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“You can follow up,” Amelia suggested. It was almost humorous that such a confident man would be reduced to such a klutz when it came to his own child. Amelia had overheard Liam on calls with the office making deals of at least a million dollars with supreme confidence, but a two-year-old was too much for him.
“Right. Grace, why are you excited for the zoo?”
Grace looked up at him with those big blue eyes and didn’t reply. At that moment, the elevator reached the parking garage and they stepped out. Liam led the way to his car, where he’d already installed a child seat. Amelia lifted Grace into the seat and buckled her in.
“Impressive that you got this installed. I wrestled with Jamie’s car seat for nearly an hour when I had to install it.”
“Well, this took me nearly an hour last night,” Liam admitted. “Why don’t they make the instructions a little more user-friendly? At one point I thought I had it in, but it was completely backwards.”
Amelia chuckled. “It’s a test for new parents, I think. Grace, are you comfy?”
Grace nodded and kicked her legs against the seat beneath her. “Zoo?”
“Yep, we’re going to the zoo now.”
Amelia and Liam got into the front seats, with Liam driving. As they started off, Amelia turned on the radio and changed the frequency until she reached a children’s channel she knew Grace would enjoy. Sure enough, within a few moments, Grace was dancing in her car seat and singing along.
“Is this song about a rainbow befriending a storm cloud?” Liam asked incredulously.
“It is. Welcome to the wonderful world of children’s music.” Amelia grinned at him.
They drove to the zoo mostly without talking, just listening along to the songs. Grace nodded her head and sang and, after a little embarrassment, Amelia sang along, too.
“You have a beautiful voice,” Liam said as they pulled into the zoo’s parking lot.
“Oh, thanks, but I know you’re just flattering me. I’m not a great singer — and even if I was, these songs aren’t exactly challenging to sing.”
“Well, you sounded good to me.”
“How about Grace?”
Liam put the car into park in a spot near the entrance and twisted to look into the back seat. “Grace, you’re a good singer.”
“Fanks.” Grace blushed and kicked her feet again. Amelia gave Liam a thumbs-up where Grace couldn’t see.
Together, they piled out of the car. Amelia got Grace out of her seat and took her hand. Liam hesitated, then took Grace’s hand on the other side. Grace recognized the game from the photoshoot and began to swing back and forth between them, squealing gleefully at the motion.
“More, more!” she requested whenever they set her back down.
Liam and Amelia exchanged a glance, and Liam smiled. He looked a little uncomfortable, but also truly pleased to be with his daughter.
Things fell apart a little after that. As they entered the zoo, Grace began bouncing up and down, saying, “Ephant, ephant!”
“What’s she saying?” Liam asked warily.
“She just wants to see the elephant,” Amelia explained. “Come on, Grace. Let’s go see the elephant!”
They followed a winding path through the zoo, passing penguins and gazelles, but Grace didn’t have eyes for any of them. She just kept repeating, “Ephant!”
Liam grinned. “Are elephants your favorite animal?” he asked. Grace shook her head. “What is your favorite animal, then?”
“Uninorn,” Grace replied shyly.
“Unicorn,” Amelia whispered.
“Oh, unicorns! I like unicorns too.”
“Reawy?” Grace perked up. “I wike pink uninorns.”
