Page 80 of The Cost of Love

“You’ve seen pictures.”

“I want to see your bedroom.” I wiggle my eyebrows, causing her to laugh.

“I don’t even have a real bed yet.”

“I can fix that.”

She rolls her eyes and stands up to throw her trash out. The rest follow her lead, and soon they’re all just watching me.

“So, I thought we could go to the London Zoo,” I say, popping up.

Gabby cheers, and Jamal frowns, crossing his arms.

“You know you can’t buy our approval,” he says, sounding like his sister.

“He can buy mine,” Imani says, stepping in front of him. “In fact, let’s go to a furniture shop. I need a full-length mirror and a bookshelf.”

Chanice shoots me a look, making it clear that is not a real request. If up to me, I would furnish the entire place, and she knows it. I let it go for now.

During the first half of walking through the zoo, Jamal won’t stop glaring at me. He is barely focusing on the animals at all. When we get to the penguins, they finally catch his attention enough that he stops.

I walk over to him and stand next to him at the glass. “Do you know penguins mate for life?” I ask.

He looks at me and rolls his eyes. “Is this the part where you say something corny about my sister?”

I laugh, drawing her attention. “No, I just thought since you were watching them bring pebbles, you would want to know what for.”

“I know everything about penguins,” he says.

“Okay, tell me something.”

He perks up a little and points to a pile of poop. “With large colonies of penguins, scientists can find them by tracking their poop from space. When there is a bunch of it, it’s called guano.”

“From space? Really?”

“Mhm, they were once able to find a colony of 1.5 million penguins that way.”

I can’t help but nod enthusiastically, actually engaged. “That’s really cool. Tell me more facts.”

This is all he needs to hear to go on a tangent about everything he knows. He got into penguins by watching Happy Feet, and then marine life just became a hobby of his. Now that they have a computer, he has been looking up videos and books about this stuff. He ends off by saying that he hates seals because they kill penguins, and loves sharks because sharks kill seals.

I laugh at the logic of a kid, but appreciate his loyalty to his favorite.

After that, he happily tells me at least one fact about each animal we see. By the time we reach the gift shop, Gabby, Jamal, and I are in an avid conversation about everything we learned.

He picks up a stuffed penguin, checks the price, and puts it down. I pick it back up and offer to buy it. He reluctantly nods. Once it’s in his hand, he can’t stop smiling while we wait for the girls by the door.

“You know I’m not going to say I approve based on this one hangout, but I guess you’re kind of alright.”

“Yeah? Anything I can do to raise that opinion?”

He scrunches up his face. “I think it’s cool that you came to the hospital and got us our place, but my sister is really special. One of a kind. I just want to make sure you realize that before I just let you off.” He points his finger at me, jabbing it with every word.

“Can I tell you something?” I ask.

“Sure.”

“Your sister is the most amazing woman I have ever met. You’re right; there is not another one like her. I plan to treat her that way, and in turn, you guys as well. I’ll work to earn your trust, but I just wanted you to know I see it, too.”