The Sun and Her Moon | CHONI |

Thirteen

Of course it was the weekend so Toni was woken up by Tommy jumping on her bed. 'Good morning Mommy!' he smiled. 'Hey little man' she grumbled as she woke up 'come here Mommy wants to tell you something' she held the duvet open so he could crawl in. 'What is it?' Tommy asked as he laid in his moms arms. 'Well Cheryl reached out to me yesterday to see if me and you...' she pointed to herself and then lightly booped his nose 'wanted to go to the aquarium today?'. 'Cheryl did?' He asked with wide eyes. Toni nodded bracing herself for his reaction. He jumped up 'yessssss!'. He started to bounce on the bed with excitement. Toni reached out for her phone to video record him. 'Okay calm down' she laughed and with one last jump he sat on his mother's stomach. She sent the video to Cheryl telling her this is what she has to deal with this morning thanks to the redhead. She replied with 'my heart, he's too precious'. Only now realising the time as she received the message from Cheryl, they only had forty five minutes to get ready and she wanted to look decent, since it was a date and all. 'Let's get ready Cheryl will be here soon' Toni said standing up and reaching down to grab Tommy.

Thankfully the pair was showered, dressed and fed with five minutes to spare. 'Okay I think we're ready' Toni smiled down at her son. He looked adorable in his black hoodie and jeans with his white sneakers. Toni had opted for black skinny jeans and a grey knitted sweater her hair falling in soft curls, it was casual but she wore it well. Her phone pinged in her pocket. 'Cheryl said she's here let's go'. She picked Tommy up and carried him to the parking lot not wanting to keep the redhead waiting. 'Hey Cheryl' Toni smiled as she opened the car door not even hiding the way her eyes ran down Cheryl's body and back to her dark orbs 'you look good'. Cheryl was wearing a red turtle neck sweater, black jeans and surprisingly white sneakers. 'Thank you, so do you' she smirked 'I hope it's okay I got Tommy a child seat'. 'Thank you Cheryl, you're too sweet' Toni smiled as she leant down to get Tommy in the car. 'Hi Cheryl' Tommy waved while Toni buckled him in. 'Hi Tommy, are you excited?'. 'Yesss!' He shouted causing Cheryl to giggle. 'Hey! That was right in my ear' Toni grumbled. 'Sorry Mommy'. 'It's a good job you're cute' Toni said as she shut the door before opening the door to the passenger seat. 'Ready?' Cheryl asked putting the car in drive when Toni and Tommy nodded.

Even after Cheryl's mishap with the text message yesterday the car journey wasn't awkward. Cheryl smiled as Toni and Tommy sang along to the radio even joining in every now and again when Tommy told her he couldn't hear her. The journey didn't take too long and they were soon pulling into a parking space. Cheryl left Toni to get Tommy out of the car while she went to purchase the tickets. 'Okay all ready to go' Cheryl smiled holding up the tickets. Toni thanked her and grabbed Tommy's hand to join the line. 'What are you doing?' Cheryl asked. 'Joining the line?' Toni looked confused. 'No, come on'. Toni moved back over towards Cheryl as she followed her to the man at the entrance. She was surprised when the worker just let her through. 'Toni, Tommy come on' Cheryl smiled. Cutting lines was something Toni wasn't used to but she just pushed it to the back of her mind and followed Cheryl through. Tommy's hand was already linked to his mom but he used his spare hand to reach for Cheryl's as soon as they caught up to her. She took it and smiled at the little boy who was taking everything in for the first time. 'Thank you for bringing us here, he's really excited' Toni grinned at the redhead. 'It's really no problem' Cheryl smiled. 'Look! Look!'. He let go of Toni's hand to point at the seahorses. 'Oh wow' Toni smiled 'do you like the sea horses?'. He had his face pressed against the glass as he looked at them in awe. He moved his face to another tank with some different fish in it, watching them with curiosity 'nemo' he whispered to himself. As he moved to another tank Toni decided she'd let him have a little freedom and enjoy the aquarium with being glued to her side, it wasn't busy and she trusted he would behave. 'Okay Tommy remember not too many steps in front of Mommy and Cheryl, we have to be able to see you all the time' she said sternly. 'Okay Mommy' he said while he stepped forward. 'Okay we better keep up with the boss' Toni smiled. Cheryl was just about to laugh but the feeling of Toni's hand wrapping hers made it feel like her heart stopped.

'Is this okay?' Toni asked looking over to the redhead. 'More than okay' Cheryl smiled squeezing Toni's hand. They followed Tommy and he pointed to literally everything, Toni had told him to calm down multiple times but it only lasted a minute or two. Cheryl couldn't concentrate though, her heart was still racing, she couldn't believe how irrational she felt, she had held hands with plenty of people but no one ever made her feel like this. No ones hand felt like it fit hers as perfectly as Toni's did. She looked over to Toni who seemed as cool as a cucumber, well that's what it looked like but little did she know Toni was feeling the exact same way. The further they got through the attraction the bigger the tanks became. 'These fishy's are bigger than my head' Tommy shouted to his mom and Cheryl. 'I don't know about that kid' Toni laughed which caused Cheryl to bump her shoulder. 'It's a joke' Toni laughed 'kind of'. 'Cheryl can you pick me up so I can see better?' Tommy asked. He wanted to see inside the large open tank that was home to some of the stingrays. She bent down and picked him up watching his face as he studied everything in the tank even the rocks. Toni pulled out her phone quickly snapping a picture of the pair before either of them noticed. Tommy had made Cheryl walk the whole way around the tank so he could see every angle and the redhead did so happily. Toni could tell her son had Cheryl wrapped around his little finger already.

'Okay the tunnels coming up, I can't wait to see his face' Toni said as she read the sign 'okay buddy stay close while we go through here'. They had to go through a door but as soon as Tommy stepped through he stopped in his tracks looking all around him. 'We are underwater!'. He started jumping up and down with excitement. 'Hey look let's go and sit on that bench then we can watch the big fish' Toni said hoping sitting down will keep him calm enough to take it all in. Cheryl and Toni sat down pulling Tommy up so he could sit next to them on the bench. He took it upon himself to lay down so he could watch the fish swimming above him. 'Oh Tommy look a shark' Toni said pointing up. 'A real shark?' Tommy asked. 'Of course silly'. 'Wow, they are big!' he giggled. 'They give me the creeps' Cheryl laughed only loud enough for Toni to hear, she didn't want to scare the young boy. 'Are you okay?' Toni asked placing her hand on Cheryl's thigh. 'Yeah of course' Cheryl smiled suddenly not thinking of the sharks anymore and placing her own hand on top of Toni's hoping she wouldn't be able to feel the nerves radiating through her body. Cheryl could get used to this, days out with Toni and Tommy. If someone would have told her a month ago that she'd be on a date in an aquarium with a woman and her child she would have laughed saying absolutely not but now there's no where she would rather be. The aquarium was pretty small in comparison to the zoo and Cheryl was worried that her time with the pair would run out before she would like so she had to think of another way to spend more time with them.

'Toni would you and Tommy like to come to my house for takeout once we are done here?' Cheryl asked timidly. 'Sounds great as long as it's my treat' Toni smiled. 'But I invited you out' Cheryl pushed. 'Exactly and me buying dinner is us showing you we appreciate it' Toni challenged with a smirk. 'Okay fine' Cheryl tried to huff but she couldn't hide the smile on her face. 'Shall we move to the next exhibit' Toni asked. The boy and the redhead nodded causing Toni to stand up, she pick Tommy up and popped him on the ground before reaching her hand out to Cheryl to pull her up and re-join their hands. The next exhibit was the last and Tommy made sure he looked at every corner of it asking Cheryl to read every piece of information to him until he was completely satisfied. Of course to exit you had to walk through the gift shop just like the zoo. 'Can I have a toy Mommy?' Tommy gave her the puppy eyes with his hand still connected to Cheryl's. 'You can choose one, a small one' she said but that was enough for him to run into the shop. He asked for a small box of mixed sea creature toys which Toni agreed to before going to the cashier to pay for them. Tommy waited patiently for Toni to pay and pass the toy back to him he immediately thanked her. 'Okay shall we get back to the car?' Cheryl asked. 'Yep' Tommy nodded his full attention still on the toys. The redhead let Toni strap the boy into his seat as she started up the engine. 'Don't open those until we get back to Cheryl's house okay?' Toni told Tommy as she got into her own seat and put on her safety belt. 'Okay Mommy, quick let's go Cheryl!' he laughed as Cheryl pulled her car out of the parking space and leaving the parking lot.