Now, I can barely contain my own excitement, especially when she looks out the window—
She gasps and turns to me with wide eyes.
"Thezoo?!" Sophie squeals, sounding a lot like Bailey. Those two have been spending too much time together.
Smiling—and feeling very satisfied—I slide out of the car and help her out after me, both of us thanking our amused driver for the ride. She's practically bouncing as we walk up to the front, and I look at her for a long moment. She looks so happy, and so damn adorable, especially bundled up like I told her to—cream sweater, fleece-lined black jacket, jeans tucked into her comfy boots. Her red knitted hat has been pulled over her wig; it's a little askew, so I reach out and fix it for her.
It's a very brisk New England fall day, only a couple of days from November. Thankfully, though, it's sunny, and there's not a cloud in the sky. When Sophie asked me for a hint at the hotel about how to dress, I told her we would be outside, so she shoulddress warmly. And if she gets too cold anyway, I'll always give her my thick jacket.
Also, any excuse to buy her a hot chocolate and snuggle her close to me is a good one.
Win/Win for me.
I wrap my arm around her waist as we walk to the ticket booth, tapping my phone against the reader before she can open her wallet. "Callum—"
"Nope."
"You planned this, I can—"
I murmur against her temple, "Be a good girl and let me spoil you? Yes, you can."
Her mouth snaps shut at that, and her cheeks flush before she huffs. I smile when I see the edges of her lips quirk into a smile.
We walk into the main entrance, passing kids in puffy jackets darting ahead of their tired-looking parents, strollers of giggling babies being wheeled down the winding paths, and the interesting scent of popcorn mixed with the smell of animals in the air.It's perfect.
"I haven't been to the zoo in years," Sophie sighs, glancing at the directory sign.
"I think the last time I was here was... when my dad was still alive," I say, and she looks up at me, her eyes soft. Smiling, I squeeze her hand in mine. "I'm glad I'm back here with you."
Sophie lifts onto her tiptoes and presses a kiss to my mouth, brief and warm, before tugging on my hand like a child too excited to wait. "Come on, I wanna see thepenguins!"
Sophie's excitement grows with each exhibit, and I love seeing her like this—free of worries, of unnecessary guilt, of fear. She's just enjoying a fun day at the zoo, and that's all she has to do right now.
Since it's Saturday and the zoo has modified hours in the Fall and Winter, it quickly gets crowded, but it doesn't bother us—itjust makes us slow down and take our time.
She giggles at the lemurs chomping grapes that look huge in their tiny hands. She points out the sloths hanging upside down, with dreamy little faces and those small smiles. We walk to the gorilla exhibit and see them lying about lazily. Sophie coos at a little baby gorilla being breastfed by its mother.
My phone camera—which was once used to take photos of sunsets, or nature, or book recs for Jack and Oliver—is now being used exclusively to take pictures of my girl. Between last night and today, my phone camera storage is almost full, and I have so many that I'm going to print out and frame. The thought of one day hanging these in a house we share gives me goosebumps in the best way.
Finally, we reach the part I'm the most excited about for her, and when I hear her excited gasp, I have to resist puffing my chest in smug satisfaction.
"Callum!" Sophie laughs, pulling me over to the exhibit. "Otters!"
I bark out a laugh as she runs right up to the glass, right in between two families with smaller children who are squealing and giggling. The little brown otters are chaos and joy incarnate, twisting and tumbling into the water, ducking and chasing each other all around their habitat.
Immediately, I take out my phone and snap a couple of photos of Sophie laughing at them.Myotter's nose is practically pressed up against the glass as she watches them transfixed. One otter swims over to her, slapping his little webbed paws against the glass before he does a little flip under the water. He peeks back up at her like,'Did you see that?!'
Sophie giggles and glances back at me, and the pure wonder on her face makes my heart stutter.
Walking up to her, I make sure I'm not blocking any of the kids' view—a bad side to being tall—and slide my arms aroundher waist from behind. Sophie automatically leans back into me and links our fingers together.
There are two otters a little further away, floating on their backs in the water, paws linked.
I lean down to whisper into her ear, voice low. "So we don't drift..."
"Never," Sophie swears, her voice quietly fierce before stretching up and pressing a kiss to my chin. We stay like that for a long moment, until the crowd shifts and we know our turn is up, time to make room for others to look at these silly little guys.
Later, we walk hand in hand out of the zoo, but not without stopping at the gift shop first.
