If that's what it takes

19

Derek drove towards his house, he glanced into the back seat now and then as Zoey sighed, burying her face in the teddy bear as they drove, her eyes now and then catching his as she settled comfortably in her seat. "How about we go to the house and I'll show you around... and I'll make you a cheeseburger there?"

"Okay." She said softly as she smiled, unsure of what kind of say she had in the situation anyway, she simply agreed with Derek, trusting that he would take good care of her. She wasn't sure why, but when he spoke to her, she always felt warm inside her heart. His smile never failed to bring one to her own lips, and she liked that.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked, glancing back at her as her eyes met his.

"Okay." She said with a slight giggle as she cuddled the bear.

"Good." Derek smiled, as he watched her look into his eyes as he continued on his way home.

Derek drove down the road to where the ferries lead from, driving slowly to stop behind the car in front of him as they waited. Zoey stretched her neck to look out the window, her eyes watching the ferry boat back in, preparing to unload and load the cars. "We're going on a boat?" She asked, her voice squeaked slightly as she watched out of the window.

"Yes we are..." Derek said as he turned his head to look at the little girl. "This is a boat for cars... because there are no bridges to get to where I live." Derek explained.

"Really?" She asked, her eyes wide with wonder as they lifted the barricade for the cars to start loading onto the ferry. "Wow!" She exclaimed as she watched some of the cars drive onto the ferry boat.

"When we get onto the boat and park the car, we can walk around if you'd like..." He said softly. "I'll let you wrap my coat around you so that you don't get cold, it gets pretty chilly out there."

"Chilly..." She whispered as she watched the cars load onto the ferry.

"Alright, here we go..." Derek said as he slipped the car into drive and followed the car in front of him onto the ferry boat. Zoey's eyes remained out the window, the sun was setting, but the bright lights of the ferry and the lights of the dock kept everything bright as Derek watched the little girl stare out the window in wonder. As soon as he parked the car, she grabbed for her seatbelt.

"Let's go out there!" She exclaimed as she yanked the seatbelt off her lap and climbed down to grab the door of the car.

"Hang on, hang on... let the car behind us and next to us park and then we can get out." Derek said as she watched him carefully. She looked out the window and waited for the two cars Derek had mentioned parked as she looked back to him. "Alright..." He said softly. "I'll get out and open your door. It's pretty tight here, we don't want to hit anyone's car with the door.

"Okay." She said as she waited for Derek to climb from his seat. He pulled his jacket from around his shoulders and walked to her door, opening it slowly to let her climb out, he wrapped his jacket around her from the back. She slipped her arms into the armholes and giggled as she looked up at him.

"It's too big, Just Derek..." She giggled, standing there with the sleeves hanging down as she held her arms straight out.

"Don't you worry about that..." He laughed as he reached down and slid the sleeves up so he could see her hands. "You don't need those for anything." He said as she giggled and let him pick her up as he carried her toward the front of the ferry boat.

"Oh... Mister Derek..." She said as she pointed to the bear in the car seat as she looked up at Derek.

"Don't worry about him, he's not going anywhere..." Derek replied as he hit the button for the lock. "We'll lock it just in case he decides he wants to take a walk around the boat or something." He said as she giggled and held him tightly.

Derek walked toward the front of the ferry holding tightly to the little girl as they made their way to one of the observation decks. He sat down on one of the benches on one of the higher decks and let her sit in his lap as they waited patiently for the ferry boat to start moving. "This kind of boat is called a 'ferry boat'." Derek explained as Zoey watched him and then looked out to the darkening sky.

"A ferry boat?" She asked. "Like... a fairy godmother?"

"Um... a little different..." Derek nodded.

"Oh..." She nodded. "That's silly." She giggled.

"You're silly..." Derek replied as he held her tightly to keep her warm as they waited. The two of them remained silent for quite a while, until very gradually, the ferry began to push from the docks. Zoey hadn't noticed that they were moving yet, she continued to hold tightly to Derek. "Look at that... we're already away from the dock."

"We are?" She asked as she looked up and noticed the twinkling lights of the dock becoming smaller and smaller. "We are!" She exclaimed with a surprised smile as she continued to watch the lights. Her eyes twinkled as she watched, her hands never loosening their hold on Derek's arm as she held him tightly. He snuggled her close as he felt the cool October wind brush over him. He kissed the little girl's hair as he waited, his mind simply racing from the intense changes that his life had gone through in the past twenty four hours. He rocked the little girl carefully as they felt the ferry boat moving toward its destination and Zoey rested in his arms, slowly falling asleep in Derek's arms as they waited to reach their destination.