Page 72 of Rough Hard Fierce (Chicago Underground 1-3)
“What do you think of the zoo?” I asked Colin, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice in case he hated it.
“The zoo.” He nodded.
Bailey had been crawling figure eights around our feet, but now she stopped to look up. “Baba?” she asked.
Colin knelt down where he stood. Bailey pulled herself up by his knee to a stand.
“Want to go to the zoo?” he asked her.
She tapped his knee.
“She probably doesn’t know what that means,” I said.
“Giraffes,” he said. “Elephants.”
“Elphhhhhh,” Bailey said, spraying baby drool into his face.
“Oh!” I grabbed a nearby cloth and wiped him dry. “I’m sorry. I think she’s getting a tooth.”
He looked alarmed.
“Makes her drooly,” I said. “Plus the ‘phhh’ sound.”
“Ah,” he said. He didn’t sound too upset about the baby bath, for which I was thankful.
“Would it be at all possible for you to hang out with her while I get ready?”
At Colin’s nod, I hurried into the kitchen. Packing her bag for a long outing like this would take a while. I needed food and drinks and diapers and wipes and a change of clothes. Oh, and the camera. Crap, was it cha
rged? Had I even unpacked it?
On a whim, I raced up the stairs to get Bailey’s animal flash cards. I handed them to Colin and said, out of breath, “You could show her these if you want.”
Then I was gone, loading the stroller and diaper bag into the car. And I was done. Bravo to me. Already feeling worn-out, I found Colin and Bailey on the living room floor where I’d left them.
“Phant,” Colin said. “El-e-phant.”
“Phhhhhhhhh,” Bailey said. Prepared this time, Colin blocked her easily with a cloth to catch the spray. She giggled.
“Phhhant,” he said.
“Phhhhhooey,” she said, then broke into peals of laughter when he wiped his hand.
“She’s playing you,” I said from the doorway.
He glanced back at me and winked. “I’m a sucker for that laugh.”
Ah, shit.
Stick a fork in me, I was done. Completely, positively, irrevocably in love with him. That too-full feeling closed in on my heart, and my eyes pricked. I turned to face the coat closet just to catch my breath. Oh God, I wanted to keep him.
Bundled and packed, we set off on our zoo adventure. Or as Bailey called it, the “phoooo” with a sprayed exclamation point. I would not be sad when she learned a new sound.
The Lincoln Park Zoo was packed with families. Today was one of the first days of the year that we could spend time outdoors without freezing our fingers off. We wandered over to the lions—“Kitty!”—and then to the seal enclosure. The seals did tricks: clapping, diving, and barking, but there were too many people lined up against the railing to see.
“Up,” Bailey demanded, tugging on a lock of my hair.
“No.” I shook my head.
