A Hiccup in Time Ch. 16
Disclaimer. Still don't own them and still not making a profit from my stories.
Warning: Language as usual.
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Previously:As he sat back and enjoyed the ride, the one thing Dean really want to do was buy one of those disposable cameras at the zoo and take some pictures to remember the day in years to come.
By the time that John had parked the Impala at the front entrance of the Great Plains Zoo, Sammy was practically bouncing in his carseat with excitement. He had chattered non stop during the ninety minute ride about all the things he wanted to see and do while they were at the zoo. Once John finally opened his door, he said, "Hurry daddy, I's ready to see all da aminals" as he waited for his daddy to reach in and get him out of his carseat.
"Jeez, you sure are excited aren't you tiger?" John laughed as he unbuckled the safety belt and Sammy literally threw himself forward into his arms. "Those animals aren't going anywhere kiddo."
"But dey's been waiting a long time to see me daddy, so we gots to hurry up." Sammy informed his dad with a serious expression. Surely his dad knew that.
"Oh they have have they? Well let's just get you in there then." John said as he hoisted Sammy onto his right hip and started towards the entrance to the zoo with Bobby and Dean walking right beside him.
"So what do you wanna see first Sammy?" Dean asked as he reached over and ruffled his baby brother's hair.
"Da monkeys!" Sammy yelled with excitement as Bobby pulled out the money required to cover their entrance into the zoo and paid the teller.
"The monkey's it is then." John said with a grin as he reached over to tickle Sammy on the stomach.
"Daddddy stopppp." Sammy giggled as he tried to bat John's hand away but was unable to do so.
"Look Dean, I think I have a monkey right here in my arms." John said as he continued to tickle Sammy making sure to keep a tight grip on his squirming youngest. "Doesn't he look like a monkey to you?"
"He sure does" Dean replied with a laugh himself. "All he needs is the long tail and then we won't be able to tell him apart from all the other monkeys." Dean said as the arrived at the monkey enclosure. Glancing towards Sammy, he saw the way his baby brother was captivated at the scene before them.
"Just look at em Deanie, ain't they sumfin?" Sammy questioned as his mouth hung open watching all of the monkeys playing in the trees. He stared in amazement as he watched one swinging from tree to tree."
"They sure are squirt." Dean replied as he pointed out the monkey eating the banana near the fence to his baby brother.
"Deanie, why they haves to stay in da cage?" Sammy asked hating that the monkeys were kept behind bars.
"So that they can be safe Sammy. If they got out, they might climb in with the elephants and accidentally get stepped on." Dean replied.
"Oh" Sammy replied easily accepting the explanation as being the truth.
"Hey Sammy, you and daddy stand right here and I'll take your pictures." Dean said as he pulled out the disposable camera he had bought earlier thinking of it's blackmail value later.
"But I wants you to be in da picture too and Uncle Bobby." Sammy pouted as he looked at his older brother with a pleading expression.
"Sir if you'd like, I'll take the picture so you all can be in it." stated a female zoo worker who had happened to be just behind them at the time.
"Uh sure." replied Dean as he handed over the camera and stood beside his dad and Sammy with Bobby standing on the other side. After the picture was snapped he accepted back the camera and thanked the worker for her help.
"Hey tiger, what do you say we go see the elephants now?" Bobby inquired as he noticed the sign pointing toward the elephant enclosure.
"Otay Uncle Bobby." Sammy replied with a grin as he reached out for the older hunter to take him in his arms. Bobby reached out and took Sammy and placed him on his own hip as they started walking down the trail. Once they made it to the elephant exhibit. Bobby told Sammy about the different ways they used their trunks for things such as eating and bathing. He had just pointed out the elephant that was taking a bath when Sammy noticed a pair of elephants on the other side of the elephant compound.
"Uncle Bobby, what's they doing?" he asked as he pointed to a set of elephants where the male had mounted the female from the back and was currently mating with it.
"Uh, well…" Bobby sputtered as his face turned red trying to figure out what to say to the youngest Winchester. He couldn't exactly say they were having sex now could he.
"They're trying to make baby elephants." John answered with a laugh at the embarrassment on Bobby's face as he heard the grizzled hunter mutter something about "perverted pachyderms."
"Can I have a baby elwephant?" Sammy inquired as he looked at John with his soulful puppy dog eyes.
"Afraid not kiddo, it wouldn't fit in the Impala." John explained as the logical reason for not allowing Sammy to have one.
"Kay daddy, can we go see da horseys now?" Sammy asked seeing a picture of a black and white horse painted on a sign.
"Those aren't horseys Sammy, those are zebra's" Dean explained as he reached out and took Sammy and they all walked to where the zebras were. They were all taking turns doing the carrying so nobody would get tired of holding the youngest of their group. Reading the small sign he told Sammy about the zebras and the things they liked to eat. He was going to mention going to see the lions, when he saw the sign for the petting zoo. Hey Sammy, how about we go to the petting zoo where you can be feed some of the animals and pet them too. Would you like that munchkin?"
"Pwease can we go daddy? I wanna feeds da aminals. Sammy asked as he bounced with excitement in Dean's arms and looked over at his father.
"Sure tiger, anything you want." John replied as they started off towards the petting zoo. Arriving at the enclosure, the first thing Sammy saw was some lop eared bunny rabbits running around on the ground.
"Puts me down Deanie, I wants to pets da bunnies." Sammy hollered as he tried to push away from his brother in his eagerness to get to the furry little white tailed creatures.
"Whoa, slow down there little man." Dean said as he gripped Sammy a little tighter to keep him from falling. Finding the perfect spot to sit, he sat on the ground and placed Sammy in his lap as one of the animal handlers picked up a bunny and walked towards them.
"This one is quite gentle and loves to be petted." The man explained with a smile as he carefully placed the bunny in Sammy's lap being careful not to disturb his leg brace.
"Thanks." John replied as he saw the excited expression on Sammy's face as he petted the bunny in his lap. Seeing Sammy pull the bunny in for a hug, John pulled out a camera and snapped a picture just as Sammy cuddled the bunny to his cheek while Dean cuddled his baby brother to his.
"Damn dad, did you have to snap a picture just then?" Dean inquired with a hint of pink on his cheeks having been caught in such a chick flick position.
"Live with it Ace." John replied knowing he wouldn't take anything in the world for just having captured the moment on film even if Dean did find it a bit embarrassing.
"Here Sammy, I got you some food to feed the bunny." Bobby said as he placed some of the rabbit food pellets into Sammy's hand. He watched as Sammy held his hand out to the bunny and the bunny nibbled on the food. He was glad he had thought of buying the rabbit food out of the little machine as the sounds of Sammy's giggles filled the air. The Winchesters and Bobby were so engrossed in watching Sammy that they didn't notice one of the zoo workers walking up to them.
"Uh, excuse me, but we are giving free elephant rides out back if you would like to let the little guy give it a try. One of you could ride with him if you'd like. I'm sure he would love it." the worker said.
"I don't know" John said hesitantly afraid of Sammy possibly getting hurt.
"Pwease Daddy, I wants you to take me for a ride on da elwephant." Sammy pleaded with his father.
"Daddy's too big Sammy, what if Deanie takes you, would that be okay?" John questioned.
"Now wait a minute dad, I didn't say I would…"
Yay, me and Deanie going to ride the elwephant Sammy hollered as he reached his arms up for John to take him. "I wuvs you daddy so much." Sammy said as he kissed his daddy on the cheek. "You're da bestest.
"I love you to Sammy." John replied as he returned the kiss as they all followed the worker outside for the boys to take their ride. John watched as Dean climbed the ladder and sat on the elephant and then he handed Sammy up to the worker at the top of the ladder who placed him carefully in front of Dean. "Hold onto him tight Dean." John instructed as he raised the camera once again and snapped a shot of his two boys riding the elephant as the handler led it around the yard.
"Damn, there goes my ammo with the pictures." thought Dean as he realized he wouldn't be able to pick at Sam with them later since his dad was catching him in the photos too.
Once the ride was over, John decided it was time for them to take a ride on the Savannah Express which would give them a tour of all the African animals at the zoo. "Okay everybody, let's go on over to the train station so we don't miss the last train ride for the day." John stated as he held Sammy against his hip. On their way to the train, they stopped for just a minute to check out the orangutans. "Look Sammy, they're just like the monkeys, only bigger." John explained as he told him about the fun loving animals.
"Yeah Sammy watch…" Dean said as he decided to make a face at the one standing near the fence close to them. Sammy laughed as the orangutan tried to do the same as Dean.
"Cool huh?" Dean questioned as he turned to face Sammy laughing. He was just about to say something else when he suddenly found a furry arm wrapped around him as he was pulled to the cage. "What the hell?" he growled as felt the animal pull him forward and plant a big wet kiss on his face as the other hand reached around and patted him on the ass rather friskily.
'Son of a bitch, I hope that thing was female." Dean grumbled as he used his sleeve to wipe off the kiss to the sound of his dad and Bobby laughing uproariously as they wiped tears from their eyes.
"Aw, that was just too sweet." Bobby said as he busted out laughing again much to the delight of John.
"You wouldn't think so if you were me." Dean informed the man who was so much like a second father to them. "Damn did that thing have bad breath."
Finally arriving at the train station, John asked how long it would be until the next ride. When he was informed it would be another twenty minutes, he decided they had enough time for Sammy to take a ride on the carrousel which was custom-designed and consisted of six horses, three zebras, an elephant, white rhino, gorilla, dolphin, deer, rooster, cheetah, and two panda bears to ride on. "Let's all ride with Sammy." John stated as he allowed Sammy to chose which animal he wanted to sit on. After Sammy chose the deer, John placed him onto it and stood beside him to hold him as Bobby climbed onto the cheetah behind him and Dean climbed onto the dolphin. "Okay, here we go." John stated as the carrousel began to turn and the deer started going up and down. He leaned in and kissed Sammy on the cheek as he asked, "Are you having fun tiger?"
"Uh huh, t'ank you daddy." Sammy replied as he laughed aloud as the went round and round and up and down.
John glanced over to see Bobby getting a little green around the gills. "Uh oh, looks like Bobby's going to be sick." he thought feeling sorry for the man. The ride only lasted a few moments more and then stopped. As John picked Sammy up off the deer, he watched Bobby rush by them and off the ride. He cradled Sammy to his chest as he turned making sure Sammy couldn't see Bobby throwing up into the trashcan.
"You okay there old man?" Dean asked as he walked over and lightly thumped Bobby on the back as Bobby raised his head and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"Just dandy." Bobby replied as he walked over to the nearby water fountain and rinsed his mouth. Damned if he would ever get on another one of those things again.
A few minutes later, they were allowed to board the train and took a seat near the front as they waited for the ride to begin. Sammy snuggled into his daddy's lap and rested his head on John's chest as his head began to feel funny. John brushed a hand through Sammy's hair as he felt Sammy totally relax against him and said, "I know your getting tired tiger, we'll go home soon."
Blinking his eyes a few times, Sam was stunned to find himself on a train like vehicle with his dad and the others. The train had no sooner pulled out of the station when the engineer welcomed them for riding the Savannah Express and started talking about the kinds of animals they would see on the tour. "Holy crap, we're at the zoo thought Sammy as he felt his dad bend down to kiss him on the head. Feeling sentimental, Sam snuggled further into his father's chest and looked up at him with twinkling eyes. "I wuv you daddy." Sam stated allowing everybody to believe he was still little and saw the broad smile that covered his dad's face.
"I love you to kiddo, more than you'll ever know." John replied as he picked Sammy up and cradled him to his chest applying another kiss to Sammy's cheek. Sam relaxed in comfort savoring the feeling of his dad's arms around him as they listened to the train conductor talking about the giraffes and other animals as they made their way along the "African Safari." part of the zoo. He would keep his little secret of returning to Sam until they made their way back to Bobby's place.
When the ride came to an end, John and the others climbed off of the train and headed towards the exit. As John carried his youngest back to the car, he sighed contently thinking that this had truly been one of the best days of his life.
TBC