Nine

Ava sat surprisingly with Gabriel before her parents. She had been really amazed and glad when her mother had called her to tell her to invite Gabriel over to their house. She had told her that she'd approved of her relationship with the man. Ava could not have been more elated.

Now, they were just listening to her mother as she repeated what she had told her daughter in the presence of them all which made Ava smile broadly with joy soaring within her. Her happiness was all written all over her face as she continued to grin from ear to ear. She enclosed her fingers with Gabriel's while he smiled in return.

"Thank you very much, ma," Gabriel said. "Thank you, sir," he said to Ava's father with his right fingers touching his left foot and bowed his head as he thanked them. He had never thought her parents could approve of their relationship despite all the insults her mother had thrown on him.

"It's okay," Mrs Smith said with a smile that looks so much like her daughter's. Even a stranger would notice that they were mother and daughter because of their resemblance.

"You're welcome, my son," Mr. Smith added also with a smile that implied that he was totally welcomed.

"I just want my daughter to be happy. I don't ever want to see her sad. She always please me everytime and if approving you will be the only thing that would make her happy, then why not?" Mrs Smith explained.  "So Gabriel, you must not make my little girl cry," she added with a smile.

"Mum, I am no more a little girl," Ava corrected her mother who replied with a laugh.

"Grown up or not, you're still my little girl either way. And you will always remain that way in my sight," her mother replied with a smile as broad as a main road, which activated a laughing mode in the room.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Sm – Oh! I mean dad. Thanks a lot," Ava said with joy.

Mrs Smith would have regretted her whole life if she had deprived her daughter of the happiness she was seeing on her face. She had never seen her so happy and giddy. Her eyes went to her daughter's enclosed fingers with Gabriel's and grinned.

They rounded up their conversation in the dining room as they started to eat. They ate silently but with smiles all over their faces.

"Did you enjoy the food, Gabriel?" Smith asked after they finished eating.

"Yes, sir. Thank you so much," he answered politely.

"My cooking is more delicious than this, Gabby, right?" Ava was already jealous at his comment of enjoying the food.

Gabriel chuckled and nodded. "I guess so," he teased as her parents made their way to the living room. He had tasted her food before and he must admit it was very delicious.

He and Ava cleared up the dishes and took them to the kitchen and started washing.

"She is actually a great cook, Gabriel," they heard her mother say. 

Gabby smiled but said nothing. He stopped washing, rinsed and dried his hands. 

Ava smiled as she rinsed the plates he had washed earlier. "See?" she said, tilting his head to the side before returning it back to the sink. When she finished with the plates, she cleaned her hands and turned to him.  "Are you happy?" 

"Of course, I am. But Ava, how on earth did you make your mum agree because I know she just didn't agree on her own?" Gabby asked. 

Ava lowered one hand to her waist and the other in her hair for an unnecessary itch. "You're right, Gabriel. Well, it's all thanks to Doctor Anderson."

"A doctor? How does a doctor get to do with this?"

"He is not a medical doctor. He is not even a doctor at all. He is a counselor on love issues. I must say that he is a really gifted man in that aspect. He's always addressed as a doctor because he has healed so many wounded hearts. He gave me the tricks to use and they worked, didn't they?"

"Yeah! But, I can't believe there's a doctor like that. That makes him —" he was saying. 

"A love doctor," Ava completed. 

"Exactly what I'm thinking. His woman will be very lucky," Gabriel said.  "They will be a happy couple." 

Ava laughed. "That is where the problem is," Ava put in and continued when he squeezed his face for more light to be shed on what she mentioned. "He is single." 

"You don't mean it? How can a man who mends broken hearts be single? Well, maybe he just hasn't found his type of woman," he assumed. 

"Maybe you're right. Well, let's forget about him, okay? I am more than excited right now," Ava said as she drew Gabriel closer to herself and circled her hands around his waist and hugged him. 

"Me, too," Gabriel replied. 

"Do you want to go to my room?" He had never visited their house before because of her parents, so he did not know where her room was. 

Gabriel became reluctant. Not that he did not want to go, but.... "What about your parents? They just approved our relationship. I don't want them to start having bad thoughts about me already," he spoke out his fear and she nodded in understanding. 

"But it's not like we're doing anything wrong. Isn't it right for you to know my room? I'm sure they wouldn't mind," Ava said and playfully dragged him out of the kitchen into the living room. 

"Behold my lovebirds," Ava's mother said and smiled at the two. 

"Are you going out? You should stay with us for a while before leaving," Smith interjected with the thought that the boy was already departing. 

"No, sir. I'm still here," Gabriel answered as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"We are going to my room, mum, dad." She had decided to start addressing Mr. Smith as her father. Not that she had a choice, anyway, but because of her mother. She did not want to do anything that would make her be on her bad side when she had just gone out of her comfort zone to accept her relationship. 

Her mother intentionally cleared her throat.  "Ah-hem! Okay, then."

"Yes! Let's go," Ava took her boyfriend's hand and ran up the stairs into her room. They got in and she locked the door from behind.

Gabriel looked around in awe. Her room was beautiful despite not being girlish. She was not all about pink and colorful stuff. The walls were painted white and the curtains and bedspread were brown. Her pillow cases had her pictures on them. He took one and looked at it properly.  "You're pretty," he said to no one in particular.

Ava smiled and went to sit in the middle of the bed. "Really?" she teased with a light smile gracing her lips.

"Of course, you are," he repeated and returned the pillow to its place. He pocketed his hands and glanced around once more.

"Come here," Ava urged and patted the bed. She watched him as he obliged and sat beside her, straightening his legs.

"Your bedroom is nice," said Gabriel as he started  caressing her forehead after she rested her head on his laps, looking up at him.

"Hmm... Shall we do something nice, then?" Ava asked, more like commanding it.

"Your kind of nice is suspicious, babe," Gabriel said with a smile. 

Ava got up and straddled him. "Of course, it should be," she laughed and kissed him.