Francis has had a very abnormal day. It all started that morning while everything seemed to be so normal. Francis and his parents had been eating breakfast, like they normally do, while Francis had been internally thinking once again how grateful he was for his family.
Francis' dad, Artemis, looked like the smartest man he knew and his looks were not deceiving. He wore thick brown spectacles to cover his greyish-blue eyes and had he been outside and not eating with his family his short blonde hair would have been hidden underneath a grey beret that made him look just a little taller than his lanky frame already did.
While his Father was certainly the smartest man Francis knew his mother was then the kindest person on the planet, and her face showed her personality just as well as her husband's. Her cheeks had permanent dimples from her encouraging smiles and her pure blue eyes shone with compassion for everyone they saw.
It was while Francis was pondering how he was lucky enough to have the best parents in the world that his father drew him out of his reverie by saying something very exciting: "Your Uncle will be visiting us this weekend Francis."
"Uncle is coming?" Francis asked excitedly, already knowing which extended family member as he only had one uncle that didn't live in the states.
Francis' father responded positively and proceeded to tell Francis what he was expected to do and not to do while the family had company over, but Francis didn't hear a word because of how excited he was to see his favorite member of his extended family. His mother's family was kind in the many letters they wrote but not nearly as interesting as Uncle and they lived all the way in America.
Francis' father was cut off from telling his son that he shouldn't pester his Uncle too much about his most recent adventure as he could be rather secretive with some of them by the morning post being dropped through the mail slot into their North London flat. As his father went to pick up the new letters Francis' mom began telling her son to get ready for school as today was Friday and the weekend hadn't arrived just yet. Francis however couldn't help but notice his dad turn sickly pale at the sight of one of the letters as his mother pushed him out of the kitchen so they wouldn't be late to school.
The whole day at school Francis couldn't help his mind from wandering back to his father's face, it looked as though he had just seen a ghost or contracted a deathly illness. What could have made his normally composed father do that?
His mother picked him up after school and as was normal brought him back promptly to the London Zoo where both his parents worked. Usually he would meander around the entirety of the zoo or work on his homework until his parents were done working and could take him home.
Today however he tried to find his father to ask about that morning, but he was not around the Reptile exhibits where he normally worked, and all the other Zookeepers said they hadn't seen his father all day and assumed he was out sick. That would certainly make sense considering the color his father had been that morning. Francis hoped his father would be ok and couldn't wait to get home and see him.
By the time he had found his mother at the Big Cat enclosures she was already preparing to leave for the day and he did not have the chance to ask her about his father until they were on the Tube heading home.
"I don't know what's gotten into your father, he phoned into work saying he wouldn't be showing up today and left a message for me saying that he had some arrangements to make with his brother and not to worry, although I wasn't worried until he mentioned that" She said in clear exasperation. Francis hoped that whatever sickness his father had didn't end his time with Uncle Fido before it started, and the rest of the way home was rather quiet with little discussion between Francis and his mother.
When the pair arrived back at their home Francis and his mom were greeted by his dad who other than looking rather tense and nervous for meeting his family seemed completely healthy to Francis' delight. His father guided them back into the kitchen where he beckoned them to sit. Francis didn't need to be told twice however, as he had noticed as soon as he walked in the kitchen that his uncle had arrived early and was already waiting for them.
Francis' favorite uncle was an older man, who still had the energy of someone half his age. Though he was somewhere around seventy he looked decidedly well put together, although he sometimes dressed in peculiar old timey clothing. Uncle worked studying rare animals all around the world, and his stories about dangerous jungles and dark caves often felt too good to be true, and were one of the many reasons Francis had known from a young age that he wanted to work with animals.
Francis immediately wrapped his Uncle in a hug and began berating him about his recent adventures, completely ignoring his father's requests earlier that morning. All the adults chuckled at Francis' childish enthusiasm, but his uncle pried him off him and asked him instead to take a seat.
Then his father said, "Francis and Mary, Uncle Newt and I have something very important to discuss with both of you." It was only once his father had said this and brought the room to a hush did Francis notice the lone item on the table, a letter with a crest he had never seen before addressed to him.