Mysterious Marriage

Chapter 28 - Zoo

Amilee's POV:

"Mrs. Lee!" An angelic sweet voice chirped, greeting me as I walked into the larger room with children in it.

"Hello, Lily!" I smiled brightly, bending down and hugging the girl as she darted into my arms. I squeezed her tightly, feeling the love and joy fill my heart overwhelmingly. Her strawberry hair, patchy and all gave off the scent of freshly washed soap and her skin, the part that was without burns, was smooth and also gave off a gentle scent.

Her slender arms held tightly around my neck, giving me her own little squeeze. "Are you coming with us!?" She quickly pulled back at looked at me hope. Her green eyes bright with excitement.

"Of course! Why else would we be here?" I flashed her a smile, and then she furrowed her brows.

"We?" she questioned, and that's when her eyes looked behind me and found the large man walking up to us. Her eyes got big, her lips went into a wide smile. "Mr. Tate!" she squealed in more excitement, running from my arms to instantly wrap her arms around the man I called my husband.

He chuckled and bent down onto one knee and wrapped his gigantic arms around the tiny girl as she tried to wrap her own arms around his neck. It was a struggled to reach all the way around, but she did and he smiled at the actions.

There it was again. That damn smile.

I quickly tried to ignore the grip on my heart and looked at the other children, seeing my favorite little four year old man walk up and hold his arms up at me. My heart just melted. I smiled at him and bent down, lifting him up and holding him in my arms. "Hello to you too Luke. How are you?"

He pulled back and didn't answer, still being a quiet one. He shoved his thumb into his mouth and sucked on it as his chocolate brown eyes studied my face. "Are you ready to go to the zoo?" I asked him. He nodded in response. "You like animals right?"

He didn't do anything for a moment, but then after thinking about it, he nodded. That's when he looked down at some toys by my feet and pointed to the lion drawing on it. "Lions? You like lions?" I asked him. His eyes traveled back up to mine and he nodded.

"He loves them! But he's afraid of bugs, so he is probably scared of animals too." Lily chimed in, as she took Tate's hand and pulled him towards me. I threw Luke onto my hip and held him with one arm.

"Ahh, I see. It's a bit chilly out though, Lily. You and Luke should go put on a jacket and gloves. Everyone else seems to be about ready."

"Okay!" She agreed and let go of Tate's hand and darted towards her room. I put Luke down as one of the nurses came forward to us. Luke just stood beside me and held my hand, not letting it go.

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, so good to see you again!" she smiled.

"You as well." Tate replied.

"I can't thank you both enough for this. The children rarely ever get out even when in tip top shape. The hospital just doesn't have the funds to make a bigger area for the children, let alone take them all out to the zoo. You can rest assure that we will get you the papers regarding this donation so that you can use it to tax purposes."

Tate held up his hand and I looked at him with confusion. "No need for that. The money isn't an issue and I'm not worried about it. Thank you though. I want this to be for the children." he looked around at everyone. "Do you have everything necessary for them?"

She peeked at them then turned back to us. "Oh yes, we do. Myself plus two other nurses will be coming as well, as planned to keep an eye on them medically. All are in good health right now, but they are going to be bundled up a bit more than necessary to keep them warm."