10 years later [Tayvin AU]

part 3

TAYLOR POV

As I stood at the gate of the zoo at 10.15am I wondered if Adam had had second thoughts or had just been leading me on. I had been stood up before, but not when I was feeling so confident that it could actually work out. I had chosen to wear burgundy jeans and a navy and white spotted sweater, with my short brown Chelsea boots....after all it was a date at the zoo in October with a 4 year old so comfort was a key element of my decision process this morning.
As it got nearer to 10.30 I started to think about whether I should just go home.... The issue was that I never got Adam's number so I couldn't call him, and he never took mine so we were in a bit of a limbo situation.

Suddenly I saw a tall blond man barrelling towards the gates carrying a brightly dressed child and a stuffed lion. It was Adam. As he spotted me he put Lottie down on her feet. He was dressed in dark blue jeans with black sneakers and a forest green zip up hoodie. Lottie was wearing black leggings, brown boots and a mustard yellow long sleeved sweater dress. She was carrying a small black and red ladybug knapsack, while Adam was carrying a stuffed lion toy.

"I am so so sorry we are late. Someone HAD TO find her binoculars which were somehow at the back of the top shelf of her cupboard...." Adam said looking at Lottie, who just giggled sweetly,"and I didn't have your number or anything.....thank god you didn't leave!"

"Don't worry! I'm sure the binoculars will be invaluable today, good call miss Lottie! Shall we head in?" I replied, completely transfixed by Adam's apologetic eyes and crooked grin.

"Taylor? Can you carry Leo?" Lottie asked, tugging on my hand and handing me her toy lion, which I gladly accepted, before she skipped ahead to the entrance gate.

"You should be honoured. She never let's anyone hold Leo except me." Adam whispered in my ear as we walked to catch up with Lottie, slinging his arm around my shoulder.

ADAM POV

Having my arm around Taylor felt comfortable, almost like it had been a daily occurrence for years, not the first time.

"Um....so we have annual passes but we can wait for you to get a ticket..." I explained said, rubbing the back of my neck as Lottie clung to my leg.

"Well...I have an annual pass too believe it or not... I come here to think a lot.... Also my best friend in the city works here." Tay replied smiling at us and leading us towards the pass holders entrance.

"How is she real?" I mumbled quietly, not meaning for her to hear but she obviously did by the shy smirk she threw over her shoulder, making me blush a deep red as Lottie grabbed my hand and we showed our cards.

"So where to first?" I asked the girls.

"The monkeys!!" Lottie squealed. Last time the monkeys had been having medical checks so we didn't see them, but they were Lottie's favorites after the lions.

"Are you going to join them, you little chimp!" I said ruffling Lottie's hair, "Well lead on Miss Monkey!"

As we walked I felt Taylor slip her arm around mine.

"She's very independent, isn't she...." She mused from next to me

"Fiercely. Won't even let me help her get dressed or anything anymore! She's growing up so freaking quickly!" I told her, watching Lottie flit around, dancing down the path to the monkey enclosure.

We stood for a while watching the monkeys playing around and eating their food, with me taking pictures of Lottie and Taylor making faces and dancing around.

Next we headed to the lions so 'Leo could visit his family'.

"Daddy.... I need to go to the bathroom." Lottie said quietly as she tugged my jeans to get my attention.

"Okay....they are just up ahead... Um, I'll just take Lottie to the bathroom quickly." I told Taylor.

"No daddy. I want Taylor to take me. I don't want to go in the boys....they smell yucky!" Lottie exclaimed dramatically, making me laugh a little at her then look at Taylor asking her if it was OK with my eyes.

"Let's go Lottie-bug! The girls bathroom always smells like flowers!" Taylor said taking Lottie's little hand in hers and walking to the small building, winking at me over her shoulder as she spoke.

TAYLOR POV

I felt extremely comfortable with Lottie and Adam, able to joke around with them or lean slightly on Adam as we walked. To the outside world we probably looked like a young family. I was actually touched that Lottie felt comfortable enough around me to ask for me to take her to the bathroom.

"Taylor.... Are you going to live with us now? Because Allie said everyone lives with their mommy and daddy....but my mommy is in heaven..." Lottie asked me from her perch on the toilet seat.

"Ummmm....not everyone has a mommy and a daddy.....some people have 2 mommies or 2 daddies....or one like you..... Ummm...I don't think I'm going to live with you right now....but maybe I can come over sometimes and play with you?" I tried to bypass the question as much as possible.

"Okay! I like you! You're fun! And you gave me a cool name" Lottie replied as I held her up to wash her hands. Wow, 4 year olds were easily appeased!

"I like you too Lottie-bug." I told her, smiling at her big blue eyes and cute grin.

"Do you love my daddy? Because I think he loves you..." She told me as we walked out spotting Adam taking photos of the birds in the nearby enclosure.

"He's pretty great, isn't he." I replied, slightly wistfully, watching as he turned around and spotted us, grin widening across his face.

"Ready to have a snack with the lions?" Adam asked, picking Lottie up and swinging her onto his left hip, eliciting peals of laughter, and pulling me towards his right side as we wandering down to the food stand by the lions.

ADAM POV

"So me and Lottie sort of have a ritual that we buy a pizza for dinner on the way back from the zoo and play games till bedtime...." I explained, as I carried a very tired Lottie onto the subway to go home, with Taylor following just behind. It was now 5pm and we were all exhausted having spent 6 hours at the zoo.

"Sounds like a great ritual!" She replied, smiling back at me and carrying Leo the lion.

"Lottie, darling, what kind of pizza do you want tonight?" I asked her as she nuzzled her head into my neck as we stood at the pizza parlour.

"Roni and cheeese!" She mumbled into my neck, never lifting her head.

"Okay so one kids pepperoni and....what d'you want Tay?" I asked her as we ordered.

"Ummm.... The Mediterranean vegetables with chicken sounds good..." She replied.

"OK... And one large med veg with chicken please." I ordered, decision to share with her.

I saw Taylor pulling out her wallet.

"Nope! My treat! What kind of dates would we be if we let you pay, right Lottie!" I said.

"Right!" Lottie said lifting her head up and giving me a thumbs up. She then wiggled a little and reached out to Taylor, who looked surprised but took her in her arms where Lottie proceeded to fall asleep.

"If she's too heavy just say and I'll take her." I told Taylor as we walked the short journey back to our building.

"She's fine. She tired herself out so much today! She was like a little energizer bunny out there.... Bouncing around and chattering away!" Taylor remarked.

"Haha...yeah....welcome to the wonderful world of parenthood to a rambunctious and intelligent little girl who spends way too much time with adults and roaming around parks and zoos!" I replied, realising too late what I had sort of implied in terms of her being a parent to Lottie. Luckily she just smiled and kept walking next to me.

In my head I could imagine having a future with Taylor. Even in high school I had a major crush on her, although I would never have admitted it to anyone, and those feelings never went away.