Jurassic Park III (Norminah)

Chp. 1: Time Changes

It was close to five o'clock in the afternoon in Arizona. The sun wasn't too high in the sky, but still high enough to shed light on a young girl playing with her tiny dinosaur figurines in a suburban backyard. She roared ferociously as she played, her little sister coming up next to her to see what she was doing. The little one giggled as her big sister began to chase her with the tiny Tyrannosaur all around their swing set.

"Mia, honey," Dinah said from the kitchen's screen door, "be careful in that leotard. I don't want your dance uniform getting messed up before the big performance next week."

The little one, now known as Mia, looked at her mother and nodded.

"Why don't you meet mommy inside so you can change into something more comfortable, Peanut?" Normani instructed her youngest daughter.

"M'kay," Mia said happily.

Off she went, her giant hair bouncing with every step as she eagerly met Dinah by the door so she could change. Normani smiled at the sight before turning her attention to her oldest daughter. The young one was making two of her toy dinosaurs fight one another, which caused the ebony to let out a chuckle.

"Tia, you know those are herbivores, right?"

The young one, now known as Tia, looked up at her mother in slight confusion.

"They are?" she asked. "But they're so big."

"Not all herbivores are small, baby girl," Normani giggled. "They also wouldn't be interested in fighting each other. But these..."

The ebony picked up two of her daughter's other toy dinosaurs.

"...these are carnivores. And this one here – see its claws? This one uses its claws to gouge at the throat of its opponent..."

Normani demonstrated her mini lesson with grunts and groans of her own as she playfully attacked Tia, causing the girl to squeal and giggle her heart out.

"Mani?" Dinah said from behind her.

"Yes, baby?" Normani answered.

"She's only in the second grade. Why don't we wait till she's in fifth?"

"Right," the ebony chuckled. "Happy dinosaurs."

Dinah laughed before kissing her wife on the cheek. Soon, their youngest daughter joined them as they continued to play. About a half hour later, they all migrated to the dining room for dinner. Once the girls ate and washed up, Normani and Dinah tucked them in for the night. The couple then returned to the kitchen before enjoying their dessert – leftover slices of cake and coffee. Once they settled back in at the dining table, they sparked conversation.

"The team misses you, you know," Normani started, referring to her and Dinah's paleontology team. "The digs aren't quite the same without you there."

"I know," Dinah pouted. "I miss being out there myself. I'm just not comfortable leaving the girls with a babysitter yet."

Normani smiled adoringly as she sipped on her coffee.

"So, what are you working on now?" the blonde asked with much intrigue.

"We actually have a new site in Montana," Normani answered. "At least, until the money runs out."

"Anything good?"

"Mostly raptors."

Dinah immediately grew uncomfortable at the mere memory of the despicable creatures.

"My favorite..." she said sarcastically.

"You remember the sounds they made?" Normani asked, realizing that her wife was one of the few people she could talk to about this.

"I honestly try not to," Dinah said.

"I know...and I'm sorry for asking...it's just that we've done cranial scans, and it turns out that they have a really sophisticated resonating chamber. I have a theory that their ability to vocalize is the key to their social intelligence - the way they can work together as a team."

"You think they could talk to each other?"

"To a degree we could never imagine."

Dinah sat back in amazement before speaking again.

"So, we were right..." she said.

"Babe," Normani said, "these things were smarter than dolphins, whales...even smarter than primates. They were the most intelligent animals on this planet."

Before the couple could get into more exciting conversation about the topic, an alarm sounded on Normani's phone, alerting her that she needed to start heading towards the fundraiser for their team. Dinah looked at her wife in a little sadness but kept a smile on her face to show the ebony that she understood. Normani returned the same expression before getting up and sitting next to her. The two shared a kiss before melting in one another's embrace for a little bit longer.

"I'll walk you to the truck," Dinah said softly.

The couple walked to the driveway hand in hand, Normani unlocking the truck with her free one.

"Good luck with fund raising," Dinah smiled.

"It's never easy," Normani said, "but before Jurassic Park, you could find money somewhere. Now, fossils are out. Everyone wants to see a real live dinosaur."

"Times change, babe" Dinah chuckled as she grew closer to Normani. "But you're still the best. I mean that."

"You're not just saying that cause we're married, right?" Normani smirked, bringing her arms around the blonde's hips.

Dinah laughed before touching her nose to the ebony's.

"Of course not," she said.

"I do appreciate the sentiment, lovely. Unfortunately, though...it seems like I'm the last of my breed."

The couple continued to hold each other. Normani never looked forward to having to attend fundraisers. If she was being honest, she was content with the inevitable outcome of her future once word of Jurassic Park got out. She made peace with the fact that she might very well have to retire from the paleontology world sooner than she expected. It would give her the opportunity to spend time on what really mattered in life – her family. Sure, she would miss her team and feeling that rush of excitement from a new find, but nothing beat being able to be present for every major milestone her family would have in the years to come. She guessed that the reason she was still in it now was because there was still some fight in her to preserve the foundation that paleontology was founded on.

"If you need help with anything," Dinah said, interrupting the ebony's thoughts, "please let me know. We're still a team...even if we're miles apart for the time being."

Normani smiled before bringing Dinah in for a lingering kiss, one that Dinah continued as their hold on each other tightened. They smiled at one another before Normani reluctantly got in the truck. The engine sounded right as Normani rolled the window down.

"I'll let you know if any plans change," she said.

"Okay," Dinah smiled. "Be safe. I love you."

"I love you more."

With a lovestruck stare, Normani backed out of the driveway and onto the road, headed toward the first fundraiser on her tour. Times were indeed changing. Maybe it was time the ebony changed with it...