ok schools officially out for me, i'll definitely be on top of these updates!
Thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming :)

I don't own n2n

Though the previous night ended badly, Henry decided he wouldn't let it ruin the trip to the zoo. He actually saw it as an opportunity to make amends with Natalie. On the way to her house, he stopped and picked up roses. He rang the doorbell and put on a smile.

It took Natalie a total of eight minutes to answer the door, but at least she did. "Hi," she said, swinging the door open. When she saw the flowers: "What are you doing?"

"Oh, these are just for you," he said with a shrug.

"It's not a date, Henry," she told him, grabbing the flowers. "Come inside." He did. "Sorry, I'm running late. I stopped after work to pick up groceries and I need to get out of these clothes. Oh, and I want to just jump in the shower. I hope you don't mind. You can just hang with Hank." And she disappeared down the hallway. He heard the shower start to run immediately.

He slowly made his way into the family room. Hank was jumping on the couch again. When he saw Henry, his face lit up.

"Henry!" he shouted, hopping off the couch and running to Henry, wrapping his arms around his legs. "You came back!"

"Well, yeah, of course," Henry said, laughing. "Your mom invited me to the zoo with you guys."

"But she said you wouldn't come."

"She did?"

"Yeah, but that's okay 'cause you're here now. Wanna make a Lego tower?" Hank didn't even wait for a response. He grabbed Henry's hand and led him to his bedroom. The box of Legos was already opened and spilling over onto the floor. Hank got right to it, stacking red on top of yellow, blue on top of green. "Come on, Henry! You build it too." So together they made the colorful structure, laughing when they knocked the whole thing over accidentally.

It seemed like only two minutes had gone by when Natalie appeared again in jeans and an old sweater Henry was sure he had seen her wear in high school. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, still dripping from the shower. She wasn't wearing any make-up, but she didn't need it. It was then that Henry realized she was still stunning. Still the gorgeous girl he had dated five years ago.

"Are you two ready to go?" she asked them, smiling but probably just for Hank.

"Zooooooo!" Hank screeched, grabbing a lion stuffed animal off his bed. "Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's gooo!" He raced out of his room. Natalie laughed and followed him, Henry close behind.

"Hey, maybe you guys would like to take my care," he suggested in the driveway.

"What?" Natalie said. "No, that's fine. We have Hank's little booster seat thing in mine...and he makes such a mess anyway."

"It's no big thing, really." He turned to Hank. "Hey, little man, how would you like to be a big boy and ride in my car without a car seat?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Hank said happily. "Come on, Mommy, in the car now!" He started banging on the car door.

"Hank, stop," Natalie scolded. "Just open the door and get in."

They all got in and headed off to the zoo. It took Henry a few minutes to remember how to actually get to the zoo, but he managed fine. Hank would shout out any words he could read on signs, which were most of them. And he loved to point out how many red cars there were. And blue ones. And black ones. Natalie kept telling him to settle down, but Henry saw her smiling. He was smiling too.

When they reached the zoo, Hank was eager to stop at every animal's cage. Every time they passed a refreshments stand, Henry was sure to buy all three of them ice cream or sodas. He wanted the zoo trip to be perfect. Natalie kept Hank on a tight leash at first, and she even barely spoke to Henry, but by the time they reached the Reptile House, she was smiling and laughing along with them.

At the end of the day, they settled down at a picnic table for some hot dogs.

"Wasn't this a great day?" Henry asked, grinning at Hank.

"I had so much fun!" He looked to Natalie. "I want to spend every weekend like this. With Henry!"

Natalie just smiled at him, not saying anything. Henry needed a minute to speak with her, and without Hank. Now seemed as good a time as ever.

"Hey, Hank," he said. "Here's a few dollars. Why don't you run to that vending machine over there and pick out some snacks for us?" Hank ran over happily. Both Natalie and Henry kept their eyes on him the whole time.

"Nat, did you hear that?" he said quietly. "He said he wants to spend every weekend me. It sounds like the typical divorced parents arrangement."

"We're not divorced parents," Natalie responded with a straight face.

"Don't you get it, Nat? We can tell Hank that I'm his dad. We can work something out, legally or not-it's up to you. And we can do this. I can take him so weekends and we can be a family."

"What are you talking about? He's met you twice."

"Three times, technically," Henry said softly.

"It's too soon. You need to slowly introduce the idea to a child. He won't be able to understand it if you just spring it on him."

"He seems like a smart boy. He got that from you, I'm sure. It'll make sense to him, I know it will."

"No," she said firmly.

"Nat, why are you doing this? Can't you see how much I want to be in Hank's life? I've always wanted to be. I always wanted to be here as his father. You wouldn't let me."

She stood up quickly, eyes blazing. "If you cared so much, then why did you stop calling?" she asked, voice breaking. Henry was sure her eyes were tearing. "Hank and I've got to go. I'll call a cab. You can just leave."

"Nat, please-"

"No." Hank came back them with three chocolate bars. Natalie grabbed one and threw it at Henry. "Say goodbye to Henry, Hank, because you're never seeing him again." She clasped his little and they were gone.

I hope you enjoyed the update :) Please review! I'll get on the next update right away!