“Listen,” I say as I pull the sunshade over Bentley’s stroller. “I want to show Bentley all the animals at the zoo. Elephants, tigers, giraffes, and badgers.”
“Thank you,” Demi says, smiling at me and tossing a look at Cal.
“Even though they’re jerks,” Cal mumbles, and Zane chuckles.
“They’re not jerks!” Demi argues. “They eat fruit.”
“And squirrels,” Cal adds.
“They can also run up to twenty miles per hour,” she says.
“Making it easier for them to attack. Because they’re jerks,” Cal says, and Demi groans. Zane laughs, and I start walking.
“Let’s go, guys. We have a lot to see and not a lot of time,” I say.
“What are you talking about?” Zane asks. “The zoo closes at five.”
“And Bentley gets grumpy around two,” I say. “And you do not want to be around when that happens.”
“You heard her,” Zane says. “We’re on the clock, boys and girls, now move!”
Bentley is having a great time, even though the only animal he is interested in is the seagulls, and they aren’t even a part of the zoo. Zane is holding him and pointing out the giraffes, orangutans, and badgers, but all Bentley wants to watch are those birds. It is funny watching one of them aggressively try to steal some lady’s sandwich.
“Bentley, Bentley, look,” Zane says. “It’s a lion!”
“I think he likes birds,” Cal says, popping a handful of trail mix in his mouth. He doesn’t eat the M&Ms, because, like Zane, he has to watch what he eats. Demi helps him with the chocolate. Every time he pulls one out of the bag, he hands it to her, and she takes it with a small smile before they return to their normal banter.
“Birds are lame,” Zane says. “Especially those ones.”
“Why don’t we take him to the bird sanctuary?” I suggest.
“Because birds are lame,” Cal parrots Zane’s words.
“I think you guys are lame,” Demi says, snatching another M&M.
“Yeah, but Bentley is one of us,” Zane says, walking closer to the glass of the lion habitat where a male lion is sitting facing away from us. “Isn’t that right, little man?”
The lion turns around slowly to face us, and Bentley’s face goes from uninterested to a whimpering pout, and Zane backs up.
“On second thought, I bet those birds are super underrated,” he says. With that, we move on to the bird section of the zoo.
As it turns out, Bentley is enthralled by the rest of the birds that the zoo has to offer, especially the African Spoonbill and the Black Crowned Crane. Not that I’m shocked. Any kid who thinks seagulls are cool will obviously be super into birds with a spazzy yellow mohawk.
“Check it out, Little Man,” Zane says, pointing in the air. “That one is a vulture. It eats squirrels.”
“Maybe it’s friends with the badger,” Cal nods at Demi with a smirk. She tosses him a look, and he walks over to Zane, leaving Demi and I sitting towards the back.
“He’s really amazing,” Demi says quietly with a smile.
“Who? Cal? Do you like him?” I ask.
“What? No! I meant Zane. He’s amazing with Bentley,” she says.
“Oh, right,” I nod, and then I smile too. “Yeah, he really is. It’s wild considering that just a couple of weeks ago he didn’t even know he was a dad.”
“It’s so crazy,” Demi says. “What kind of mom would just drop him off on Zane’s doorstep? Is there any update on that? If she comes back into the picture, can she take him back?”
“Well, considering she literally abandoned him, I think there would be legal repercussions she would have to face,” I say. “But as far as I know, she hasn’t come back around.”
