Holding On

Fourty-Eight

Before she could walk away from Zain after he'd stepped back from her, the door to the room splayed open, and her heart giving a painful lurch, Em whirled her head to the direction, and standing there was the last man she wanted to see - not when she and Zain stood so close.

Her husband.

He stared at them for a while before asking, “Anything the matter?” Strolling into the room he stared between she and Zain.

Was that suspicion she spotted in his eyes? A shiver run through her, panic streaking through her as her mind fumbled for any answer other than what'd been happening.

“George, the thing is...”

The moment Zain begun to speak, she felt a punch of horror, and she cut him off before he could reveal anything.

“George, Zain was just helping me to remove something which had gotten stuck in my eye and making them teary.” Covering her eyes slightly, she shut her eyes tightly so that the tears that'd begun to brim in her eyes would smear her eye lashes.

“Oh, does it hurt?” He neared her, placing his hand on her cheek and checking her eyes.

“No Coconut, it's okay.  Zain has helped me remove it now.” She turned to Zain, smiling slightly. “Thank you, Zain.”

“No need, come on. You're always welcome.” His tone basked in such mockery that she feared George would notice it.

“But are you okay truly?” Tucking behind her ears wayward strands of her hair, George asked, kissing her on the cheek, his gesture strangely possessive. “You look nervous.”

She smiled back when he smiled, feeling her own smile tremble, but it was the grimace she detected beneath his veneer of charm that sent a shudder of fear through her. Or was she just misinterpreting?

“Okay, so guys I think I should be going. See you tomorrow.” Zain announced, patting George on the shoulder, before walking off towards the door.

George turned to her after the door had shut, placing his hand on her waist, and Emma needed no telling to know he wanted her to explain what Zain was doing there in the first place.

“Well the thing is, Amy woke up while we were coming up, and Zain wanted to be the one to put her back to sleep since he's never done it before. Hope you don't mind.” When had she begun inventing lies like a breeze?

Smiling, George pulled her in for a kiss. “Why would I? Of course I don't.” He strolled away from her to sit on the bed, lowering to kiss their daughter.

“So how did it go with Alex?” She asked in need to start a conversation that would steer clear of Zain.

“Well, basically we talked about what has happened in our lives from the time we haven't seen each other up until now, but there wasn't much to recall. He and I weren't that close.”

“Oh, I see. I'll go shower then since it's been a long day.” George merely nodded at her as she made for the bathroom, not bothering to get up to perhaps join her.

In the shower, she felt relief swirl through her just as much as the warm water cascaded down her body as she wondered what would've happened had George entered 5 seconds earlier. He would've seen Zain kissing her, oh God.

She returned to the bedroom to find George immersed in his thoughts in a way that made dread lick through her senses. He got up and smiled at her as he made his own venture into the bathroom, still carrying that expression.

She dared not asked him what he was thinking even though she desperately wanted to know. But the gnawing intuition that he had begun to suspect something stole her breath for a while as she slipped under the covers beside her daughter, placing a kiss on her forehead.

She pretended to have already drifted off to sleep when George came out from the shower but she felt his kiss on her cheek just before she actually did.

***~***

After exploring more of the beaches the next day, George took them to Zoo Miami. He was his normal self again which relieved her, considering the doubts that'd plagued her last night.

It'd been years since she'd visited a zoo, and this was Amy's first. Her daughter couldn't help her excitement when Emma explained exactly what they were going to do there.

The zoo was a large one of about 720 acres, featuring about 3000 exotic animals from Asia, Africa, Australia, and Amazon and beyond. The animals were grouped according to their geographical territories, and animals of different species who were found to peacefully coexist with one another were found together.

The weather was hot, so George got them hats, more so because they decided to walk around in their exploration, choosing not to use the bicycles after the guide had explained that walking was the best way to experience.

They visited the elephants, six of them, found in different areas, according to their continents. It was wonderful to watch those giants walking around, shaking and blowing their trunks. Em couldn't help taking pictures.

Practically the whole day was spent touring and experiencing several parts of the zoo. From the giraffe station where she, George and Amy in his arms, took turns feeding the long necked organism, and capturing some pictures, to the rhino and camel encounters, the latter of which they rode a camel.

Then they took a train ride at the Gold Coast railroad museum before finally exploring several of the other exhibits the zoo had to offer. The wings of Asia aviary, amazon and beyond, Dr. Wilde's World, critter connections and the mission Everglades.

The everglades was quite exciting. Home to several iconic animals like, crocodiles, Florida alligators, roseate, spoonbill, panthers, gopher tortoise., and more. Sliding and crawling through tunnels along with most animals of the endangered species. The alligators literally came at them as they crawled through the tunnel, giving them the thrills and the chills. The longmans river boat ride gave you that sense of adventure.

And through it all, Emma drunk in every  moment, every one of George's smiles, every laugh, every kiss, committing everything to memory along with the pictures they took, brooking the presence she feared she would soon be doing without.

It was around 4 in the evening when they felt they'd explored enough and exhaustion came pleading they headed back to the hotel. The day had been memorable, especially because she'd shared it with her family, and she was going to keep it safe in her heart forever.