Jude ran to the door when he heard the doorbell ring. He opened it to see Emmet on the other side.
"Hey bud. Your sister here?" Emmet smiled.
"Yep. I'll go get her." Jude ran up the stairs to retrieve Callie from her room.
Callie felt as though she hadn't seen Emmet in forever, when in reality it had only been 2 weeks. She threw her journal on the bed and went downstairs. She couldn't halp but let out a huge smile when she saw Emmet near the door looking at all the pictures on the wall. He turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. Callie wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a giant hug.
"I missed you!" Callie exclaimed.
"I missed you too." Emmet gave Callie a kiss before looking at her.
"How was Maine?" Callie asked.
"It was pretty good. Saw some of my cousins up there." Emmet began saying until Lena walked in.
"Babe, Emmet's back." Lena called behind her as she wiped her hands on her pants.
Stef quickly emerged into the living room with a smile.
"Hey Emmet. We were missing you around the house." Stef put her arm around Emmet's shoulder.
"How was your trip?" Lena asked.
"It was really good. I got to see some family I don't normally see. We spent a lot of time at the beach." Emmet began explaining.
Once Emmet was done talking about his trip and Stef and Lena had gone back into the kitchen, Callie and Emmet sat on the couch.
"So." Emmet began.
"So what?" Callie asked with confusion.
"I had an idea." Emmet replied.
"And..." Callie waited for a response.
"Let's go to the zoo. Me, you and Jude. If he wants. My treat." Emmet flashed a smile.
Callie couldn't remember the last time they had been to the zoo. She kissed Emmet on the cheek before grabbing his hand to go to Jude's room. She knocked quietly on the door, listening for his little voice to give her permission to enter. She opened the door to see him laying in his bed looking at a book.
"Hey bud. Watcha up to?" Callie asked.
"Nothing. Just looking at some of Jesus's books." Jude smiled.
"We were just gonna ask if you wanted to go to the zoo. The three of us." Emmet chimed in.
Jude's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Emmet and Callie nodded.
"Okay!" Jude said with excitement.
He got up and practically ran out the door, stopping just outside of it.
"Well, you guys coming or not?" Jude laughed.
Callie ran towards Jude with her arms outstretched like she was going to tickle him. He ran down the stairs laughing and Callie waited for Emmet to catch up to her.
"You just made his day." Callie said.
"I'm glad." Emmet kissed Callie's head. "We better get down there before he drives himself."
Callie and Emmet went downstairs to see Jude with his shoes on ready to go. Callie smiled as she went to find Stef and Lena. She found them outside in the Garden.
"Moms?" Callie said quietly as she walked onto the back porch.
"Yea, sweetie?" Lena looked up, blowing a curl out of her face.
"Me, Emmet and Jude were gonna go to the zoo. Is that okay?" Callie asked.
"No problem, love. Just text us during the day so we know what's up." Stef answered.
"I will." Callie turned around to walk back inside before she heard Stef's voice behind her.
"By the way, did you take your medicine?"
"Yes, mother." Callie said jokingly.
Stef winked and Callie went back into the living room.
"Ready?" Emmet asked.
"Yep. Let's go." Callie opened the front door and Emmet and Jude followed her.
Emmet unlocked the car and moved some things out of the back seat to make room for Jude. They all got comfortable and drove the relatively short distance to the zoo. After searching for a parking spot for what seemed like forever, they were finally inside the zoo.
"Where do you wanna go first?" Emmet asked Jude and Callie.
"Jude?" Callie looked at Jude who was looking at the map.
"I wanna see everything." Jude finally said.
"Well then we better get started. Let's go this way first." Emmet said, pointing to the left.
The tree of them saw things like Zebra's and Giraffe's before making it to the big cats, which were always Callie's favorite. Right near the big cat exhibits, there was a giant cutout of a lion, tiger, and cheetah with holes to stick your faces into.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Callie tapped on the shoulder of a woman pushing a stroller, "Would you be able to take a picture for us?"
"Sure!" The woman said cheerfully.
Callie smiled before pulling on Emmet and Jude's shirt and bringing them towards the cutout. Callie stuck her head into the lion which was in the middle. Jude was the cheetah and Emmet was the tiger. All three let out a big, cheeky smiling, laughing after the picture was over.
"Thank you so much." Callie said, getting her camera back from the woman.
"No problem." The woman smiled and went back to pushing her stroller.
Callie showed the picture to Emmet and Jude. "I'm definitely printing this one out. It's gold."
Emmet smiled and interlocked his hands with Callie's as they walked through the exhibits. Callie was happy for all the photo opprotunities she had.
"Can we go into the insect house?" Jude asked.
Callie didn't really like the insect house, but she said yes to make Jude happy. Also because there was a room at the end filled with butterflies that Callie always loved.
"Hey Cal, look!" Jude was pointing at a man in the left corner of the house.
He looked like he was putting on some sort of show. The three of them walked over to him as he held a cockroach in his hand. Callie had a look of disgust on her face.
"Anyone wanna try and hold it?" The man asked.
Jude and Emmet looked at each other with the same idea. "I think she does!" Jude and Emmet said, volunteering Callie.
Callie threw her hands up. "Oh no. Definitely not!"
"C'mon up here." The man said, motioning for her to come forward.
Callie shook her head, but Emmet and Jude managed to shove her body forward.
"Now, put your hands out like this." The man demonstrated by putting his hands out straight in front of him, holding his palms flat.
Callie did as she was told and he carefully placed the cockroach in her hand. Callie turned her head away and shut her eyes as she let out a disgusted screech. Jude and Emmet couldn't contain their laughter. The man took the bug off of Callie's hands and she ran towards them, playfully punching Emmet's shoulder.
"I hate you guys so much." Callie said as she put globs of hand sanitizer on.
"Look at this picture I got." Emmet said, laughing as he put his phone in front of Callie.
Callie looked at the picture of her with her hands outstretched and her head turned into her shoulder. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Yea yea." Callie said.
The three continued looking at the tanks, but Callie was pretty much done with insects for the rest of the day. When they finally got to the butterfly room, Callie pulled out her camera. She walked around, snapping close ups of butterflies on leaves and in the air. Callie handed Emmet her camera as she put her finger up to a butterfly, who surprisingly jumped right onto her finger. Callie smiled and she heard her camera snap a picture.
"Lemme see that." Callie said, grabbing her camera.
She looked at the picture. The smile on her face was a genuine smile, which made her happier than she could ever imagine.
"Not bad for a rookie." Callie teased.
She looked over at Jude to see he had a butterfly on his shoulder.
"Don't move!" Callie called as she quickly took a picture.
Once they got out of the butterfly house, they continued through the rest of the zoo. They finally were back by the exit, which of course had a gift shop right next to it. Jude pulled them into it as he looked at the stuffed animals and knick knacks on the shelves.
"Pick something out." Emmet told Jude.
"Really?" Jude asked with surprise.
"Sure thing, dude." Emmet gave a reassuring smile.
Callie smiled with him. She loved that they got along so well.
Jude went off to look for something as Callie and Emmet rummaged through the stuffed animals.
"Awe, look at this little sea turtle." Callie said as she pulled out turtle stuffed animal.
"Get it." Emmet told Callie.
"You don't have to. You already paid for everything else." Callie reminded.
"I really don't mind, babe. If you like it, get it." Emmet assured.
Jude approached them with a book full of animals.
"Is that what you want?" Emmet asked as he took the book out of his hand.
"Yea-unless it's to expensive. I can pick something else out." Jude said quickly.
"Nah, it's okay. Don't worry about it." Emmet grabbed the stuffed animal out of Callie's hand and brought both things up to the counter.
After paying for them, they went back to the parking lot, searching for the car. Once they were finally situated, Callie pulled out her phone to text Lena.
Just left the zoo now. We'll be home soon. -Callie
Sounds good-Lena
Callie put her phone back in her pocket and leaned her head back before looking through all the pictures. Jude was in the back seat flipping through his book. Emmet pulled into the driveway of Callie and Jude's.
"I'll see you later. I have to get home to my mom." Emmet said, turning the car off.
"Okay. Thanks for all of this. You're the best. I love you." Callie said, kissing Emmet.
"Ew. Can you not do that right here." Jude chimed in from the back seat.
Callie turned and stuck her tounge out at him before opening the door.
"Thanks Emmet! I had a lot of fun." Jude said before getting out.
"Anytime. I'm glad you liked it. Oh, and Callie, love you too." Emmet smiled.
Jude shut the door to the car. The two of them walked up to the front door and they could hear Emmet pulling away. Callie opened the door and Jude immediately ran to Lena who was on the couch to tell him about everything. Callie took off her shoes and went upstairs. She had a long day and was exhausted. She shut her eyes, falling asleep.
SOOO sorry for the delay. Tons of stuff for school and all that, but I'm sure you guys get it. I stayed up later so that I could finish this for you guys lol. I hope it was good though. Much love as always xoxoxo