"Mommy can we go to the zoo today?" 2 year and a half year old Kevin tugged the hemline of Sue's skirt.
"Hey don't do that to Mommy!" Frank scolded.
"But I wanna go to the zoo"
Sue clearly didn't want to go anywhere. It was freezing cold outside and the clouds of Rustvale it down were throwing themselves down with rain. Not to mention Sue and Frank were saving money for something that Kevin was currently unaware of, a 2nd baby. The last time the Murphy's went to the zoo it had cost a fortune. Frank threatened to throw the ticket officers in with the lions after they charged $60 for the family to get in. Apparently it was expensive because Rustvale Zoo needed to maintain the animal's enclosures in order for their animals to be happy. But the funny thing was, the animals hadn't been happy at all. Half of them were asleep while a load were just walking around in circles inside their tiny crammed cages. Kevin moaned the whole time he was bored because the animals did nothing. Frank and Sue vowed never to return.
"Can we go?" Kevin pleaded again in present.
She sighed. She hadn't been feeling to well. Her pregnancy hormones had really gotten to her and she was just generally feeling ick.
"Kevin, you have so many lovely stuffed animals at home. Why do you need to go the zoo?" she managed to come up with an answer.
"Not the same!" Kevin pouted.
Frank could see Kevin was bothering Sue who clearly wanted a bit of peace.
Sue remained in their bedroom while Frank crept into Kevin's room. Kevin sat on the floor looking at the grey wet sky through his window.
"I wanna go to the zoo!" He sighed to himself.
Kevin sat in solemnly silence.
"Roar!"
His glumness broke into fear.
"Mommy, Daddy!"
"Roar"
Kevin's plush lion was shaking in front of his own eyes. It was as though it were really moving and making sounds.
The little toddler screamed out in fear.
"Hey, hey, Kevin. It's alright" Franked comforted him feeling slightly bad that he'd made his own son cry.
"Daddy Leo the Lion was about to eat"
"Oh he cant eat you. He is smaller than you and he is a nice lion anyway. That's the good thing about the Murphy Zoo, none of our animals will eat ya"
Frank made the lion more playful and tickled its tail against Kevin's little rosy cheeks.
"Stop Leo, your making tickling me!" Kevin giggled.
"He is the Leo the tickling lion. He doesn't bite but he does tickle"
Frank repeated the same action. The smile and laughter on his little boy's face brought incredible joy to his own.
"Daddy what other animals live at the Murphy Zoo?"
Frank made the realistic yet hilarious elephant noises as he got Ella the plush elephant down from Kevin's plush toy shelf.
These noises amused Kevin even more. Further amusing animal impressions with the plush toys included Geoff the Giraffe who had no access to leaves so he munched on Kevin's hair. Frank blew up his cheeks and blew out again like a real whale to make it sound as though Walter the plush killer whale was really making the sounds.
