A Koala Called Kent - A Robert Irwin Story

The Wedding Cake isn't chocolate

The journey home had been awful, nothing but silence. Robert had never been this mad at me before, he'd never really been mad at me but this was on a whole other level and I didn't know how to make things right. After the boat trip we had been to the medical center to have my foot checked out. Apart from a lot of nasty scarring and lot's of stitches, I was going to be fine. Then came the dreaded conversation about what had happened at the Zoo and how I hadn't told him about it. It took me hours to explain, to find the words and to make them come out of my mouth. There was a lot of crying, from both of us and then Robert went silent and he had barely said ten words since.

Robert stopped the car. Even from the driveway we could see the damage that had been done. Construction work seemed to be happening everywhere and dump truck after dump truck passed us, filled with debris. We clambered out of the car, left our bags, and went straight over to the Africa section of the Zoo.

It had been the perfect location choice for our wedding. Bindi suggested it after she and Chandler hadn't been able to use it for their wedding but once more the media had interfered. While we had been away, everyone else had been busy putting everything together for the wedding. The chairs, the aisle, the flowers. No expense spared. Everything was perfect. Until the exact same thing that happened to Bindi happened to us. Two news channels had sent helicopters to the Zoo to take exclusive photos before the wedding. The animals had been distressed and had started running around and injuring themselves. The keepers had rushed onto the plains to help herd the animals back into their paddocks when the two helicopters had collided and fell to the ground. Their engines had exploded on impact and had sent fragments of their helicopters flying throughout the Zoo. Animals, keepers and guests had been injured and the pilots and reporters had all died. Everyone was worried about the impact this would have on the Zoo for years to come.

As Robert and I stood looking over the now destroyed grassland I felt my heart break. The rest of the Zoo was open but still it felt as though part of its soul was gone. I felt Robert's hand slide into mine and I held him tightly. No matter how mad he was at me, neither of us could have been prepared for this and neither one of us could bear to look at it alone. I hugged his arm and rested my head of his shoulders. It was devastating.

"Oh thank goodness you're back," I heard Bindi say. We both turned around and saw a very stressed out looking Bindi jogging over to us. We embraced her immediately.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Robert said,

"We're all fine," she reassured. "How are you Clemence?" she asked, I nodded,

"Fine," I said. But none of us were fine.

"Where are the girls?" I asked, suddenly remembering that Livvy, Kendra and Jane were here and must have been so freaked out by everything.

"They're down there helping with the clean-up," Bindi said.

"All three of them?" I asked, she nodded.

"They were the first ones in there, haven't stopped really," Bindi added. A small smile formed on my lips. I was glad that they were helping with the efforts.

"Clemence, your family have started arriving. I've sent the bus for them but our welcome party... I'm so sorry, we can't... I don't..." I could see she was trying to explain herself. I reached out for her hand,

"Bindi it's fine," I told her. "We get what we get. When they arrive we'll order pizza or something, everything will be alright," I told her. She nodded. She was so upset. "But for now, we should go and get changed so that we can help you guys," I added.

"I wish just one of us could have had a wedding without any issues," she said as Robert embraced her tightly.

"It'll still be perfect," he told her, "just like your wedding was." He placed a kiss to the side of her head and stroked her hair back. Their sibling bond was something no one could ever compete with.