I could feel Vanessa’s eyes on me as I slept and slowly opened my eyes to see her giggle, “Can I help you?”
“Mommy, come on. You have to get ready, we’re going to the zoo!”
“I know we are” I laughed as I sat up and looked at the clock, “But not for a few more hours sweetie, it’s only six o’clock”
“That’s ok, maybe he’ll come early” she shrugged
“No, maybe you should come and lay down with me for a little longer” I corrected her
“But Mommy…”
“Baby please” I held onto her tightly and played with her hair, “He’s not coming for another two hours. We need to rest, we’re going to have a busy day”
“Do you know what he said? He said that I can see the monkeys and that there’s penguins and even bunny rabbits”
“I know, you’ve been to the zoo before sweetie”
“But not this zoo. Justin said it’s the biggest zoo in the whole wide world”
“It is big, I’m excited too”
“I’m gonna pet the Panda and give him a big hug”
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to pet them sweetie”
“Oh” she pouted her lips out, “I’m going to get a big Panda then and so I can give her a big hug”
“We’ll see”
Vanessa let out a deep breath and pulled at the covers, “If I’m good though, right?”
“We’ll see”
“How about… I know! You can call Justin and tell him to come early so we can get there early and see all the animals”
“Vanessa stop. He’s coming at eight o’clock that is plenty early”
“OK” she pouted, “Oh, I know! Let’s get pretty for him. We could make him breakfast”
I laughed and sat up, it’s apparent she’s way too excited to get any more sleep, or to let me get any more sleep, “We’re going to get breakfast on the way. It’s a long drive you know”
She nodded her head even though I know she doesn’t know. She’s going to be asking if we’re there yet as soon as we get on the highway. We probably should have told her we were just going to go on a special trip then she wouldn’t have been so excited, “Why don’t you lay in bed and watch some Dora while I take a shower and get ready”
At quarter of eight Justin knocked on the door. He offered a smile and pulled me into a hug and gave me a kiss on the cheek, “How are you?”
“Good, how are you?” I asked with a chuckle, “You look so tired”
“I’m not used to getting up this early” he laughed
“Oh, I’m sorry, we could have gone later”
“No, it’s cool, I’m excited” he smiled, “You look wide awake”
“She’s been up since six and would not go back to sleep”
“Oh boy”
“She’s very excited”
“He’s here!!!!!!” I heard Vanessa scream as she came running out of her room, as if to prove to him how excited she really is
“What’s up Vanessa?”
“We’re going to the zoo!” she shouted and grabbed onto his hand, “Come on, let’s go”
“Slow down” I said as I walked into the other room, “Where’s your hat?”
“What do you want to see first?” Justin asked as he twirled Vanessa in his arms
“Pandas!”
“Yeah, pandas. What about… the elephants”
“Yeah!”
“Gorillas?”
“YEAH!” she shouted even louder and Justin laughed. He’s getting her so worked up but he’s so good with her.
“Alright, calm down Booboo, it’s a long drive” I said as I locked the door and followed Vanessa and Justin down the steps. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw him holding tightly on her hand talking about all the different animals they wanted to see. He’s so good with her.
“Mommy. There’s TVs” Vanessa shouted as she sat down in the back seat of Justin’s Escalade.
“I see, wow” I smiled as I buckled her in and looked at the small screens in the back of the front seats, “You good?”
“Good, let’s go!”
I sat down in the passenger’s seat and Justin turned around and faced Vanessa, “Alright, Happy Feet, Meet the Robinson’s, or Shrek the Third” he asked holding up the three DVDs
“Meet the Robinson’s!”
“Not Shrek?” he asked
“No” she shook her head
“But that’s my movie Vanessa” he chuckled, “I’m in it”
“No suh”
“I am. Don’t you want to see it?” she shook her head and Justin threw his head back as he laughed, “It’s good. I’m good in it, I’m really funny”
“No” she giggled
“You’re going to make him sad Vanessa” I tried to hide the smile on my face
“You are, I might cry. I worked really hard on that”
Vanessa watched him carefully, “OK, we’ll watch Shrek”
“No, it’s ok” Justin laughed, “Meet the Robinson’s is good” he handed her a pair of huge headphones, “These are for you”
I laughed as she put them over her ears, they’re so big and she looks so adorable, “Aww, I need to take a picture”
We drove to a Dunkin Donuts and Justin pulled through the drive thru, “What do you want?”
“I’ll have an everything bagel with cream cheese and…”
“Chamomile with honey and lemon” he finished for me
“Yes, thank you” I smiled and turned to Vanessa, “What do you want Booboo?” she ignored me completely, she’s too focused on the movie,
“Vanessa” I waved my hand and she still just watched the movie. Justin laughed and paused the video
“Hey”
“Hey” I laughed, “What do you want for breakfast?”
“Jelly Doughnut!”
“Uh… I don’t think so sweetie, you’re going to get it all over the place”
“It’s fine” Justin spoke up
“No, you have leather seats, she’ll get jelly all over the place”
“No I won’t”
“It’s ok, it’ll wipe right off” Justin smiled, “What about a drink?”
“Chocolate milk!”
“Alright!” he shouted back with a chuckle as he turned the movie back on
“Will you let me pay for anything?” he gave me a look and I laughed, “Is that a no?”
“It’s a no sweetie”
“Well thank you”
“You’re very welcome”
I definitely did not expect the ride to San Diego to be so relaxing. Vanessa was quietly watching the movie the whole way; I plan on installing some televisions in my car in the near future. Justin and I had a chance to talk about everything. We talk a lot, we have been talking for a while, but there’s never a shortage of words with him. We always have something to say to each other, and I always end up laughing and having a great time. He’s really a great guy and I feel so comfortable around him, like I’ve known him forever. I can be goofy or serious and he gets goofy or serious with me.
Justin was holding Vanessa up so she could see the polar bears when I snuck away. He paid for everything and I know he obviously has money, a hell of a lot more than I do, but I still feel bad about him paying for everything. I came back a few minutes later with two sodas for us and chocolate milk for Vanessa.
“Mommy! Look, he’s coming closer!” she screamed as the polar beer came swimming over to the glass
“Whoa” I smiled
“Ahh!” Justin said as he held his hands up against the glass window and put his face up close, making a face causing Vanessa to laugh as if it were the funniest thing she had ever seen, “He’s going to bite me!”
“Nooo he’s not” Vanessa giggled
“How do you know?” he asked seriously
“Cause there’s glass silly” she answered as she continued laughing.
“Ohhh… ok” Justin laughed
“Here Booboo,” I handed her the chocolate milk. She grabbed it from my hands and went right back to watching the polar bears, “Is Coke ok?”
He gave me a look as he grabbed it from my hand, “Does it make you feel better?”
“What?” I asked with a smile
“Buying me this, does it make you feel better?”
“Yes”
“Alright then, thank you” he smiled as he took a sip, “Ahh”
“It’s good, right?” I laughed
“Just what I needed” he smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist and we followed Vanessa to the monkeys
“Look Mommy, they’re eatin’”
“What are they eating?”
“Banana nanas” she giggled
“Owwoww ahhahh” Justin made monkey sounds and Vanessa looked around. He stopped when she looked at him and then started again when she looked away. Justin laughed when she caught him and then started scratching his head and belly like a monkey. Vanessa laughed as if she had never seen anything that funny before in her life. He’s adorable; he’s such a goof.
Justin walked to Vanessa and pretended to be picking bugs from her hair like the monkeys do, “Stop” she laughed and then started acting like a monkey herself. Before I knew it the three of us were dancing around in front of the monkey cages like complete idiots. I’ve never had that much fun in my life.
“Let’s throw Mommy in with the monkeys” Justin said as he grabbed onto my arm as if he were going to push me into the cage
“Nooo” Vanessa giggled
“Why not? She’d make a good monkey”
“Noo” she giggled again
“How about we throw Justin in?” I asked as I managed to get my arm out of his grip and started to push him toward the cage
“Noo”
“How about we throw Vanessa in?” Justin asked
“Yeah, that sounds good” I said as Justin picked her up
“NOOO!!!!” she screamed while giggling.
“But I thought monkeys were your favorite” Justin stopped, still holding her in his arms
“Yeah, but I don’t wanna be one!”
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