Getting It Right (BOOK THREE)

Chapter 64

Keenan strolls beside Janine and Carson as they approach the tall gates decorated with animal designs. He looks from side to side as they both chatter aimlessly over him and push through the crowd trying to enter.

"The zoo?" Keenan asks, "You took me to the zoo?"

"Not just you," Carson replies, "Neveah too."

Keenan puts his hands in his pocket, "I thought we were doing something fun."

"This is fun. It's your first zoo trip with your daughter, it's gonna be great!" Janine exclaims as she pushes Neveah in her stroller. For some reason she's really happy go lucky today. Even when she pulled up to his house this morning she wore a big grin that could light up the neighborhood. Carson is acting just as happy, even sporting a yellow sundress that could be seen a mile away. It probably has something to do with them trying to cheer up Keenan and he appreciates their effort, but Aubrey will always be in the back of his mind until she's found.

When they pass through the gates and make it to the main entrance, Janine stops and looks at all the signs pointing in different directions. "What should we see first. The tiger and bears, the antelope and monkeys or the giraffes?"

"Maybe we should start off with something simple, Nevy has never seen an animal before and I don't want to scare her." Keenan replies.

"Antelope it is." Janine pushes Neveah in the direction that the sign is pointing. It's crowded and humid out, but a nice breeze blows past them as they walk.

"And what made y'all choose the zoo?" Keenan wonders as he steps to the side to avoid bumping in to a little boy.

"I dunno, it kind of popped into my mind when I woke up this morning." Carson says, "I haven't been to the zoo in a long time."

Keenan bobs his eyebrows and pulls his phone out his pocket, quickly checking to see if he had any missed calls.

"Look at the antelope Nevy!" Janine points through the fence where the antelope are trotting across the grass or laying down. Neveah just stares at her and smiles, not even looking where she's pointing. Janine crouches down and unbuckled Neveah from her seat, she lifts her on to her hip and brings her closer to the gate. Her smile falls when she sees the animals roaming in front of her, some stopping to take a drink from the pond.

"I think she's mesmerized," Carson laughs. Keenan watches Neveah reach towards the gate, but Janine pulls her back before she can touch it. She makes little noises and swings her legs, watching one of the antelope lay down in the grass.

"Lets go over there." Carson points to the next exhibit and Keenan pushes the stroller as Janine follows with Neveah. This is exhibit has a bunch of birds of different sizes, stalking across the grass and floating in the water. One of the birds makes a honking noise and Neveah jumps, then scrunches up her face like she's gonna cry.

"Ok ok, don't cry it was just a little birdie saying hi." Janine insists while patting her back.

Neveah turns to look at Keenan and at the sight of her curled up lip, he takes her from Janine and bounces her in his arms. "Look, the birdie isn't gonna get you. He's a nice birdy." He points at the big white bird that walking close to the gate, eyeing the spectators. Neveah watches it and leans forward like she wants to grab it in her hands. "Um yeah, lets not get that close." Keenan says and takes a step back.

Carson waves her hand, "Come on, lets go to the next exhibit. We have a lot to see today." She sounds even more excited than the kids around her.

As they move from exhibit to exhibit, Neveah gets more and more comfortable with the animals. She makes happy noises and puts her hand against the glass, watching the animals move behind it. Not once does she cry or shy away, she actually gets upset when they move from animal to animal.