Chapter 8

The following day I was up early and ready to go. We hadn’t told the kids anything and we wanted to keep the zoo a surprise for them as long as possible. Ilse and I had decided that I’d sleep in my own house tonight. It made it easier to prepare for the trip without giving anything away. Additionally, I had told Ilse about my cat’s death threats. She felt sorry for my cat and that ‘the poor creature’ was alone so much lately. Her words, not mine. I could swear that my cat gave her a phone call and they were collaborating on this.

Long story short, I spent last night in my own bed and would spend the coming night in Ilse’s, where she had a special surprise in store for me. I was looking forward to it already, but first we had a fun day ahead of ourselves. Not that the surprise wouldn’t be fun, but that was a different kind of fun. Argh, it should be clear what I mean.

Anyway, yesterday I had been busy purchasing enough food, soft drinks, and sweets to last us to the zoo and back. I had also charged my camera’s battery so that we could shoot as many pictures as we wanted. I had forgotten to take my camera with me when we went to the beach two days earlier, which turned out to be a real shame. It would have been fun to shoot pictures of the sandcastle and the kids playing in the sea, not to mention pictures of Ilse in her bikini.

I had agreed with Ilse that I’d be waiting outside their apartment complex at eight that morning while she’d make sure that the kids were ready by then. I was already waiting for them outside when a surprised Bram and Naomi saw me. I knew they had expected to go to the supermarket instead.

“Hi kids, are you ready for another trip?” I asked them.

“Where are we going?” a seemingly nervous Naomi asked.

“Well, it’s a place that’s lots of fun and has real animals,” I hinted.

“Oh, are there horses too?” Bram asked excitedly.

“A sort of horse, yes,” I replied.

After all, zebras were a kind of horse. They were just lazy ones that refused to get out of their pajamas!

“There are also really big cats,” I continued, getting an excited squeal from Naomi, who loved cats.

Throughout this all, Ilse could only smile at my interaction with the kids.

“Shall we get going?” I asked them all, unlocking my car from a distance with the remote key.

I had two cheering children storming my car and by the time Ilse and I got in, they had already made themselves comfortable on the back seat.

The trip to the zoo was as much fun as the trip to the beach had been. Bram and Naomi kept asking me questions about the place we were going to, while Ilse and I kept dropping hints until Bram finally guessed it right and asked if we were going to the zoo.

Confirming that we were, earned me another round of excited squeals, followed by a discussion of which animals they wanted to see first.

The weatherman had predicted a lovely day and the forecast held up so far. The sun was shining, the temperature was a comfortable twenty-two degrees Celsius, and there were only a few clouds in the sky. I had packed a backpack the day before that held everything we needed. We didn’t even need a coat that day due to the nice weather.

We had decided to visit the Africa section of the zoo first when we arrived and we spent a good hour looking at all the animals like lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and hippos. Especially feeding time with the lions was an exciting event for Bram and Naomi.

Ilse really enjoyed the trip too. It had been over a decade since she last visited a zoo and she was almost as excited by the sights as the children were.

We visited the monkeys once we passed the Africa zone. There was a gated part in particular that was a big hit with the children since the zoo allowed domestic squirrel monkeys to roam free there. I had to watch the backpack carefully to prevent those little devils from stealing our lunches and soft drinks, but Bram and Naomi had the time of their lives. I had purchased peanuts at the entrance of the zoo and I gave those to the children so they could feed the monkeys.

I never saw those two this happy before. Screams of delight and excited squeals were all over the place as they chased after monkeys or had the monkeys chase after them. I gave Ilse a couple handfuls of peanuts too and she was just as excited to feed the monkeys as the children were. It was great to see how something as simple as a day trip could make my beloved so happy.

We went to a big playground at noon, giving the kids time to play on the numerous jungle gyms, where they pretended to be the monkeys that they had fed minutes earlier. Ilse simply sat close to me while she held my hand and gave me a look of adoration.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked curiously.

She smiled radiantly, before replying, “Nothing...”

“Well, it has to be something,” I replied, squeezing her hand encouragingly as I admired her.

She was stunning today. Ilse had this mysterious smile on her face while she wore my favorite summer dress, one that showed off her slim body. She wore a bra that pushed her generous breasts up, showing a nice amount of cleavage.

Knowing that we’d be walking a lot today, she had opted to wear comfortable shoes that showed off her sexy feet. She wore a hint of makeup and she had painted her fingernails and toenails in a color that matched her luscious red lips. Throughout the months, she had learned which perfume I liked best and she smelled lovely. She wore her auburn hair loosely over shoulders and her deep blue eyes had little twinkles in them as if they were brilliant stars in a cloudless night sky. Aphrodite herself couldn’t have looked as good as Ilse did at that moment.

I expected her to say something, but all I received in return was her warm and loving smile.

Once the kids wore off their excess energy, they actually sat down to eat their lunch and enjoy a soft drink. We had a fun conversation during lunch. The children couldn’t stop talking about how much they loved the zoo and everything they were able to do so far, profusely thanking me for taking them here.

When I told them that they hadn’t even seen half the zoo yet, their eyes grew big with wonder. It was a good thing we had finished our lunch by then because they were eager to continue their exploration.

The aqua section of the zoo was up next and we attended a cool show with dolphins, music, and special light effects. I even convinced one of the dolphin trainers to allow Bram and Naomi private access after the show was over. When the trainer called a dolphin over to them, they got to pet the animal for a minute, much to their delight. I’d probably never hear the end of it after they finished petting the dolphin. They must have felt like the happiest kids on the planet. When the trainer also invited Ilse to pet the dolphin, I thought I’d have to run for my life, or she would hug me to death when she thanked me.

Unknown to Ilse it had cost me a donation of a hundred Euros to the zoo and an extra fifty Euros to the dolphin trainer, but she didn’t have to know that. I had learned early in life that money could open many doors that would otherwise remain closed. Seeing their happiness was more than worth it to me. Yes, I was aware that I was a big softie, but there were worse things to spend your money on, right?

We also visited the sharks, turtles, crocodiles, and various other aquatic animals. An indoor aquarium with tropical fishes was a big hit too and the kids went silent at all the beautiful colors on display. Ilse squeezed my hand a little tighter and gave me a kiss on my lips, at the sight of all these beautiful creatures.

The next stop was the jungle section of the park, which was also indoors. Parrots flew around freely and other jungle creatures that required heat were located here too. Walking on, we entered the botanic gardens, which Ilse really loved. She adored all the pretty butterflies flying around next to the beautiful flowers and lovely scents.

I walked hand in hand with Ilse throughout the day, while Bram and Naomi explored up ahead to their heart’s content, urging us to walk faster whenever we went too slow for their likes. I made sure to shoot many pictures with my camera too. Ilse could make a photo album later on that way when the photos were printed.

Bram and Naomi were getting tired by now and although the zoo still had several other sections, we decided to stop for the day. We could always come back some other time and visit the parts that we missed today. I did arrange for us to walk back by a path that made us cross the bear section. I wanted to show Naomi Teddy’s cousins and promised her that we’d spend more time here next time we visited the zoo.

There was a restaurant next to the zoo and I had made reservations there for dinner. We didn’t eat anything fancy as we did in the seafood restaurant on Monday and we enjoyed a simple meal instead. Naturally, we had ice cream as dessert and it was a great ending to a great day.

Bram and Naomi were very tired on the way back and fell asleep almost as soon as they got in my car. Having anticipated this situation, I had two pillows and a large blanket ready for them, so that they could sleep comfortably in the back seat.

I kept the music volume of the radio low and I enjoyed my talk with Ilse.

While we were on the road, Ilse said, “You’re really special to us, you know?”

“I just want to make sure you all had a fun time,” I replied, glancing in her direction.

“Yes, I know, but you really went above and beyond of what I expected. I saw what you did with that dolphin trainer; I couldn’t believe my eyes when you slipped him all that money.”

“Ah, you weren’t supposed to see that,” I said, with a smile on my face.

She ignored my comment and continued, “As a little girl I always dreamed of swimming with dolphins. This was likely as close as I’ll ever get to realize that dream. It was really kind of you to talk them into letting us play with the dolphins for a few minutes.”