Sweet Summer Sunsets- A Robert Irwin FanFic

Robert

Ashley's mum left, leaving Ashley, Cait, and me at the dining table.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" Cait asked, leaning back in her chair as she was now finished with her sandwich.

"Well, I thought about maybe sitting outside and drawing. Or the three of us can play the Switch," Ashley said, finishing up the last of her chips on her plate. I had finished a while before them. What can I say? A Wildlife Warrior needs his fuel.

"Ooh, Super Mario Party?" Cait said, laughing slightly.

"Sure!" Ashley giggled, getting up and grabbing our paper plates and throwing them away. Cait and I got up and made our way to the living room, me grabbing the bag of chips on the way.

Ashley set up her Switch on the living room television, handing Cait and me controllers. The game booted up and we chose our characters- me picking Bowser, Ashley picking Toad, and Cait picking Yoshi. We played the board game in the game, which has mini-games after we each get a turn.

We finished the game around 1:30, and we all had a good time. We're all competitive people, but thankfully none of us are the type to take it too seriously.

"How's your leg?" I asked Ashley. She was sitting in the corner of the couch, which seemed to be her favourite spot. I sat to her right, and Cait sat on the other end of the couch. It was a fairly large couch, so we were a good distance away from each other.

"Pretty good, actually. No pain or irritation or anything," she said, lifting up her pant leg to show that it wasn't red or swollen either.

"That's great!" I said, "Are you feeling well enough to go back to the zoo and maybe get some stuff done?"

"Yeah, we can do that," she said, gently pulling her pants leg down.

We all got up and Ashley turned off the television. We started our little walk to the zoo, the 3 of us walking in a line, with Cait and I on either side of Ashley.

I reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it 3 light little squeezes. She squeezed back, making me smile. I'm glad this has become a little signal of ours. She let go of my hand once we got back to the zoo, and I knew this was simply because she didn't want to draw attention. I appreciated that she respected that, but I couldn't wait until I officially asked her to be my girlfriend, and I could show her off and hold her hand in front of everyone without caring about the tabloids and fan girls.

"I'm going to head over to the zebras," Cait said, "What are you two going to go do?"

"I was thinking of going to the Wildlife Hospital and helping out there, at least for a little bit. Plus, I want to play with the red panda cubs!" Ashley said excitedly, making me smile. I love seeing her excited about things and feeling a bit better now and not depressed like she was with the whole Jackson ordeal.

"Oooh take some photos for me! See you later!" Cait said before walking off towards the zebras.

"I still cannot believe we have two red panda cubs! Not only is this amazing for conservation and their species, but it is so special to have two furry little beans to come see!" Ashley said, giggling as we walked over to the Wildlife Hospital. I couldn't help but smile at how excited she was. It was nice to know someone and be as close to someone as I am with her, that shares the same special interests I do.

We walked into the Wildlife Hospital and down the hall where Mohini, the mum red panda, and her two cubs, Scarlett and Tedy were being held for observation purposes. They were only going to be in here for a few more days, as Mohini and both cubs are healthy and have had no complications. Then, they'll all be put into our public red panda exhibit, for all of our guests to marvel at!