“I did.”
“I love you so much! Thank you.” Avery seemed much calmer than Jace expected.
“Are you okay?”
Avery nodded.
Unsure what to do Jace gave Avery’s hand one last squeeze before he reattached his seatbelt. He put the rental car in gear and started to drive forward.
As the passed under the big arch Avery’s eyes were huge as he looked around.
Having their vacation in the middle of a workweek, in May, when school was still in session, helped to get them a close parking spot. Jace parked and exited the vehicle. He rushed around the car and opened Avery’s door.
As soon as he had Avery’s belt undone Avery launched himself forward. Jace rocked back almost falling as Avery practically tackled him.
Chuckling Jace patted Avery’s back. “It’s okay.” His boy was overwhelmed. Jace saw that now. But as soon as he recovered Avery would be having a blast.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes please,” Avery said straightening.
Jace closed the passenger door before he took Avery’s hand.
“Where are we going to go first? Can we see the giraffes first? No last, we should see them last.”
Jace let Avery ramble on as he led them to the gates. He pulled out his phone with his free hand to pull up their online tickets. Once they reached the gates there was only a small line ahead of them.
Avery remained quiet as he waited until they were granted access. Finally through the gates Avery stood looking around. Wide eyed and in shock.
“Look over here,” Jace directed. “We can get a map of the entire zoo so we can make a plan for the day.”
“I don’t know what I want to see first,” Avery whispered.
“It’s a good thing Daddy is here then.” He grasped Avery’s hand before pulling him along. Jace picked up one of the maps available before tugging Avery to a bench. He opened the map and smiled. It was the same as the online. He’d wanted his boy’s opinion but if it was too much for Avery to decide Jace knew just what to do.
“We’re here. We can follow this path and see all the enclosures on this side. Then we’ll have lunch at the Croc Café before making our way back around. We’ll finish the day with a ride through the safari park. That should set us nicely for our extra special day tomorrow.”
“What’s so special about tomorrow?”
Jace debated not telling his boy. But maybe his boy had had enough surprised for one trip. “Tomorrow we have special passes that allow us to go back with the handlers. You’ll get to make up some food and help feed the animals.”
“Oh my God!” Avery squealed. “I’ve seen that on my shows.”
Jace knew that. That was where he got the idea of looking for special passes. It would be worth every penny he had to fork over. “We have all day tomorrow to do all that. So today we’ll have fun walking around. There are even a few we can feed today.”
“This is unbelievable,” Avery said. He hopped up and danced around. “Come on Daddy! Daddy! Hurry! We need to go.”
That was his boy. This is what he wanted to see.
Jace stood and stuffed the map in his back pocket. He held out his hand and Avery immediately grabbed it.
“Let’s go see some animals.”
Avery
This was the best day ever. They’d spent the entire day at the zoo. And now Avery had a brand new monkey backpack that was super cool. The monkey arms even went around his neck. Avery couldn’t wait to wear it to the club and show all his friends. They would love it to.
Avery drug his feet as his Daddy led his out of the gates of the zoo. They weren’t going far though. Back to the hotel for the night before returning for Avery’s special day.
He couldn’t believe how awesome this vacation had turned out.
Avery would’ve been happy enough staying at the beach. But the two day passes at the zoo meant so much.
Further proof that Jace knew and accepted him.
“Let’s get you settled in the car,” Jace said as he opened the door.
Avery climbed in his seat unable to hold in his yawn.
“I know how tired you are boy,” Jace said. He brushed the hair from Avery’s forehead before giving him a kiss. “We’ll be back to the hotel soon.”
“Thank you for today Daddy.”
“Of course,” Jace reached for the glove box and open it. He pulled out a spare binkie that Avery hadn’t even known Jace had hidden in the rental car.
Avery moaned with gratitude as the nipple of the binkie was pushed against his lips.
The ride back to the hotel was much calmer than the ride there. Jace shared his favorite parts of the day. Avery was pretty certain that Jace was just trying to keep him awake.
Once they pulled into the valet parking of the hotel Avery was barely able to keep his eyes open.
Jace helped him out of the car and into the hotel. Somewhere along the way his binkie had disappeared from his mouth. Avery didn’t mind though. He was about to be in bed with his lily and stuffies.
He leaned against Jace in the elevator. When the doors opened, he was surprised by being picked up. He wrapped his arms and legs around Jace. It was so awesome that his Daddy could carry him around.
“Let’s get a quick shower before bed. I’ll give you a bath in the morning and give you time to play.”
“K.” Avery didn’t care much about anything. He would have just climbed in bed but he was sweaty and dirty. Plus there had to be some slobber on his from feeding the giraffes. Seriously, giraffe tongues felt weird.
“So many giraffes. So many,” he mumbled as Jace undressed him.
“Yes boy. There were so many giraffes.” Jace pulled Avery into the shower stall with him.
The shower was quick and Avery might have drifted through the entire thing. He needed to get his sleep though for the next day. The zoo
