Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Annabelle's POV

With my mind on the events of this morning, I got up and went to my en-suite. I finished my business, brushed my teeth, took a shower, cleaned myself well, dried my hair, and came out of the bathroom. That kiss had my lips tingling for more. I felt so wanted, so special when he held me and kissed me. I didn't want to let this feeling go. I wanted to feel his arms around me, wanted his kisses to drive me wild. I didn't want to lose Stefan. Although he wasn't mine yet, I didn't want to lose the special thing that we had between us.

I wore a lemon yellow sundress which clung to my curves well and left my hair untied to air dry. Slipping onto my white strappy sandals, I went down for coffee and breakfast.

Arielle was happily chatting with Stefan while sipping her milk and cupcake that I had baked yesterday.

Stefan sipped his coffee while taking a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. He looked up at me and patted the seat next to him, gesturing for me to sit with him. I ignored his gesture and went straight to Arielle.

I kissed her, "Good morning, sweetie, " I wished and she grinned at me. I sat down beside her. Stefan glared at me, pissed off at me.

"Daddy, you pwomised we would go to the zoo today,'' said Arielle, pouting and glancing at Stefan and me.

"Okay, sweetie. Finish your breakfast and be ready, we will go to the zoo," Stefan agreed.

"Yay, let's goooooo, " Arielle screamed excitedly." Anna, come to the zoo. Pwetty pwease," she pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

I looked at Stefan for his reaction, I wasn't sure whether they wanted me at their father-daughter outing.

Stefan said, "Yes, Rosy. Please come along with us."

I didn't need so much coaxing. I loved outings but hadn't got a chance to visit a zoo since my Pops died. So I agreed immediately. I saw the look of happiness on Stefan's face as Arielle jumped up and down with excitement. We quickly finished our breakfast and went upstairs to get ready. I was extremely excited to go out with Stefan and Arielle. I felt overwhelmed that they had accepted me into their little world and wanted me to go out with them.

Beth bathed, cleaned, and got Arielle ready. She packed a small backpack with her necessities. I changed into a pair of skin-tight black denim jeans and a rose pink crew neck top with ruffles on the sleeves and a semi-sheer overlay giving me a soft petite curvy look. I fixed my hair into a bun and wore my black Nike shoes for comfort and finished with my Givenchy crossbody matching handbag and blush pink rosy lip gloss.

Rushing down the stairs, I found Stefan and Arielle waiting for me inside gran's room. Stefan stared at me taking my whole appearance and came closer. He softly whispered into my ear, "Are you tempting me with this rosy look?"

I blushed at his behavior in front of gran. He really was becoming impossible day by day.

I glared at him and went to kiss gran on her cheek. She looked at me with a knowing look on her face. "You look beautiful. Enjoy your day dear and bring lots of pictures for me," Gran said smiling at me and giving sly looks at Stefan who was busy staring at me.

How embarrassing could it get? " I will Gran. You take care," I said calmly, ignoring Stefan's hot gaze.

"Take care of Arielle and yourself," said gran and I nodded.

"Dad and Audrey will be here in 20 minutes," Stefan said as he leaned down and kissed gran's cheek.

"Yes, I had a talk with them," confirmed gran. Arielle hugged gran again before we left, "Do you want a baby animal from the zoo," she asked.

"We don't get baby animals at the zoo sweetie. We can only see them. We can't bring them home," I explained to her.

"Oh, then what can we get for glanny," she pouted.

"Lots of pictures and ice cream, " said gran, indulgently. Arielle's eyes shone upon hearing gran's list.

"Otay. I can get that," she said, clapping her hands.

We finally left gran's room and went out to Stefan's white Lexus LX. Stefan helped Arielle to her car seat at the back, while I took the passenger seat. He climbed onto the driver's seat and maneuvered the car expertly towards our destination. The zoo.

Arielle clapped her hands and sang many songs to entertain us. Stefan's genuinely happy smile as he drove was very satisfying to watch. My heartbeat with excitement as I looked forward to my first outing with Stefan.

It took us half an hour to reach the Central Park Zoo with the heavy morning traffic. After procuring the tickets, we entered the zoo holding Arielle's hands, dangling her between us as she squealed with excitement and shouted, "Again, again." We looked like a complete family.

We captured pictures of every animal and its feeding activities on our camera. Arielle was ecstatic, she loved the penguins in the polar circle the most. We saw and clicked pictures with the snow leopards, red pandas, sea lions, grizzly bears, and other exotic animals.

Stefan held my hand when Arielle climbed onto his shoulders for a better view. With everyone eyeing us like we were a family, I felt on top of the world. I liked the feeling very much.

Married to Stefan, with Arielle as my own... bliss.

Bringing myself back to reality, we walked hand in hand to view each and every animal, taking a drink or an ice cream break in between. We had a delicious light lunch at one of the family restaurants inside the zoo. Arielle was happy eating her mixed veggie soup with grilled cheese and chicken nuggets. Stefan and I ordered a pepperoni pizza along with a chicken and corn on the cob salad. After a filling meal, we went to visit the Tisch children's zoo too. We saw lots of domesticated animals there. Arielle interacted with the cute lambs. She wanted to bring them home but couldn't.

"Daddy look, a baby goat," she pointed to a newborn kid, jumping after its mommy. Arielle left our hands and rushed to pick it up. We rushed after her.

"Eww, it's pooping all-black poop," she squealed and we laughed. I loved the way Stefan laughed, so carefree and heartfelt. I could give anything to see him this happy every day.

Arielle lost interest in it soon and we looked at the horses. Stefan explained everything about a horse's hooves to Arielle. She listened with interest. We saw baby ducklings and fat geese. The geese were huge and Arielle stayed away from them.

I had so much fun with Stefan and Arielle that I was a little sad that the outing came to an end, but I had my dinner date to look forward to.