The day at the zoo went smoother than Maria had anticipated. She expected Dave to hit on her, maybe ask her out, without the kids, but he didn’t. Instead he kept the conversation general, about himself and away from her personal life. He told her about Amy and how they had started so very in love and ended despising each other because of Elizabeth. Maria could understand why a father wouldn’t want his own child, she’d seen it with Ricky and Miguel, but what she couldn’t understand was how a mother, after nine uncomfortable months of pregnancy, hours in labor and finally child birth, not love her baby.
Maria watched Michael and Dave, watching and imitating the animals. Dave would read and explain the information on each animal’s cages. They both looked so excited and it made Maria feel a pang of guilt, because Ricky would never be with him like this. Dave went everywhere with him, as they watched the animals and talked about the most ridiculous things Maria had ever heard. She didn’t expect Dave to indulge in such conversations, but his air of arrogance, which she found very appealing sometimes, had taken a back seat with Michael.
She strolled behind them with Izzy in her arms, watching what seemed like a father-son moment, if only Dave was Michael’s father. When Dave put him on his shoulders, she saw the most heart breaking smile on Michael’s face that made her tear up. All she hoped for was Michael wouldn’t get too attached to Dave only to be let down, or having to run again when Ricky caught up with them. She had to protect him from that pain, but she couldn’t bring herself to detach Dave and Michael from each other.
Dave watched Paula for a while, watching her face change in deep thought. He wondered what was bugging her now, if she constantly worried about her husband or hopefully her boyfriend, he was hoping she wasn’t tied to the monster, or she was probably wondering his end game for inviting them to the zoo. He wanted to find out more about her, without resorting to his normal way of getting to know someone, and besides he had already done the search and found a number of Paula Michaels, none that were her. He knew she was using an alias, which spiked his curiosity about her life even more. He thought of getting the information from Miguel, but he was too clever to get debriefed without going on the defensive and Dave didn’t want to end up alienating his new best friend. Paula was the safest bet, but it was better to have her trust him enough to tell him and not try to confront her about it.
He shifted in the seat next to her, under the umbrella table and slowly pulled a sleeping Izzy out of her arms. At first she got startled and held Izzy tighter to her, but when she saw it was Dave she let go with a smile and came back to her immediate surroundings.
“You were gone for a while there, I got lonely.” Dave spoke softly, cradling Izzy in his arms.
“Sorry.” Maria pulled her hair tie out and let her hair fall over her shoulders. She stretched her arms, and then tossed her hair to loosen the tangles, “I always end up in my head, but I’m here now.” She turned to him with a gentle smile.
Dave looked at her, she still looked worried. He wanted to help her ease the load she was carrying, just to give her a few moments of relief. For the first time since Izzy was born, he felt what it was like to be a family and he knew Paula felt the same way too. Carol was right, she was a keeper, but only when she let go of her demons, or better yet got rid of them, which he intends to do himself. “If you don’t mind my asking, what were you thinking about?”
Maria looked at him, her guard up. She wasn’t fond of sharing her thoughts or her feelings, they were private, no go zones for her, “About Miguel’s school, it’s almost time for him to start and I have no idea where to take him.” It was a good thing she learned to think quickly on her feet, she just hoped Dave would buy it.
Dave stared at her keenly for a while before he turned away with a patient smile. He knew that wasn’t what she was thinking about and she had no intentions of telling him, so instead of saying none of your business she came up with something else for his benefit, “Don’t worry about that, I’ll do that for you.” He said coolly.
Maria noticed the change in him and knew that he knew she was lying and she worried if he was going to call her out on it, “You don’t have to do that.” she said nervously.
“I want to. I’ll give you the details when I find one that suits his needs.”
Maria looked at him inquisitively and wondered what he meant by that, “As long as I can afford it.”
Dave’s lips stretched out to a longer smile, “As long as he’s safe and comfortable.” His eyes set on Izzy’s sleeping face, “that’s the only thing that matters.”
She looked at him, catching another hint, he couldn’t possibly know about her, could he? He did have the means to find out, “Thanks, I’ll think about it.” She whispered, turning away from him. She shot off her seat when she noticed Michael wasn’t with them, her friend, panic, already making his visit, “Where is Michael?”
Dave looked up at her, he saw the terror in her face and was sure she hadn’t realized what she said, “He’s at the monkey’s cage.” not drawing her attention to her slip up, all that was left to find out was her name.
Maria looked down at him, her alarm rising fast, “You let him go alone?”