A/n: This is my third and final submission for the awesome operation tonic water fluff challenge, there's a throw back to the Giant Mechanical man which Chris Messina stars in and is one of my favorite indie films, if you've seen it you should catch the reference, if you haven't seen it yet and have Netflix, what are you waiting for haha, enjoy. As always a special thanks to my lovely beta Robin, for making grammatical sense out of my words, you can follow her on tumblr at redrobin2175.
-Pessi . Rom
The first time they went to the zoo, the twins were one year old, and it was an absolute disaster. Chloe would not stop crying while Robbie was scared of the animals and refused to get out of the double stroller. To make matters worse Mindy (or Danny, if you asked Mindy) had forgotten their snack bag. After an hour, Mindy and Danny decided to call it quits and return home. They figured they'd give the zoo another try when the twins were older.
This time around the twins were almost five and Mindy was five months pregnant with their third child. Chloe and Robbie would not stop running around, and with Mindy being pregnant it was up to Danny to chase after them."I told you we should have gotten those backpack leash thingy,." Mindy said as Danny scooped up the twins who'd tried to run off. They were wiggling in Danny's arms. "Daddy, we want to see the elephants!" Chloe said with a pout. She was not happy that her father was interfering with her mission to see the elephants. At almost five, Chloe was a very determined child, so determined sometimes she would find herself in trouble. Robbie had grown protective of his sister so wherever she went he wasn't far behind. Danny had once told him that brothers always had to watch out for their sisters, and Robbie had taken that to mean he shouldn't leave his twin sisters side. "They're toddlers, not dogs. I refuse to put leashes on my children," Danny said to Mindy as he put the twins down.
"Listen up. You two are going to hold onto my hands, and you're not gonna let go. There's not gonna be any more running or we go home right now, understand?" Danny said sternly.
"Yes, Daddy," The twins said nodding their heads in understanding.
"Danny, I'm starving. I want a hotdog." Mindy said.
"Daddy, can I have juice?" Chloe asked.
"I want a hotdog, too." Robbie said.
"Alright, alright, let's go get some food," Danny said, holding Robbie's hand in his left, and Chloe's with his right.
The family walked to a nearby concessions cart, well, actually, Mindy wobbled. Danny perused the items and ordered the hotdogs, ordering one for Chloe as well, who he knew would want one once she smelled her mother and brother's food.
"So that will be three hotdogs and a cheese pizza slice," Danny said to the cashier.
"Don't forget my juice," Chloe said.
"Right, and one of those juices in the gorilla," Danny said referring to a short purple cup with a straw in the shape of a gorilla.
"Can I have two?" Chloe said.
"How much are they?" Danny asked.
"Six dollars," The cashier replied.
"For a little thing of juice? No, no, no, we'll just take one. You can share with your brother. It's probably not even real juice, just some artificially flavored water sweetened with corn syrup. Yeah, we'll definitely only get one," Danny said, taking out his wallet.
"That will be forty dollars," The cashier said. Danny muttered something about criminal prices under his breath and shook his head while he handed the cashier two twenties.
"Danny, we're doctors. We can afford forty dollars," Mindy said as they walked away with their food and toward a cafeteria like seating area.
"No juice until you eat something, Chlo." Danny said as they all sat down at a table.
"But, I'm not hungry," Chloe said with a pout.
"I'll eat it," Robbie said, already half way through his hotdog.
"No. You don't eat, you don't get juice," Danny said sternly.
"Chloe, take a bite, and you can have a sip," Mindy said, done with her hot dog and taking a bite out of Danny's pizza.
"Hey, Min!" Danny said.
"I'm pregnant, plus you eat off my plate all the time," Mindy said.
"You're right. Here you can have all of it," Danny said.
"Thanks, Babe. I'm really hungry," Mindy said giving him a quick kiss.
"Ew." Robbie said with a giggle.
"You're next, little man." Mindy said, leaning across the table and planting a kiss on her son's cheek. Robbie just laughed and continued to eat his hotdog.
Chloe, determined to have some juice, decided it was in her best interest in terms of her goal of getting juice, that she have some food, so she took a big bite of her hotdog. A smile came on her face as she found she liked the taste of the hotdog and quickly gobbled it up without a sip from the juice.
"That's my girl," Danny said, giving her the juice. Chloe took two sips then pushed it over to her brother.
"You can have the rest, Robbie. Daddy's right, we didn't need two. Our juice at home is much, much better," Chloe said. Mindy just laughed.
"That's your girl alright," Mindy said with a smirk.
They finished up eating, and to Chloe and Robbie's delight, went to go see the elephants, followed by the lions. This second trip to the zoo had definitely gone a lot better than the previous one.
Their next visit to the zoo wouldn't be for another three years.
Chloe and Robbie were now eight years old, and their little sister Piper was three. This was Piper's first time going to the zoo. She was so excited she had been practically bouncing off the walls since her mommy and daddy had told her that they were finally going. Piper loved animals. Anything to do with animals immediately got her attention. Mr. Neck and Brown Bear now belonged to her and she slept with both of them every night. She even alternated taking them to preschool.
Piper would play princess with Chloe only if Chloe promised to play zoo with Piper. Sometimes Robbie would play with them too, but he was usually caught up in his Legos, reading a book on how something worked, or sketching. He was quite the little artist. Chloe didn't care for books, but she was very active. She loved to sing and took ballet, hip hop and played soccer. Mindy never imagined she would become a soccer mom. Though she didn't really fit the norm for the title, she and Danny alternated for Chloe's practices and games. When Mindy went it was mostly for the snacks and to gossip about celebrities with some of the other moms, and also snapping pictures and videos of Chloe. When Danny went, he was actively involved. She's not sure how, but Danny had ended up being an assistant coach. He'd also run dance moves with Chloe at home. Mindy would come home to find them doing pirouettes in the kitchen. Piper had tried ballet, but didn't like it very much. She'd told her parents she'd rather have puppies instead, like her godfather Morgan.
Robbie would sometimes attend hip hop with Chloe. He was pretty good at it too, but had more of an interest in drawing. He and Chloe were still very close. Like her mother Chloe was a little chubby, but all the kids at school knew not to mess with the Castellano twins, or risk getting punched in the face. Mindy also taught all her children to embrace themselves the way they are and be proud of where they come from. All three of them were sociable and had their own tier of best friends.
"Are we there yet?" Piper asked from her car seat.
"Not yet, right Daddy?" Chloe asked from her seat next to Piper.
"We're there when we see the sign for the zoo." Robbie, who was seated on Pipers opposite side, said.
Mindy sat in the front seat, asleep. The drive to the zoo wasn't that long, but she still managed to fall asleep. Danny drove, and just smiled looking back at his three children. He thought back to when the twins were born, and the year it took to conceive Piper. He then glanced at his sleeping wife, thinking back to another time where she slept soundly while he drove. He thought about how far they'd come from that point. Life didn't get any better than this. It was worth the ridiculous admission fee and overpriced food to spend time with his family, to see the smiles on his children's faces, and hear the delight in their laughter. He pulled up to the zoo, finding parking before waking up his wife.
"Min, wake up, we're here," Danny said gently nudging her.
"Wake up Mama. We gotta see the animals!" Piper said, bouncing in her seat.
"Huh, what? I'm awake. You ready, baby girl?" Mindy said, sitting up and looking into the backseat.
"Yup!" Piper said, nodding her head up and down.
"Can I still bring my sketchbook? I want to draw some of the animals," Robbie asked as he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car.
"Yes, but not the whole time. You have to spend time with us, too," Mindy said, ruffling his hair. Robbie was almost the spitting image of his father, except for the darker skin and curly hair. Everything else was all Danny.
"Mom, don't mess with my curls," Robbie said, touching his hair.
"Oh, come on. I barely touched it," Mindy said with a smirk.
"Mama, are we going in yet!" Piper said impatiently tugging on her mother's sundress.
"We will in just a second," Danny said, locking the doors.
"Before we go in, does everybody remember the rules?" Mindy asked.
"No running off. We have to stay together," Chloe said.
"If you guys say it's time to go, no protesting." Robbie said.
"And I hafta hold Mama or Daddy's hand the whole time," Piper said, proudly remembering.
"Good, now we can go in," Danny said, after Piper grabbed a hold of his left hand and Mindy's right.
The family then walked into the zoo, enjoying the animals and shows, and even the overly priced food. They ended up getting a year's pass and returned every chance they could, much to Piper's delight.
A/n: Hope you enjoyed this. I really love writing Chloe, Robbie and Piper, and there will be more of them in "Living Happily Ever After", not sure when I will be able to update that, as life has become busy, but I will update when I can, and am now taking prompts in terms of topics to be explored next in that series. you can follow me on tumblr at mindiangrowl , and also on twitter Jenny mindiangrowl
-Pessi . Rom