Chapter Seven
I open my eyes when I feel pressure directly on my full bladder and see that somehow in the night Rex's tail had made its home on top of me. The lazy dinosaur was still asleep and I took the chance to use the bathroom before he can go around breaking the few things in the place. I wash my hands and get out in time to see that he was sniffing my bags and his head was almost completely in one. I clear my throat but get no reaction, until I grab him that is.
He wiggles in my hold until I place him on the grass and let him go play with something else. I jump into the shower for about twenty minutes, not having enough time to enjoy the warm spray. I dress into loose pants and shove them into my boots and use a simple blouse. I look at the time and see that it wasn't too long after eleven in the morning. I spy my make-up kit partially hanging out of my bag and wonder if I should use some make up for the time I am going to spending with Owen. Eventually I settled on some mascara, put on some eyeliner and just a tiny bit of lip gloss. I deliberate whether or not I should do something other than a ponytail with my hair when the decision was taken out of my hands when I hear a honking outside.
Throwing my hair into my usual ponytail I go outside and see Owen already playing with Rex. I grab my daily bag and lock the door behind me. Owen is on the grass now, overwhelmed by Rex's enthusiasm for play. I whistle and Rex stops and looks around for the source of the sound and sees me on the steps. Owen gets up and rubs Rex's head and looks at me
"Ready?"
I smile, nod and make my way over to the van. Trying to get Rex inside is a lost cause and eventually Owen has to help get him on my lap up in front. Owen gets behind the wheel and drives off. Rex sticks his head out the open window and looks at everything as Owen drives. We end up at the play centre for baby dinosaurs and leave Rex to get acquainted with the smaller ones.
He looks cautious about getting to know the other babies and constantly turns to look at me before eventually giving into his curiosity and running off to play. I feel worried that something might happen to him while I would be gone with Owen. Owen on the other hand has to drag me away from my baby
"He's going to be fine Momma, let him have some friends"
"He's barely two days old Owen, what is he hurts himself or eats something poisonous?"
"They'll feed him what he needs, relax the scientists know what they are doing"
"But what if he needs me and starts crying?"
"He won't. He'll be too busy making friends with other baby dinosaurs to even cry"
I look over my shoulder one last time at Rex who was busy sniffing a triceratops before allowing Owen to take me outside to the van.
He shoves me in and closes the door before getting in and driving off. I can't stop thinking about Rex as we were going towards the theme park and Owen could obviously sense this in me. He parks in one of the staff parking and I make to get out but he stops me
"Stop thinking so hard"
"I can't Owen. What if he hurts one of the other babies?"
"He won't, he's a baby his instincts won't kick in just yet and anyways his claws are still too soft to do any damage"
"You think so?"
"Yeah, so stop stressing yourself out. We're going to have a good time today and when we get back to the centre they are going to tell you what a lovely baby you have and that he is a normal dinosaur that is learning how to interact with others"
I nod and we get out of the van. I can hear the sounds of screaming as kids are whipped around on rides that go so high that I can barely see the top because of the sun. Owen leads me through the park and we look at the dinosaurs that were on display. He takes me over to the children that are riding the baby triceratops
"See the kids, they're enjoying themselves and just slacking off"
"These are kids Owen, slacking off is their full time profession"
He smiles
"A few hours of enjoyment won't kill you"
I smile at him
"I guess you're right"
"You know I'm right"
He looks around
"See anything you like?"
I look around
"I don't know. There are so many things to do, dinosaurs to see, I wouldn't know where to begin"
He nods thoughtfully before grabbing my hand and dragging me along. We get to a ticket booth and he buys two tickets for a show. He then takes me to a store where we buy raincoats
"Why are we even buying these?"
"You'll see"
He looks at his watch
"We still have time before the show starts so you wanna get something to eat?"
I nod and we end up getting some nachos and I request extra cheese and spicy peppers on mine. We find a table and just hang out for a while, Owen telling me that he used to work in the Navy before he started working with the raptors
"I don't think I'll ever go back to the Navy though, I like it here too much. What about you? What did you do before coming here?"
"I used to work with dogs that had OCD"
"The ones that chase their tails and stuff?"
I nod and Owen looks at his watch. He throws away his empty carton and grabs my hand
"The show is gonna start"
"What show?"
He grins at me
"Ever seen a Mosasaur?"