As I talked to the family that was watching the animals in the Africa exhibit, I kept stealing glances at Ashley. She was trying to keep herself busy without wanting to leave me here by myself. I mean, I would have been perfectly fine by myself, so I knew her hesitation to leave was for herself. She was focused on brushing one of the zebras, Lucas.
More of the guests started gathering around. Some were interested in what I was saying about the animals, and I could tell some of them were only gathering around to say they saw Robert Irwin in person.
I glanced at Ashley, and she motioned towards the keeper building. I gave a small nod and she headed off in that direction. I talked with the guests about the animals for a few more minutes, answering some of the questions they asked about the animals.
"Well, it was great talking to everyone! I hope you enjoy your visit to the zoo, but I have some other things that I have to help out with, but be sure to attend the show in the Crocoseum at 1:30!" I said, waving at the guests. Some of them took photos, and a few said "thank you" or "bye Robert".
I walked into the keeper building, but Ashley wasn't there. I figured she went to the Wildlife Hospital, so that is the direction I headed.
I got there and could hear laughter coming from the break room, and so that's where I went. Ashley and Bindi sat at the table, laughing about something.
"Well, what's going on in here?" I said, entering the room.
"Oh, hi Robert!" Bindi said, her hands holding a cup of tea.
"Hey!" Ashley said, "Bindi was telling me about some of the things Grace has been trying to say and how she's discovering things."
"Isn't it great? I love watching her experience the world for the first time. It's very wholesome," I said.
"It is just so precious," Bindi replied. "However, in bad news, we got some echidna puggles admitted to the Wildlife Hospital this morning."
"Oh no! What happened to them?" I said. Ashley also looked concerned, so I assumed Bindi had waited for me to get here to tell her as well.
"They got hit by a car. They were crossing the road and whoever hit them either didn't see them or thought they were just rocks or something. Thankfully, they weren't going that fast, probably looking out for bigger wildlife like kangaroos, so the puggles are only a little banged up," Bindi said, her eyes watering.
One thing I admired about my big sister, was the way she loved wildlife and was devoted to caring for them. Sure, I was the same way, and of course, our mum and dad were, but Bindi always got so emotional over any animal that came in injured. She wasn't afraid of showing her emotions, no matter who it was in front of.
"Oh, that's horrible," Ashley said, reaching out and rubbing Bindi's forearm.
"I know. But thankfully, they will only need to stay here for a few days and they should make a quick recovery. The smaller one is the one we're most concerned about though, as she is also a little underweight."
"I'm sure they'll do just fine. This is the best place they could be for a recovery," I said. Bindi nodded.
"Well, now that all of the animals are fed and whatnot, you two will be helping out in the Wildlife Hospital, right?" Bindi asked.
"Yeah, of course," I replied.
We spent the rest of the morning helping the vets in the wildlife hospital, doing everything from feedings to bandage changes. The fact that it was Christmas Eve didn't slow us down at all, and some of our incredible staff would even be coming in tomorrow as well. I imagined my family would at least show up at the zoo at some point tomorrow, which I wouldn't mind doing at all.
We had been at it for a few hours and were finishing up before we took a lunch break. Our last patient to check on was Noosa, the sea turtle Ashley and I rescued a few weeks ago now. Dr Sam stood by Noosa's holding tank when Ashley and I walked over to it.
"Hey, how ya going?" I said once we approached the tank.
"I'm doing great, how are you two?" Dr Sam replied.
"We're both great," Ashley said. "And how is little Noosa?"
"She's doing really great," Dr Sam said, looking down at her clipboard. "She's done excellent with all of her treatment we've done, and I reckon she is ready to be released. I know you two rescued her yourselves, and I figured I would let you two release her if you think you're up for it." She smiled at us.
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Ashley said, looking down at Noosa as she swam around the holding tank.
"That's great!" I said, "How about we release her tomorrow? What do you reckon, Ashley?"
She looked up at me, her green eyes sparkling from the sun reflecting off of the water of the holding tank. "I reckon that is a great idea," she said, smiling.
"A Christmas release, that'll be a good day," Dr Sam said, writing it down on her clipboard.
"I've got to get back to it, but you two are free to hang around for a bit, and I will try to see the Croc Show this afternoon," Dr Sam said before walking off.
"Releasing her so soon will be good for her," Ashley said.
"Yeah, I think it would be a great thing for us, too," I said. "And I know our families will be there, but it will be something you and I could do together, mostly."
I liked doing animal things with her, caring after them, rescuing them, everything. And I wanted to make so many more memories with her, doing these things. I imagined our relationship would be much like Bindi and Chandler's- always doing things together for our wildlife and the sake of conservation, going on trips to save and study animals, and just having a shared experience of what we do here at the zoo. I mean, we practically do all of that now, but I think doing it as a couple would be a bit different. Or, maybe it wouldn't. The only way to know is to find out.
"Yeah, that would be great," she said, looking back down at Noosa. Ashley smiled and her green eyes glistened from the sun reflecting off the water. The sun was shining perfectly on her, making her glow. "You'll be able to swim free again, sweetheart. You've done so well." Ashley spoke calmly and reassuringly to Noosa, similar to the way Bindi does.
"It'll definitely be special to release her on Christmas," I said, moving closer to Ashley. I gently reached and grabbed her hand, interlacing our fingers. She gave my hand 3 small squeezes. I smiled.
"Oh, we should go snorkelling when we release her," Ashley said softly. "And you can bring your underwater photography stuff, it would be beautiful."
"Anything for you, love," I said, kissing the side of her head gently. I know with us not being officially dating, I maybe shouldn't be too public with our PDA, but this was the Wildlife Hospital, and I trusted everyone here not to say anything to the media or whatnot. Plus I saw that no one else was around.
I stood like that for a minute, my lips pressed against the side of her head. Her hair tickled my nose and had a sweet floral smell.
"Robert, you're incredible," She said quietly, breaking our silence. I smiled, thinking it was kind of her way of saying "I love you" without really saying it, like baby steps. My heart beat faster at her words.
"No, love, you're incredible," I whispered.
We stayed like that for a moment, just soaking each other in.
"Well, we ought to get going, don't ya think?" She said.
"Yeah, we ought to. What are you feeling for lunch?" I said, breaking away from her and heading back towards the building entrance. She followed right behind me.
"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich sounds good," she said, making me laugh.
"I'm sure we can do that," I said.
We walked into the Wildlife Hospital and back to the break room. I pulled the stuff for our sandwiches out of the little refrigerator and made one each for Ashley and me.
"Here you are," I said, setting the plates down on the table. She picked up her sandwich and took a bite.
"Hey, this is a lot better than those pancakes you made," she said jokingly, talking with her mouth full. I laughed as well.
We ate our sandwiches, not really talking much. I couldn't figure out if we weren't talking because we were eating, or because we didn't have anything to say to each other. If it was the latter, I knew it wasn't because we were angry with each other or anything, it was just that we spent so much time with each other, that we didn't always have something to talk about. That was perfectly fine for me, I would gladly spend every moment I can with her.
After she ate her sandwich, she picked up her phone and I could tell she was scrolling through social media or something.
"Whatcha looking at?" I asked, curiously. I grabbed our plates and washed the,m in the small sink in the break room before putting them on the drying rack.
"Just scrolling through Pinterest. There's so many art ideas, so many things I want to create," she said. Her voice had a dreamy tone.
"Well, tell me about it. I know you draw and paint, and of course, you've done stuff with clay, I still have that croc you made me when I finished my schooling. What else would you like to make?" I asked, sitting back down. She set her phone down on the table and I knew that she was going to have a lot to say.
"Well, first, I'd love to make more things out of clay. But some other ideas I have saved include, but are not limited to," she said, laughing slightly which made me smile. "Epoxy resin, but it is essentially plastic and I know that it's not good for the environment, so if I were to do that I'd like to create functional pieces that can be reused and not just thrown away when someone didn't want them anymore. But there is also a new type of it that is kind of water-based, and that would be a better alternative. I've seen some great "thick paint" ideas, where they mix modelling paste with paint and pipe designs on canvas. Shirts, cups, stickers, keychains, bookmarks, and jewellery. Faux leather keychains, notebooks, soaps and stuff, 3D printing. Oh, Robert, there are just so many different types of art and so many cool things I could make."
I watched her intently as she spoke, soaking in all that she said. I admired her passion for all of the things she does, whether it be art or her work here at the zoo. No matter what it was, she never half-assed it, she always completely dived into everything she wanted to do.
"Well, love, why don't you start making some of those things? You seem to have plenty of ideas, I imagine you could choose a few and start working on them," I said. I wanted to encourage her in her art, the way she does for me with my photography and painting that I do.
"Well, I can do more with the supplies that I have. I'd love to make little clay animals and stuff like that. But, it's hard for me to imagine spending so much money on supplies for all of these hobbies for the finished products to just sit somewhere," she said, sounding kind of sad.
"Well, if it makes you happy, it is never a waste," I said, trying to remain optimistic. "Plus, you can always sell your art."
"Ah, back to that idea."
"Hey, it's not a bad idea, love. And as I said, we can see how the paintings with the animals go and if that goes well we can add more of your art to the gift shop. Hell, we can give you your own little section in the gift shop. And if anything, you can just sell art that way if you don't want to run a whole online shop too. But that's always an option."
"It is a good idea, I just don't want to dive into a whole online shop. It's a lot of work. Plus, what if my stuff doesn't sell? Let's just start with the animal paintings and go from there. And if the first stuff I add to the gift shop doesn't sell, then I can at least keep it or gift it to people and it's not a whole lot of products that I have to get rid of. That way, I'm not investing so much time and money into an online shop right off the bat."
"There you go, baby steps," I said, laughing a little bit. "And I'll help you with whatever you need help with. I'm here for you, always." I reached out and held her hand across the table, trying to reassure her.
"Thank you, Tarzan. I appreciate it, really. I also have no idea where I would start, with stuff for the gift shop. Animal-themed items, of course."
"Exactly. You can do little paintings or drawings of some of the animals, and sell the originals and prints. Clay figures of some of the animals would be good too."
"Oh, what if I did something with some of the seashells we find at the beach? That would be good because they're locally sourced, and I imagine tourists would love them."
"There you go, you have plenty of ideas in that beautiful head of yours. Just start compiling ideas and making lists, I know you love staying organised with your ideas. And if you want to start working on stuff, that works too., Cause then you'll have, like, prototypes and then you'll know what to improve on before putting them in the gift shop. But you don't have to rush into anything if you don't want to, just let me know when you're ready to put stuff in the gift shop."
"I will, love, thank you," she said, smiling.
I smiled back. She didn't call me "love" often, so I treasured every time she did, savouring the sound of her voice saying that single word.
She picked up her phone again and went back to looking at art ideas on Pinterest. I picked my phone up as well but went through my Instagram feed. We normally took an hour-long break for lunch, and we still had some time left.
However, we seemed to lose track of time, and we were only snapped out of it when Bindi popped her head into the break room.
"Late lunch?" She asked, leaning against the door frame. We did eat lunch a little late, but I know we went over our hour.
"Yeah, it was a little late," I said, looking up at Bindi.
"Well, it's time to prepare for the croc show, are you two ready?"
"Bindi, I think it's safe to say I was born ready," I joked.
"I mean, I'm ready, but also a bit nervous," Ashley said, standing up from the table.
"It's alright, love, you'll do great. Just remember how hard you and Robert worked with the birds," Bindi reassured her as we started walking down the hallways of the Wildlife Hospital, heading toward the exit closest to the Crocoseum.
We reached the Crocoseum, and the whole team was gathered outside the tunnel. We still had a few minutes before guests started filing in, so we discussed our game plan.
"Alright, is everyone ready?" Mum said, looking at our team. The team consisted of me and Bindi (obviously), Ashley, Toby, and Chandler. We all either nodded or said "yeah" to answer Mum.
"Okay, so, Ashley, since you'll be helping us," Mum said, turning towards her, "and doing the bird part at the beginning, you need to go be ready up in the employee section before we get started."
"Sounds good," Ashley said, nodding her head. She stood with her hands in front of her, focusing on my mum and earnestly listening to her every word.
"Then, like always, once the birds come out, we'll come out. Robert, you'll have the majority of the show today, so good luck, you got this," My mum was saying, giving everyone a quick run down, even though we all knew what we were doing as this is the Christmas Eve show and we planned this for a few days now. Well, Ashley didn't really know she was going to be participating, but Mum and I talked it over last night and I was bragging about how far Ashley has come with their training.
"Just remember, we're working with Graham and he would just love to take a bite out of you, Robert," My mum finished. I gave her a nod. I understood this, Graham was the most relentless with trying to bite his handlers, and he had bit both my dad and Wes years ago.
"Alright, let's get in position," Mum called out.
Me, my mum, Bindi, and Chandler crowded around the tunnel entrance, while Ashley went and got into her spot in the stands. The birds were brought out by Anna, another member of the team that worked with the birds since Elaine wasn't here today. She stood in the middle of the Crocoseum with the birds on a perch. I checked my watch, it wasn't quite 1:30 yet, but we could hear people filling the seats in the Crocuseum. Our Christmas Eve shows were usually packed with tourists and families who come every year as a way to celebrate the holiday.
I could tell it was 1:30, when the short clip came on the big screen, introducing the show and explaining my dad's mission and why we do the shows.
I peeked through the tunnel entrance, turning to see the staff section in the stands. I had a perfect view of the section and could see where Ashley was sitting perfectly.
Anna gave the birds the signal, and off they flew, while Ashley signalled them from where she was standing. They took a wide turn, going over the heads of the guests, one on either side of the Crocoseum. They flew perfectly to Ashley, landing beautifully on the railing that was wrapped with rope, in front of her. She sat down behind them, giving them each a macadamia nut and scratching their heads.
"Okay guys, let's go," Mum said, and with that, my family ran out into the Crocoseum.