Chapter Text
". . . with me?"
And she's convinced she must have . . .
"What?"
. . . heard him wrong.
Dominic Marcus Hargan, the handsomest, sweetest White Rhino Ranger the world has ever seen, chunky lamb gyro with extra tomato held in both hands, easy expression on his face, shrugs.
"I don't mind if you don't want to. It's a long journey and not really the easiest place to stay for any length of time."
And Fran doesn't let any of that unimportant stuff bother her for one single second.
"Really? You want me to meet your dad?"
Only the confusion and doubt she always has.
"Yeah. I mean, if you want to."
For her own self-worth.
"Um, yeah. I mean, sure."
That she still struggles with.
"Do you . . . have you . . ."
That she knows Dom . . .
You're really special to me, Fran. I love you.
I thought you'd've believed that by now.
Maybe I need to keep convincing you.
. . . would scoff at.
"Have many of your girlfriends met your dad?"
And it is not her that he openly scoffs, of course not, has he ever?
"Have I whisked my many, many mostly nonexistent girlfriends off to the wilds of the South American jungle to meet my doctor dad?"
But the notion . . .
"Nope. Not a single one. Just you. If you want."
. . . of the question itself.
"Oh. Okay."
And he takes another bite of his gyro, Frannie momentarily distracted by the impulsive desire to clean the spot of taziki sauce from the corner of his mouth with her tongue-
"So, . . ."
Which he gets himself with a quick thumb.
Popping it in his mouth and sucking the sauce off in a split second while Fran . . .
". . . whaddya think?"
. . . watches on, mesmerized.
"Wanna go?"
And asks his question again.
"Huh? Oh."
A second time.
He grins at her as she stammers, he always seems so fondly amused by her, she doesn't know why-
"Yeah, yes. Of course."
And she can't imagine it won't be the best trip ever.
"Great! I'll get the tickets."
"Okay."
Just like the last one.
She still has her backpack.
Her passport.
And her newly blossoming sense of . . .
Who would have thought it?
Frances Faye Fugleman.
World Traveler.
Again.
. . . adventure.
Mom's never gonna believe this.
If I can get her on the phone.
What she doesn't have . . .
". . . -titis A, tetanus, cholera, diphtheria, MMR for measles, mumps, and rubella, rabies, typhoid, . . ."
. . . are all the vaccines.
". . . and yellow fever."
She's required to get.
And she's aghast.
She opens her mouth to ask.
How many shots is that again?
But the doctor's not done.
"There's no vaccine yet for malaria. But if you want a preventative antimalarial medication, I'll need a bit more information from you to figure out the right one and proper dosage."
She opens her mouth again.
"There's also no vaccine for Cikungunya but we do have some bite avoidance products available."
Closes it while the doctor continues to continue on.
"There's a vaccine for Dengue Fever but not for schistosomiasis so we recommend not swimming or bathing in fresh water during your visit. Leptospirosis has no vaccine either so you should cover any cuts and abrasions you get immediately and use only filtered water to clean your eyes, mouth, and genital area."
"And we have medications for you to take orally in case of altitude sickness."
And Fran closes her mouth a third time.
Where the holy marinara is my boyfriend trying to take me?!
And do I really want to go?
"Okay."
Time to be brave.
"Give me everything you've got."
I think.
And time to buy . . .
". . . ug repellent and sunscreen, reusable water bottle, toiletries, shorts, t-shirts, underwear, socks, jacket, pants, extra sneakers . . ."
Dom doesn't whisk her off the same day on a plane to fly them to the moon like he did for their European backpacking adventure.
". . . passport, visa, travel insurance documentation, departure taxes, return ticket to prove I'm leaving after a while . . ."
No, this trip is a bit different.
It will take three days alone to get there.
And they will only stay two weeks.
". . . soap and toilet paper in case they don't have it . . ."
But it takes a whole month to plan and carry out.
". . . adapter . . . charger . . . even though there probably won't be WiFi in the jungle . . ."
And because there are a lot more things in the South American jungle . . .
". . . cholera, rabies, and yellow fever . . ."
. . . that will try to kill you . . .
". . . but not the heptatitis-es or the MMR 'cause I had those vaccines when I was a baby . . ."
. . . than on the mean streets of good ol' Pari.
"And I got to get those anti-bite things and the anti-molasses, uh, malaria thing . . ."
And she really doesn't want that to happen.
"So, have you changed your mind yet, Fran?"
Her smile falters, slips.
"No? Do you want me to?"
And Dom shrugs.
"No."
He's a great shrugger.
"I just want you to do what you want, Fran."
I've heard that before.
And it was great.
Still is.
And now she gives him a shrug of her own.
"I mean, I don't know what it's going to be like. But I want to try."
And Dominic grins.
"Okay."
And leans in for a light kiss.
And Fran . . .
That is good taziki sauce.
. . . kisses him right back.
"You're going where?"
And Fran can't help but grin.
"Suriname."
Bet you've never been there before, have you, Lily?
"Where is that?"
I rest my case.
"South America. The east side. Northeast side."
And her friend's face is priceless.
"I . . . you . . . wow . . ."
And Frances Faye Fugleman's feeling frankly fantastically fabulous about the whole freakin' thing.
"And Dom invited you?"
Nodding and smiling and blushing.
"His dad works up there- down there- over there, anyway . . . He wants me to meet him."
And Lily lovely eyebrows lift even further in astonishment.
"Dom wants you to meet his dad?"
And Fran's positively about to grin her entire head off.
"Yeah. Yeah."
"Wow! That's really serious!"
And Fran bursts into embarrassed giggles.
"It is?"
"Yeah!"
Wow, I guess it is.
And bubbly Lily takes a casual sip of her bubbly soda.
"I guess you're going to have to learn Spanish now."
Oh.
And Frannie grins and shrugs.
"I guess I am."