I have no idea if they have anteaters in North American Zoos but they're my favourite animal and they deserve the motherfucking best. Why are they even real.
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Anyway let's begin shall we.
Lucas Friar strolled into the zoo with his niece in tow. Bethany was four years old and loved animals more than life itself. Him being a vet he was more than happy to tell her about all different species and what they did. Beth would come into work and shadow Lucas once a week watching him and playing with the animals. It was arguably Lucas' favourite part of the week and he wished he could have his own children to be with him everyday, he just couldn't find that right girl.
Bethany ran inside the zoo bouncing for joy towards the giraffes. Lucas was more than happy to oblige to her requests and plopped her hat on her head and swooped her up in his arms. The little girl giggled at this actions but stopped abruptly when she saw the small gift hut that was located across from the giraffes and near the meerkats.
'Bethy princess stand by the giraffes they're your mums favourite animal.' Lucas called and the little girl bounced over and stood as close as she could get with a massive smile taking over her whole face. Lucas couldn't help but laugh at her massive smile and was happy he was able to be the reason for her happiness. Lucas pranced over to the girl and held her hand as he walked over to the gift shop. They looked around for a couple of minutes before Bethany pointed to the stuffed animal she wanted. Lucas turned around expecting to see a jaguar or a tiger or something she was usually interested, so you could imagine his surprise when she was pointing at none other than an anteater. The little girl was giggling and examining all the features of the weird creature. Lucas had always been fascinated by the strange animal himself, there 2 foot long tongues that were incredibly sticky and flapped like no ones business. Their fluffy tails that reminded him of a raccoon and their weird looking snout thing that looked like a strange mistake on nature's behalf. Lucas was glad the girl was taking a liking to something less generic and stepping out of the 'norm'. Ever since Lucas told Beth Arthur was not a mouse but indeed an aardvark she'd been asking about more exotic animals.
Lucas picked the stuffed animal up from Beth and they made their way towards the counter. The blonde haired girl smiled at the pair and swiped the tag of the animal.
'Ya know there's actually an anteater exhibit here, my best friend is the boss over there, If you head over know she may just let you in.' The salesgirl, whom was apparently named Maya, told the bouncy little girl. The already wide smile turned wider at those words and she started tugging on Lucas' shirt.
'Uncle Lookey, can we go pweese?' beth begged looking up at Lucas. Lucas smiled back at her and nodded eagerly before paying for the toy and waving to Maya as they walked off. Lucas followed the map passed the hippos and the lions before tucked away at he back Beth spotted the Giant Anteater. Bethany raced over to the fence where they were being fed and Lucas ran after the eager girl.
'Look Lookey, they're so big and funny.' She yelled laughing at the biggest one a baby stuck to her back. The girl that was feeding the Anteater noticed his Niece and made her way over to the fence, a giant anteater in tow.
'Hello sweetheart what's your name.' The worker asked. Bethany was still amazed by the animal behind the girl but Lucas couldn't seem to move his eyes away from the gorgeous brown haired girl standing in front of him.
'Uhh this is my niece Bethany, I'm Lucas, Lucas Friar.' He introduced and The worker took his hand in hers.
'I'm Riley Matthews. I'm an anteater specialist here at the zoo.' She replied her glowing smile making Lucas' heart burst.
'An anteater specialist, that's interesting.' He half jokes but he was really interested in such a profession.
'It's actually a side thing, I'm still studying to hopefully be a history teacher. I love anteaters and all but I've always wanted to be a teacher.' Riley eased, she couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to this Lucas guy. She snapped herself out of her trance and focused on the little girl in front of her.
'Hey Bethy. Since it's so quiet around here do you want to come see Judy up close.' Riley gleamed crouching down to Bethany's level. The little girl smiled and nodded widely. Riley walked over to the locked gate in the fence and used her key to let the little girl waddle in her uncle following close behind.
'Judy this is Bethany, Bethany this is Judy here was raised in captivity, so she is very calm around humans and loves a good pat. In the wild Anteaters have many defense skills they usually use against Jaguars and other South American animals. The mothers actually use their babies to try make them look bigger and more threatening to predators. So Judy here would use her baby girl Layla and put her on her back.' The little girl hung onto all of Beth's words that came out of Riley's mouth and Lucas was making use of it by filming it for her parents. Bethany hesitantly walked over to the Giant animal and placed her hand on it's snout. She stepped back quickly thinking it would flinch but when she didn't she started feeling the anteater again. Riley and Lucas looked at the girl with wide smiles on their faces.
'Seems like they like each other.' Riley gushed at Lucas.
'They aren't the only ones. I really like you, would you like to go out with me?' He asked quickly.
'Yeah I will.'
'Riwey, why does Judy walk like that.' Bethany asked and Lucas never broke eye contact with her.
'Well that's because her claws-' Lucas watched both girls bond and couldn't be happier.
