I made a special trip over to Happy Dale so I could turn in the paperwork to take Anna out for a day. I can keep her out overnight if I want but I think that should wait till she gets to know me better. Hell, I don't even know if she'll like me or my dad nor do I have any idea of what her temperament is. I really hope dad and I can make the day enjoyable for her.
After turning the papers in, I go to look for her so I can tell her about my plans for Saturday. And for all I know, she may not even want to leave the facility. I'll find out soon enough. Looking around, I walk through the atrium to see if I can find her.
"Damon, I didn't know you were scheduled for today," Nick greets me, offering his hand.
"I'm not actually. I came to see little Anna. You wouldn't happen to know where she is would you?"
"She has you wrapped around her finger already too, ha?" he teases with a smile.
"I was impressed with how hard she tried when I had her in the swimming pool last week. I'm hoping to take her out on a day pass unless she doesn't want that. I certainly won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do."
"She'll love that, Damon. I think I saw her go outside with one of the older girls. I'd check out there first. There is some playground equipment on the northwest side of the complex. You might look there."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. I'll see you soon." After watching him leave, I walk outside and look around. Not finding her, I go in the direction that he mentioned, stopping occasionally to look around. When I finally see the play area, I smile widely when I see it's Elena who's with Anna.
With a little pep in my step, I walk closer to the two of them. "Well hello ladies."
Raising her eyes, her mouth drops slightly before forming a smile. "Hi Damon. What are you doing out here?"
Without realizing it, I find myself stepping over and when I get to Elena's side. A huge smile forms on my own face as I watch Anna going forward and then backward on the swings.
"I came to talk to Miss Anna." Elena starts to slow her down, eventually stopping the swing so I can speak to her.
"How is Anna today?" She looks from me to Elena and then back to me again, almost as if she's a little frightened.
Stooping down to her level, Elena takes her hand. "Do you remember Damon? He helped you in the water."
"How did you know?"
"Anna was so excited as were most of the other kids because you actually let them get in the water."
Stooping down too, I look into her pretty brown eyes. "Anna, my dad and I would like to take you to the zoo and spend the day with you tomorrow. Would you like that?"
Looking a little unsure, she turns to look at Elena. "Zoo?"
"A zoo is where animals live. We thought maybe you'd like to go with us to look at them?"
"Animals?" she asks, her mouth hanging open a little bit.
"Yes sweetie. Animals. They have a place where you can pet them. Have you ever gotten to pet a dog or a kitty?" Without answering, she shakes her head yes.
"Would you like to go to the zoo with me?" She looks at me and then at Elena, looking excited but a little unsure too.
"Anna, Damon is a very nice man. You'll have lots of fun. And do you know what? They have ice cream at the zoo. Sometimes you can get food and they let you feed the animals with it. I promise Damon will take good care of you. He's my friend too," she explains, holding Anna's hand.
Sliding a little closer, I take her little hand in mine. "Would you come with me to the zoo?" I breathe a sigh of relief when she finally smiles and bobs her head up and down.
"How about we go to get that ice cream? Would you like to join us, Elena?" I hope she recognizes the pleading tone in my voice.
"I'd love to. Come Anna, let's go with Mr. Damon to have some ice cream." Holding out her hand for Anna to take, she grabs on, surprising me when she raises her hand for me to take too. Melting inside, I happily take a hold of her little hand again. The three of us walk back into the facility, turning towards the visitors area where they have some snack machines, one of which is for frozen treats. After buying Elena an ice cream bar and Anna a cup of ice of ice cream, I sit down and enjoy it with them. Just by happenstance I look up only to see April jump back behind the wall acting like she didn't want me to see her.
Turning to look at Elena, I use my eyes to gesture towards where April is lurking. "Be discreet but what's with her?"
"I don't see anyone," Elena replies, looking a little squeamish. I can see that she's lying but I'm not going to push her about it. I don't know that much about her yet but I want to learn. The last thing I want to do is alienate her.
"My mistake." Unable to make my eyes from hers, I take a bite of my drumstick.
"Ice cream good," Anna squeaks, her face and hands covered by the time she's done.
"Anna, let's get you washed up, okay?" She nods her head up and down as she stands up.
"I have to go to my office now. I'll be here in the morning to pick her up. And I'll see you tomorrow Anna. And thank you again Elena. I'll talk to you soon."
"What time in the morning, Damon? I mean so I can have her ready."
"Say nine?" She shakes her head slightly.
"Bye now." Turning around, I walk away, stopping momentarily when I get to the lounge door. I turn around, watching as Elena takes Anna's hand and walks her towards the restroom. Unable to keep a smile off of my face, I watch till they disappear then I pick up the pace and leave the building.
The next morning dad and I are up bright and early. I have no idea what Anna likes or anything about her behavior. There's nothing like baptism by fire as they say. The sun is shining brightly today and it's hot so I made sure to run into the drug store to grab a bottle of sunscreen. That last thing I want is for her to get sunburned.
Dad has to drive since I don't have my license back yet. Once we get there, he pulls into the parking lot. After turning the car off, the two of us get out of the car and walk into the facility. I take the opportunity to show dad around the place.
"This place is really mammoth," he remarks, looking in all directions.
"Yeah, it really is," I agree, motioning for him to follow me. It's Saturday so the office is closed so I walk to the weekend reception desk. Hopefully they've been informed of my plans with Anna today.
"Can I help you sir?"
"Yes you can. My name is Damon Salvatore. I made arrangements to take Anna out for the day."
"Oh yes, Mrs. Lockwood left me a note. She said the paperwork was in order. I'll just call over to her building so someone can bring her here for you."
"Thank you. We'll just sit down over there." Pointing to the chairs in the atrium, dad and I walk over to take a seat.
"The atmosphere is nice here. I mean the design and the colors are esthetically pleasing," dad mentions, pointing to wall of glass that leads out into the gardens. Just as dad stands up to go look at the gardens, I notice Elena walking towards us, holding Anna's hand. They're both smiling as they approach me.
"Hi Mr. Damon," Anna greets me. She looks so cute in a little pink sundress and pigtails.
"Good morning Miss Anna. And good morning to you Miss Elena." She's a sight in her own summery dress.
"Hi Damon. She's ready and very excited." Stooping down to Anna's level, she whispers something in Anna's ear. Anna smiles widely, lets go of Elena's hand and shyly offers her hand to me.
Clutching her hand gently in mine, I breathe a sigh of relief. I open my mouth to speak when my dad walks back, coming to stand beside me.
"Oh and here's a bag with a few things for her. A bib and some extra panties. She has accidents once in awhile," Elena says softly.
"Thanks for letting me know. I'll make it a point to ask her if she needs to go." I then turn to my dad to introduce them to him.
"Elena, Miss Anna, this is my dad, Owen."
"Ladies, it's a pleasure," he says with a wink.
Offering her hand, Elena smiles widely at him. "It's nice to meet you sir." Dad takes it gently, pressing a kiss to the top of it causing Elena's cheeks to flush a beautiful shade of pink.
Turning to me, she teases, "It's obvious now where your innate charm came from."
"Oh Elena, I was going to ask you... Do you have any computer skills? One of my computer technicians is getting married and moving out of state. I just found out a couple of days ago."
"Yes, I've been studying computers since I got here. I've been taking online college classes plus I also take a couple of classes at the community college down the street."
"Maybe next week you can come down to my office? I can show you around and introduce you to my brother and the rest of my staff."
"That would be wonderful Damon. Thank you."
"No problem. I have to be here Monday so perhaps Tuesday?"
"That sounds perfect. What time should I come?"
"What time works for you?"
"Say one o'clock?"
"That works. Thanks for getting Anna ready. We should get going now, it's a good hour and a half drive to the zoo. I'll see you next week." Anna and I wave goodbye, me with a silly grin on my face.
"Bye Anna. You'll have to tell me all about it tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay Ewena," Anna says, still waving goodbye to her friend. After dad says goodbye to her, I lip goodbye once more then the three of us turn around and walk out of the facility.
Anna is a tiny girl for six years old. I'm really glad I remembered to stop at the rental place to get a car seat for the day. I may have to buy one if today works out because if it does, I plan to take her out more. I'll just have to see how it goes. I opt to get in the back seat with her so I can keep her occupied. I don't know how much of an attention span she has.
I set the GPS so dad won't get lost driving us to the zoo. He makes good time because we arrive in about seventy five minutes rather than the ninety minutes the drive usually takes. Once dad finds a parking spot, I help Anna out of the car seat and take her hand. The three of us make our way to the gait so I can buy our tickets. After they stamp our hands so we can come and go without having to pay again, we walk into the visitors center. This zoo has a huge display of stuffed Animals. They were donated to the zoo a couple of decades ago.
Anna's mouth is hanging almost wide open as she takes in the sights. "Elphant," she says, pointing at a big African one.
"See there Anna, there's an Indian Elephant too. Do you know how to tell the difference?" When she shakes her head no, I point to the African elephant, telling her to look at how big his ears are. I do the same for the Indian elephant, this time showing her this elephant's smaller ears.
"Me see," she squeaks, looking back and forth between the two species.
"Do you like animals?" I wonder if she'd like my cat, DC. It's short for 'damn cat', but I love the old creature. After we go through the exhibits, we walk outside so we can see the real live animals. Anna starts squealing excitedly when a she sees a giraffe's head sticking up.
"We'll go see him." Dad takes one of her hands while I take the other and we lead her around the trail. We stop to view all the different species of antelope before making our way to see the rhinoceros and hippo enclosures. She so excited and I'm so excited to be showing her these things. After we walk around for about an hour, I stoop down to ask her if she has to go potty. Shaking her head yes, I take her by the hand and walk into the family restroom with her. I place once of the disposable seat covers and then lift her up so she can go. I turn my back while I wait for her to go. It takes a few seconds but I hear the tinkle. When I hear it stop, I turn around just as she stands up to pull her panties up. Together we wash her hands then go back out to find my dad.
I don't see him right away but then he appears, carrying drinks with him. I take the smaller one and give it to Anna before taking one for myself. We take a seat on one of the benches, just watching people for awhile.
After giving me an approving look, he turns to face Anna. "Are you having fun Anna?"
"Ah ha, me having lots fun," she says, slurping on her straw.
"We still have a lot to see. The lions and tigers and gorillas," I tell her animatedly, just as excited as she is. When we finish our drinks, we all get up and move on to the big cat exhibit. I lift her in my arms so she can see over the fencing. I practically melt when wraps her little arms around my neck while keeping her eyes on the animals, her mouth agape, completely in awe of what she's seeing today.
The gorilla enclosure is ground level, they have viewing areas so we don't have to look down at them. They're regal creatures too. I loved it when my mom and dad took me to the zoo when Stefan and I were little fellas. I stoop down and point out the gorillas to her as they sit in the grass just minding their own business. "Gwilla?"
"I think we should go to see the monkeys now."" Knowing that all kids love to watch the monkey's hijinks, I look down, watching as she nods excitedly. I pick her up again and the three of us make our way to the monkey house. There's all kinds of species in here. It's big. We watch the spider monkeys play for little while before stepping over to watch the chimpanzees. After that we see the orangutans, Mandrills and Tamarin's.
We make a conscious effort to walk into the petting zoo. There's a couple of baby goats, a donkey, a llama and an alpaca. There's even a kangaroo. I hold Anna's hand while she strokes the miniature donkey with her other hand. Her smile is practically ear to ear. I buy a little bag of food from the attendant. Opening up her hand, I pour a little in it so the donkey can eat it up. She squeals excitedly as it tongues the palm of her hand. We spent a good half an hour in here before moving on to the next exhibit.
Dad likes reptiles so we did walk through the reptile house but I think she was a little scared because she buried her head in my neck, only peering out occasionally. "You don't have to be scared honey. They can't get out," I reassure her, hugging her close. When we walk out of there, we head towards the bears. Her mouth drops open as she watches the polar bears frolicking in the pool that's in their pen. From there we move on to see the seals and sea lions where we take a seat to watch the show. She's completely enthralled with them too.
"Dad, can you watch her for a little bit? I'm going to go to the bathroom."
"Need you ask?" he scoffs. "Anna and I are buddies, aren't we sweetheart?"
"Buddies," she answers, nodding animatedly.
"I'll be right back." Shaking my head jovially, I walk off to look for a bathroom. There was a line to the men's room and I finally get back about fifteen minutes later. I look around but I don't see them. Feeling a little panicked, I start walking through the crowd to see if I can find them. Finally I see them standing in line at a concession stand. They really hadn't wandered very far away, I just didn't see them. Dad is holding her hand securely. I know he'd never let anything happen to her but still, I shake my head, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Here you are. I was a little scared."
"I'm sorry Damon. She said she was hungry. I thought maybe she'd like a hot dog. Do you want one?"
Nodding, I pick Anna up and stand beside him. He has her bag over his shoulder. Once he gets to the counter, I step back till they have our food together. I help him carry it with my free hand. Luckily we find an empty table so the three of us can eat without getting bumped into. When I notice Anna yawning, I'm thinking it's time for us to call it a day.
"Are you tired Anna?" She nods, yawning deeply.
"Do you have to go potty?" When she says yes, I take her hand to use the bathroom again. Her little panties are a little wet so I help her put on a clean one, wrapping the soiled on in the baggie that Elena must've put in there for such an occurrence. Once I help her wash her hands, we go back to my dad.
"What about the wolves and the coyotes? We have to see them and the raptor enclosure, then we can leave," dad says in a rather insistent tone. Chuckling, I nod my head. After disposing of our garbage, we continue on the trail till those displays. Anna is sound asleep, her head on my shoulder as we continue to walk the trail. Once dad has had his fill of the Bald eagles, vultures and hawks, we start to walk back to the car.
"Let's go in the gift shop before we leave. I want to get her a souvenir to remember today."
"That's a great idea, Damon," he agrees, following me into the store. We look around and decide on a tee shirt. I pick up a matching one for Elena, hoping it'll fit her. Plus dad purchases a stuffed seal for her. It's almost six in the evening by the time we finally get to the car. It's been a long, hot afternoon so I'm really glad I remembered to put sunscreen on her. I carefully set her in the car seat and secure her. Since she's sleeping quietly, I crawl into the passenger seat beside my dad.
As we're driving, I can't help but notice the dark clouds moving in. In no time, lightening is flashing and thunder is roaring and then the rain begins to come down in sheets. I'm sure glad the weather waited till now to turn. Dad has to slow way down because the force of the rain coming down is making it difficult to see even with the wipers on high. Suddenly the traffic on the interstate just stops.
"Damon," he says, his voice even but I can see the fear in his face when he points to the funnel cloud just to the west of us.
"We have to get to safety." He points to the overpass just ahead of us. Jumping out of the car, I crawl into the back seat, reaching for the blanket that's in the back end of my SUV. I quickly get Anna out of her car seat, wrap her in the blanket then the three of us run under the overpass, hoping the concrete enclosure will keep us safe. We're only three of many who were obviously hoping for the same.
When I hear her start to cry, I cradle her face and body against mine, whispering that dad and I won't let anything happen to her.
"Scared," she blubbers as the tears flow down her cheeks. All I can do is hold her. Suddenly there's a short stillness before the wind whips up, the roar thunderous just before debris starts flying all around us. The three of us huddle together with the rest of the crowd. I feel something slam into my back causing me to gasp but I won't let go of Anna.
We have her sandwiched between us, hoping to keep her warm and dry while the two of us are getting drenched. Although it seems like half a life time before it finally blows over, the rain is still coming down steadily but not in buckets like it was earlier. Glancing around, I see some cars overturned. Fortunately mine isn't one of them but I think it'll be awhile before the interstate is cleared enough for us to continue the drive home.
"Anna honey, are you okay?" Dad and I pull apart a little bit to give her a little room. Her eyes are wide and full of fear. As soon as she can move her little arms, she wraps then around my neck, burying her head in the space between my neck and my shoulder.
"How about you dad? Are you okay?" I use my free arm, running it down one of his arms and then the next.
"I'm fine, Damon. Let's get back to the car."
"Yeah, at least we can turn the heater on a little bit so we can dry off." We walk back to the car, I'm stunned to see the damage. The barn that was standing a few minutes ago is now rubble. Since we can't drive anywhere yet, I jump into the passenger side, keeping Anna on my lap because she's still whimpering.
"It's okay sweetie. We'll get you home safely." I press a kiss to the top of her head, rocking her gently in my arms. It doesn't take long for her to fall back to sleep. Her mouth hangs open a little as she's snuggled against my chest. I almost feel like the 'Grinch who Stole Christmas' when his heart grew three sizes that day. We sit for about an hour and a half before traffic finally picks up. It's nearly nine in the evening by the time dad pulls up to Happy Dale. Anna has been sleeping nearly all the way home, only waking now when the car stops.
"We're home little girl." Jumping out of the car, pull open the back door so I can pick her up to take her inside. Dad grabs her seal, the tee shirts and her bag and together we walk to the door. I try opening it but it's locked which is understandable given the time. I push the doorbell and we wait for someone to let us in. My eyes widen when it's Elena who's standing in front of me.
"Thank God you're alright. I heard about the tornado on the news."
"Yeah, it was pretty scary," I admit, rubbing Anna's back gently with my palm.
"Is she okay?" Elena asks, clearly concerned.
"She got pretty scared but dad and I managed to keep her dry. Listen, I'm sorry it's so late but a few cars were overturned and we had to wait for the highway to clear."
"As long as you're safe, I don't care."
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. Please come in." Stepping aside, she holds the door open, allowing us to pass through.
"I can carry her to her room if you lead the way."
"Damon, I'll just wait here for you," dad interrupts.
"I won't be long." Elena leads me into the atrium and out the sliding glass doors, down the path to the building that's near the play area. She pulls the door open, again stepping aside so I can get through. Placing her fingers to her lips, she gestures for me to be quiet as we walk through into the place and up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she goes into the first room on the right. It's pretty big with a twin bed and a full-sized bed.
"Lay her down there," she says, pointing to bigger bed. "I'll let her sleep by me tonight."
"This is your building too?"
"Yes. The, children stay here too but when Carol Lockwood witnessed some of the kids taunts, she said that Anna could bunk with me. Some kids aren't very nice, you know?"
"I hate that." Running my fingers wispily long her cheek, I stooping over to press a little kiss to her hair and whisper goodbye. She stirs just slightly but doesn't open her eyes.
"I should go, dad's waiting."
"I'll walk you to the door." Nodding, I follow her downstairs. She steps outside, pulling the door closed behind her.
"Thank you for doing this for her. I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it but that's okay. I'll see you Tuesday." Unable to take my own eyes off of hers, I lean forward, stopping just before our lips touch. When our eyes meet, I raise my hands to palm her face, pulling her lips to mine. I tilt her head just slightly as our lips mold and slide in perfect harmony with each other. Feeling her tongue tease my lips, I open my mouth, letting our tongues meet as well. Pulling back breathlessly, I raise my fingers to touch my lips, my eyes dancing with joy.
"Goodnight Damon," she whispers.
"Goodnight Elena." Walking backwards, I watch till she steps into the building and closes the door. With a little skip in my step, I turn around to walk back to my dad, remembering now what happiness feels like.
Their first kiss...
Thank you so much Eva so much. Thank you so much for everything you do for me. I love you.
Thank you all so much too for the reviews, follows and favorites. You have no idea how much I appreciate them.
Chapter title: 'Last of the Wilds' by Nightwish.
Consider this, this weeks update. I have a whole slew of work shifts coming up. I have worked twelve hour nights for a long time but I still get the yawnies. I'm always the most tired around five thirty-six thirty in the morning for whatever reason.
I did update 'Rainy Days and Mondays' yesterday. Please give it a look. Remember to click that *review* button.
Happy Thanksgiving to my American Friends. Stay safe and I hope you all have a lovely day. Until next time...