AN: Wow, I didn't think my writer's block could last so long. Even now, I'm not too pleased with how this chapter turned out, but at least it gets the message across. You start seeing what type of person Peter is in this chapter. Enjoy.

When morning came, Mark came out of his bedroom to find Peter was up and helping himself to the coffee Emily had brewed earlier. Emily, meanwhile, was in the process of putting Wenceslas into his harness to take him for a walk.

"Morning, Mark," Emily greeted upon noticing him enter the room.

"Hey, Emily," Mark smiled in return, pausing to acknowledge Peter before continuing. "So, what's on your schedule today?"

"I was going to take the children down to the Central Park Zoo. Mr. Rabe, you're free to join us if you'd like." Peter was quiet for a moment.

"I thank you for the offer, Mrs. Cohen, but I'd much rather have a tour of the city. Mark, I'm sure you know all the best places. Being a filmmaker, I'd be very surprised if you haven't been all over New York."

"Um…. Sure, I guess I could play tour guide," Mark replied. "Emily, you don't mind if I rain check going to the zoo with you and the children, do you?"

"Oh, not at all! You go and have fun," Emily grinned. "But we're meeting at the Life tonight for our monthly family dinner. Don't forget, okay?"

"No chance, I'll be there," Mark promised.

Once Emily and the children had arrived at the zoo, it was decided that they'd split into two separate groups. Emily, Lucia and Penny would start at the Rain Forest area of the zoo while Zack and Rodolfo would take Zoey to check out the Polar Circle section. At noon, they'd all meet at the Leaping Frog Café for a small lunch. As they went off, Zack tried to strike up a conversation with Zoey.

"So," he began. "You ever visit a zoo before?" Zoey was silent for a moment before replying.

"No. I haven't," she spoke, almost in a whisper.

"Never?!" Rodolfo gaped in disbelief. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" With that, he quickly took her by the arm and hurried off in the direction of the polar bears. However, the moment they arrived at the polar bear exhibit and Rodolfo let go of her arm, Zoey shrank away, almost instinctively, something neither Zack or Rodolfo could not overlook.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Zack asked in concern.

"I… I just don't like people touching me," Zoey replied quickly, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, hey! No problem," Rodolfo grinned. "You have personal space issues, no big deal. We understand." However, even after Rodolfo redirected his attention to the polar bears, Zoey still looked uneasy. For a moment, Zack simply looked at her silently, but then came up to her side.

"Wanna look at the otters?" he gestured to the otter exhibit a short distance away. "I have a feeling you'll like them." After a few seconds of hesitation, Zoey nodded and followed Zack to the otter exhibit, where she watched intently as the otters dashed over the rocks and logs, twirled and shot through the water, and even wrestled with each other for a quick moment.

"They….never hold still, do they?" Zoey asked.

"Well…," Zack chuckled as Rodolfo joined them in watching the otters' antics. "They do when they're sleeping."

For a while, the three of them stood at the otter exhibit. However, Zack couldn't concentrate on the animals, and kept glancing over at Zoey. This was the very first time he'd actually seen a real smile on her face.

After night fell, Emily and the children arrived at the Life to find Mark and Peter had already arrived.

"Ah, so Mrs. Cohen and the children have finally decided to show," Peter observed. "I suppose we can start ordering, once they decide what they want."

"Not exactly," Mark shook his head. "Maureen and Joanne haven't arrived yet."

"Well, perhaps their husbands should hurry them up." Immediately, Mark and Emily exchanged a partially amused, yet slightly worried, glance, one which was mirrored by Zack, Rodolfo, Penny and Lucia. What exactly was Peter's view on that subject? Noticing the look, Peter raised an eyebrow. "Have I missed a joke?"

"Not really," Emily explained. "It's just that… Maureen and Joanne are...together. As in life partners."

"You mean, as in homosex…?"

"Yeah, that's right," Mark confirmed. For a brief moment, Peter's brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't say anything about it.

It was a good ten minutes before Maureen and Joanne finally arrived. When they did, Maureen immediately took a place in the chair next to Penny.

"Hey, guys!" Maureen grinned at everyone before noticing Peter and Zoey. "Oh! You must be Mark's new investor! Hi, I'm Maureen, and this is Joanne. Welcome to New York. You enjoying your stay so far? You really should make time to come see me one night."

"Maureen appears in Broadway shows," Joanne clarified, noticing the expression on Peter's face. "But that aside, Maureen, you really need to work on coming on too strong. You don't want to overwhelm him, after all."

"Oh, come on," Maureen rolled her eyes before wrapping her arms around Joanne from behind. "You know I've been getting better at that." Joanne let out a scoff at first, but then smiled warmly and kissed Maureen's temple.

"Yes, you have," she admitted.

The group ordered dinner not long after that, and the night went on among random conversations. But all that changed when Maureen took the time to visit the bathroom. When she was finished, she started to return to the table, but stopped when she heard the bartender talking with Peter, who had apparently gone up to order more drinks for the table. Instinctively, she stayed hidden, so no one would notice her eavesdropping.

"I have to say," Peter was saying. "When I first heard they were lesbians, I was quite surprised. But after seeing what kind of person the brunette is, I completely understand. No self-respecting man would want to be tied down to a woman who's as brazen and unrefined as her. Only another woman would have enough pity to take someone like that in."

As a laughing Peter returned to the table, Maureen found herself frozen in place. It wasn't like her to care what other people thought about her, but to have someone think that she was with Joanne because she couldn't find a guy willing to 'be tied down' to her? She couldn't really explain why, but that accusation hurt.

Back at the table, Peter was offering Mark one of the drinks he ordered, while Joanne was talking with Penny.

"So, where's James tonight?" Joanne asked. "Usually, the two of you are joined at the hip, so I was sure he'd be here with you tonight."

"Oh, he had to work tonight," Penny fought back a blush at Joanne's accusation on how close she and James were. "There's a big concert at the Philharmonic tonight, so they need as many taxi drivers on the clock as possible."

At that moment, Maureen returned, trying without much success to hide the fact that she was upset about something.

"What's wrong, Auntie Maureen?" Lucia asked in concern.

"It's nothing, Lucia," Maureen spoke quickly. "Joanne, can we go home?"

"Honey, you haven't finished your dinner, yet," Joanne pointed out.

"So what?" Maureen snapped. "I just want to go home, okay?"

"Sure, all right," Joanne pushed her confusion aside, realizing that something must have really upset her lover. After grabbing their purses, and saying goodbye to the others, the two women left.

"I don't think I've ever seen Maureen that upset before," Mark frowned in confusion. "I wonder what happened."

"Oh, who knows how women think?" Peter pointed out, sipping his drink.

Later that night, after the Cohens and the visiting Rabes returned to the Condo, Zoey was just changing into her nightgown in the upstairs bedroom while Lucia was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Before she could join the strawberry-blonde haired girl in the bathroom so she could brush her teeth too, she heard a tentative knock on the wall by the staircase. When she turned, she saw a nervous-looking Zack standing there, with a hand behind his back.

"Hey," Zack greeted, looking like he was feeling extremely awkward. "I just wanted… to say 'goodnight.'"

"Oh," Zoey glanced away for a moment. "Good night to you, too."

"Right," Zack nodded. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then." With that, Zack turned to leave, but then stopped. "Actually, there was something else." Zoey looked up in surprise as Zack walked up to her, holding something out. When Zoey took it, she saw it was a small figurine of an otter.

"You're…giving this to me?" Zoey asked hesitantly.

"Um," Zack shifted slightly, looking even more nervous then before. "You seemed to like the otters at the zoo today, so I got that at the gift shop for you. But if you… don't like it…"

"Oh, it's not that!" Zoey quickly assured him. "It's just that… no one's ever given me anything for no reason before. Thank you."

"Oh, it was no problem. I wanted to get it for you." After a hesitant pause, the two shared a nervous smile. However, they both looked up with a jump when someone cleared their throat. Standing at the top of the stairs, with a stern expression on his face, was Peter.

"Oh!" Zack instinctively stepped away from Zoey. "Hello, Mr. Rabe. I was just giving Zoey a little 'welcome to the city' gift."

"I see," Peter nodded curtly. "Well, seeing how it's getting late, you best join your cousin in your bedroom."

"Right," Zack nodded as he quickly left the room. He remembered how his father had been when Penny and James first started dating, and wasn't exactly prepared to take the risk that Zoey's dad would be just as protective of his daughter.

After Zack had left, Zoey started to move to her bed when Peter pulled her back roughly.

"What do you think you're doing, being alone with that boy?" he hissed.

"Nothing!" Zoey insisted, her voice filled with fear. "We were just talking, really!"

"Don't lie to me!" Peter ordered, shaking her. "I know what 'just talking' means. Is that what you want? To be nothing but a common whore?"

"N..no!" Zoey shook her head. "Daddy, please!" Not swayed by the fearful look on his daughter's face, Peter brought the back of his hand across her face hard.

"I will not tell you this again, Zoey," Peter growled bringing his face very close to hers. "If you know what's good for you, you'll start learning your place. I will not have an impudent, disrespectful daughter. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Daddy," Zoey whispered, the beginnings of tears in her eyes.

"Good," Peter nodded in satisfaction. "You best remember your mother, Zoey. She never learned her place. You don't want the same thing to happen to you." Without another word, Peter left the room. Zoey immediately got into her bed, wrapping up in the covers as tightly as she could, willing herself not to cry.