carly?" Felicia asked, sitting up in the bed.

"Just checking to make sure I had my bathing suit." Carl lied. "Good morning and happy birthday, sunshine."

Carl rushed back to the bed and climbed in, sharing a kiss with Felicia.

"I love my gift already." Felicia giggled as she pulled away.

"Then you'll really love it after what I've got planned for tonight," Carl smiled.

"Can't wait." Felicia pecked Carl on the lips.

After a room-service breakfast, Felicia helped Carl re-do his makeup, and the couple changed out of their sleepwear and into their swimwear, Felicia donning a black bikini, while Carl changed into a red one. They slipped on their sandals and grabbed some towels, stuffing them into a beach bag, before heading out to the beach.

"You know we did a good job tucking, you don't need the sarong." Felicia said as they strolled along the beach, passing couples, families and groups setting up for the bright, sunny day ahead. "It won't come undone."

"I know, it just makes me feel safer. Just in case." Carl replied, playing with the skirt.

"I think you just like skirts. Maybe you should start wearing them every day." Felicia joked, lowering her sunglasses to wink at Carl.

Carl just shook his head and laughed as they walked across the beach, until they found an open area to set up their towels. After Felicia laid down on her stomach, Carl grabbed a bottle of suntan lotion from the bag and started to rub it over Felicia's back.

"Ooh! That's nice..." Felicia exclaimed as Carl rubbed the lotion.

Once he was finished, he set up a towel next to Felicia's.

"While you tan, I'm going to take a walk." Carl said. "Be right back."

"Don't be too long," Felicia said.

Carl started walking down the beach. When he was out of earshot, he quickly pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, Western Ocean Bistro, how can I help you?" a voice on the other end answered.

"Hi, I'm staying in Room 303, I was wondering if I could get an outdoor table for two tonight." Carl replied.

"Sure thing, and what name will it be under?" the clerk asked.

"Carl...ly. Carly Stewart." Carl said.

"All right, two for tonight. We look forward to your visit."

"Thank you." Carl hung up the phone.

His heart danced in his chest. It was the first time that he'd set anything up as Carly. And especially because it was so important, not only Felicia's birthday, but his intended proposal. He just hoped that he'd still have the nerve to do it at the end of the night.

After Carl returned to Felicia, she turned over and started tanning her front, while Carl sat next to her, reading on a tablet. Sitting up, Felicia spotted Darren and Eric walking down the beach and called them over.

"Felicia, Carly! Fancy meeting you here!" Darren exclaimed.

"Small resort, eh?" Felicia giggled. "Enjoying the sun?"

"Yeah," Eric said. "Actually, I was hoping we'd run into you."

"Really?" Felicia asked. "Do tell."

"We were going to play volleyball, but our friends bailed on us, so we're just lugging around the ball." Eric said.

"You ladies interested in a game?" Darren asked.

"I don't know..." Carl muttered.

"If you don't know how to play, we can teach you." Eric said.

"That'd be great. How about it, Carly?" Felicia asked, pouting.

Carl was powerless to resist Felicia's pout.

"All right, let's do it." Carl smiled.

"Great!" Darren exclaimed.

Once they arrived at the net, they broke into teams, since neither Felicia nor Carl were experts, they were teamed up with Darren and Eric respectively.

"Okay, so to serve, you hold the ball like this, and just toss it and..." Eric demonstrated, passing the ball over the net to Darren, who was showing Felicia how to return the serve.

"I think I've got it." Carl said as Eric moved Carl's arms into position.

"All right, let's see." Eric handed the ball to Carl, who held it in his manicured fingers.

Carl wound up his arm, tossed the ball, and served it over the net, where Felicia dove in to return it. She knocked it back into the air.

"Now just get into position and do this!" Eric motioned with his hands.

Carl copied the motion and when the ball came towards him, he knocked it back over the net. The game continued for several rounds, with both sides getting more and more competitive the more they went on. Any self-consciousness that Carl had at the start of the trip had evaporated, and he was excited to be not only playing, but winning. And he didn't even mind that he could tell that several men were leering at him as they watched the game.

On the final serve, the ball volleyed for ages, with both Felicia and Darren struggling to hit the ball back to Carl and Eric. Eventually, Carl spiked it past both Felicia and Darren, and won the game, the ball rolling past them.

"Woo!" Carl exclaimed, high-fiving Eric.

"Great job, Carly!" Eric laughed.

"Good game, guys." Darren said, catching his breath.

"Who knew you were so good at beach volleyball?" Felicia asked.

"I guess I'm just full of hidden talents." Carl giggled as he rushed to hug Felicia.

"You sure are, babe." Felicia kissed Carl. "But rules say that the person who spiked it has to go grab the ball when it rolls into the water."

Carl rushed over to the ball, which had rolled into the tide, ebbing up the beach. Carl smiled as he held the ball, and was so distracted by the ecstasy of winning, that he didn't hear the screams of warning from Felicia, Darren or Eric, and fell, face-first into the water when a riptide rolled in and knocked him over.

He sat up, coughing and trying to catch his breath as Felicia and Eric rushed over to him, helping pull him away from the shore.

"Are you okay?" Felicia asked, immediately embracing Carl in a hug.

"Yeah, I think..." Carl replied. "You don't need to hug me, I'm fine."

"Yes, I do, babe." Felicia said.

"Found it!" Darren ran up, carrying a familiar red bikini.

Carl suddenly noticed that he was missing an article of clothing and turned as red as the bikini. Felicia helped him get settled back into it, and they once again parted ways with Darren and Eric, promising to meet them for drinks before they left the resort. And possibly a rematch. But Carl and Felicia had reservations to get to.

After a beautiful al fresco dinner with good food and even better wine, the couple walked down the boardwalk holding hands. Carl continued to lead Felicia farther out until there were no people around. Just the moon, the stars and them. Carl and Felicia even wore the same dresses that they'd worn that fateful Valentine's Day.

"This has been the best birthday ever. Great food, I had so much fun at the beach, I don't think anything can top it." Felicia said.

Carl grabbed Felicia's hands in his and gazed into her eyes.

"Felicia, I've known for a while that we were meant to be together, but after Valentine's Day, finding out that you'll stick with me through literally anything, even something as embarrassing as what you walked in on, it made me re-evaluate things. And while I didn't imagine I'd be doing this as Carly, I'm never going to have a better night to ask you the most important question." Carl said.

Tears began to well in Felicia's eyes. Carl smiled and turned around, kneeling as best he could in the dress. He started to dig through the purse but... the ring box was gone! Where had it gone, it was in here when they left the hotel room, and it was never out of his sight. Did it fall out? A million questions rang out in Carl's head, his heart began to race as he desperately searched the bag.

He sheepishly turned back to Felicia, only to find her kneeling as well, holding a familiar ring box.

"Carly, you make me the happiest woman alive whenever I'm with you. Will you marry me?" Felicia opened the box.

Carl put his hand over his mouth in surprise and shock. The engagement ring was gorgeous. The only problem was that it wasn't the ring he had bought.

"Is that..." Carl held out his hand.

"For Carly..." Felicia said as she took the ring out and placed it on Carl's ring finger. "For you."

"But my ring..." Carl started as he inspected the ring, which fit on his finger perfectly.

"Is right here." Felicia handed Carl an identical ring box. "I spotted it when I checked the luggage the night before we left. I had already ruined the surprise, so I figured I'd make the night even more memorable. Besides, you might get hit on if we go out and you don't have a ring on. Especially looking like you do tonight."

"It's beautiful." Carl said.

"Like you." Felicia said.

Carl blushed and opened his ring box, holding it out to Felicia.

"Seems silly to ask the question now, but... Will you marry me?" Carl asked.

"Of course I will." Felicia said, embracing Carl in a hug.

Carl took the ring out of the box and placed it onto Felicia's finger. They gazed deeply into each other's eyes before kissing. Once the kiss was done, they admired their rings for a moment.

"I guess there's only one question left..." Felicia said, brushing a stray hair out of Carl's face.

"What's that?" Carl asked.

"Which one of us wears the dress?" Felicia laughed as she started to walk back down the boardwalk, towards the hotel.

"Ha ha, very funny." Carl rolled his eyes.

Felicia didn't laugh.

"You're kidding, right?" Carl asked, hurrying after Felicia. "Felicia?"

Felicia was kidding... but she could wait until later to tell Carly that.

The End?