summary: in which the murphys go to the zoo
(this is mostly fluff but i hope you still enjoy it)
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On the last Sunday of every month, the Murphys took a trip to the zoo. It was around an hour's drive away, and the children were bursting with excitement the whole way there.
"Where shall we go to first?" Larry asked as they bent over a map of the zoo.
"Otters!" Connor suggested.
"That's further down the trail, how about the flamingoes?"
"No, they're boring, they just stand on one foot all the time." Zoe said.
"Yeah, and they are too pink!" Connor added.
"What about the monkeys?" Larry said.
They agreed, and headed off. Five minutes later, they spotted the monkeys swinging around in the enclosure.
"Look that monkey, he's eating fruit!" Connor pointed to one seated amidst the leaves of a tall tree.
"He's so cute!" Zoe squealed.
"There's another one that's running up the tree," Connor was obviously impressed.
Larry playfully nudged his son. "Do you think you could try to climb a tree like that?"
Connor cheekily replied, "No, because I'm not a monkey!"
"After this, can we go see the lions, the elephants, the tigers, and, and the—"
"Wow, breathe, Zoe! Are you planning our whole trip out already?" Cynthia remarked jokingly, amused at her daughter's exuberance.
"I want to go to the petting zoo, too," Connor added.
Larry nodded. "Yes, we can definitely do that."
A monkey put his face up against the glass.
"Look!" Connor pointed, laughing. He pulled a funny face at it. Zoe copied him. The monkey stared at them for a moment, scratched itself, and scampered away. They giggled.
At around noon, they stopped at one of the cafes for lunch.
"I'm hungry," Connor whined.
Zoe sank into a chair as Larry went to order food. "My legs are wobbly."
"That's because you've been doing a lot of walking," Cynthia commented. She pulled their water bottles out of Larry's backpack, which was sitting on the chair next to her. "Drink some water."
Connor took a gulp from his bottle. "Mummy, I'm hungry," he repeated.
"I know," Cynthia said, running her hand to smooth out his sweaty, messy hair. "Daddy's gone to order the food."
"Daddy's got the food!" Zoe exclaimed, clapping her hands happily as Larry returned to the table, setting down a tray with four burger and fries.
"Yummy!" Connor's face lit up, and he grabbed a burger and unwrapped it hungrily.
"After this, can we—" Zoe started, her mouth stuffed with fries.
"Zoe, please don't speak with your mouth full. I can't understand you." Cynthia said, gently yet firmly.
Zoe swallowed her food before repeating, "After this, can we go the petting zoo?"
"Yes, Zoe, I promise we won't forget that," Cynthia assured her.
"Can I get a soda?" Connor asked, shoveling several fries into his mouth.
"Me too?" Zoe begged.
Larry slide a few dollar bills to Connor. "Take Zoe with you and let her pick her drink."
"Thanks, Daddy!" he grinned, stuffing the bills into his pocket. Zoe grabbed his hand and they went to get their drinks. In a few more minutes, they came back, he with a can of Coke and she with a can of Sprite.
"When you finish your meal, go to the restroom and then I'll put more sunblock on you, okay?" Cynthia said, rubbing some sunblock on her arms.
"Sunblock smells weird," Zoe commented, wrinkling her nose.
Connor took a sip of his coke. "No, it doesn't. It smells like banana."
"No, it's weird."
"You're so weird."
"Am not!"
"Kids," Larry sighed, "You really don't have to argue about such small issues, alright?"
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"Look at this lamb!" Connor exclaimed. "It's kissing me!" The animal nuzzled his face affectionately. "It tickles!" he shrieked.
"Hold still! Let me take a photo!" Cynthia said, grabbing the camera slung around her neck.
"Hurry up! It's so ticklish!" Connor was laughing so hard that a gentle nudge from the lamb almost made him lose his balance.
The camera clicked. "Okay! I got it!" Cynthia said, laughing as well.
Connor took a step back from the lamb to catch his breath. "He's so cute." Then he stepped forward again and gave the lamb a big hug.
"I'm going to take some pictures of Zoe," Cynthia said, leaving Connor sitting against the fence of the enclosure, stroking the baby animal.
Zoe was looking at the baby rabbits. "Mummy, can we have a pet?" she asked as Cynthia approached.
"Why do you want a pet?"
"Because they're so cute!" Zoe exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. One of the rabbits pressed its nose against the bars of the cage to nibble at her finger. "See?"
"Zoe, come here," Larry called. "There are some really cute puppies here."
"Ooh! Puppies!" Zoe squealed, forgetting about the bunnies and running over to her dad. "Aww they are so cute!"
There were several puppies of various breeds lying several large cages. "Oh, Mummy, can we get a puppy?"
Cynthia considered it for a while. "Well… we'll have to see, they are a lot of work. And I'm already very busy with you and Connor." She chuckled.
"Have you had a dog before?"
"I did," Larry said, "A Rottweiler. He was my dad's guard dog."
"Did he bite?"
Larry shook his head. "No, he looked scary, but he was just a big teddy bear."
Zoe giggled at the imagery. "What about Mummy? Did she have a dog, too?"
"I didn't have one, but my neighbors did, and I played with her a lot."
"I want a dog, and Connor wants one, too. We should get one." Zoe said seriously. "Can we?"
"Speaking of Connor," Larry interrupted. "Where is he?"
"Shit," Cynthia swore. "Shit. I think I left him outside at the petting zoo with the goats."
She frantically rushed out, calling, "Connor! Connor, where are you?" Larry followed behind, Zoe in tow. There was a moment of pure panic as Cynthia hurried over to where she remembered leaving Connor, and she breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw him cuddling with the lamb on his lap, feeding it from a bottle of milk and talking to it.
"Connor!"
He jumped at her shrill tone. "Mummy?"
"Connor, don't you ever scare me like that again. I thought—I thought you were lost!"
Connor scrunched his brows up in confusion. "But I wasn't lost. I was just sitting here and waiting for you."
"Why didn't you answer me? I was calling for you."
"I didn't hear you."
The lamb had returned to his side, and was making soft noises in a bid to ask for the bottle of milk he had set down.
"Where did you get that from?" Larry asked, gesturing to the bottle.
"One of the zookeepers gave it to me," Connor said matter-of-factly. "He said I'm very good with the animals." He picked the lamb up to settle it back on his lap.
"I want to feed it too," Zoe stated. He handed her the bottle and she fed the lamb as he held it on his lap. Cynthia couldn't help but snap half a dozen photos of the tender moment.
"Let's go look at the other animals," Larry suggested when the milk was gone.
"Okay, let's go see the seals!" Zoe exclaimed.
"And the snakes!" Connor added in excitement, standing up and giving the lamb a goodbye kiss.
"No!" Zoe gasped. "Snakes are too scary!"
"They're not!"
"How about this," Cynthia stepped in, "We'll go see the seals first, then the snakes. How does that sound?" The children nodded. "Okay then, let's go. It's getting late."
"Yay! Let's go!" Connor cried, grabbing Zoe's hand and skipping towards the next enclosure.
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thank you to everyone who commented last chapter! i hope you like this one :)
what are your favorite animals? mine are dogs, horses, ducks, and orcas haha. and i Live for petting zoos
(why does this make me sound like a 3 year old)
please leave a comment if you liked this! and feel free to hmu on tumblr thewickedverkaiking
i promise i don't bite