Secret Smiles and Three Little Words Pt. 32

***

Gavin and Alex walked out of the village leader's home and stood in the sun the next morning, there was a large group of people making their way towards the village. Alex looked to Gavin to see if he was alarmed, he wasn't. His brow was furrowed but she didn't sense fear, she sensed curiosity.

"Trouble?" Alex asked him.

"No," Gavin shook his head. "I don't think so, there are no men in the group."

"So?"

"Women don't fight here, this is a patriarchal society," Gavin explained. "Men hunt, fight and make the decisions. If they were here for trouble, there would be no women...it would be all men."

"What do you think they want?" Alex asked him.

"I get the feeling," Gavin grinned. "You are going to be very busy today!"

"More shots?" Alex smiled. Gavin nodded.

"I think word is getting out about you," Gavin chuckled.

"I'm just giving shots," Alex shrugged.

"No, it's the candy I believe," Gavin teased. "That, and your incredible little body and stunning beauty." Gavin smiled taking her into his arms.

Emem came to them and shrugged at Alex.

"Guess we are back to work," Emem smiled.

"Emem, send the messenger back to Pavy have him send more supplies," Gavin told him. "How much vaccine do we have left?"

"Running low," Emem admitted.

"Well," Alex sighed. "Send a quick messenger."

Gavin went with Alex and smiled at her when she attempted to hand him a needle.

"Oh no," he said with a shake of his head. "I'm assisting you, you know for a fact I'm bad with needles."

"You are gentle when you want to be," She said narrowing her eyes at him at the memory of her pneumonia shot.

"No," he shook his head. "You inoculate, I'll examine them for other things."

"Ok," she nodded. Gavin knelt on the ground and did a cursory search of each child, he then sent the child to sit in the chair for Alex to give him or her their shot.

They spent the rest of the day giving inoculations. Supplies came by way of jeep which made getting the large number of supplies to them, even though it would take longer by jeep to get back. It was faster to walk back cutting through the trees, but they were glad to have it as none of the three had the energy to walk back.

***

The jeep came to a stop and Alex looked to Gavin tiredly. Pavy came out of the hospital tent with a smile.

"Need help?" Gavin asked him.

"Nah," Pavy shook his head. "Sounds like you guys had a great deal of success."

"We did," Gavin nodded. "The boy will be fine, Alex injected four villages worth of children."

"Four?" Pavy asked.

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "Word got out, so neighboring villages brought their children over so we could inoculate them."

"See? You guys are needed here!" Pavy hinted his desire for them to stay.

Alex looked to Gavin who shook his head. This was a conversations they would be having a great deal of in the future as the time would come for them to leave. Pavy wasn't just going to let them leave without a fight.

***

The days were hectic, Gavin and Pavy worked in the hospital, and another tent was set up for Alex to give injections. They were always busy, word had gotten out that Alex was a person to trust and women brought their kids from miles around for the lifesaving injections.

At dinner Alex smiled at the men as they came in. Gavin kissed her temple and she closed her eyes at the tenderness.

"How was your day, Dear?" he laughed.

"Tiring," Alex admitted. "But rewarding."

"I know the feeling," Gavin said sitting next to her.

"Ah," Emem smiled ducking his head into the tent. "There you are Pipi Malaika." Emem said to her.

"What's up?" Alex turned to look at him.

"Your day is not done," Emem smiled. "Another fifty people just showed up. They said they have been walking for days to get to you." Alex nodded and stood up.

"What is a Pipi Malaika?" Gavin asked as Alex seemed to know what it meant but he had no clue.

"It means 'Candy Angel'," Emem told him. "It seems that is what they are calling her in Swahili."

"You have your own name?" Gavin gasped. Alex shrugged.

"I didn't know what it meant, but this morning they kept calling me that, I finally had to ask," Alex said sheepishly. "I guess the suckers are a big hit!"

"I'm telling you," Pavy said as he sat back. "You guys should just stay here!"

"Pavy, stop the hard sell," Gavin warned him. "We can't stay."

"Alex?" Pavy said with a laugh.

"What did I just say?" Gavin asked him shocked he would go over his head to Alex with him sitting there. He expected it back door style, Pavy trying to get Alex to line up against him so that the two of them could work Gavin over.

"I'm hoping to have more success with your better half," Pavy told him. "I know she has the power over you."

"We want to stay," Alex told him. "But Gavin has his practice, I have a sister going through hell. We just can't drop everything and come here. Even though we want to."

Pavy nodded disappointedly.

"But it is not a definitive no," Pavy pointed out. Alex rolled her eyes and kissed Gavin.

"See you later," she whispered in his ear.

"Want some help?" he offered.

"No, enjoy your dinner," she smiled. She followed Emem out of the tent.

***

She slipped into the tent later that evening. Gavin sat in the bed reading by lantern. He dropped the book to his side as she came in. She immediately took her clothes off and crawled into bed tiredly. He hooked his arms around her and pulled her tight.

"You want to stay, don't you?" he asked her as he held her from behind.

"I do," she whispered after a few moments. "We are doing good here."

"You could do good anywhere," he told her.

"Tell me you aren't enjoying what you are doing," she said turning slightly to look at him.

"I have a practice," he told her.

"The look on your face when you talk about your practice there and what you are doing here is remarkably different," she warned him.

"Explain," he demanded.

"When you talk about there, your face looks more like a man eating a lemon," she told him. "Here? You look like the kids when they get there first taste of my candy."

"I can't lie," he finally sighed as he nuzzled her neck. "We are doing more good here."

"Then why should we go back?" she asked him.

"Because...that is our life," he said into her hair. "You have family and friends. I have Madelyn."

"I know," she sighed. "But can we come back?"

"We'll see," he chuckled. He was enjoying making a difference, she knew that as well.

***

Pavy hugged her warmly as they stood next to the jeep.

"I'm so happy you came," he told her within his grasp. "I can forgive you for bringing the shit head." He joked in reference of Gavin. "Next time you come by yourself and I'll show you how a real man loves you."

"Back the hell off you piece of shit," Gavin growled pulling them apart.

"Hey man," Pavy laughed. "In the immortal words of Beyoncé, if you liked it you should have put a ring on it." He took him into an embrace as well. "She needs to know she has options!"

"She has had quality, you think she is going to slum with you?" Gavin teased breaking the embrace.

"You two," Alex chastised.

They were heading to Cape Town today, fighting was keeping them from Nairobi and the replacement doctors came up from South Africa to avoid it. The replacement doctors meant Pavy would have the help he needed and they could return to their life in the States. They would return the same way and catch a commercial airline from the airport in Cape Town.

The drive was slow and arduous. The bouncing wasn't any fun, as they knew their bodies would punish them later for it. Two days of this, was going to be brutal. There were many stops along the way and the scenery was the only redeeming factor of the drive. It was absolutely breathtaking. Nothing rivaled the beauty of the Dark Continent. Alex spent her time taking pictures to draw later. The bouncing of the jeep was not conducive to drawing, so to help her memory, she took pictures.

In the morning she found Gavin talking with the driver and they were laughing. When she stepped out they stopped. She furrowed her brow at it. Odd.

On the road she looked at him.

"You are up to something," she told him with a frown.

"I am?" he smiled. Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I have a surprise for you," he shrugged. "Something I know you will love."

"Ok," she said with a smile, she knew better than to ask, he wouldn't tell her until he was ready for her to know.

She knew drawing any information from him was a waste of time, but she was also sure that anything this man came up with would be pleasing to her. He had an inherent gift of pleasure. Especially when it concerned her.

Hours later she heard it long before she saw it.

"What is that?" she asked him.

"It's called Mosi-oa-tunya," he told her. "Translated it means Smoke that Thunders."

"That doesn't tell me what it is!" Alex told him.

"Victoria Falls," Gavin winked at her. "I've always wanted to see it, Pavy says it's beyond words."

"Oh my God! Yeah! It's like twice as big as Niagara Falls!" Alex gushed. "It's one of the Seven Wonders of the World!"

"Well, we will be able to check it off our list of things to see!" Gavin said proudly.

Standing there looking over the magnificence of the falls had them speechless. He put his arms around her and they stood and watched it.

"Says here, 165 million gallons of water flow over the edge every minute!" Alex marveled looking over the brochure they had picked up. She put her hands on his arms as he stood there.

"Can you imagine the power of the water at the bottom? That would be incredible!" Alex gushed. "This was an awesome surprise!"

"I know the feeling," Gavin whispered in her ear as he kissed there. "And this isn't the surprise."

"What do you mean?" she asked closing her eyes.

"I feel that type of power every time I look at you," Gavin said softly. "I feel that weight, that power." He pulled her hair to the side and kissed her neck. "Then I feel like I'm drowning trying to be the man you deserve."

"The things you say," she smiled.

He turned her and stared into her eyes, the soft blue in them danced as he stared. He looked down and took her hand. She followed his eyes and saw it. A ring. Not just a ring. A huge ring. On her left hand. She sucked in a breath and stood there shaking. Physically shaking. Part fear, part joy and part shock.

The tears came next, flooding her eyes as she stared at it, afraid to blink to find it all to be a lie her brain was telling her. He had to hold her hand firmly to keep the shaking hand still to push the ring over her knuckle.

"I've been walking around with this ring for a while now," he told her. "Waiting for the right moment. I didn't want to be cliché and do a dinner and what not. I didn't want to do it on Valentine's Day. I knew God would give me the perfect opportunity...and He did."

"Alexandria Lasko, I'm asking you...will you marry me?" Gavin asked her. A slight shake in his own voice.

He looked to her to see the tears flowing down her face, her mouth agape and the shock she was feeling was easily seen. He could see her body shaking as they stood there. She was breathless.

"Is it too soon?" he asked her about the question. She shook her head quickly.

"Ok then," he said struggling to breathe himself. "I've never done this before...but I'm pretty sure you have to say something here."

"I can't breathe," she gasped. Gavin's concern level shot to a record high as he moved closer to her to check her out.

"Slow," he whispered as he felt her chest.

She pushed his hand away and jumped into his arms and screamed in joy as the air flooded her lungs. Everybody turned and looked to them as he began laughing, the concern leaving as he realized it was all about the moment.

"So officially?" he asked her.

"Absolutely yes!" she screamed happily. "Absolutely...unequivocally yes!" she said again kissing him through her tears. The driver who brought them was busily taking picture of the joyous moment.

***