25 days of cadnis + twins

day 15: date night

"Eugh," Janis shudders in disgust. She wraps her arms around Cady's waist and rests her head on her shoulder. Cady tilts her head slightly to kiss her cheek a few times.

"Do you remember the original Georgie?" she asks quietly. Janis nods. They'd named Leo's stuffed giraffe after the real giraffe they had fed on their first date back in high school.

"I still think that date was some of my best work," Janis murmurs back, kissing Cady's neck. Leo reaches out for her, so Janis takes her from Cady.

"This might just top it," Cady says happily, smiling at the baby she has left in her arms. "First time our little munchkins get to see the zoo."

"Maybe," Janis chuckles. She carries Leo a few feet away to read a plaque naming all the giraffes. "Look, Bee, this has all their names. That one over there is named Jane. That's Mama's middle name, too."

"Hi Jane," Leo waves. "Hi."

"Aww, my sweet girl," Cady chuckles. Leo leans in for a kiss, so Cady gives her a gentle peck. "Okay, Lala's turn to choose, what animal should we see next?"

"Elmer!" Layla cheers. She still sounds a bit more like she's saying 'Elmo', but her moms can understand what she means well enough.

"Okay," Cady chuckles. "Elmer's this way, come on."

—-

Layla squeals excitedly when they enter the elephant and rhino building, and looks around at all the murals decorating the walls. Cady carries her down further to the actual enclosure to see the real thing.

"Mommy," Leo says to get Janis' attention, patting her little mittens against Janis' cheeks for emphasis. "Hot."

"Do you want your little suit off?" Janis asks. Leo nods. "Okay, here." She stands Leo up on a bench and carefully unzips her snowsuit. The babies are still too little for coats, so they have full snow outfits instead. The grey puffy material makes them look like little marshmallows. "There we go!"

Layla doesn't complain about the temperature, so Cady stands her up against the window. Layla grins happily and drums on the glass with her little mittens. "I's Elmer!"

"Yeah, there's the elephants!" Cady chuckles. "Look over there, what's that? We learned that the other day, do you remember what that's called?"

"Uh..." Layla says pensively. "A whinosrrus?"

"Yeah, you remembered the whole thing!" Cady chuckles. "Rhinoceros. Look at the horns, aren't those cool?"

"Whoa!" Leo squeals when she's held up to the window next to her sister. Cady smiles as her babies instinctively reach to hold hands now that they're close to each other again. After a second, Leo's little nose scrunches up. "Stink. Yucky."

"It does stink in here," Janis agrees with a chuckle. "Look, though, look at the baby elephant over there."

"Awwwww," Leo and Layla coo at the same time. Layla looks thoughtful for a moment before helpfully adding, "Big baby."

"They are big," Cady chuckles. "Look how much bigger the grownups are, though. That little one still has a lot of growing to do."

"Mama?" Leo asks.

"Yes, munchkin?"

"Why... why... um... why nose big?"

Cady chuckles at her assessment of the elephants' trunks. "Their noses are kind of like their hands. They use them to grab things and hold things like you do with your hands. And if they go swimming they can poke their nose up to breathe."