Chapter 14

Shane had called the zoo last night when he left the bar to set this day up for them. It was no easy task to get someone on the phone at 9 o'clock at night but Shane was not taking no for an answer. Sometimes his last name did help him out a bit. It was spring time at the zoo and spring time meant new baby animals of all different species. Steve brought Shane and Capri around the back and into the monkey house. Capri couldn't believe it, they were actually being given a behind the scene tour and were going to get to interact with real live monkeys. Walking into a big exhibit with trees everywhere they looked above their heads and saw a group of spider monkeys swinging from branch to branch. One of the zookeepers who introduced herself as Helen walked in with a bucket of fruit. "It's snack time, you guys want to help?" Helen asked handing Shane and Capri some fruit. They both smiled and before they knew it monkeys started coming around curious as to what they had. Soon enough monkeys were taking the fruit right out of their hands and gobbling them up. Capri was laughing and having the best time. She couldn't believe Shane had arranged all this, this was incredible. Shane was having a great time as well but he was having a better time watching Capri have fun. Her laugh was so sweet and he was so happy he thought of this.

After the monkeys, they went to a few other exhibits like the bird house, the black bears, and even kangaroos but the best was about to come. Steve lead them through more doors and every few minutes he would give them a little information about certain animals they were passing or a little history about the zoo itself. He then came to another door that required a passcode be entered into a keypad, once that was entered the door unlocked to an empty room with rocks and a little pond of some sort. Capri was a little confused since she didn't see any animals in this room. Steve told them to hang tight and he would be right back. It was getting to be about 1:30 now and both of them were getting pretty hungry. Shane could hear him stomach growl and suggested that after this, they grab some lunch somewhere. Capri didn't realize how hungry she was and thought that was a perfect idea. "Shane, thank you so much for doing all this. It is incredible." Shane smiled back and was so happy she was enjoying this date as much as he was. He was about to respond when the door opened and neither one of them could believe what came running in.

Two tiny baby lion cubs came bolting into the room with Steve closely following. "Oh my God! Are you kidding me?!" Capri couldn't believe her eyes but tried to not yell too loud, she didn't want to scare them. "Can I pet them?" she asked Steve. Steve came over and crouched down next to one of the rocks. "Come down and get to their level and just let them sniff you out first. They are only about 2 months old so they are still very young and haven't been around too many people besides some of the staff and vets." Steve explained. Shane and Capri did as they were instructed and soon enough the two cubs were circling them, smelling them, and eventually started crawling on them. They were so soft and the cutest thing either of them had ever seen. "What are their names?" Capri asked with a smile that she didn't think would ever leave her face. "The bigger one is the male and his name is King and the other is his sister Tamu which means 'sweet' in Swahili." Steve answered. "Would you like to feed them?" Capri and Shane looked at each other a little confused. "umm… like what, don't they eat zebras?" Shane answered for both of them. He was willing to do anything on this date to impress Capri but he may have to draw the line at handling dead zebra meat. Steve laughed, "Well, yes in a few months they will be eating what their parents eat but for the time being they are still on formula. "Oh of course, ha! I knew that" Shane responded feeling kind of stupid now. He looked at Capri who was still smiling staring at the baby lion. Maybe she didn't hear him. Shane was pretty excited to show off his baby bottle skills, he used to bottle feed all three of his nieces a lot when each of them were babies, he had this in the bag. Steve came out with two of the biggest baby bottles Shane had ever seen in his life. 'Maybe this wouldn't be so easy' he thought to himself. Steve walked over and grabbed Tamu showing her the bottle, she immediately sat down and started sucking on the bottle. "Here you go" he handed the first bottle to Capri. "Just keep the bottle steady as best you can and she does the rest. Capri grabbed the bottle and held it tight for Tamu. She couldn't stop laughing at how cute she looked with formula dripping all over herself. She looked adorable! Steve got Shane set up with King and his bottle and the two lion cubs were enjoying their lunch with their two new friends. After they had finished, Capri and Shane watched them run all around, chasing each other, and diving in the little pond set up. This had then completed the zoo tour and with no further questions for Steve, Capri and Shane were on their way back to the car. Not before Capri got in her goodbye hugs with her new lion friends. She was excited to come back and see them again in a few months when they would be part of the lion exhibit with the adult ones.

Shane reached out and grabbed Capri's hand as they walked back to the car. "Did you have a good time?" he asked her. "Are you kidding, Shane this was amazing! I can't believe you did this for me! Thank you!" she responded still feeling like she was on cloud 9, this was for sure the best day ever. "Good, I'm glad you liked it. Hungry?" he asked her. "Starving" was Capri's response. "Me too, got any places in mind, I picked the date, it's only fair I guess that you pick the food." Shane really didn't know a lot of places in the area to eat so he was hoping Capri would have some suggestions. Capri thought for a minute and she knew the perfect spot. "You like Italian?" she asked as he opened the car door for her. "Italian sounds perfect." Capri had this favorite place in the North End which was Boston's own version of Little Italy. Her mom used to take her their all the time when she was a kid. So as Shane drove through the city, Capri gave him directions and in no time they parked the car and got out. "It's such a nice day. We could eat outside on the patio or get takeout and have a little picnic? I know the best spot to go around the corner." Capri asked hoping Shane wouldn't be opposed to a picnic. Shane smiled, he loved how down to earth this chick. "Picnic could be fun." He answered. They got their food and a couple of sodas and Capri led the way to a beautiful grassy area with a couple tables overlooking a stone antique fountain. This place was gorgeous Shane was definitely impressed. It was after 3 now and lunch time rush was over so it was just the two of them. "My mom used to take me here all the time when I was a kid, every time I'm here I always think of her." Capri said. It amazed her how easily she could open up to Shane. She rarely talked about her mom especially to someone she only knew 2 days. Shane swung his chair around closer to Capri and grabbed her hand. "What happened?" he asked. "Breast cancer. She had it for about a year. It was almost like one minute she was here, the next she was gone." Capri felt herself tearing up and wanted to change the subject quickly. "So how long are you in town for?" she asked. Shane could sense she wanted to talk about something else and he didn't want to push it. "Well I got to be back to work on Monday at the taping in Dallas but I definitely didn't bring enough clothes for the trip so I have to go back home before and fly out from there." "Well it really was an awesome surprise for you to come back up just to take me to the zoo." Capri said really truly happy at this moment. "I'm having a really good time Capri and really want to spend more time with you." Shane said meaning every word he was saying. Capri laughed an uncomfortable sort of laugh. She was still trying to figure out why gorgeous millionaire Shane McMahon was interested in spending more time with her; what was so special about her? This is where Capri's insecurities took over. "Out of all the beautiful women you see everyday, why me?" she asked him. Shane looked at her not sure where this was coming from. "First of all, I don't mix business with pleasure, never have never will. Second of all, I have never seen someone more beautiful than the woman sitting in front of me right now." And that was it Shane couldn't take it anymore; before Capri knew what was happening Shane leaned in and ever so gently placed his lips on hers and kissed her for the very first time.

Hey everyone, now that I have really started to get this story going. I would love reviews/comments/suggestions for my first fanfic. I have been reading them for years but never did my own before. Things are going to be heating up in the next few chapters. I just really wanted to give a background and have people really get to know the characters.