Till Death us do part...(Liam Payne) Book 3 of Evie/Liam

Part 5

They were awoken early, as the sun began to rise. The darkness was replaced by shades of pink and orange. Lying in bed, cuddled into Liam, she was the happiest she'd ever been. The further the sun rose, the more exposed she felt. She crawled out the bed, wrapped herself in a towel and went to the lowest level of the platform to change for this day's adventure. They were taking a small plain to Kruger National Park to try and see the "big five" animals in Africa: lions, rhinos, elephants, leopards and buffalo.

Eva heard Liam coming down the stairs just as she was tying her shoes. "Good Morning!" he said, coming into the sitting area. He sat next to her and gave her a kiss. "Are you ready for this? I heard the plane is really small."

"Yes. And you've promised me a warthog. Don't forget." Eva smiled.

They packed up and Liam called up to the lodge. A car arrived and they jumped in. There was a boxed breakfast waiting for them in the car. They ate fruit and yogurt on the way to the airstrip. They arrived thirty minutes later and Eva saw the small plane. Tiny plane! Four seats. Liam joked that they needed to wind it up before they could fly.

"Not funny!" Eva said.

Liam circles his arms around her and kissed her neck. "It was extremely funny." Eva just grinned.

The plane ride was the strangest of Eva's life. The plane never went into the clouds and it was loud. She couldn't even talk to Liam. Instead she watched out the window, watching as the country became wilder and wilder. They finally set down at an extremely tiny airport, if you could call it that. A tower and an airstrip, that was all. A jeep picked them up and started to give them all of the rules: Keep the window up, unless instructed. Stay in the jeep, unless instructed, do not attempt to pet or feed any animals, things that look cute still have teeth. Once they had all of the rules, they set off down a dirt path.

There were two guides, one to drive and one who would take pictures. They would be given a flash drive at the end of the trip. Eva didn't need to do anything expect stare out the windows. The jeep slowed as they approached a patch of tall grass. Suddenly, a leopard crossed right in front of the jeep, like they weren't even there. Eva grabbed Liam's hand as she gasped. "Did you see that?" she looked at Liam with wide eyes. He just smiled at her and shook his head. It was so easy to make her happy. That's one of things he loved best about her. She got just as excited about single daisy as she did for a diamond necklace. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze and she flashed a brilliant smile at him. "This is so exciting!"

They drove for hours, all around the park. The guides knew just where to find all of the animals they wanted to see. They saw lions, laying around being lazy. By a muddy patch of ground, they saw a rhino. Not far from there, there was another watering hole. Driving to it, they saw Zebras and Antelope, eating and drinking. In the distance, there was a giraffe eating. She pointed it out to Liam just as another one appeared. The guides pointed out other animals that she had never even heard of: striped polecats, African weasels and a bat eared fox. They drove past a small patch of trees and there was a cheetah taking a nap. Eva had seen everything on her list, except a hippo, a meerkat and a warthog. They didn't have meerkats in Kruger, much to her disappointment. The guide promised them a warthog and hippo after lunch.

They were allowed out of the car to stretch and eat. Liam and Eva sat next to each other, staring out at the vast expanse of yellow grass dotted by a few trees. It seemed to go on forever. "In case I forget to tell you later, thank you. This has got to be the most amazing thing I have ever done."

Liam laughed as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Better than the koalas? You wanted one of those to take home."

"Better than the koalas. Think of how few people get to do these things, Liam. We are so blessed. My mother would never let us do anything like this. It's not a vacation to her unless there is a golf course and a five star hotel. She'll never know how amazing this can be."

He bent down and kissed her head. "Just wait until we bring our children here. They will be the envy of their classmates."

"Children? How many are we talking here?" Eva laughed.

"Oh, I'd say at least six or seven."

"Keep dreaming, buddy." She turned her head for a kiss. "I don't want to go back to the real world."

"We have to. I have a concert tomorrow." Liam reminded her.

Just then, the guides told them it was time to move on. They needed to start now or they'd miss the plane back. The guides took them to see the hippos. They were pretty much always in the same area. They liked to be near deep water and there were only a few places in the park that had deep water. By four in the afternoon, Eva was tired and had so much to process. They were nearly back to the airstrip and she still hadn't seen a warthog. "Well, I never did see Pumba." She sighed.

"Sorry, baby." Liam told her. "But you saw Simba and he's the star of the movie."

They walked over to the plane and the guide handed her the flash drive. Liam thanked them and gave them a tip and took pictures. Apparently, the photographer's daughter was a fan. The guide was walking back to the jeep when he froze in place.

"Miss!" he whisper yelled. "Look in the bushes. Right there." Eva looked over and saw a nose. "Don't move Miss. He'll come out if we are quiet." Behind her, Liam reached for his phone. Suddenly, there he was. The brownish creature was standing, staring at them. He had two tusked that went around his flat nose and small eyes on either side of his head. Liam snapped a few pictures before Eva lost it.

"PUMBA!" she yelled and off it went. She turned to Liam, a huge grin on her face, and said it again. "Pumba!" Then she ran to him and threw herself into his arms. He spun her in a quick circle before setting her down and kissing her. "Do you think he'll fit on the plane?" she asked.

"Not a chance." Liam laughed, once again thinking how easy it was to make her happy. Of all darn things, she wanted a warthog.