Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Huge thanks to Big Tuna and JamJunkie14 for being such awesome betas – you guys are amazing!!!

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Pam puttered around the kitchen gathering various different snacks to place in Alexis’s Tinkerbell backpack, which was sitting open on the counter.

“Lexie, have you got your shoes on, Sweetheart?” Pam called out. She took a bite out of a carrot stick before depositing the rest into the Tupperware box in front of her.

“Alexis?” she called again, a little louder this time.

Jim and Alexis’s laughter could be heard travelling down the hallways, long before they entered the kitchen, “She’s with me.” He grinned as he marched towards Pam, with a laughing Alexis teetering on his feet, eliciting a warning glance from Pam. “Good morning,” he smiled warmly as he lifted Alexis off of his feet. He sat her down on the counter, ensuring he kept one hand on the squirming youngster while he reached up and grabbed a mug from the cupboard above her head.

“My bag.” Alexis pointed out, as she tried to reach across the counter for her backpack.

“Jim, watch her.”

Jim laughed at the look of panic that swept over Pam’s face. “Don’t worry, I’ve got her,” he reassured her as he tickled Alexis’s belly, making a point to show his hands never left her.

Pam brought a hand up to her chest, sighing loudly. “Seriously, it’s way too early in the morning for you to be freaking me out like that,” she admonished as she walked over and ran her hand down his back, admiring his outfit of khaki shorts and blue Phillies shirt. ”Well, don’t you look nice,” she told him as she picked up the pink sandals Jim had brought in with him and slipped them on Alexis’s feet.

Jim grinned at her before popping a grape into his mouth. “Why, thank you. I have to tell you though, Pam, people at the zoo may get jealous.”

“And why is that? Because the girls you’re with are so pretty?”

“No, I meant they might be jealous of you. You’re right, I do look pretty good today.”

Alexis looked up from her handful of grapes that Jim had been feeding her and smiled. “Peety, Daddy.”

Jim smiled at Alexis’s misunderstanding and bent down to kiss her nose. “Thank you. Cupcake.”

“Got samiches?” Lexie asked, her mind quickly going back to the snacks she saw her mom preparing.

“Yep, peanut butter and jelly…”

“Tr’angles?”

“Yes, I cut them into triangles for you,” Pam laughed. “And I made us chicken salad, tuna salad and ham and cheese.”

“That sounds great. You ready?” Jim asked, as he grabbed one of Alexis’s ankles, which was about to make contact with his groin.

“Snacks – check, sun cream – check, drinks – check, camera - check, band aids – check, sun hat – check… I think we’re ready.”

“It’s been thirty minutes, you want to give Mommy another ticket?” Pam asked, as she turned around towards Alexis and held out her hand. They’d invented this game a couple of months ago after a long and boring car ride They would make countdown tickets for Alexis, and at the start of each long trip they’d give her a little pre counted bag full of them. Every thirty minutes, she’d have to hand over a ticket, and when her bag was empty, the trip was over. It was games like these that made the journey bearable. A bored Lexie was a loud, unhappy Lexie.

“Here, Mommy.” Alexis said as she excitedly handed over one of her homemade (by mommy) animal themed tickets. “Daddy?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Play the aminal game?”

“Okay, you ready? Quack quack.”

“DUCK.”

“Good girl, how about… oink oink?” Jim asked, glancing quickly at Pam. He could see out of the corner of his eye that she was staring at him.

“A… PIGGY.”

“That’s right. Now what’s this, roaaaaaaaaaaaaaar?”

“A scawy lion… all dees aminals dere?”

“We’ll see some of those animals that’s for sure, maybe not any ducks. But guess what we will get to see?”

“Whaaaat?”

“Penguins.”

Jim jolted forward quickly in his seat, after being kicked in the back by an excited Alexis – who was clearly thrilled at getting to see her favourite animal. Alexis’s obsession with penguins had started when his parents had bought her a little stuffed penguin when she was born, and to this day it still traveled everywhere with her.

Pam laughed at her animated daughter in the backseat. “Are you excited, Lex?”

“Uh, huh. But… Pen’gin go home?” she asked, clutching her little penguin sadly.

“Aw, no baby. Pen’gin is yours, he lives with us,” Pam reassured her.

It was late summer, and luckily for them, most of the kids had gone back to school the previous week, so they more or less had the zoo to themselves.

Once inside, Jim held Alexis’s hand as Pam pushed the stroller.

“Primates or hoofed mammals?” Pam asked as she nodded toward the sign up ahead.

“I’m thinking primates. You ready to see some monkeys, Lexie loo?”

“Yessss! Up me,” Alexis demanded, as she stood facing away from Jim with her arms in the air – hinting that she wanted to be placed on his shoulders.

They made their way to the first enclosure, which held the orang-utans.

Pam walked up to the sign and began to read what it said. “Sumatran orang-utans are one of the great apes and among the…”

“He’s orange,” Alexis giggled as an orang-utan swung from tree to tree in front of her, “like a Cheeto.”

Jim looked up and smiled, “He does look a little like a Cheeto, you’re right.”

Suddenly an older orang-utan stopped in front of them, with a baby strapped to their chest.

“Look, Lexie. A mommy and baby.” Pam pointed out as she rested her hand gently on Alexis’s leg, “Aren’t they cute?”

Alexis clapped her hands excitedly. “Cute.”

“We used to carry you like that when you were little, Lex.” Jim explained, as he jiggled the youngster on his shoulders to get her attention.

“Daddy, can dey talk?”

“Yes they can. But they talk a special secret language only other orang-utan’s can understand.”

Once Alexis had said goodbye to every single orang-utan, they made their way over to the baboon enclosure.

“Silly monkey.” Alexis scolded the confused looking little baboon that was sitting on a perch in front of her. “He’s naughty.”

Jim looked at Pam, who seemed just as confused as he was, “Aw, why is he naughty?”

“He got paint, dere, look, he has a pink bum bum, Daddy.” Alexis explained as she pointed to the baboon’s pink butt.

Pam couldn’t suppress the smile that spread across her face. She loved listening to Alexis’s outlook of the zoo; everything seemed so much more innocent when seen from a three and half year old’s eyes.

After the baboon enclosure, they made their way over to the zebras, which were in a huge fenced in field, allowing the visitors to get relatively close to the animals. Jim took Alexis off of his shoulders and walked her over to the railings.

Her face lit up as a small zebra grazed a few feet away. “Look, horsey.” She pointed out excitedly.

Jim crouched down behind Alexis, and wrapped his arm around her. “No, Sweetie, that’s a zebra.”

“No, Daddy. Mommy, it a horsey?” She turned and asked Pam, obviously hoping to prove Daddy wrong.

“No, baby. Daddy was right; it’s a zebra. It does look like a horsey though, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Why it look like that?”

Pam grinned and leaned with her back against the railings, looking down at her inquisitive daughter, who was waiting patiently for Jim to answer her.

“It’s because they couldn’t decide what color they wanted to wear when they were born. You know how you want to wear pink every day?” He asked. Alexis nodded eagerly. “Well, they wanted to wear black AND white every day, so it was easier for them to be both.”

“’Kay.”

Jim looked up and winked at Pam, causing her to laugh. Jim and Pam both loved that Alexis was so gullible. Jim could tell Alexis anything and she’d believe him. They’d already agreed that Lexie was still too little to understand a lot of the questions she was asking. Sometimes she didn’t even listen to the answer before the next question popped out of her mouth, so they agreed to say whatever was easiest until she was old enough to take everything in.

After the zebras they found themselves in front of the lion compound.

Jim walked Alexis over to the glass, and watched her press her face up against it. “Wow, big kitty.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty big, huh?”

“Very big. Funny hair,” she laughed, as she pointed to the male lion that was lounging on a rock just in front of them.

“It looks like Daddy’s hair in the morning, doesn’t it Lexie?” Pam teased, causing Alexis to laugh.

Jim bent down and tickled Alexis’s sides. “Hey, be nice, you two, or I might just leave you here.”

“Look, Mommy. Piggy back ride.”

Jim and Pam looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Pam managed to keep her composure, but Jim snorted and tried to hide his laughter.

“Stop it,” she whispered to Jim as she tried not to laugh herself. “That’s right baby, they’re playing piggyback.” She told her, as she pulled the youngster away from the glass.

“Have fun!” Alexis called out.

Jim took the stroller from Pam. “I’m sure they’re having lots of fun.”

Next up were the giraffes. Pam let go of Alexis’s hand so she could run the small distance to the fence. The look of awe on her face as she looked up at the tall animal in front of her made them both smile.

“She’s biiig.”

“She is, think she’s taller than Daddy?” Pam asked as she teasingly poked Jim in the ribs.

“Hmm, no.”

Pam looked up at the tall animal standing in front of her. “No? I think she might just be a little bit taller than Daddy.”

“Hi. Would you guys like to feed her?”

Jim spun around and found one of the zookeepers standing behind him, buckets in hand, filled to the brim with leaves and twigs.

Pam nodded eagerly, and Jim laughed quietly to himself. It was obvious the zookeeper was asking if Alexis wanted to feed the animals, but that didn’t stop Pam from expressing her own excitement.

“We’d love to,” Pam told him, as she picked Alexis up and bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet.

“Hey, I’ve got her.” Jim smiled, as he lifted Alexis out of Pam’s arms. “You’re gonna need both hands to feed your friends.”

They made their way over to the fence and watched as the keeper, who introduced himself as Mike, unlocked a metal gate behind the fence, letting the animals wander closer.

Mike smiled warmly as he handed Alexis a small handful of leaves. “Here you go, little one, now hold your hand out like this, so Pepper can reach the food,” he explained as he held his own hand out to the hungry giraffe.

“Yuck, its tongue is bluee!” Alexis squealed, as her hand shook nervously a few inches away from the giraffe’s mouth.

“Yeah, why is that?” Jim asked, as he helped guide Alexis’s hand nearer to the animal, who followed the food in her hand. The giraffe seemed irritated that Lexie couldn’t hold her hand in one place so that it could eat.

“It’s just because they don’t have very many blood vessels in their tongues. They eat a lot of thorny and prickly plants, so it just prevents them from bleeding excessively,” Mike explained as he handed more food to Pam.

Alexis pulled her hand away quickly. “It licked me.”

“It’s okay, baby, she’s just hungry.” Pam reassured her.

“She want some of my oh’s?” Alexis asked as she cupped her fists into little oh shapes.

Jim smiled and kissed Alexis’s cheek. “I don’t think she’ll like your Cheerios, but that’s very nice of you of you to offer.”

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After feeding the giraffes, they decided it was time for lunch themselves. They’d only been at the zoo for a couple of hours, but Alexis was starting to get hungry. They pulled the stroller over to a small patch of grass that was shaded beautifully by a huge oak tree, making it the perfect picnic location. Pam laid out the blue picnic blanket she’d brought while Jim sat Alexis down, washed her hands, and quickly reapplied her sun cream.

Pam had finished setting the food up as Jim laid down on his stomach, followed quickly by Alexis. This was a new thing of hers; she liked to copy everything daddy did.

“You having fun?” Jim asked, as he took a bite out of an apple, and placed it in on Alexis’s paper plate.

She was too busy pushing chips in her peanut butter and jelly sandwich to answer right away. Her tongue was poking out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated on the task in front of her. Jim smiled. It always reminded him of Pam when Alexis did that. “Yep, but I want to see the pen’gins now,” she told him as she pressed down hard on the sandwich in front of her, crushing the chips inside.

“As soon as we’re done eating we’ll go find them,” he promised.

Once they’d finished their lunch, Jim strapped Alexis into her stroller and they followed the sign to the penguins and sea lions.

It was a little after two in the afternoon, and the zoo had already hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit. With the temperature continuing to rise, they decided they’d go home after they’d visited the penguin habitat, as Alexis was already getting restless.

Jim choked and brought his hand up to cover his nose. The nearer they got to the sea life centre, the stronger the smell of fish became, and the heat was clearly making it worse. They stopped in front of the sign so that they could show Alexis what was inside. Despite the fact that there were several animals in the sea life habitat Alexis had absolutely no interest in anything other than her precious penguins. She ran her small hands over the picture of the penguins on the sign and kicked her legs excitedly.

Jim laughed, “Come on then, let’s go see some penguins.” Jim took one handle of the stroller from Pam and looped his arm around her. He placed his other hand over hers, trapping her between him and the stroller. Pam turned around and tried not to laugh when she saw Jim’s mischievous smile.

They parked the stroller and Jim picked Alexis up and walked her over to the railings, where he could see a zookeeper sorting out bucket after bucket of raw fish by the pool below.

“It looks like we’re going to see them have dinner, Lex,” Jim informed them as he hoisted Alexis further up his chest, so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. Apparently, she wasn’t as interested in seeing the penguin’s dinner being prepared as she was in seeing the penguins themselves.

“What they eat?”

Jim turned his head and kissed Alexis’s cheek. “They eat fish.”

“I eat Goldfish too.”

Pam laughed as she linked her arm through Jim’s and rested her head on his shoulder so she was facing Lexie. “Not the crackers that you love, they eat real fish. Can you smell it?”

“Smells yucky.”

“You’re right. It does smell a bit yucky, but they like it.”

Alexis leaned her head over and pointed to her pushchair, “Mommy, get pen’gin.”

Pam quickly grabbed the stuffed penguin, and handed it to Lexie.

Suddenly a buzzer sounded, and a gate was opened in the pit below. Jim turned Alexis around just in time to see the penguins waddle in and jump into the pool.

Alexis pressed her face in between the railings and watched in awe as their dinner was thrown at them.

“Hi pen’gins!” Alexis waved. Pam quickly removed Pen’gin from Lexie’s hands, as he was almost thrown over the railings into the pool.

“Dey makes funny noises.”

“That’s just them talking to each other, remember how I told you the monkeys have a secret language that only they can understand? Penguins are the same,” Jim explained.

“Daddy, what his name?” she asked as she pointed to a little penguin that was jumping into the water.

“Urm, Bob.”

“And dat one?”

“Emma.”

“Dat one?”

“Henry.”

“Oh Look, Alexis!” Pam pointed out the smaller penguin that was struggling to get back out of the pool to try and distract Alexis. If she weren’t stopped, every penguin in the habitat would have a name and a life story. “I think that’s a baby penguin, and look, I think that’s his mommy.”

Alexis looked at Pam, shock clearly evident on her face. “They have mommies?”

“Of course they do, Baby. And daddies.”

Alexis’s attention turned towards the stuffed animal in Pam’s hands, “Poor Pen’gin. You miss mommy?”

Pam bit her lip and looked at Jim. “Aw, Lex. I don’t think he’s…”

“Hey, Lex. Look at that one, he’s sliding on his belly.” Jim told her as he pointed to the little penguin below.

“He’s silly.”

They stood and watched the penguins for another ten or so minutes, but Jim could tell Alexis was getting tired, as she was getting heavier in his arms.

Jim ran a soothing hand down Alexis’s back. “Okay, Cupcake. It’s time to go. Wanna wave goodbye?”

“Bye pen’gins.” Alexis said sleepily.

Pam went to take her from him and strap her in the stroller.

“It’s okay. I’ve got her. You okay taking that?” He asked her, nodding his heading towards the stroller.

“I’m good.”

They made their way to the car in silence, Alexis almost asleep.

“Daddy, I am very sad.”

“Why, baby? What’s the matter?”

“Cos, you know what?”

“What?”

“My Pen’gin, he, he not real,” she told him sadly as she lifted her head off of his shoulder slightly.

“Pen’gin is real, just like your other animals are real. Remember Toy Story? They were all real.”

“Pen’gin play at night?”

“He sure does,” Jim reassured her as he buckled Alexis safely into her car seat and leaned down to give her a kiss, ensuring Pen’gin was tucked securely under her arm.

“Good,” Alexis said.

“Now go to sleep, ‘kay?”

“Wait, Daddy. Kiss Pen’gin too.” She told him, just before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Jim did as he was asked, and placed a soft kiss on top of the penguin’s head, before closing the door and climbing in to the driver’s seat.

“What?” Jim asked, sensing Pam was looking at him from the passenger side.

“You know you’re cute, right?”

“I know.”

The End

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