Once he was dressed, he stopped in front of the dresser, pulling out a pair of underwear.
“Can…I dry my hair?”
“Of course, sweet boy.” He never had to ask. I told him so, but he just shrugged.
Turning back to my phone, I played a mindless game, waiting. I’d wait for however long it took.
When the sound of the hair blower stopped, I stood, going towards the doorway.
Oakley was a sight to behold. Somehow, by drying his blond hair, it wasn’t nearly as curly as it normally was. It went just below his shoulders, the front framing his thin jawline.
“Wow.”
“I….uh…didn’t know…what to do?”
“You’re beautiful.” He truly was. He always was, no matter what he did. But today, whatever he did, he was one of the prettiest things I’d ever lay eyes on.
He instantly ducked his head, hiding his blush from me.
“Are you ready? No rush if you aren’t.”
He nodded, turning to clean up the stuff he had out on the counter.
That was one thing I noticed. He never left a mess behind. Everything was always put away, even his lotions and soaps. Everything had a spot.
Even the things I’d leave out got put away. I didn’t want to make a comment about it, fearing he’d say something about it being his job. Because it wasn’t his job to take care of me.
***
Thankfully, being one of the first people in the parking lot of the zoo, there weren’t many others around. The fewer people the better, not just for Oakley and his uncertain anxiety, but for threats.
No one knew where I was today except for a few family members, and even then, I didn’t answer any of their questions. It wasn’t their business what I was doing at a place like this.
There would always be a few threats against my boy, just because of Donny’s black web posts. Someone would no doubt still have information that wasn’t found, and I didn’t want to take any chances.
I also didn’t want to keep the boy stuck in a house for the rest of his life.
“If you get overwhelmed at any time, tell me ‘yellow’ and we’ll figure out what to do next.” I wrapped my hand in his, pulling him close to my side.
He nodded, letting his head rest against my arm for a single second before lifting it back up.
Paying our entrance fee, I led us towards the right, where I knew some of the smaller, cuter animals were.
We stopped to look at a few animals, ones that didn’t seem to really hold Oakley’s interest for more than a minute or two. We walked, hand in hand, and not saying too much. I let the boy lead the way, letting him slightly pull me in whatever direction he wanted to go.
“What’s one thing you would like to do in your lifetime?” I asked as we paused in front of some monkeys. They were cute little critters, hanging out in trees in front of the tall wire fence.
Oakley jerked at my question, or maybe it was more my voice, but he did glance at me.
“Can…can I answer truthfully?”
“Always.” I didn’t want lies or things he thought I wanted to hear.
He refused to look at me.“I want to fall in love.”
I was both speechless and hopeful. I knew love wasn’t something that could be forced, and although I was already falling down that path with the boy, I wasn’t going to push my feelings onto him. But I could show him everything I had to offer and hope that he’d start to feel that for me.
“I’ve never…felt that before.”
