“Zoo Day”: Chapter 1

My dog jumped as my phone blared a horrible crashing of chimes. “Oh I’m sorry Moo! It’s my alarm, I forgot.” I said, reaching for the phone and hitting “STOP”. I had set it for 9:30, but I was so excited I could barely sleep, and finally got up around 9:00. Daddy and I planned on having a Zoo day. I slipped my phone into the pocket of my playpack, which I had been packing. An extra diaper, lots of snacks, powder, wipes, a pacifier, and my Switch with the new Pokemon game, just in case. Daddy usually had most of these things too, but I always felt less anxious bringing my own.

Just as soon as I had dropped my phone into the pocket, it made the “ding” sound of a text, and I dug it right back out. It was Daddy. I had let him know I was up a little early, and he said he would drive over “in just a minute”. His new text said that he was just “5 minutes out bugaboo”. That was his was of saying he was almost here. I quickly double checked all of the things in my playpack and zipped it up. I pulled up my diaper a little before buttoning my safari themed onesie and tugging up the new shorts I had gotten. They were khaki, and looked just like something out of Stranger Things, and best of all, they had an elastic waistband. “A toddler’s favorite” I joked to myself in the mirror, snapping the elastic and blushing at the little ‘poof’ of baby powder that escaped. I slipped my feet into some fuzzy fleece socks, and then black combat boots- to give that “tough baby” image- and then to top off the look I tied a little blue bandana around my neck. I felt cute.

Like clockwork, the moment I stopped to admire myself in the mirror, the doorbell rang, and Moo was barking happily. “I’m coming” I squealed, and ran to the door. As I was unlocking it I could hear Daddy barking back at Moo, a game they liked to play. When I opened the door he said “Hi sweetie” and wrapped me in a big bear hug. The summer morning was hot, and he already felt a little sweaty. He then pulled away and turned to Moo, who was jumping at his legs for her usual greeting. He crouched down, put his hands on his legs, they looked each other straight in the eyes, and in tandem they leapt to the carpet in a playful wrestle. While they were both occupied, I went back to my room quickly to grab my playpack, and say goodbye to my plants.

Before I could finish my final goodbye to the begonia, I could feel eyes on me from the doorway. I turned around and Daddy was smiling. “Please finish!” he said, but I just blushed and went over into his arms. He instinctively wrapped them around me and both of his hands landed on my diapered butt through the shorts. “You changed into a new diaper for the Zoo, right Rory?” he asked. I looked into his eyes, through his glasses, and blushed again. “Well yea,” I started meekly, “But I already wet a little bit.” He kissed me on the forehead. “Oh that's fine” he cooed, letting me go so he could grab my playpack for me. We said a final goodbye to Moo and Daddy made sure I had given her food and water for the day. Then we went out to the car.

“Do you want to sit in the front or back today bud?” he asked. “The front! So I can hang out with Daddy. Is that okay?” I asked. “Of course!” he replied, and opened the door for me to get in. The way we had worked it out, if I sat in the front seat, we could still talk about adult things, or anything, and it was more social. But if I chose the back seat, which I often did on days where I needed something relaxing, Daddy would put on The Wiggles or some old recordings of Sesame Street Live, and usually he would give me a pack of fruit snacks, and we would just ride with the windows down, listening to the music. But today I wanted to have fun with Daddy.

He got into the drivers side, and started us towards the Zoo. We both cheered as we pulled out of my apartment’s parking lot. “What diaper do you have on today bug?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road. “A Little Kings of course!” I said, giggling. I had been telling him all week that I was most excited to visit the cat house at the zoo, and see the lions. I made a “Roar!” to emphasize the little kings diaper, and my excitement about the cat house. “Oh my goodness!” he gasped, playing along. “I thought there was a real lion in here for a second!” We both laughed as we we neared our destination… TO BE CONTINUED