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“Me too.”
The little girl beamed up at her father, then started skipping again. “Ephant!”
When they reached the elephant enclosure, though, the elephants were nowhere to be seen. A sign explained that they were currently receiving a veterinary check-up, but that they would be back within a few hours.
“Ephant?” Grace asked hopefully, trying to climb onto the railing around the enclosure. “Ephant here?”
“No, sweetie.” Amelia got down to the child’s level. “The elephants are with the doctor. But they’ll be back soon.”
Grace’s lower lip began to tremble and her blue eyes filled with tears. “See ephant now!”
“I wish we could see the elephants now, but we can’t. What other animal should we see first?” Amelia asked, gently but firmly. Grace shook her head, her pigtails flying.
“See ephant now!”
“How about a penguin?” Liam suggested.
“Nooooo!”
Amelia knew a tantrum was coming on. She was proven right when Grace sank to the ground. She quickly scooped the little girl into her arms and bounced her on her hip.
“We’ll see the elephants soon,” she said soothingly. “They miss you, too. They want to see you. But right now, they’re with the doctor. We’ll see them soon.”
“Ephants,” Grace sobbed. Her face had turned red, but at least she wasn’t screaming. Amelia glanced at Liam, though, and saw that his eyes were wide with concern.
“It’s okay,” Amelia said soothingly. “This is normal for toddlers.”
“Ephant,” Grace repeated.
“I know. I just feel so powerless, not being able to get her what she wants.” Liam bit his lip. “Maybe a toy elephant?”
“Let’s try something else before we resort to bribery.” Amelia meant her tone to be joking, but Liam’s face closed at her words. Oh, no. Grace was sobbing, Liam looked annoyed, and everything seemed to be spiraling downwards. Amelia needed to act fast.
“Okay, folks.” Her tone was bright. “I heard that the penguins really wanted to see Grace today. Liam, did you hear something about that?”
“I did,” Liam said guardedly.
“Yeah. I heard one penguin say if he didn’t see Grace, he was going to be really sad.”
Grace lifted her tear-stained face from Amelia’s shoulder. “Reawy?”
“Really.” Amelia bounced Grace. “Should we go see the penguins and make them happy?”
“Okay.”
Amelia met Liam’s gaze and gave him an encouraging nod. He nodded back, but Amelia could see he still felt guarded after Grace’s mini meltdown. They walked back to the penguins, Amelia keeping up a steady stream of chatter with Grace. By the time they arrived, Grace wiggled to get down and ran to the edge of the penguin enclosure, where she watched with awe as the penguins waddled across the ice and slid into the water.
“This is exactly what I’m worried about,” Liam said quietly to Amelia.
“Tantrums?” Amelia shrugged. “They aren’t fun, but they aren’t the end of the world either. Little kids have big feelings.”
“No, not tantrums. I get that being upset is normal for a kid her age. I’m worried that I won’t handle stuff right and that she’ll be heartbroken because of my actions — or inaction.”
“Look at her.” Amelia nodded to Grace, whose hands were pressed against the glass of the penguin enclosure. “Does she look heartbroken?”
“No, but if you hadn’t been here, I probably would have just bought her a stuffed elephant — or taken her home.”
“She would probably have loved the elephant. And even if you have to take her home sometimes, she’ll get over it. Plus, you don’t have to worry about doing any of this alone. I’m right here with you.” Amelia nudged Liam’s shoulder with her own. It was meant to be a gesture of solidarity, but Amelia couldn’t help feeling a shiver at the touch of his bare arm on her own.
