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Daren nodded, "yeah, i bet that was pretty scary. but maybe it's time to give cat's a second chance? Apple won't scratch you, not excessively. if she does, it's by accident, like if she is scared or something. she doesn't even use her claws when she kneeds like most cats do. she'll be a good gateway cat that will help you be able to move forward, right?" he chuckled and leaned back, "are you scared now that there is a purring fluff-butt asleep in your lap?"

Daren scooped Apple up and lifted her with one hand up to his face. She sleepily blinked her eyes at him before licking his nose and mewing a soft protest. "yeah, yeah, off to bed you little beasty-" he put her down on the pillows where she curled up and promptly went back to sleep. "cats sleep in such weird places, they are used to getting woken up. she's already asleep again, see?" he stood up and stretched, "come on, let's go back to the living room. want to bring Apple with us?"

Daren shrugged as they walked into the living room, "Sounds good to me. don't forget we are babysitting tonight." he checked the time, "in three hours actually, damn. i wasted the entire morning didn't i?" he shook his head at himself as he sat down. his phone went off and he checked the message, smiling to himself, "right on time, Annie's texting to make sure it's ok. should i give the thumbs up?"

Daren grinned, "you got it." he sent the text and got up, "alright. off to the zoo, then?" he got up to get his wallet and jacket, checking to make sure Tim didn't see him slip on his holster and gun underneath it. After yesterday and his melt down today, he wasn't going to be able to go out unarmed for a while. it just made him feel safer, and ready for anything that came his way. "alright, i'm ready. want to pick up something to eat there or take something?"

Daren nodded, "if we get hungry we can eat there. or get some snacks. whichever." he got his keys and they head out, Daren actually wanting to get out of the house for a while. he needed to pull himself together for the kids, they were observant buggers and would notice if he was off right away. at least there was Tim to distract them. he lead the way down to his car and head for the zoo, "it's a big zoo, we'll be able to see a lot in a couple hours, but if you get tired, let me know, ok? we'll rest. even if we don't see everything today, we can come back another day and see the rest. ok?"

Daren tried to remember, but he hadn't hear much about the zoo lately. never really paid attention to it. "of course we can come back, i want to see everything too. oh, here." he pulled his camera out of his jacket pocket and handed it over to Tim, "it's got a fresh card so take as many pictures as you like and get more stuff for that scrapbook. k?"

Daren shook his head at Tim's enthusiasm, but at least he wasn't bouncing up and down like he had at the restaurant last night. he pad and they got stamps on their hands and a map before heading in. "Alright, where do you want to go first? they have it set into sections of the world, so we've Africa, the poles, North America, South America, and Asia. which would you like to see first?" he held the map so they both could see and pulled out a pen to mark the path that Tim wanted to take.