As Ashley opened the pizza box, I scrolled through Netflix trying to find a movie.
"Do you have any specific type of movie you want to watch?" I asked, trying to see if I could narrow down our choices at least.
"Nope!" Ashley said, giggling a bit. I smiled and shook my head at her. I put on Spider-Man Homecoming. We devoured our pizza and finished the movie. Ashley was still picking at some of the mixed fruit and I was setting up the Switch for Mario Kart.
"Ooh wait! Are those presents for me?" She asked, leaning forward and grabbing them.
"Nah, I thought I'd wrap something for myself to open on your birthday," I joked. She lightly hit my arm.
She opened the first present, which was the painting I made of her silhouette on her surfboard from the day I taught her how to surf. The second was a small stuffed shark Cait got her as a joke.
"How clever," she laughed, "a shark. Thanks, Cait." I'm glad she found it funny, Cait figured it would be ironic. The last present was from my mum and Bindi, it was a necklace with a koala on it.
"Oh, how sweet. Be sure to tell your mum and Bindi I said thank you tomorrow," she said, putting the necklace on.
"Sure thing. Are you ready to epically lose?" I teased, handing her the other Switch controller.
"Oh, you're so cocky, Tarzan. I'll kick your butt," she joked back.
We played several rounds of Mario Kart, having fun and teasing each other. She ended up winning most of them. I'd like to say I let her win, just to boost my own ego. But in truth, she was better at it than I was.
"I will say, Tarzan, your croc feeding skills are drastically better than your gaming skills," she teased, setting the controller down and getting up. She walked over to where the snacks were and grabbed a peach soda, mum knew they were her favourite so she made sure I brought some when I was setting all of this up. She grabbed one of the snacks, tossing me something as well.
"Oh, are you ready to possibly start training with the macaws? It won't be too hard, just them learning to trust you and go to you rather than their usual trainers," I explained, hoping we could get that worked out and Ashley could join me when doing the croc shows. And, there was my secret plan.
"Oh, sure! I don't think it'll be too much on my leg, and I know they're well-behaved birds. I know Queto can be tricky about who he listens to though, so he would be the one I need to work with the most," she said.
"Yeah, but birds are such intelligent creatures. Once he learns to go to you, and you learn what commands he listens to, you should be good to go. Then we can do the croc shows together, with you being like the opening act."
"Do you think I could ever feed crocs?" She asked, looking at me seriously. She sat near the foot of the air mattress, while I sat at the head, so we faced each other.
"Sure, if you want to. It would take lots of work and a long process to get you up to it, but eventually, we could do that," I explained. I wouldn't mind teaching her how to feed the crocs, and doing the shows with her, like how Bindi and Chandler feed crocs together.
"Yeah, that would be nice to work up to, eventually," she said.
"Definitely. And we can start working with the birds tomorrow, actually. Wait until you see them fly together towards you at the crocuseum! It's like poetry in motion," I said enthusiastically. That was something dad would always say when he got excited about the way an animal moved, and boy was he right. Watching animals in their natural habitat, or doing natural behaviours is the most amazing thing you can witness. Ashley giggled at what I said.
"You know, I've been reading more of my dad's journals," she said. "Not like that often but when you can't do anything cause your leg almost got bit clean off by a shark, you gotta keep your mind busy. It's amazing, some of the things he wrote about. And the way he talks about you and your family. He really loved you guys."
Her voice was kind of sad, but I knew it wasn't because she didn't think her dad loved her. I can understand how she feels, about losing her dad.
"Yeah, I know. I don't remember the day you guys came from America, since it was right after my dad passed and I was basically a child. But he moved you guys here to help with the zoo when we really needed it. I don't think the zoo would be what it is today without your dad's help, honestly."
"You know," she started, looking down at her hands in her lap. I could see the tears starting to form in her green eyes, making them glossy, "when he died a few years ago, that's when I started hurting myself. He and I were so close, you know that, I'd always follow him around and seeing one of us without the other was weird. I was like his shadow. Mum got real depressed too. I know she didn't show it to other people, but we grew apart for a year or so. I honestly didn't think we'd get out of it. She'd go to work at the zoo and then come straight home to her room. She drank a bit too. She didn't hit me or anything, but she also wasn't there ya know? It was like I lost both of them. But, I mean, I can't really blame her, can I? They were soulmates, and so in love.
"And then with the kids at school. They bullied me a lot, you know that, but I didn't tell you every single time it happened. It just wasn't worth it anymore, and it wasn't like you could really do anything. Hell, I couldn't even do anything. I tried telling teachers and the principal and everyone, but because they were rich kids or jocks, it just went in one ear and out the other. I felt helpless. And I know I could've come to you or Bindi or even your mum, but it was just so hard to talk about, and it still is. And then with Jackson... That was a disaster and I feel like I lost myself for a little bit there, but I'm trying to be better and do better. Just please be patient with me." She looked up at me when she finished talking, tears slowly falling down her cheeks.
Hearing her voice all of that out loud, and confessing these things to me, nearly broke my heart. Sure, I knew she and her dad were close, but I didn't know the extent of the aftermath of his passing. I'm not trying to make up excuses for her mum's drinking or anything like that, but it is kind of understandable considering Ashley and her mum lost a big part of their family, just like when we lost my dad. Granted, my mum didn't behave in that way and Bindi and I didn't take it out on ourselves as Ashley did. But we all handle grief differently.
I scooted across the air mattress so I was sitting right in front of her. I gently put my index finger under her chin and tilted her head up to me. "Love, you are doing amazing. I'm so proud of how far you've come. You've come so far with your art and your work at the zoo, and you graduated from school with honours. You got this. And I'm here for you, always, okay? And I mean that. Not in the way that people say things like that to be nice, I genuinely care about you. You can come to me with anything. This is a judgement-free zone, always. And if it's hard for you to verbally express, you can text it to me or write me a letter. You'll get better, and I will be here every step of the way," I said gently. She blinked up at me, the last few tears rolling down her face.
"Thank you, Robbie," she said, "that really means a lot. And I'll try my best to come to you. I haven't hurt myself in a while, and I want to stop and be done with it."
"You can do it, love. I have faith in you," I whispered.
She stared at me with her big green eyes, which were slightly red from crying. I looked back at her and gently reached up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. She smiled softly, and I realised our faces were slowly inching closer to each other. It was like there was a magnet drawing us in. I licked my lips slightly.
"A-Ashley? Can I...kiss you?" I whispered, wanting to make sure she was okay and comfortable with it before I did.
"Robbie, I thought you never would," she giggled, before moving the final inch to make our lips connect.
You know how they describe kisses in books and you read them and you think "that's not realistic at all"? Well, as it turns out, it is, if it's with the right person. And I truly think Ashley is my person. There were fireworks, and not just butterflies, it was like the whole zoo was parading around in my stomach. It wasn't like we were shoving tongues down throats, it was a simple but long peck.
I slowly pulled away and rested my forehead against hers. We sat like that for a few seconds in complete silence. She then moved so she was sitting sideways in front of me and I held her close to me, with her head against my chest. She played with the hem of my shirt sleeve, her fingers occasionally brushing against my arm. The soundtrack of Mario Kart playing in the background made me smile a bit.
"Are you alright?" I asked, eventually breaking our silence.
"I couldn't be better, Tarzan," she said and giggled slightly. She sat up and situated herself next to me.
"Well, would you like to play Mario Kart some more? Or we can do Sack Boy together?"
"Oh! Sack Boy!" She said excitedly as she got comfortable on the air mattress.
We played for a few hours, laughing and joking around with each other, and eating plenty of snacks. Eventually, we got tired of playing games and started watching the new Star Wars Andor series. We lay there, Ashley laying on her side next to me with her head on my chest, and eventually, she fell asleep. I kept watching the show, knowing Ashley would just go back and watch the episodes she missed. I gently kissed her forehead and soon fell asleep too.
I woke up to the soft sounds of the Australia Zoo animals waking up, bird calls and lemur sounds. I looked over to see Ashley still sound asleep, but now rolled over onto her other side with her head on my arm, and her holding it around herself.
I gently rubbed her arm to wake her up, as the arm that she was laying on was asleep. She stirred slightly before saying, "Robbie? What time is it?"
"Well, based on the sun and the light coming in here I'd say around 7 am?" I replied, chuckling slightly. She giggled too. "Love, could I maybe have my arm back? It's been asleep."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She said, sitting up quickly. I sat up too and stretch my arm out. She ran her hand through her mess of hair. "What do you have planned today?"
"Well, not a whole lot. As I said, we could get started on your training with the birds. We got to clean up here first though."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. And it's not a whole lot to clean up, I'm sure we could put it all on the golf cart and bring it back to your place," she said.
"Yeah, and then we can both change into our khakis. Obviously, not together," I said, feeling my face turn red. I probably didn't need to add the last part and she would've understood what I meant but the clarification seemed important. She laughed at me.
"Robert Irwin, are you blushing?" She teased, getting up and gathering all of our snack wrappers and putting them in a bag we had for trash.
"What are you talking about? You see nothing," I joked back before deflating the air mattress. As it deflated, I grabbed the switch and mini projector and put them in my backpack. We cleaned up the treehouse and got things loaded onto the back of the golf cart.
"Alright, I'll take you to your house first so you can go and change, and I'll go unload all of this at my house and change too," I said as we got into the golf cart.
"Sweet as," She replied.
We made the short journey to our houses, which was even shorter on the golf cart. I stopped the golf cart in front of her back deck.
"Do you want to just meet at the zoo?" She asked.
"Sure, as long as you don't think walking too much would bother your leg," I replied.
She smiled at me. "You got to stop worrying too much, Tarzan. If I don't start rebuilding that strength then I never will," She said, before leaning in and kissing my cheek quickly, "I'll catch up with you later." And before I could say anything else, she was already up the steps and opening her back door, leaving me to sit here dumbfounded, with the feeling of her lips still lingering on my cheek.
I went home next, and unloaded the stuff from the golf cart, storing the air mattress and the small table the projector was on in a hall closet. I put the leftover snacks up in the fridge and the cabinets. Mum was already out at the zoo, probably in her office doing paperwork. I headed up the stairs and changed into a clean pair of khakis. I didn't bother with a shower, since you never know what can happen when you work at Australia Zoo. I had just finished getting dressed when my phone buzzed.
Ash: already at the zoo. come find me ;)
I chuckled to myself and smiled. She was being cheeky, but I knew it was just because she was so happy. I'm glad I could make her this happy, and hopefully, I can continue to make her happy. For a while, at least.
Me: sweet as! where at? :)
Ash: how about we play a game? ;)
I laughed again. What could she have in mind? I know we used to hide notes for each other or little drawings and stuff around the zoo as kids, maybe that's what this is.
Me: what kind of game?
Ash: scavenger hunt time! Your first clue is by the animal that starts life as small as a jellybean :) good luck!
"As small as a jellybean..." I said out loud, thinking. "Kangaroos!" I slipped my shoes on and ran downstairs. I ran to the zoo too, only slowing down once I got there so as to not draw any attention to myself.
I took employee walkways to get to the kangaroo yard. I stood by the keeper's shed and looked around. Where would Ashley leave me a clue or a note? I thought back to when we were kids, all the little places we would hide things, for her to find when she got out of school or for me to find once I finished a show. One incident stood out to me, not long after her dad died, I left her a note in a fence post. It was a small cave-shaped notch near the top of a waist-high fence by the food shed. That note I left her on that day said "I'm here" with a little doodle I did of two koalas hugging.
I ran over to the fence and bent over to peer into the hole. Sure enough, there was a small folded-up piece of paper crammed into it. I slowly unfolded it to reveal the words:
Yay! You found the first one! I wasn't sure if you'd remember this spot! Now for your next hint!: I can be angry, I can be rough I can be wild, I can be tough Good luck! I'll sea you later ;)
I stared for a second. Angry, rough, wild and tough? That describes just about ALL of the animals I work with! I looked at the "sea you later", was it being spelt like that another hint? Sea...Well, we're not necessarily close to the sea at the zoo. What animals do we have that are from the sea?
"Sea turtles!" I said, before turning and walking off in that direction. Now, where would she hide something for me in the sea turtles? I thought about the turtle we saved together, Noosa, who is still recovering in her tank in the Wildlife Hospital. Noosa's holding tank? The only sea turtles we have are at the wildlife hospital so that would make the most sense.
I made my way to the Wildlife Hospital, continuing on the employee walkways, thinking about where Ashley could have hidden something for me there. The only place I could think that stayed dry enough to hide a note was the filter pump for the tank, which had a cover on it, so maybe the next clue was in there.
I reached the Wildlife Hospital, trying not to get noticed by anyone so I could finish this scavenger hunt, find Ashley, and start her training with the birds.
"Hey, Robert! Where's Ashley?" Came Bindi's voice through the Hospital. My mission to go unnoticed has failed.
"That's what I'm trying to find out, she sent me on a scavenger hunt. Why? Is everything alright?" I said, stopping dead in my tracks and now concerned for Ashley.
"Oh, yeah, I was just wondering! No worries or anything. How did her birthday sleepover go last night?"
I felt my face redden a bit, remembering my kiss with Ashley. "It went well. We played lots of games and ate lots of snacks and she seemed happier. Happier than she's been in a while actually."
"That's amazing, Robert! I'm so happy for you two. Everyone knew you'd end up together one way or another."
"Well, Bindi, we're not officially together yet, so don't get too excited. That's actually why I'm trying to find her. She wants to help with the macaws at the beginning of the croc shows, and I think once she gets it down I want to use it as a way to ask her to be my girlfriend, officially. In front of everyone," I said quietly.
"Oh, Robert that is so romantic!" Bindi practically squealed.
"Shh Bindi! Keep it down. I don't want a lot of people to know before I do it, except you and maybe mum and her mum. I want it to be a total surprise and I don't want her to find out beforehand."
"Okay, you're secret is safe with me. Go find her! I know she was over by Noosa's tank earlier if that helps," Bindi said before walking away.
I finally made my way to Noosa's tank, and sure enough, I didn't see anything around it. I went around to the back of the tank and took the cover off the cover for the pump filter. Sure enough, there was a small sticky note stuck to the cover. It read:
I'm proud you made it this far! This is your last clue: Roses and Daisies are some of my favourite flowers. You can find me watching them for hours.
That was it? That's not very much of a clue. I made my way back through the Wildlife Hospital, thinking once again. The words "Roses" and "daises" were capitalized, so those had to be the main hints. We also have two Koalas named Rose and Daisy, both named by Ashley. So she must be by the koalas, so I made my way there.