Tris P.O.V.

"Are you sure no one is going to start asking about us?" Tobias asks as we pull up in my car at the zoo about an hour out of Chicago. We thought it would be a good idea for just the three of us to go out and do something special together.

"I don't think they will. If they do we'll just say that we're friends and decided to take Lucas out somewhere," I say. He nods and gets out of the passenger side. He opens up the back door to unbuckle Lucas while I get the small backpack containing an umbrella, money, drinks, and snacks out of the trunk. We walk up to the ticket booth and Tobias pays. Then, we walk in and pick up a map.

"Where to first, kiddo?" I ask, examining the map. There is a list of animals on the bottom of the list and a key with symbols for things like the bathroom and gift shops. The map itself has little icons for the shops, bathrooms, and animals. A finger reaches around from behind me and points at the elephants.

"Elephants! Let's go see the elephants!" Tobias says into my ear. Lucas and I just stare at him as he grins goofly. He withdraws his finger slowly and wipes the grin off his face when he sees our expressions. "You were talking about Lucas, weren't you?" he asks. I nod slowly.

"Can we go see the otters?" Lucas asks, looking up at me. I nod and take my hand in his. I begin to walk in the direction of the otters. Ever since I the first time I brought Lucas to the zoo they have been his favorite. He could barely walk at the time so he watched them from his stroller. He loved it when they swim up to the glass and try to break clams. We sat there and watched them for a good hour. I have to agree with him, though. The sea otters are one of my favorite zoo animals as well.

"He seems to really like them," Tobias mutters when we reach the otters. Lucas has already ran up to the glass, watching the small animals with admiration. I nod and look at Tobias who seems kind of excited to be at the zoo. Then, something hits me. It was probably seldom that he ever even got to leave his childhood home because of Marcus.

"Did you ever get to go out to places like the zoo?" I end up asking before my mind can compute what I am saying. His eyes look down at me, shock wrote clearly on it. It takes a minute for his face to show the understanding of my comment.

"He never took me. I only went on field trips. I got to go once in elematry school and once in middle school. So, I guess this is kind of exciting for me," he says. I nod a little and watch as our son taps his minature fingers on the glass, startling a group of otters that were fighting over a clam. He has a sad look on his face when he looks back at me. I rush towards him and kneel down in front of him.

"Mommy, why did they all swim away when I hit the glass?" he asks. His small face, round with chubby cheeks because of his still present baby fat, has a sad expression. His blue eyes seem to be frozen because the way his eyes have became glassy from the tears that are threatening to spill out of his eyes.

"It's okay, Lucas. They were just. . . startled by your pecking on the glass. They'll come back to the glass in a little while if you don't touch it anymore. Okay?" I ask. He nods a little before turning back to the glass wall seperating us from the sea otters. I walk back over to where Tobias is standing, watching had just happened with full attention.

"That was. . . amazing," he comments. I look up at him and smile warmly. He returns a friendly grin back. Something in his eyes summon me to stand up on my tip toes and inch my lips onto his. It takes all the forces in my body to keep myself from doing so. I blink a few times before looking away and turning to where a seagull is trying to choke down an old piece of pizza.

"Thanks. I've had a lot of practice," I say. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him nod a little. I cross my arms over my chest, trying to think of something else to say to wash away the oncoming wave of silence.

"Um, did you ever turn in that paper that you had me sign for the daycare?" he asks. I nod a little. I turned in the form that Tobias needed to sign for Lucas to at least be considered for daycare. Mrs. Patterson seemed to be really interested in finding out more about Tobias, especially when he signed with the last name Eaton.

"I did. Mrs. Patterson, who is the owner of the daycare, seemed really interested in meeting you. The next part of the interview face requires her to come visit the child's home to see their living conditions. I'm not sure I really understand it but whatever. She said she would really like it if you came so she could meet you," I say. He nods.

"Well, I would really like to meet her so, unless you don't want me to be there, I would love to come," he says. I look up at him again and nod. He flashes the same grin at me.

"I think that would be a great idea," I reply.