Joey and Lauren's last night going to bed together had been an emotional one, and they had stayed up a long time talking about anything that came to mind so that they could delay the inevitable. And they were still emotional the next morning, waking up beside each other for the last time at camp. They still weren't off the clock yet, and they tried to put their minds to their job, but they were sad, too, to say goodbye to the campers that had become a sort of family to them.
Gradually, parents arrived to pick their kids up. Many of them thanked Joey and Lauren, or congratulated them on the show, but they insisted that it was all down to the hard work of the kids.
Laila's parents arrived with Sophia in tow. While they embraced Laila, Sophia sidled up to Lauren and Joey and tugged on Lauren's hand.
"Yes, honey?" she said.
"I drew you a picture," the young girl said, holding up a folded crayon drawing. Lauren opened it up, and glanced at Joey. It was in the artistic skill of a four year old, but it was clear enough what was going on.
"It's your wedding!" Sophia exclaimed, pointing. In the picture, Lauren wore a white dress and a veil, and held a colourful bouquet of flowers. Joey wore a suit with a bowtie. They both had huge smiles on their faces, and around their heads were dozens of hearts.
"Oh," Lauren said. "Thank you, but we're not getting married, sweetheart."
"But you love each other," Sophia said.
Joey and Lauren shared a look. Then, Joey knelt down and put his hand on Sophia's shoulder. "It's a beautiful picture, Sophia. I'm going to put it on my fridge when I get home."
The girl beamed, and skipped back over to her parents.
"I'm sorry about her," Laila called out, as they all got in the car, though she didn't sound too sorry.
"Don't worry about it," Joey said. "Maybe we can look forward to her coming to camp when she's older."
They waved that car off, and then watched Natalie and Flynn hug goodbye when Natalie's parents arrived. For Joey, it was far too reminiscent of his and Lauren's own goodbye. So just before Natalie could leave, Joey went over to them, not giving Lauren a chance to tell him not to interfere.
"Make sure you stay in touch, okay?" he said insistently, wanting things to go well for them.
"We will," Flynn said, gazing at Natalie.
"And don't forget to invite us to the wedding, okay?" Joey joked.
Flynn turned red, but Natalie just smirked. "As long as you invite us to yours," she said, raising an eyebrow and glancing back at Lauren behind him.
Joey laughed. How was that for twice in one day? "I asked for that."
"Seriously, you should ask her out. She's definitely interested."
He looked back at Lauren again, who was talking to Alex and didn't notice.
"Maybe I will," he said with a smile. "Have a safe journey home, Natalie."
He left them to their final goodbye, and went back over to Lauren.
"Do you think they'll make it?" she asked, watching Flynn wave goodbye until Natalie's car was out of sight.
"I hope so," he said. "And hopefully they'll be back here next year so we can find out."
"Speaking of next year." Today was the first day Victoria had ditched the heels, and they hadn't heard her come up beside them. Joey hoped there was nothing in the rules against gossiping about campers. "Lauren, the camp director wants to talk to you."
