Red Like Rubies

Zoo

He sighed in relief and fell back into bed. A few more minutes of sleeping wouldn't be that bad...

A few hours later they were on their way to the zoo. While Sebastian, Myra and Lily were wearing light summer outfits, Joseph stuck with a long purple checked shirt, black trousers and a big grey scarf which was hiding the underpart of his face. It surely was too hot for that outfit but since he still had a cold and wanted to hide his scars nobody said anything, not even Lily. She seemed to understand in some way.

They entered the zoo. The first animals to encounter were some chimps. Everyone looked at Joseph who didn't understand it first until Lily giggled a "Jo-Jo". He rolled his eyes and went on to the penguins. They were really cute and let him smile a little.

"You can go on, I think I'm going to stay here." He sat down on the bench in front of the compound.

"But you didn't see anything but the Jo-Jo's and the pengus!", Lily complained.

"Yes, and I think I want to draw the pengus." Joseph smiled at her.

"You heard the man." Sebastian grinned. "Don't disturb the artist. We'll catch you later."

Joseph nodded. "Have fun."

"You too."

Sebastian and his family were moving on. He felt a bit bad about leaving Joseph behind but he told himself that the younger one would be fine.

They had a lot of fun together. Myra took photos of Lily's favorite animals and Sebastian bought her a tiger shirt in the souvenir shop.

There also was an animal themed play ground in the zoo. Lily made new friends there very quickly while Sebastian and Myra sat down on a bench.

"Look at our little social butterfly." Myra chuckled. "I'm glad that she can make friends so fast."

"Me too." Sebastian smiled at her. "We did a good job, I guess."

"Of course we did." Myra rested her head on his shoulder. "She's growing so fast."

"Yes, it's incredible." Sebastian placed a kiss on her head. "But we'll have another baby soon." He took her hand.

"You really want me to get pregnant, huh?"

"Doing my best." He grinned at her.

"Moron." She smiled a little. "But Sebastian... I don't think I want to get pregnant while Joseph still needs so much attention."

"I'll slow it down if you're getting pregnant. He'll handle."

Myra looked at him. "He'll handle? Have you looked at him? This guy can't handle anything."

"Honey, I..."

"No, no excuses. We'll prevent again."

"But I thought you wanted another child."

"That was before this whole Joseph thing happened. I really don't want to be with child while a mental ill person, who could freak out any time, lives under my roof."

"Myra, I get your point, but..." Sebastian froze as he saw Joseph standing next to them. He didn't know how long he'd been there but it was definitely long enough to hear Myra's last sentence.

"Finally found you.", he said with a smile, obviously pretending not to have heard anything. But his trembling voice betrayed him.

"Joseph..." Sebastian stood up. "Listen..."