Even Through the Storm

33. Giraffes

It's the next day, and my family and I are at the zoo in front of the giraffe habitat. "Monkey!" Noah points.

"No, it's an elephant!" Ryan says.

"Noah, Ryan," Dad says. "Those are not elephants, nor monkeys. Those are giraffes. See how tall they are?"

"How many inches are the elephants Daddy?" Ryan asks.

"I think you mean feet. How many feet are they. Giraffes can be up to twenty feet. That's about four Lola's laying down in a line."

"Lola, you're big!" Ryan yells.

"Hey, boys," Cassie chimes in. "Who wants to feed them?"

"I do!" Liam says.

"Okay, I'll go get some food."

"Hey, Dad?" I ask.

"Yeah, hun?"

"Can we stop at the gift store before we leave? I want to see if they have something."

"Yeah, sure. I was thinking of getting the boys a toy or something anyway."

"Okay," Cassie says, handing each of my brothers a handful of giraffe food. "Don't drop it, go up to the ledge. The giraffes will just eat it out of your hand. It might tickle a little, but it's okay." I pick up Noah and bring him to the ledge. A giraffe comes over and starts eating the food in his hand.

"It tickles!" Noah says, dropping the food down onto the dirt below.

"You can pet him if you want to. See? Like this." I pet the top of the giraffe's head. An employee comes over to us.

"I see you met Lola," she says.

"She's my sissy!" Noah tells her. The employee laughs.

"My name is also Lola," I explain.

"Oh, okay. Have you had a chance to feed her yet?"

"It tickles!" Noah says again.

"It does. But you get used to it in time."

"Lola, let's go," Dad says.

"Coming!" I yell back. "Well thank you. Say thank you, Noah."

"Thank you!"

"Oh, you're welcome. Come see us again, will you?"

"Sure thing. Bye." I walk over to the rest of my family and give Noah to Cassie.

"Ready to go?" Dad asks.

"Yep."

We head to the zoo's gift shop, and I'm looking at the stuffed animals. "Lion, tiger, bear."

"Oh my," Dad says behind me. "What are you looking for?"

"Something that's a jaguar. It's a gift."

"Hm," Dad says, sifting through the endless number of toys. "I found one," he says after a minute of two. "It was all the way at the back."

"Oh, thanks!" I take it and bring it up to the checkout counter.

"Twenty-five fifty." The cashier says. "Cash or credit?"

"Cash," I say handing her a twenty and ten dollar bill. She gives me my change.

"Thank you, have a nice day!"

"Thanks."

***

I knock on Ash's front door holding a bag from my trip to the zoo yesterday behind my back. Ms. Reynolds opens the door. "Hi, Lola. Are you here to see Asher?"

"Yeah. Among other things."

"Okay, come right on in. I'll go get him from his room. Oh, Asher!" I take a seat on the couch as Asher walks into the living room.

"What's that?" He asks me. "Plumber Brothers Underwater?" He jokes, taking a seat next to me.

"Not quite," I say giving him the bag.

"A leopard stuffed animal?"

"Not quite. Read the tag."

"Ohh, a jaguar. Or shall I say, Panthera Onca?"

"Sure. So, are you ready for tomorrow?" I ask. "I'm going to go hang out with Nicky this afternoon."

"Not really. I haven't seen him since, you know." Asher makes a punching motion to his face.

"Hey, you have it the easy way. Think about Nicole and the others. They've seen him every day of their life. This is new to them. At least you know who he is ahead of time."

"Linda still hasn't told the twins or Lia. And Nicky only knows 'cause of us. I don't even know if they're going to the trial."

"Don't Linda and Nicky have too? I thought they were on the stands."

"I'm not really sure. But Linda's deciding if she wants a divorce."

"Oh, wow. Are you still going to stay in touch with them afterwards? I mean, you guys really won't have any relation. I mean, you barely do now."

"Yeah. I mean, we'll see Nicky at school and stuff, and I'm sure I'll go over there and try to make my mom and Linda tolerate each other again."

"That won't happen!" Ms. Reynolds yells from the other room.

"It already has!" Asher yells back.

"We need to get Noah and Lia together for a play date."

"Deal."