Snake came down with the bucket of crayons and a stack of coloring books. Hope hadn't used them in a long time so he had put them in storage. Now they were needed again. He set the bucket on the coffee table and the stack of books next to it. Cassie immediately asked if he had one with fairies.

He did. It was one of the first he bought for Hope when he didn't know her. She never colored in it always choosing the ones with cars or animals first. Snake handed the book over and watched her spill the crayons out on the coffee table. Gazing at her as he flipped half heartedly through the TV channels brought back memories. His mind drifted back to a cramped apartment and a little reddish haired girl coloring away for hours while he worked.

Snake shut off the TV and sighed. He missed Hope as a little girl. He couldn't deny that but it didn't mean he didn't love her now as an adult. He supposed all parents, even his own, miss their children being little and carefree. Snake could only assume he felt it even more so because Hope had such a short childhood.

Snake glanced down at the stack noticing one of Hope's favorite books was on top of the stack. He took it sitting back on the couch. Flipping idly through it he stopped on a colored image that made him smile. It was a man on a motorcycle. The coloring wasn't bad for a six year old but the patch drawn on was perfect. Snake chuckled and shook his head. He realized something. It wasn't her childhood he missed. He missed being her hero. Snake needed that feeling more than anything but he was never the one she turned to much anymore.

"Are you going to color with me?"

Snake looked down at Cassie and shrugged. Looking through the books he took the one from the Brooklyn zoo and slid down to sit Indian style beside Cassie. Flipping through he found an image of a female zookeeper in the snake house. Smiling he creased the book open.

"Can I have the red sweetie?"

She handed it over and Snake went to work filling in the keeper's hair.