“The building is deceptively big. You should see the shark tank—it’s absolutely incredible, and the feeding talk is always worth seeing. I think I’ve seen it sixty times since she discovered her love for sea creatures.”
“I see him! There he is! Papa, look!” Olympia pressed her fingertip against the glass.
He quirked his eyebrows at me and joined her against the glass. “Oh, wow. Good spot. He’s hiding.”
“He is! Addy, look!”
I had no choice but to join them. I couldn’t see the bloody thing, but I pretended I did all the same. “Oh, yeah, look at him. He’s very cool!”
“Uh-huh!” Olympia jumped up and moved on, leaving us lagging behind her.
“Does she ever slow down?” I whispered to Alexander.
He grinned. “Do you need me to answer that?”
I shook my head in response. No. No, I did not.
“You can’t see the caiman, can you?”
I glanced at him. “No idea where he is.”
“Just there. Under the water. See his nose poking out between the rocks?”
I leaned over so I could see from his angle and, sure as heck, there it was. His slimy little nose just poking out. “Oh, now I see him. I think I was at the wrong angle.”
“Probably.” Alexander’s voice was very close to me.
Very, very close.
Which made sense.
Because I practically had my head on his shoulder.
I straightened, clearing my throat. “Sorry. I didn’t realise I was practically taking a nap on you.”
Laughing, he stood up. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you coming?” Olympia called from the other side of the room. “Just look at this starfish! It’s huge.”
We dutifully crossed over to where she was and ooh-ed and ahh-ed appropriately over the—admittedly very large—starfish. Olympia was an absolute squirrel as she rushed from exhibition to exhibition, demanding our attention for every single thing. She only slowed down when Alex handed her his phone and told her to take photos of everything she really liked.
It didn’t bring her down to a normal level of speed, but it did enough that she actually paused at a few of the information plaques that were dotted around. She stopped long enough to study a few of the names, even asking us to pronounce some of the ones she wasn’t sure about and reading them back. She was trying so hard to better her reading, and I couldn’t help but smile at her.
It looked like a lesson on sea creatures would be on the agenda.
I held back largely from the father-daughter time, enjoying my own perusal of the sea life here. It was surprisingly enjoyable to meander through exhibitions that had local British species, and I especially enjoyed the native sting ray pool. It was a huge pool with an open top that had a bridge off to the side so you could look over the top and see them from above.
Why were aquariums considered to be a day out for children?
I was having the best time. It helped that it was much quieter than I thought it would be—there weren’t half as many people as the carpark had led me to believe, and perhaps that was because it served more than just the aquarium.
We passed through a dark curtain and Olympia’s scream of, “Jellyfish!” echoed off the walls, and Alex flinched.
“Oly. Calm down,” he admonished her gently. “You’ll scare the other animals.”
We entered a dark room that had a huge, floor-to-ceiling centre tank with three-hundred-and-sixty-degree viewing. There were tanks all through the room, but she was only interested in the one in the middle that had some ethereal looking, almost luminescent, semi-translucent jellyfish happily floating around it.
Olympia pressed her entire body against the side of the tank, practically hugging it. I don’t even think she twitched as she stared at the jellyfish and, shoot, if I knew that was all I needed to calm her down, I’d have found and bookmarked a YouTube video of these things by now.
“We might as well sit down,” Alexander said with amusement lacing his tone. “We’re going to be here a while.”
I turned to see him take a seat on a wooden bench, and I sat next to him. “It’s like that, huh?”
“Yes. We’ll be here at least twenty minutes, and I suspect she’ll only leave because she wants to see the sharks get fed.” He peered over at me with a smile. “And that’s why she can’t have pet jellyfish. She’d never get anything done.”
I dipped my head and laughed quietly. “That makes a lot of sense.” I looked back up at her—she hadn’t moved an inch.
For a child who could never sit still, it was quite remarkable.
“What are your plans for the weekend?” Alex asked, drawing my attention back to him.
“Mine? Oh, I’m not sure. I think Eva was going to try to get the train up on Sunday if she could get off work. Gabi said she might join her after Charlotte Howard’s charity gala this weekend.”
Alexander grunted.
“What? Are you not a fan of charity galas?”
“Neither the galas nor Charlotte Howard,” he replied dryly. “It’s not even her gala. It’s Fredrick’s, but it’s not as if that’s ever stopped her making it all about her.”
“Meow. Someone’s feeling catty.”
Alex shot me a look. “Were you not invited?”
“Goodness, no. And I couldn’t be happier about it.” I sniffed. “I’d imagine she was in charge of the guest list, and Eva and I have never gotten along with her. Gabi only does for the sake of keeping up appearances. You’re not the only one who thinks she’s too big for her boots, you know.”
He inclined his head in my direction. “It’s hardly surprising that Fredrick finally proposed to her. I rather think she wore him down.”
“I think everyone knows she wore him down. It’s not a secret that her mother is a catastrophic social climber, especially since her father went to jail for embezzlement.”
“I suppose they both want to get back to where they believe they belong. Socially speaking, of course.”
“Yes, but if the wedding happens, Charlotte will be a future countess. A solid few steps above just having a little money, isn’t it?”
“Now who’s being catty?”
“I’m a woman. I’m supposed to be catty. Especially when it’s someone as vile as Charlotte digging her claws into someone as lovely as Fredrick.”
“Are you jealous, Adelaide?”
“Of Charlotte? I should think not, and I’d thank you to keep those thoughts to yourself next time.”
He chuckled. “Fred is quite the catch, and a very good friend of mine. He’s the only reason I’ll be attending this weekend. God only knows I have no desire to hear Charlotte remind everyone how she’s related to Katherine Howard.”
“Ugh. Don’t. The woman was queen for five minutes before she was beheaded. If you ask me, it was a fitting punishment. I wish I could behead the bas—buggers—who have cheated on me.” I leaned back and crossed my legs.
What?
I bet people would be a lot more faithful in relationships if they knew it could literally cost them their head.
We didn’t utilise swords nearly enough these days.