"Don't cry."
Henry waved excitedly from JJ's arms while making growling noises at the clouded leopard that was lounging in the shade and ignoring the people gathered at the edge of the open-air enclosure. JJ had wanted to take Henry to the National Zoo for a while and when they finally got a free day, that's precisely what she did. She had ended up texting Emily to see what she was up to about half an hour after they'd gotten to the zoo because Henry kept asking where she was.
Emily spotted the pair before they saw her and waited a little distance away so as not to wade through the gathering crowd, smiling at Henry's antics. JJ set her son down and held his hand as they turned around, smiling brightly and pointing Emily out when she saw her. He had recently gotten the hang of running and 'fast' was the only speed at which he moved lately. Henry shrieked and peeled away from his mother towards Emily when he saw where JJ was pointing, colliding heavily with her legs while stumbling over his words as he talked a mile a minute about what they had seen before she showed up.
"Oh yeah?" Emily responded interestedly, only catching about seventy-five percent of what he was trying to say but enjoying his enthusiastic report nevertheless.
"Hey you." JJ greeted her girlfriend with a smile. "Glad you could make it."
"Like I would miss Henry's first trip to the zoo!" Emily scoffed, bending her arm when JJ looped hers under it.
They let Henry set the pace as they talked, the three year old staying only a few steps ahead of them and dictating when they stopped and for how long. "I wanna go in dere!" Henry said, as they passed the Great Ape House a while later. They followed him in; JJ helping him pull open the door while congratulating him on 'using all those big muscles!'
"Momem, come here! Look wif me!" Henry demanded, looking back toward JJ and Emily from where he was practically squashed against the glass separating the visitors from the silverback gorillas. Emily shot JJ a questioning look, having never heard that particular moniker from him before. Emily gestured toward Henry and JJ shrugged, managing to only take two steps forward when her son shook his head. "No, Mommy!" he sounded exasperated in the way only a preschooler could and reached out a hand toward Emily. "I want Momem!"
JJ looked over to where Emily stood stock-still, eyes wide in surprise. She blinked slowly, disbelievingly almost, and looked back and forth between JJ, who was regarding her with amusement and Henry, who had turned back to the window to flatten his face against it. "He called you that earlier, when he was asking for you today." JJ said softly. "I didn't have the heart to correct him…is-is that okay?"
Emily turned to look at JJ fully, her mouth opening and closing several times like she was trying to say something, her expression one of wonder. "I…" she started, her voice cracking and her eyes filling with tears.
"Oh, Em," JJ whispered as she reached up to wipe the tears from Emily's eyes with her thumbs just a few escaped. "Don't cry."
Emily didn't know what to say so she did the only thing she could think of and kissed JJ tenderly.
"Momem!" Henry called again impatiently, oblivious to the scene going on behind him.
"You're up." JJ reminded her with a final peck. She grinned as Emily seemed to snap out of her daze and went over to Henry to field his questions about gorillas.