“Yes, Daddy.”
“That goes for you too, Miss M,” cautioned Jake firmly.
Once they were inside the large building, the foyer was crowded with groups of children in colour coded t-shirts from various daycare centres, plus the normal summer tourists. Organised as ever, Lori picked up some maps and kiddie packs along with their tickets then pointed in the direction of the first hall they were going to visit. She had pre-booked two shows for them and kept a close eye on the time as well as their location in the building as they meandered through the exhibits.
When he saw the enormous shark tank, Jesse screamed in delight. Eyes wide, he watched the huge sharks swimming past, pointing each one out to Jake. Less sure of the large menacing looking creatures, Melody stayed close to Lori, whispering, “They’re scary. I want to look for Nemo instead.”
“We’ll get to Nemo, I promise,” assured Lori as they wandered on ahead of the boys. “We need to find Mr Ray first.”
“OK,” sighed the little girl impatiently.
“Jake,” called back Lori. “We’ll get you at the top.”
With a nod, Jake confirmed he’d heard her then turned his attention back to Jesse, who was pointing to a hammerhead shark swimming towards them.
At the top of the ramp, Lori found a bench to rest on while Melody stood watching the large manta rays swimming gracefully near the surface of the deep water. Rubbing her thigh, Lori sighed wearily. Their day had barely begun and already she was in pain. Discretely, she rummaged in her bag for some painkillers, swallowing two Vicodin when Melody wasn’t looking. Suddenly, she was aware of being watched and turned to see Jake staring at her. He whispered something to Jesse, who scampered off to join his sister watching the rays.
“Hey, li’l lady,” said Jake softly as he sat on the bench beside her. “Struggling?”
Lori nodded, “I’ll be fine. We’re heading into the dolphin show in ten minutes. That’ll help.”
“You sure?”
“Sure,” replied Lori, carefully getting to her feet. “I should’ve brought both canes but I’ll be ok. I’ll take it slowly. I’m not ruining Jesse’s day out, Jake.”
“I hear you,” he said with an understanding smile. “Just don’t push it too far. We can take plenty of breaks.”
“Thanks,” replied Lori, taking his hand. “Seven years on and still hurts like a bitch.
Jake squeezed her hand as they walked over to join their two children.
Eventually, late in the afternoon, they reached the final hall of their visit and much to Melody’s delight found a tank full of Nemo’s. Both Jake and Lori smiled as they watched their daughter stand gazing into the large cylindrical tank, mesmerised by the brightly coloured clownfish. Even the birthday boy stood in silence beside his older sister, content to watch the small fish dart in and out of the anemones.
Putting his arm around Lori’s shoulders, Jake said, “They’ve both been great today.”
“They have,” agreed Lori, resting her head on his chest wearily. “They’re hard work but they’re fabulous little people.”
“They sure are.”
After a lengthy visit to the aquarium’s extensive gift shop, Jake and Lori led the two small children back along the harbourside. Again, the submarine caught Jesse’s attention and he begged to visit it too.
“We’ll come back another day to see it,” promised Jake, hoisting his son onto his shoulders. “Now, who’s hungry?”
“Me!” squealed Melody, jumping up and down beside Lori.
“Hungry for chocolate cake,” stated Jesse.
“You need to eat dinner first, young man,” said Jake firmly. “No dinner means no cake.”
“I eat,” promised Jesse with a tired smile.
“Glad to hear it,” said Lori as they reached the Hard Rock Café. “We’re eating in here.”
Both children shrieked with excitement. They associated Hard Rock Cafes with Silver Lake and loud rock music “like Daddy plays.”
“Best behaviour, kids,” cautioned Jake as he lowered Jesse back down onto the sidewalk. Taking each of them by the hand, Jake and the children followed Lori into the restaurant. They were a few minutes early for their table so Lori indulged the kids with a trip to the “Rock Shop” while they waited. By the time one of the hostesses came to fetch them, Lori had bought t-shirts for the kids and badges plus a top for herself. As an afterthought, she added a vest t-shirt for Jake, not wanting him to feel left out.
As she had requested, the family were shown to a discrete corner table away from the main hustle and bustle of the popular restaurant. Two large balloons were tied onto Jesse’s chair and two kid’s entertainment packs were laid out on the table. While the children busied themselves with the crayons and colouring sheet, Jake and Lori checked the menu. They had barely started to read it over when their server appeared to take their drinks order. The young college student smiled shyly when she realised who she was serving. When Jake flashed her a smile as he ordered a beer, she blushed scarlet before thanking them for their order.
“You embarrassed her,” giggled Lori.
“I just smiled at her,” laughed Jake, knowing how Silver Lake fans tended to react when he smiled.
Gazing round the displays of memorabilia, he pointed a beaten-up guitar out to Lori, “That’s Mikey’s from the early days of Weigh Station. One of Garrett’s is to the right of it. One from his Royal Court days.”
“Daddy,” said Melody, looking up from her colouring sheet. “Are any of your guitars here?”
“No, Miss M,” he replied. “I think they have one of my stage outfits from the Impossible Depths tour. They’ve got one of Grey’s basses too somewhere.”
“Why don’t they have one of yours?”
“Well,” began Jake slowly. “Would you give your guitar away if they asked for it?”
“No!”
“That’s how I feel too,” replied
