Zephaniah // z.m

Sixty nine

Hannah

"Don't go so f-fast, Cooper!" Zephaniah squealed as Cooper basically dragged him to wherever he was running. I chuckled, jogging behind them as I didn't want to lose the both of them.

The weather had been lovely today, so me and Zephaniah had decided to take Cooper for a long walk. During the walk, we would search for a picnic table and eat our own made lunch, which we had prepared at home before we left.

"Cooper, slow down buddy!" I called, as I noticed Zephaniah almost falling. I smiled, shaking my head as Cooper slowed down and jumped around Zephaniah in excitement.

Zephaniah hugged Cooper close to himself as he crouched down slightly. "I have little legs, C-Cooper," he frowned, an unsure look on his face as he was afraid he just hurt Cooper's feelings.

"That's good. You can tell him, Zeph. Nothing wrong with that." I smiled as I adjusted the dog hat he was wearing. It had almost covered his eyes while running so fast.

Zephaniah wiped his fringe from his forehead and gave me a shy, toothy smile. "W-wwent a little fast, Ms. Hannah. 'S okay, t-though!" He added quickly, grabbing the leash as he accidentally dropped it.

"Yeah, Cooper is very fast." I confirmed, watching Zephaniah fondly as he tried to catch his breath, his attention long gone to the large trees surrounding the small grass field we were on.

The weak sun shone into his eyes, brightening the green colour. It was beautiful, and I wondered if he got the colour from his mum, as Zayn had hazel colored ones.

Zephaniah licked his lips and frowned a little as he stared at two birds, that were at least six meters up in the air, resting on a branch. "W-wwhy so high? Cannot live on g-ground, bird." He whispered, almost losing his balance as the birds flew off and he followed him with his eyes.

He blushed when he glanced at me, fiddling with his fingers. "Ms. Hannah can ask s-something?"

"Yeah, Zeph. It's no question, sweetheart." I answered, frowning a little at my choice of words as he probably wouldn't understand it, as he basically asked me to ask something.

Zephaniah indeed had an unsure look on his face, but recovered and waited a few seconds before asking, "If, uhm, a b-bird borns and it have fear of heights c-can he fly?"

I looked down at him, surprised at his thought through question and I couldn't help but smile as I hadn't expect him to ask something like that. "I think he'll still be able to fly, but maybe it won't fly so high, Zeph."

Zephaniah nodded, satisfied with the answer, "Baba don't like ch-chickens," he mentioned randomly and it reminded me of when he was singing Old Mac Baba. He had sung it before.

"He doesn't? Why not?" I simply asked, chuckling softly.

"Be-because they fly! They a-attack when baba w-wwas little," Zephaniah showed his teeth as he smiled and jumped around, moving his arms as if he was a bird, Cooper following close.

I stood still and just watched him for a while, feeling warm. If only I could take care of him as if he was my own son.

It wasn't like I wasn't doing that already, but something still held me back from doing the things I'd do if Zephaniah was my own child. Providing him with cuddles and love all the time.

I let Zephaniah play, in his own way, for a while, as he was completely lost in his own small world again, oblivious to his surroundings. He was playing with Cooper's ears, fiddling with them like he would with his stuffed Shephy.

The fact that Cooper allowed him to do that, said so much about the bond they shared. Zephaniah eventually sat down on the grass and stared at Cooper's face, tracing the line where Cooper's brown hair became black.