RP: Sunday afternoon at the Zoo.
ooc: Completed RP with the wonderful siryn_song. Warning: with the CUTE.
After the whole Death March thing, one of the hardest things that John had to do was face Gillian, who was Ste's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his youngest child, Audrey. And seeing Audrey herself was even harder.
But he'd done it, faced them both. Months ago, as soon as he was able to. It had been rough, but he did the best he could to explain things. Gillian had been mad at first, cried and yelled and tried to punched him and he let her because there's nothing else he could do. He deserved it. But she allowed him to explain, and that seemed to calm her down a little, at least towards him.
And then she turned her anger to the Freedom Force, which made John feel both better and worse, somehow. But Gillian and John worked things out, slowly, and had a tentative friendship now. She told him once, jokingly, that she could give it a try after he allowed her to hit him upside the head with a purse.
And had cried the day John told her they were naming the new shelter the Saj House, after Ste (Stephen Andrew Jones.) But in a good way.
John stayed in contact, and he came by to visit Audrey every once in a while. And Gillian was thrilled when he called her up to see if it was okay if he, and Terry, could take Audrey out for an afternoon. "Free babysitters!" she said happily into the phone. So John made sure they weren't late because he bet Gillian had plans for that Sunday afternoon.
He and Terry walked up the two flights of stairs to Gill and Audrey's apartment, and John knocked. He smiled reassuringly at Terry, who seemed a little quiet and nervous or something. He didn't blame her. From inside, he could hear Gill yelling something at Audrey about getting her jacket, and then a very small, tiny brunette with long curly hair and big brown eyes opened the door.
"John, hi!" she said, somewhat in an excited rush, and ushered them inside. She smiled at Terry. "You must be Theresa Cassidy, so nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand and gave it a quick shake. "I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through," she added, obviously referring to Ste and being very sincere... although her attention was quickly diverted by the young girl that showed herself into the room.
"Mommy, where's my jack--- JOHN! John John John John," Audrey yelled excitedly, bouncing over to John, grabbing his leg into a hug. Audrey was a miniature version of her mother, from the dark curly hair right down to the excess of energy.
She looked over at Terry. "Are you John's girlfriend now?" Audrey asked, a little bluntly. Audrey, only just turned five, while still learning the ways of the world, but was extremely intuitive and remarkably open-minded. She looked at John, little fists on her hips. "But you have boys! Why are you with a girl?"
John looked over at Terry with a bit of an apologetic grimace. "Terry is just my friend. We work together now. Gonna be polite and say hi to her?"
Audrey looked at Terry for a moment, as if still deciding if she should believe that story, and then her face broke into a wide smile. "Hi, Terry! You took me to McDonald's with my Daddy once."
Terry couldn't help but smile when she saw the girl. Even though the memories hurt, and boy did they, she had braced herself for that feeling. This was about spending time with this adorable girl that she'd grown to adore after only once meeting. She needed to enjoy it. Sadness had no place around a bright face like Audrey's.
"Yup! You dragged me into the ballpit and I almost lost my shoe. It was fun."
She looked up at the girl's mother shook her head a little. "Your daughter has a way with people. Thanks, for letting us take her out again."
There was so much more she wanted to say to Gillian, but now was not the time. Today was going to be a happy day.
"Oh, I should be thanking you!" Gillian said, a bright smile. Though, she patted Terry on the arm in a comforting sort of way. They shared something - or, rather, lost it - and she understood. But Audrey was certainly a way to ease the pain. The little girl who could brighten up any room. Still, it was rather nice to be able to go out for the afternoon. "I appreciate you taking her!"
John sensed something there, from Terry. A sadness or something. He got it, he really did. He had to focus on the good stuff in front of him instead of the guilt he carried around inside. It was that, or drown, and he had to work hard at not doing that.
"Okay, kiddo," he said after Gillian found the missing jacket. He handed the Dora the Explorer backpack to Terry to carry, and stuck out his hand for Audrey to take. "Let's get going to that zoo. We wouldn't want to miss the animals."
Audrey shook a finger at John - she really liked to scold him. "They aren't going anywhere, silly!" But she smiled and took his hand. "To the zoo, John and Terry!"
The trip to the zoo was quicker than expected, which probably had to do with Audrey chatting the whole way. About school, about her friends, about the pet she wanted to get. Terry was happy to sit there and listen to her talk, and comment when the girl took a breath. It made her feel better to know Audrey was doing okay. That she was still smiling and laughing and being the sweet little girl Terry had first met.
"What kind of animal would you want if you could have one from a zoo?" Audrey asked her.
"An elephant," Terry responded. "I love elephants. They're gentle and fun and you can ride them."
Audrey looked expectantly at John for his answer.
John answered immediately, "A shark."
Audrey thought about this. "They don't have sharks at zoos, John! They have them at aqua-- aqua--"
"Aquariums?"
"Yes!" Audrey said agreeably. "At those places. With big tanks!" She spread her arms very big, to show just how big those tanks were. "That's not a zoo animal."
"It's like a water zoo?" John suggested.
Audrey shook her head. "Nope. You can't have a shark."
"But Terry can have an elephant?"
"Yes!" Audrey replied, and laughed.
"Fine," John grumbled playfully. "Am I allowed to have... a dragon?"
"JOHN! Those aren't even real."
He shrugged. "Guess I don't get an animal, then."
Audrey wasn't accepting this as an answer. "You need a... um. A... lion! Grrrrrrrroar!"
"You're ridiculous," John said, shaking his head as they arrived at the zoo gates. "Okay, what do you want to see first, ladies?"
"Let's go see the lions," Terry suggested. "Then we can find the one John can take home for his pet."
"No!" Audrey said, waggling a finger as they started walking in the right direction. "You can't take them home!"
"Why not?"
"Because he'll eat you, and your food, and your clothes and your couch! You can't keep a lion," she said, her voice clearly emphasizing a 'duh' at the end.
"What about just a baby?" Terry suggested.
"Lions aren't like kitty cats, Terry," Audrey explained. "They eat stuff!"
"What kind of stuff?"
"ALL kinds of stuff!" Audrey gestured to the whole zoo, as if without the bars keeping them in, the lions would leave the place a barren wasteland with nothing but some bones and maybe fabric if they ran into a couch.
Terry sighed. "Well then it looks like John can't have his lion. Too bad. Hear that John? No sneaking a lion out when Audrey and I aren't looking."
"I'll try my best," John said solemnly.
"Don't try. Do!" Audrey scolded to him. "No taking baby lions. Or big lions. No lions!"
"Gotcha. No lions."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Good," Audrey said, and it looked like she was giving him The Eye. She could probably teach his boyfriends a thing or two. But she was quickly distracted when they actually did approach the lions, and she clapped her hands together and yelled, "Kitty!"
John started, "I thought they weren't--"
Terry cut him off, "--Just leave it, John." She was grinning at Audrey's enthusiasm.
They walked around the zoo a bit, Audrey getting more excited with each exhibit they say. When she couldn't get up high enough to the bears, John hoisted her up onto his hip, and she slipped an arm around his neck and pointed happily at the animals. "They're so nice looking," she said. She glanced at John, "No, you can't steal one of those either."
He laughed. "Never said I wanted one," he said with good-nature. He looked over at Terry and lightly bopped his head against Audrey's. "So, what do you think, girls? Should we find some food?"
"Zoo food!" Audrey cried out excitedly.
"What kind of food is that?" John asked.
Audrey paused for a moment, and there was a deep look of concentration on her face. Then she looked at John, and very seriously said, "Well, I just don't know."
Zoo Food turned out to be pizza and animal crackers. They sat at an outdoor table under a big umbrella, which was nice since the sun was going full power and Terry was already turning pink. While Audrey made up names and voices for the crackers (the zebra and the giraffe were already best friends), Terry and John consulted the map to see what else was left to see.
"I'd like to try one of the indoor exhibits at some point," Terry suggested. "They might even be air conditioned."
"Sounds good," John agreed. When they were done with lunch, and Audrey actually ended up having a massacre with her animals as she bit off their head and growled like a lion, they headed to the Amphibian house.
They walked through the dark building that felt wet and dank and smelt like a swamp, looking through the glass walls. They were glass from top to bottom, so Audrey pressed her face up against it to get a better look.
"Ewww!" she exclaimed at on, pulling away. "That lizard just ate a FLY. Stuck his tongue out and everything!"
"I used to know a guy who would do that," John said conversationally, though it seemed to pop out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about it. "He used to be good for getting rid of bugs in the house."
"Ewww! Why?"
John shrugged. "That's just he way he was. It was part of his power." John sounded rather blaze about that-- Toad might be one motherfucking asshole, but that was just his personality. There was nothing wrong with a mutant.
"Oh," Audrey said, as if that explained everything and made eating the bugs perfectly acceptable. "Then that's okay. My daddy had powers and I might some day."
John glanced at Terry and their eyes met. "Yeah, you might," John agreed softly. "You want that?"
"I want to FLY!" Audrey said, running around with her arms out to the side like an airplane. She didn't seem to be upset with the mention of her father, but it could be that her child's mind just wasn't accepting or connecting to what happened. Gillian had mentioned before she was doing pretty well, though she occasionally mentioned missing her Dad's bedtime stories. John sort of envied Audrey's child like innocence and lack of pain the kid felt; or, at least, the different kind of pain, he supposed.
Audrey continued on, as if nothing was wrong, "It would be fun and I could fly to Disney World whenever I wanted!"
John laughed. "Yeah, you could. Come on, goober," he said, reaching out his hand to her and they all walked along to the next exhibit. "Terry and I have a friend who can fly, maybe he'll take you sometime."
That news seemed to please Audrey, who made whooshing noises and alternated ducking and going up on her toes as they walked around.
Terry watched her, feeling herself smile even with the subject of the conversation. Seeing that Audrey was okay, more than okay, she was happy, was a big weight off Terry's shoulders. It even made it a little bit easier to think about Ste. At least in regards to his family. John was looking at her while trying to appear like he wasn't. Anyone who glanced at him would think his attention was directed entirely at Audrey, but she could see the way he kept peeking at her from the corner of his eye. Probably wanted to give her some space, but still make sure she was alright. Terry looked at him and made a silly face, and he smiled back at her.
"I wanna see the bats!" Audrey announced when she was tired of whooshing.
Terry made another face.
Audrey ran back to where they were lagging behind, silly grownups, and took them each by the hand, determined to drag them there.
Terry leaned over to mutter in John's ear. "I'm a step away from stealing your hoodie."
"I don't know about that," John said, winking. "I kinda like it."
Automatically, a scolding, "John, be nice!"
"Sorry, Audrey." John winked at Terry.
They went and saw the bats. And then the elephants, and Terry took Audrey for a ride while John took photos with his cell phone. Audrey clapped her together and laughed as the big, slow animal made it's circles.
"You guys stink," John told them when they were done. He got two scoldings then. Audrey stood there with her little fists on her hips, and Terry went to swat at him, but he caught her hand, and threw his arm around her shoulder. "You're lucky I love you anyway."
Audrey broke into a smile at that. "See? You CAN be nice. Sometimes."
Terry smiled. "John's a sweetheart when he wants to be."
They kept walking, John and Terry starting to slow down, but Audrey had just as much energy as she did when they started.
"Look! A maze! Come on, let's crawl through the maze. We'll be like ants in an anthill!" The maze was more about a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, and as you go the maze gets bigger and taller. But still not tall enough for a grown person to get through without hitting their head repeatedly. Clearly the maze was geared towards children, as a learning tool.
Terry pointed out a height sign, with a little caterpillar holding out his hand. "I think we're too tall for this. You want to try it yourself?"
Audrey thought for a moment, looking between the maze and her companions.
"Will you behave while I'm gone?" she asked.
Terry put her hand over her heart. "Promise!" She nudged John.
"Oh, right, absolutely," John said, following Terry's moves. "Promise."
They watched as Audrey disappeared into the maze, and John smiled as he heard her laugh. He glanced over at Terry, who was also smiling. This had been a good day so far, even when the subject of Ste came up, it hadn't bothered him as much as he thought it might. He was concerned about Terry though, and wondered what she thought and felt about it, but it would be an asshole-ish thing for him to bring it up , wouldn't it?
Instead, they kept an eye out for Audrey, and chatted lightly about the weather and the animals they saw. And they laughed at the one older lady who had said "they had a beautiful daughter!"
"So how was that turkey baster anyway?" John said lightly, and got a swat across the shoulder as Theresa rolled her eyes at him.
Audrey came out of the maze, running at them and talking a mile a minute, and John scooped her up as she practically lunged at him.
"And then it turned into a BUTTERFLY and it was pretty and it's wings did this-" she flapped her arms out to the side, nearly hitting John in the face, "- and then it was all grown up and I will be too but not with wings."
"No, not with wings," John agreed. He glanced at his watch, and looked over Theresa, and he sorta wondered if this was about to create a tantrum. "Look, kiddo, I think it's time to start heading home. Your mom is probably expecting us."
"I want to tell her about the lions ROAR!" Audrey said loudly, and seemed perfectly content with John's decision to start leaving. Which John was grateful for. "And the elephants. And the butterflies with their wings!"
"I think she'd love to hear it," John nodded, and set Audrey down on the ground. "Let's head her out then."
Audrey paused, and looked from John to Terry and back to John again.
"Yes?" John prompted.
Audrey answered, ever so politely, "May we go to the gift shop, please?"
John had to bite back laughter. "Yes, Audrey," he said just as politely, "I think we can do that."
"YAY!" she exclaimed loudly, jumping up and down.
They hit the gift shop, which was conveniently located so that you had to walk through it in order to leave. Audrey picked herself out a stuffed giraffe, then an elephant for Terry and a lion for John.
"Rawr! That's for you," she said. "You can keep this one, because he won't eat you. He's a nice kitty." She pet the stuffed lion to prove her point.
The trip back to Audrey's home was just as quick, with the first half spent playing with the animals, and the second half with Audrey sprawled across Terry's lap, asleep.
Terry stroked the little girl's hair soothingly as she slept. It was getting easier. Perhaps if Audrey looked more like her father this would hurt. And it does, to a degree. But more than anything, she's happy that she's okay. It's a quiet happiness. But it's there.
"Come on Audrey," she whispered. "Time to go. You're home."
Audrey stirred a bit, swatted her little hand, and went back to sleep.
John and Terry exchanged smiles, and John scooped the child up in his arms.
"It's been a long day," Terry said.
"But a good one," John added. Audrey nodded, but put her head on John's shoulder, and was mostly asleep again as they walked back up to the apartment.
Gill let them in, and was all around glad to see them, and seemed to be in a very content mood herself. Audrey woke up then as she shuffled into her Mother's arms, which was kinda funny because Gill was a very small woman and Audrey really was, at the age, able to be standing herself. John and Terry said their goodbyes, and John promised to call Gill again soon, and by the sounds of it, he was going to get roped into an entire weekend of babysitting Audrey - not that he minded at all. He'd just have to double check with the boys to see if they minded an energetic five year old hanging around.
Outside on the sidewalk, John stuck out his elbow for Terry. "I'm seeing you home," he said, kindly but in a 'I'm not taking no for an answer' sort of way. They walked along, and John glanced at her. "We'll have to do something like that again, yeah?"
Terry grinned. "Absolutely."
After the whole Death March thing, one of the hardest things that John had to do was face Gillian, who was Ste's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his youngest child, Audrey. And seeing Audrey herself was even harder.
But he'd done it, faced them both. Months ago, as soon as he was able to. It had been rough, but he did the best he could to explain things. Gillian had been mad at first, cried and yelled and tried to punched him and he let her because there's nothing else he could do. He deserved it. But she allowed him to explain, and that seemed to calm her down a little, at least towards him.
And then she turned her anger to the Freedom Force, which made John feel both better and worse, somehow. But Gillian and John worked things out, slowly, and had a tentative friendship now. She told him once, jokingly, that she could give it a try after he allowed her to hit him upside the head with a purse.
And had cried the day John told her they were naming the new shelter the Saj House, after Ste (Stephen Andrew Jones.) But in a good way.
John stayed in contact, and he came by to visit Audrey every once in a while. And Gillian was thrilled when he called her up to see if it was okay if he, and Terry, could take Audrey out for an afternoon. "Free babysitters!" she said happily into the phone. So John made sure they weren't late because he bet Gillian had plans for that Sunday afternoon.
He and Terry walked up the two flights of stairs to Gill and Audrey's apartment, and John knocked. He smiled reassuringly at Terry, who seemed a little quiet and nervous or something. He didn't blame her. From inside, he could hear Gill yelling something at Audrey about getting her jacket, and then a very small, tiny brunette with long curly hair and big brown eyes opened the door.
"John, hi!" she said, somewhat in an excited rush, and ushered them inside. She smiled at Terry. "You must be Theresa Cassidy, so nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand and gave it a quick shake. "I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through," she added, obviously referring to Ste and being very sincere... although her attention was quickly diverted by the young girl that showed herself into the room.
"Mommy, where's my jack--- JOHN! John John John John," Audrey yelled excitedly, bouncing over to John, grabbing his leg into a hug. Audrey was a miniature version of her mother, from the dark curly hair right down to the excess of energy.
She looked over at Terry. "Are you John's girlfriend now?" Audrey asked, a little bluntly. Audrey, only just turned five, while still learning the ways of the world, but was extremely intuitive and remarkably open-minded. She looked at John, little fists on her hips. "But you have boys! Why are you with a girl?"
John looked over at Terry with a bit of an apologetic grimace. "Terry is just my friend. We work together now. Gonna be polite and say hi to her?"
Audrey looked at Terry for a moment, as if still deciding if she should believe that story, and then her face broke into a wide smile. "Hi, Terry! You took me to McDonald's with my Daddy once."
Terry couldn't help but smile when she saw the girl. Even though the memories hurt, and boy did they, she had braced herself for that feeling. This was about spending time with this adorable girl that she'd grown to adore after only once meeting. She needed to enjoy it. Sadness had no place around a bright face like Audrey's.
"Yup! You dragged me into the ballpit and I almost lost my shoe. It was fun."
She looked up at the girl's mother shook her head a little. "Your daughter has a way with people. Thanks, for letting us take her out again."
There was so much more she wanted to say to Gillian, but now was not the time. Today was going to be a happy day.
"Oh, I should be thanking you!" Gillian said, a bright smile. Though, she patted Terry on the arm in a comforting sort of way. They shared something - or, rather, lost it - and she understood. But Audrey was certainly a way to ease the pain. The little girl who could brighten up any room. Still, it was rather nice to be able to go out for the afternoon. "I appreciate you taking her!"
John sensed something there, from Terry. A sadness or something. He got it, he really did. He had to focus on the good stuff in front of him instead of the guilt he carried around inside. It was that, or drown, and he had to work hard at not doing that.
"Okay, kiddo," he said after Gillian found the missing jacket. He handed the Dora the Explorer backpack to Terry to carry, and stuck out his hand for Audrey to take. "Let's get going to that zoo. We wouldn't want to miss the animals."
Audrey shook a finger at John - she really liked to scold him. "They aren't going anywhere, silly!" But she smiled and took his hand. "To the zoo, John and Terry!"
The trip to the zoo was quicker than expected, which probably had to do with Audrey chatting the whole way. About school, about her friends, about the pet she wanted to get. Terry was happy to sit there and listen to her talk, and comment when the girl took a breath. It made her feel better to know Audrey was doing okay. That she was still smiling and laughing and being the sweet little girl Terry had first met.
"What kind of animal would you want if you could have one from a zoo?" Audrey asked her.
"An elephant," Terry responded. "I love elephants. They're gentle and fun and you can ride them."
Audrey looked expectantly at John for his answer.
John answered immediately, "A shark."
Audrey thought about this. "They don't have sharks at zoos, John! They have them at aqua-- aqua--"
"Aquariums?"
"Yes!" Audrey said agreeably. "At those places. With big tanks!" She spread her arms very big, to show just how big those tanks were. "That's not a zoo animal."
"It's like a water zoo?" John suggested.
Audrey shook her head. "Nope. You can't have a shark."
"But Terry can have an elephant?"
"Yes!" Audrey replied, and laughed.
"Fine," John grumbled playfully. "Am I allowed to have... a dragon?"
"JOHN! Those aren't even real."
He shrugged. "Guess I don't get an animal, then."
Audrey wasn't accepting this as an answer. "You need a... um. A... lion! Grrrrrrrroar!"
"You're ridiculous," John said, shaking his head as they arrived at the zoo gates. "Okay, what do you want to see first, ladies?"
"Let's go see the lions," Terry suggested. "Then we can find the one John can take home for his pet."
"No!" Audrey said, waggling a finger as they started walking in the right direction. "You can't take them home!"
"Why not?"
"Because he'll eat you, and your food, and your clothes and your couch! You can't keep a lion," she said, her voice clearly emphasizing a 'duh' at the end.
"What about just a baby?" Terry suggested.
"Lions aren't like kitty cats, Terry," Audrey explained. "They eat stuff!"
"What kind of stuff?"
"ALL kinds of stuff!" Audrey gestured to the whole zoo, as if without the bars keeping them in, the lions would leave the place a barren wasteland with nothing but some bones and maybe fabric if they ran into a couch.
Terry sighed. "Well then it looks like John can't have his lion. Too bad. Hear that John? No sneaking a lion out when Audrey and I aren't looking."
"I'll try my best," John said solemnly.
"Don't try. Do!" Audrey scolded to him. "No taking baby lions. Or big lions. No lions!"
"Gotcha. No lions."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Good," Audrey said, and it looked like she was giving him The Eye. She could probably teach his boyfriends a thing or two. But she was quickly distracted when they actually did approach the lions, and she clapped her hands together and yelled, "Kitty!"
John started, "I thought they weren't--"
Terry cut him off, "--Just leave it, John." She was grinning at Audrey's enthusiasm.
They walked around the zoo a bit, Audrey getting more excited with each exhibit they say. When she couldn't get up high enough to the bears, John hoisted her up onto his hip, and she slipped an arm around his neck and pointed happily at the animals. "They're so nice looking," she said. She glanced at John, "No, you can't steal one of those either."
He laughed. "Never said I wanted one," he said with good-nature. He looked over at Terry and lightly bopped his head against Audrey's. "So, what do you think, girls? Should we find some food?"
"Zoo food!" Audrey cried out excitedly.
"What kind of food is that?" John asked.
Audrey paused for a moment, and there was a deep look of concentration on her face. Then she looked at John, and very seriously said, "Well, I just don't know."
Zoo Food turned out to be pizza and animal crackers. They sat at an outdoor table under a big umbrella, which was nice since the sun was going full power and Terry was already turning pink. While Audrey made up names and voices for the crackers (the zebra and the giraffe were already best friends), Terry and John consulted the map to see what else was left to see.
"I'd like to try one of the indoor exhibits at some point," Terry suggested. "They might even be air conditioned."
"Sounds good," John agreed. When they were done with lunch, and Audrey actually ended up having a massacre with her animals as she bit off their head and growled like a lion, they headed to the Amphibian house.
They walked through the dark building that felt wet and dank and smelt like a swamp, looking through the glass walls. They were glass from top to bottom, so Audrey pressed her face up against it to get a better look.
"Ewww!" she exclaimed at on, pulling away. "That lizard just ate a FLY. Stuck his tongue out and everything!"
"I used to know a guy who would do that," John said conversationally, though it seemed to pop out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about it. "He used to be good for getting rid of bugs in the house."
"Ewww! Why?"
John shrugged. "That's just he way he was. It was part of his power." John sounded rather blaze about that-- Toad might be one motherfucking asshole, but that was just his personality. There was nothing wrong with a mutant.
"Oh," Audrey said, as if that explained everything and made eating the bugs perfectly acceptable. "Then that's okay. My daddy had powers and I might some day."
John glanced at Terry and their eyes met. "Yeah, you might," John agreed softly. "You want that?"
"I want to FLY!" Audrey said, running around with her arms out to the side like an airplane. She didn't seem to be upset with the mention of her father, but it could be that her child's mind just wasn't accepting or connecting to what happened. Gillian had mentioned before she was doing pretty well, though she occasionally mentioned missing her Dad's bedtime stories. John sort of envied Audrey's child like innocence and lack of pain the kid felt; or, at least, the different kind of pain, he supposed.
Audrey continued on, as if nothing was wrong, "It would be fun and I could fly to Disney World whenever I wanted!"
John laughed. "Yeah, you could. Come on, goober," he said, reaching out his hand to her and they all walked along to the next exhibit. "Terry and I have a friend who can fly, maybe he'll take you sometime."
That news seemed to please Audrey, who made whooshing noises and alternated ducking and going up on her toes as they walked around.
Terry watched her, feeling herself smile even with the subject of the conversation. Seeing that Audrey was okay, more than okay, she was happy, was a big weight off Terry's shoulders. It even made it a little bit easier to think about Ste. At least in regards to his family. John was looking at her while trying to appear like he wasn't. Anyone who glanced at him would think his attention was directed entirely at Audrey, but she could see the way he kept peeking at her from the corner of his eye. Probably wanted to give her some space, but still make sure she was alright. Terry looked at him and made a silly face, and he smiled back at her.
"I wanna see the bats!" Audrey announced when she was tired of whooshing.
Terry made another face.
Audrey ran back to where they were lagging behind, silly grownups, and took them each by the hand, determined to drag them there.
Terry leaned over to mutter in John's ear. "I'm a step away from stealing your hoodie."
"I don't know about that," John said, winking. "I kinda like it."
Automatically, a scolding, "John, be nice!"
"Sorry, Audrey." John winked at Terry.
They went and saw the bats. And then the elephants, and Terry took Audrey for a ride while John took photos with his cell phone. Audrey clapped her together and laughed as the big, slow animal made it's circles.
"You guys stink," John told them when they were done. He got two scoldings then. Audrey stood there with her little fists on her hips, and Terry went to swat at him, but he caught her hand, and threw his arm around her shoulder. "You're lucky I love you anyway."
Audrey broke into a smile at that. "See? You CAN be nice. Sometimes."
Terry smiled. "John's a sweetheart when he wants to be."
They kept walking, John and Terry starting to slow down, but Audrey had just as much energy as she did when they started.
"Look! A maze! Come on, let's crawl through the maze. We'll be like ants in an anthill!" The maze was more about a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, and as you go the maze gets bigger and taller. But still not tall enough for a grown person to get through without hitting their head repeatedly. Clearly the maze was geared towards children, as a learning tool.
Terry pointed out a height sign, with a little caterpillar holding out his hand. "I think we're too tall for this. You want to try it yourself?"
Audrey thought for a moment, looking between the maze and her companions.
"Will you behave while I'm gone?" she asked.
Terry put her hand over her heart. "Promise!" She nudged John.
"Oh, right, absolutely," John said, following Terry's moves. "Promise."
They watched as Audrey disappeared into the maze, and John smiled as he heard her laugh. He glanced over at Terry, who was also smiling. This had been a good day so far, even when the subject of Ste came up, it hadn't bothered him as much as he thought it might. He was concerned about Terry though, and wondered what she thought and felt about it, but it would be an asshole-ish thing for him to bring it up , wouldn't it?
Instead, they kept an eye out for Audrey, and chatted lightly about the weather and the animals they saw. And they laughed at the one older lady who had said "they had a beautiful daughter!"
"So how was that turkey baster anyway?" John said lightly, and got a swat across the shoulder as Theresa rolled her eyes at him.
Audrey came out of the maze, running at them and talking a mile a minute, and John scooped her up as she practically lunged at him.
"And then it turned into a BUTTERFLY and it was pretty and it's wings did this-" she flapped her arms out to the side, nearly hitting John in the face, "- and then it was all grown up and I will be too but not with wings."
"No, not with wings," John agreed. He glanced at his watch, and looked over Theresa, and he sorta wondered if this was about to create a tantrum. "Look, kiddo, I think it's time to start heading home. Your mom is probably expecting us."
"I want to tell her about the lions ROAR!" Audrey said loudly, and seemed perfectly content with John's decision to start leaving. Which John was grateful for. "And the elephants. And the butterflies with their wings!"
"I think she'd love to hear it," John nodded, and set Audrey down on the ground. "Let's head her out then."
Audrey paused, and looked from John to Terry and back to John again.
"Yes?" John prompted.
Audrey answered, ever so politely, "May we go to the gift shop, please?"
John had to bite back laughter. "Yes, Audrey," he said just as politely, "I think we can do that."
"YAY!" she exclaimed loudly, jumping up and down.
They hit the gift shop, which was conveniently located so that you had to walk through it in order to leave. Audrey picked herself out a stuffed giraffe, then an elephant for Terry and a lion for John.
"Rawr! That's for you," she said. "You can keep this one, because he won't eat you. He's a nice kitty." She pet the stuffed lion to prove her point.
The trip back to Audrey's home was just as quick, with the first half spent playing with the animals, and the second half with Audrey sprawled across Terry's lap, asleep.
Terry stroked the little girl's hair soothingly as she slept. It was getting easier. Perhaps if Audrey looked more like her father this would hurt. And it does, to a degree. But more than anything, she's happy that she's okay. It's a quiet happiness. But it's there.
"Come on Audrey," she whispered. "Time to go. You're home."
Audrey stirred a bit, swatted her little hand, and went back to sleep.
John and Terry exchanged smiles, and John scooped the child up in his arms.
"It's been a long day," Terry said.
"But a good one," John added. Audrey nodded, but put her head on John's shoulder, and was mostly asleep again as they walked back up to the apartment.
Gill let them in, and was all around glad to see them, and seemed to be in a very content mood herself. Audrey woke up then as she shuffled into her Mother's arms, which was kinda funny because Gill was a very small woman and Audrey really was, at the age, able to be standing herself. John and Terry said their goodbyes, and John promised to call Gill again soon, and by the sounds of it, he was going to get roped into an entire weekend of babysitting Audrey - not that he minded at all. He'd just have to double check with the boys to see if they minded an energetic five year old hanging around.
Outside on the sidewalk, John stuck out his elbow for Terry. "I'm seeing you home," he said, kindly but in a 'I'm not taking no for an answer' sort of way. They walked along, and John glanced at her. "We'll have to do something like that again, yeah?"
Terry grinned. "Absolutely."