CI: zoion logia

Author: rebel diamonds
Title: zoion logia
Rating: G
Summary: Future Fic. A series of shorts I have planned – snippets of Emma Jane Eames-Goren’s life so far.


It was crowed for a scorching hot Sunday in August. People, mostly families, meandered down the curved pavement. You had to watch where you were walking because every once in a while a toddler would dart out in from of you. Screams and yells (not all human) reverberated through the trees and Eames was glad she wasn’t here to work because she couldn’t hear herself think even if she wanted to.

Gone was the time when precious days off were spent sitting at home alone, completing various household chores you claimed couldn’t wait, subconsciously hoping for the phone to ring or the beeper to go off, begging you back to the office. Now, time off was spent concocting ways to amuse a three year old, showing her the city in which she lived.

Currently, their little family resided at the Monkey House of the New York Zoo.

“Daddy! Daddy! Look!” the diminutive girl yelled, despite having her mouth mere inches from her father’s ear. Goren flinched at the shrill pitch, but did nothing to discourage it. He was currently holding her up to see better – an advantage of his stature that she often utilized. Her arms were wrapped around his neck like the monkey his child’s delicate little finger pointed to.

“I see,” he answered, grinning at her. “Is, is that the Mommy or the baby?”

“The baby,” she drawled. “That’s the Daddy over there,” Emma said smartly, pointing at the largest of the animals that looked down on the rest of them from the highest branch.

“Do you know why they’re called “Colobus” monkeys?”

Emma’s little brunette pigtails swished as she shook her head, gazing at her father. Of course she didn’t know, but the little girl was like a sponge, especially when it was coming from him.

“It’s Greek. It means they don’t have thumbs.” He snatched at her finger and pretended to bite it off. Emma leaned back in his arms and laughed, causing him to laugh with her.

His wife watched them admire the animals from across the street. The furry things looked pretty ugly if you asked her, but everything with the two of them was like discovering it for the first time. She approached them, balancing three ice cream cones – one chocolate, one vanilla, and a small swirl cone wrapped in enough napkins to just make it hold-able in her daughter’s tiny grasp. If Alex was any kind of mother, it was a proactive one.

But if she were to be honest, the napkins were just as much for Emma as they were for her husband, who most likely would let his cone melt in the August sun so as to better hold his daughter’s, having her hold onto his wrist and guide her Cupie doll mouth to it for neat little licks. He’d spend the rest of the day attracting flies. And he wouldn’t care.

Robert Goren couldn’t refuse his daughter anything. Because of his childhood traumas he was attentive to his daughter to the point of being ridiculous – every picture, scraped knee, new word, and whim was given his utmost attention. This child had given him a sense of definite stability he’d never had before or wouldn’t have had. Partly because if there was one certainty in this world, it was that Robert Goren would never leave his daughter.

As vanilla ice cream began to drip down Bobby’s hand, Alex moved to wipe it from his fingers and then their daughter’s mouth for good measure. Emma smiled at her mother and Alex couldn’t help but grin back and give her a small tickle. At her birth, she had filled something in her mother as well. Alex had felt so empty after giving birth to her nephew and giving him away, even if it was to such a close relative. In contrast, the months after Emma’s birth were filled with wonderful memories of lullabies and late-night feedings. Whereas Bobby was forced to sleep in order to get up for his early shifts, Alex’s maternity leave granted her the luxury of getting up every time her baby so much as whimpered. Even the crazy hours failed to aggravate her because the honor of being allowed to be this little girl’s mother trumped all.

As they continued through the zoo, throwing away the remainder of their cones as they passed, the Madagascar Tree Boa had Emma hiding her face against her father’s neck and grabbing for her mother’s hand. Even Eames squirmed a little at the sheer number of snakes in the little underpass, but of course Bobby couldn’t see what might be even slightly creepy about it. He took Alex’s hand as he led them out and they turned their heads to grin at each other.

If the guys at the precinct though he was eccentric, they should see him at home at three in the afternoon dancing to 60’s songs on the radio with Emma, anything to make her laugh. Alex would never tire of watching the look on his face every time he made their daughter laugh – the wonderment and soft amazement that came over his features. The two of them were endlessly fascinated with each other. One would think Alex would feel left out with her husband and daughter’s close camaraderie, but on the contrary, Alex felt blessed to have the two of them and the ability to give them to each other. Bobby was a wonderful father and reveled in every minute of it, making up for his own lacking childhood.

On the way out of the park Emma’s eyes began to drift and she was asleep before they hit the sidewalk. It wasn’t unlike her to nap, considering the little sleep she had gotten the night before because of her excitement of the special occasion – an all day excursion with Mommy AND Daddy -- and the amount of running she’d done all day. Alex thought about rousing her so she would sleep instead of play when they got home, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead of hailing a cab right away, Emma’s preferred method of transportation on their little outings, they made their way towards the subway. The early evening was cooling considerably.

They got through the turnstile and into available seats before she half-woke.

“Gerry,” she grumbled, holding her arm over her father’s shoulder towards her mother and flexing her fingers. Alex nodded and fumbled through the book bag between her legs and pulling out a stuffed penguin, oh yes, Gerry the Gentoo Penguin -- today’s new edition to the ever expanding zoo of her own. She handed over the animal and Emma cuddled it between her arm and Bobby’s shoulder.

The short ride and even shorter walk later they reached the destination of their car. Emma didn’t fuss much being put in her car seat and the drive home was calm and comfortable. Alex and Bobby talked quietly, him holding her right hand and fiddling with her fingers most of the ride, frequently lifting the back of her hand to his lips, something that always got a smile out of her.

Sadly, the silence didn’t last for long. Emma woke bright-eyed and bushytailed when Alex pulled the car into the driveway.

“We’re home, Mommy!” she announced from the backseat, struggling against the straps of her car seat. Of course, there was no settling her down until they had acted out every animal they saw and she introduced Gerry to all his new animal friends individually.

Finally, after this long rigmarole it was time for another ritual . . . bedtime.

END