Not As It Seems - We Bought A Zoo Fanfic

Ch 5

"Wake up Avery!" I heard Dylan yell as he knocked on the door. "Dad wants us downstairs in 5 minutes."

I groaned but rolled out of bed anyway knowing that Dad would be pissed if I didn't show. Quickly grabbing a hoodie and throwing on some skinny jeans I ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Which might I add smelled worse then it did yesterday night.

"Good. You're here. We're going for a little tour." Dad told us as we walked through the front door and he lead us to the Rosemoor Wildlife Park sign.

When we arrived we found 5 people standing in a line waiting for us. Dad, Dylan, and Rosie walked up to them but I stayed back awake and leaned against a pole a ways back.

"Hi Kelly Foster. Head zookeepers." A woman with blonde hair introduced herself to my father. I might be far away but my hearing is amazing and I can pick up the littlest things.

"Hi." He responded back as they shook hands.

"This is Robin Jones. Peter MacCready." Kelly continued pointing to a man with a monkey on his shoulder and a larger, more buff guy.

"Yep." Peter said with a small nod.

"Robin's our uhh, our craftsmen. And that's Crystal, our capuchin." The monkey on Robin's shoulder waved at us and Robin smiled.

"And Peter's our visionary. He built the enclosures that set the standards for modern zoos across America." Kelly explained.

"And the world." Peter added for her.

"Yeah , and the world, yes. And Peter and Robin do...Well basically they do everything. Except for the books and the telephone. That Rhonda over there." A brunette next to Peter smiled and sent a wave in my direction. I smiled back and did a little wave of my own.

"This is my cousin Lily. She's 13. She can't legally work here, so we pay her cash under the table out of my salary." I looked at Dylan and raised an eyebrow which he saw and shook his head quickly. Oh yeah, he definitely liked her.

"Hi, Lily." Dad greeted her.

"She's being home-schooled. She lives on the property. She works at the Jaguar. That's it. It's just us Mr. Mee." Kelly finished with a smile.

"Well, it's great to meet all of you. Uhh I'm Benjamin. This is Rosie, my daughter and my big boy Dylan. And our dog, Leon. And this is our zoo now, I guess." Dad introduced my family, seeming to forget about his eldest child. I scoffed but didn't say anything, trying to keep my emotions at bay. Ever since mom died no one really paid any attention to me, except for when I got in trouble or the occasional time Dylan would talk to me. I could see Kelly looking at me but she didn't interrupt my dad to ask him my name, or ask me instead. She just watched me, which was quite creepy but I'm used to the staring by now.

"And..love the house smells and all. Right?" Dad looked to Rosie and Dylan for confirmation. "So I would like to declare us all modern-day adventures. And sponsors of animal greatness." He ended with a fist pump.

The monkey placed a hand on his face which I chuckled at. Finally someone else thought my dad was an idiot. "Okay. Terrific. Let's go." Dad finished and began walking to the right but the seniors of the zoo walked in the other direction.

"Dad." Dylan got my fathers attention. Dad turned back around and saw the group walking the opposite way.

"Got it." Dad responded as he began to walk with the group, leaving me behind.

I frowned and walked away, figuring that my family wouldn't mind if I missed the tour. So happily I skipped away to find a nice place to sit and relax a bit.

A/n: Two down, one to go. It's kinda boring right now, but it'll get better. Hopefully.