When they arrived at the zoo, the very first thing Zoey did was grab a map and make her own game plan to make sure they could see absolutely everything the zoo had to offer. Thanks to a suggestion from Zed, Zoey decided that they would circle the zoo to see all the outside animals first, and then come back to see the aquarium and everything else that was indoors later when the sun would be hottest during the afternoon.
Their first destination was exploring Africa, and Addison quickly realized that it wasn't just Zoey who was excited to see everything, Zed and Zoey were each holding on to one of her hands and both of them were pulling her forward with equal strength and excitement.
They finally reached the first habitat, they were on a raised platform up above the animals but even this early in the day, a crowd was already forming.
"Oh look at the giraffes." Zed pointed.
"Where? Where?" Zoey asked, with the crowd standing in their way she couldn't see a thing.
"Here Zoe, climb on." Zed kneeled down beside her.
"OK Zed." Zoey excitedly climbed onto Zed's shoulders and then held on tightly to his head as he stood back up. "Woah!" Zoey gasped out loud, "Look at all of them." Zoey was beaming brightly as Zed, Addison, and Zevon managed to make their way closer to the front of the crowd to really look out over the savanna. There were giraffes munching on the nearby trees, along with plenty of zebras, impalas, and rhinos grazing beneath them.
"This is so amazing it's just like the Lion King," Zoey said in awe. "Isn't this amazing Zed?"
"It sure is Zoey." Zed agreed, sounding equally in awe.
Addison glanced up to see both of them with the absolute biggest smiles on their faces as Zoey kept pointing different animals out and sharing all the facts she knew about them. Zoey definitely loved more animals than just puppies and werewolves. They looked so cute together, Addison couldn't help but snap a few pictures, and she was pretty sure they didn't even notice.
At one point a zookeeper walked up and announced that they had cups of carrots they could feed the giraffes with, so Addison snuck over to grab a cup to bring to Zoey who cheered loudly with excitement.
They were still standing at the front, and the giraffes seemed to know what time it was since several of them walked over for a snack. Zoey was practically shaking with excitement, and Addison was pretty sure she was fighting with herself not to cheer out loud even more.
One of the giraffes lowered its head until it was practically at eye level with Zoey.
Slowly she held out in front of her. "Here you go Mr. Giraffe." She said softly.
The giraffe stuck out its long black tongue and slurped the carrot right up. It chewed for a moment and then leaned in closer again. So Zoey held out another carrot and the process repeated itself. Again, Addison made sure to take plenty of pictures.
"I think he likes you, Zoey." Zevon said.
"Of course he does, I'm awesome and he is the best giraffe ever!"
"I bet it's our green hair, I hope he doesn't think you look like a snack."
"What's wrong Zed, are you scared you've finally found someone taller than you?" Addison laughed at him.
"Of course not I'm just saying-"
"He's just the best giraffe ever, so of course, he came to me, just like I'm the best zombie cheerleader ever!" Zoey declared. She held up one more carrot. "OK Mr. Giraffe, this is the last one." She warned him.
The giraffe took the last carrot and then leaned his head down close to Zoey one more time.
"Sorry, I'm all out." Zoey held out her empty hand, but that didn't stop the giraffe, instead, he leaned in even closer and rested his nose against her hand.
"OMZ this is the best day ever," Zoey whispered excitedly. She started to gently pet the giraffe for about another minute before he backed away and turned to another kid excitedly holding up a carrot of his own.
"Bye Mr. Giraffe." Zoey waved, but she still had the biggest of grins on her face.
"Are you ready to head to the next animals, Zoey?" Zed asked her.
"Yep." Zoey grabbed her map from her pocket and opened it up. "Onto the elephants!"
"You got it Zoe, want to get down?" Zed asked.
"Can I stay up here? Please, so I can make sure I see everything?"
"I suppose you can." Zed agreed with a shrug of his shoulders that raised Zoey up and down.
"Who's a good boy?" Zoey asked him.
"Ruff, ruff. I am." Zed barked.
"Good boy." Zoey patted his head as they walked off.
"Hey don't think I forgot about you." Zed reached out to take Addison's hand once again.
"Of course not, do you have any idea how adorable you two look?" Addison asked him.
"Just how adorable?" Zed grinned cheekily down at her.
"Literally the cutest thing I've ever seen."
"Just wait until we get to the monkeys." Zoey interrupted them, "I bet those are the most adorable things ever. Do you think they have any baby animals anywhere?"
"I'm sure they do somewhere Zoey, we just have to find them won't we?" Zed reassured her.
"You bet we will, now come on, we have so much to see." Zoey motioned them to pick up the pace.
Most of the morning continued the same way as they stopped to take in everything they could. Zoey kept riding high in the air the entire time as they saw everything from elephants to lions and everything in between.
After making their way through all of Africa, they decided to give their legs a little break by riding the Skyfari to move on to the Asia area. Zed got Zoey to agree to ride with Zevon instead of Addison by promising to keep carrying her up on his shoulders for the rest of the day.
Zoey and Zevon sat into the chair that was basically like a ski lift in front of them and away they went. Both Zed and Addison could hear Zoey's cries of excitement as they took their seat on the next chair behind them.
Zed threw his arm around Addison's shoulders and pulled her close to him, while Addison happily leaned back to snuggle even closer to him as they rose up, and up, into the air.
"So how's the zoo been so far Zed?" Addison asked him.
"Great, in case you can't tell, on the inside, I'm just as excited as Zoey is." Zed admitted with a smile. "The closest I've seen to any of these things before has been TV. And every single one is so amazing."
"Oh, I can tell. I'm pretty sure your dad and I have had to jog to keep up with you a few times. Or when you ran up to see the lions and were singing Hakuna Matata under your breath."
"Guilty as charged." Zed grinned. "Oh look, we can see the giraffes again." Zed waved as they passed by, the lift itself was situated between two different fences, but they were still only just a bit higher up than the giraffes were now.
"Do you think that's Zoey's giraffe?" Addison asked.
"I bet, look, he's even following her now." Zed pointed out, and they could hear Zoey's excited shouts of happiness coming up in front of them.
"She is literally the cutest thing ever," Addison sighed in happiness, "and so are you." Addison reached over to squeeze his hand.
"While I agree, I think you can share our title too." Zed leaned down and kissed her. "All of these animals are so cool, but I will never be tired of looking at you. I could stare at you all day and I'd be happy."
"Oh really? Is that all? I hope you'd want to do more than stare. Because that isn't enough for me."
"Oh I will always want to do much more, but be careful gorgeous, as the wolves would say, all these animals aren't the only ones who feel the call to the wild." Zed grinned down at her with just the barest hint of a growl in his voice.
Addison shivered, "You aren't the only one, and I'm happy to take my chances." Addison reached up to capture his lips now, and this time they stayed connected until they had to separate for breath.
"Think we can sneak away again?" Zed whispered in her ear.
"Well not anymore, you think Zoey will let you do anything now that you're going to be her noble steed for the rest of the day?" Addison teased him.
"I guess you're right, I was too focused on getting you alone right now, I wasn't really thinking."
"I doubt it would work anyway. I'm pretty sure nothing at a zoo has a height limit." Addison laughed, and then lowered her voice, "besides, we both know we've had plenty of alone time already today, and we're going to keep getting up early as long as we're away right?"
"Absolutely," Zed promised.
"Besides, we've all been having so much fun together, nothing needs to change."
"I know, you're right. Let's just say, I'm still hungry for more."
"I know, but I don't think a zoo has that many places to hide."
"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait until we can feel the love tonight?" Zed started singing softly in her ear.
Addison laughed at him. "I promise. Oh looks like we're almost done. Did you see any other animals besides the giraffe again?"
"Nope, I found something better to distract me." Zed smiled.
"I did too." Addison agreed.
Their feet hit the ground and they walked off the lift to rejoin Zevon and Zoey.
"So did you get all your gushy Zeddisoness out you two?" Zoey giggled.
"I don't know what you're talking about Zoey." Zed feigned innocence.
"Because unless I'm with you, you two act like you have to kiss every five minutes to breathe right." Zoey laughed at them, "the important thing is I get to see everything from high in the sky for the rest of the day."
"Oh you think you're so sneaky, aren't you Zoey?"
"Yep, come on Zed." Zoey clapped her hands.
"Pops?"
"You made the deal, you have to honor it son." Zevon just shook his head at him.
"Besides Zed, you always act like you're so strong, are you saying you're too weak to carry me around all day?"
"Oh, it's on now Zoey." Zed kneeled down again. "Hop on, you won't hear any complaints from me."
Zoey excitedly climbed on and when Zed stood up again, she laughed and patted his head. "Good boy."
"Wait a minute. I feel like I just fell into a trap." Zed glanced up to meet Zoey's eyes alight with mischief.
"I think you walked right into that one Zed." Addison laughed at him.
Zevon just grinned at him. "I think we all know it's more than just Addison who knows how to handle you son."
"And you said you won't complain, so let's go to Asia! I really want to see the tigers!"
"You got it, Zoey. Let's go." Zed grabbed Addison's hand again, and despite his forced pout, it wasn't long before he smiled again.
So they made it through the Asian jungles and steppes, spending plenty of time with the tigers and then continuing on through an aviary where all the birds seemed interested in everyone's green hair as several birds flew by close enough that Zoey could have touched them if only she was fast enough. Following the birds, they made sure to see the gorillas, orangutans and all the other apes and monkeys. Zed joked that it would be great to have gorillas on the football team, while Zoey shot back that she was absolutely certain all of the monkeys would make amazing cheerleaders because they were so cute and acrobatic already.
Right before lunch, they decided to make one more stop before eating and once Zoey pointed it out on her map, Zed and Addison knew they couldn't possibly skip it either.
They walked up to the fence overlooking the habitat and scanned the area, searching for them through the underbrush and trying to see around the scattered rocks.
"Oh, I see one!" Zoey pointed to one side, Zed and Addison followed her pointing finger until their eyes caught sight of the dark gray tail poking out from behind a rock.
"I see it too Zoey, but it looks like he's trying to hide right now," Zed told her.
"That's cause he doesn't know we're here yet, and that we're part of a wolf pack just like he is. We just have to tell him. Willow's been teaching me how to howl, do you guys know how?" Zoey asked them.
"Afraid not Zoey, I've got Zombietongue mostly down by now but anytime the wolves howl it still sounds the same to me," Addison admitted.
"Yeah, we'd need them or Bonzo or Eliza here. But you can take it away, Zoey." Zed told her.
"OK, Addison, can you take pictures if they do anything so I can show Willow?"
"Sure thing Zoey." Addison took out her phone.
"Aawwwoo!" Zoey howled into the air.
Addison could tell she had unintentionally startled some people around them and tried to keep herself from laughing too much.
"I just said hello wolves," Zoey explained.
"Well, let's see if they say anything back." Zevon chuckled.
Right as he said that, Zoey pointed excitedly the first wolf whose tail they saw before stepped out in the open in plain view of everyone, and a few moments later, two more wolves joined him and they seemed to be scanning the crowd, just like the crowd was excited to see them all too.
"I think they're looking for you, Zoey. I think you should let them know it was you." Zed suggested.
"OK. Aaaawwoo!" Zoey howled once more.
The three wolves all turned their heads towards the sound, and then one after the other, each one started howling a beautiful answer in return that rang through the warm summer air. "Awwoooo!"
"Hmm," Zoey was smiling brightly but looked like she was thinking while scratching her head.
"What's up Zoey?" Addison asked her.
"I think they said ostrich boots. But that doesn't make any sense."
"Even if they recognize your howling Zoey, I think the werewolves' language is probably a bit different than whatever these wolves are howling," Zed told her.
"Yeah, but they all look so cute. I bet they are all super good boys and girls just like Puppy. And Addison, did you get plenty of pictures?"
"Don't worry Zoey I've got you covered," Addison promised.
They watched the wolves for a few more minutes who just walked around, still in the open. A few other kids who had heard Zoey were trying howls of their own, but none of the wolves were paying any attention to them.
"Are you ready to go get some lunch now Zoey?" Zevon asked after a while of watching the wolves.
"OK. Bye wolves. Aaawwooooo!" Zoey howled, and then laughed in delight when the wolves once again howled back, and it seemed like they got the message because all three walked off until they were hidden from view again.
"OK that settles it, we have got to bring the werewolves here someday." Zed laughed.
"I have to agree, Zoey was doing so good herself, I would love to know if Willa or Wyatt could really talk to them. That was amazing Zoey." Addison congratulated her,
"That would be funny, and then Wyatt and Eliza would probably start campaigning for wolf rights in addition to everything they're already doing." Zoey laughed.
"Somehow, I don't doubt that." Zed shook his head in amusement.
They all walked off together to find something to eat and they ended up at the Sea Turtle Café outside the aquarium, which Zoey decided would be the next thing they saw before going through the rainforest and desert dome.
After he finished eating his lunch, Zevon stood up from the table. "I'm going to go use the restroom quick. I'll be right back you three."
"Got it Pops," Zed said before turning back to Zoey's game plan.
"So I don't know for sure everything that's in the aquarium, but I know they have penguins, and there's a really big tank that we can walk through a tunnel with sharks and turtles and a whole bunch of other things. And I know they have a spot where you can pet the stingrays!"
"Sounds like a plan Zoey, we still have plenty of time to see everything." Addison rubbed her shoulder to help calm her down.
"Excuse me."
Zed, Addison, and Zoey all glanced up to see a woman standing in front of their table.
"Hello," she waved with a smile on her face, "could I borrow your map for just a moment? Seems my son spilled ketchup all over his, I just want need to make sure we know where we're going next."
"Of course, you can." Addison smiled. "Zoey, can she borrow your map?"
"Yep, here you go." Zoey smiled brightly and handed her map over.
"Thank you, dear." She scanned over it while whispering to herself under her breath for a few moments. "OK, so we're here, and we haven't been to the sea lions yet, and that will take us near Africa… Thank you so much. Here you go, dear." She handed the map back to Zoey.
"Thank you." Zoey smiled as she took the map back.
"You're all so kind, I hope you and your daughter enjoy the rest of your day." The woman said to the three of them while turning around with a wave of her hand as she walked back to her table, not noticing that at her words, Zed who had just taken a sip of his drink, eyes bulged out and he had to fight every urge to not spit his drink out all over the table.
He managed to choke it down and once he got his bearings again, he could hear Zoey cackling in laughter while Addison's face was flushed cherry red and she looked just as wide-eyed as he felt.
"That's so funny!" Zoey was laughing. "You're my brother how would she think your my dad? That doesn't even make sense!"
"I don't know Zoey, I guess she…just assumed…from our family resemblance maybe?" Zed said a bit awkwardly.
"Yeah, and since your dad is gone, I guess she assumed if the two of us were with you we must be your parents," Addison added.
"You don't look like adults though. And Zed you were ten when I was born!" Zoey was still laughing hysterically.
"I know Zoey, but she doesn't know that. How about we go back to talking about the stingrays instead?"
"I think that's a great idea Zed. Or the penguins…" Addison was just as eager to change the subject.
"OK," Zoey shrugged her shoulders. "Do you think I'm taller than the penguins?"
"I don't know Zoey, I think it might be pretty close," Addison said, I know they have the biggest ones here, but I can't remember how tall they are. "We'll just have to wait and see."
"OK." Zoey was happy to go back to talking about all the animals, not noticing that both Zed and Addison were much more distracted than before.
A few moments later Zevon returned. "Hey guys, did I miss anything?"
"Oh no, just Zoey telling us her game plan some more." Zed said before Zoey could say anything otherwise, "But now that you're back, we can get a move on."
"OK!" Zoey was thankfully distracted by her excitement and jumped up from the table instead of telling Zevon just what he missed. "Let's go!"
Zevon and Zoey ended up slightly ahead of Zed and Addison who both took a more leisurely pace behind.
"So…that happened," Zed said a bit awkwardly and squeezed Addison's hand tighter for a moment.
"Yes, it did. Do we look old enough to have a kid? I mean Zoey's six and like she said…"
"Of course we don't, while she was perfectly nice, I'm sure she was just trying to be polite," Zed reassured her.
"Yeah, and you don't either. She was just trying to be polite." Addison agreed.
They both trailed off into silence as both tried to process their own thoughts and followed Zoey and Zevon ahead of them, but once they entered the aquarium Zoey was running all around from tank to tank with Zevon following her as best as he could, leaving Zed and Addison alone together, and neither were in any hurry.
They still marveled at all the fish and everything else around them, but both of them were still very distracted. Until they eventually stepped into the next room, this one was mostly dark, the only light coming from several cylindrical tanks spread around the room. Each one was filled with hundreds of jellyfish that seemed to glow in the lights from their tanks. This room was also a bit quieter compared to hustle and bustle of the crowds they had been around all day, even if they couldn't get complete privacy, but something about this place seemed to calm Addison down, and it didn't take her long to figure out why.
They were standing in front of one of the tanks and Addison leaned closer to Zed to rest her head against his shoulder. "This might just be my favorite thing we've seen so far." She whispered quietly.
Zed turned his attention back to her. "Why's that? Do you have a love of jellyfish that I never knew about?" He joked with a smile.
"No, that's not it." Addison giggled, "Does this place remind you of anywhere?"
Zed's eyes scanned the room, and after a few moments, he thought he figured it out. "Let me guess, the light garden?"
"Exactly Zed." Addison stretched up to quickly peck his cheek. "All the little jellyfish look just like lights. They're so beautiful."
"Just like you." Zed leaned down and kissed her temple softly. "So, um while I always have you on my mind, I uh wasn't expecting, um you know to come up."
"I know, that came out of nowhere," Addison agreed, "but Zed…do you want to know what I've been watching all day today?"
"What?"
"You being the greatest big brother ever to Zoey like Zevon said, I know I'm not the only one that has you wrapped around my little finger. I know you'd do anything for her, just like you would for me. And…maybe someday…"
"Someday….what?" Zed whispered, looking straight into her eyes.
"You know as well as I do we're going to be someday."
"Of course I do."
"And who knows, maybe someday, in a long, long time in the future we could be back here again, and maybe with a different little zombie angel." Addison smiled at him.
"You, you mean that? Really Addie?"
"Absolutely. Well besides being surprised, confused, and embarrassed, when that lady said that, you were literally all I could think about."
"I um, yeah my mind went there too, and then I couldn't think of anything else." Zed smiled a bit awkwardly. "I know you're my future too Addie. We will get to someday I promise."
"I know, and you know you can always talk to me Zed."
"I know." Zed paused for a moment, "Also just with that idea in my head and you know…this morning…which I absolutely loved every second and I know we didn't do anything wrong, but also just those two things combined kind of freaked me out, just cause you to know as you could say we took the tiniest step closer to a possible someday. And I know I am in no way ready for that, and now I can't stop thinking about it."
"I understand Zed, that does sound scary when you put it that way. But the only thing that really matters is you and me, I know I asked for it this morning, but I never want to pressure you to do anything you don't want to do, just like I know you would never do that to me. Is it a bit closer? Definitely. But it doesn't mean anything, you're still Zed, and I'm still Addison, and that's all that we need to be. We will never do anything until we're both ready. Agreed?"
"Agreed Addie. Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza Zed." They met each other for a long, drawn-out kiss which was the final thing they needed to calm their worries.
"Are you good Zed?" Addison asked.
"Always, as long as I'm with you. And are you good?"
"With you here, how can I not be?"
"Alright, well we better go ahead and find Pops and Zoey before they accuse of trying to sneak away from them for Zeddison time again."
"Probably a good idea." Addison laughed, "and I think you'll really like what's next Zed."
"What's that?"
"I'm pretty sure it's the shark tank."
"Bring it on Jaws!" Zed shouted with his usual bravado. All of his worries were pushed to the back of his mind once he saw the first shark swimming over their heads, he knew there was nothing to worry about, as long as Addison was right here beside him.
They picked up the pace a little bit to try to catch up to Zevon and Zoey, while still checking everything out, but they didn't see them again until they found Zevon seated at a bench near the stingray pool.
"There you are, where have you two been?" Zevon asked with a smile.
"We've just been taking our time admiring all the fish." Zed promised, "and I mean did you see those sharks? Some of them were huge."
"Yeah, I suppose they were. Zoey's been over there petting the stingrays while we waited for you, but now that we're all together again I suppose we should get a move on if we want to see everything on Zoey's itinerary."
"Got it Pops, we'll go get her." Zed offered and pulled Addison along with him. Thankfully with her green hair, it wasn't too difficult to find Zoey in the sea of kids surrounding the pool to touch the stingrays.
Zed and Addison walked right up to Zoey and Zed tapped her on the shoulder.
She jumped up for a second but then broke into a bright smile when she saw them. "There you are! Do you guys want to pet the stingrays too?"
"I think we'll pass Zoey, but are you ready to move on? We only have a few hours left if you want to see absolutely everything." Zed warned her.
"Oh yeah. Let's go!" Zoey agreed and after meeting up with Zevon again, they passed the last few tanks, including stopping for a few minutes by the penguins' pool, and Zoey was indeed taller than them, before moving from the ocean to the jungle and desert.
A few more hours later, everyone was happily relaxing in the hotel, and with all the walking they had done today, everyone was fine with just relaxing in the room for the rest of the night.
Right before bedtime, Addison had talked to her mom to fill her in on their first two days, and allow Zoey to check in with Puppy, who Missy promised was being a very good boy and a wonderful guest. Zoey also couldn't help showing Puppy her new stuffed giraffe to remind her of her favorite part of the day.
Once Addison hung up, Zevon soon after turned out the lights, and Zed and Addison curled up together.
"So what was your favorite animal today Zed?" Addison whispered in his ear as they held each other close.
"I'd say the wolves, just because now I really want to know if Willa and the others could actually talk to them or not, and the lions were really cool."
"Hakuna Matata Zed."
"Yeah, no worries, about anything that happened today."
"Yeah, I agree." Addison snuggled in closer to him.
"So, um are we keeping our plans tomorrow morning?"
"I was certainly hoping so, but I understand if you don't want to." Addison glanced up to meet his eyes again, she could just barely see them shining in the darkness.
"I love you Addison, I will always want to. I will always want to make the most of the time we have because you will always be the most important thing in my world."
"I know, and I feel the exact same way. This is our vacation, we can enjoy it however we want."
"I love you Addison."
"I love you too Zed."
"Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza."
Addison gave him one more kiss goodnight before flipping herself over and scootching back into him so her back was pressed against his cool chest and his arms snaked protectively around her. Hearing his slow heartbeat against her back, and being surrounded by his love, she soon drifted off into dreams, ready for their next adventure.