They wandered back to the entry and into the park. One thing was for certain, they could come as often as they liked with the zoo being in the park across the street.
It made her sad to think of Bo’s father never having time to take her. Surely, there must be a way for a single dad to cut back on his work schedule - especially a semi-famous single dad.
“What are you thinking about?” Zyr asked.
“I’m just wondering where Bo is going to put all these animals,” she said with a smile.
“In my bed,” Bo cried joyously.
They crossed the street and Mr. Deerborne welcomed them with a flourish, throwing open the lobby doors.
“I won prizes, Deerborne,” Bo yelled.
“Thank you, Mr. Deerborne,” April said.
“Wonderful, ladies,” he smiled back, his silvery scales sparkling.
Bo used her bracelet to send the elevator to the penthouse.
“Penthouse, eh?” Zyr asked.
“Bo’s father works very hard,” April said, hoping to shut down any talk about money. In her opinion, it wasn’t appropriate to talk about someone else’s finances, let alone in front of that person’s child.
“I was just thinking there are probably spectacular views,” Zyr said quickly. “Maybe her parents would like a family photo shoot one day in exchange for letting me take some landscapes from their balcony.”
“Oh,” April said, relieved. “That’s a lovely offer.”
“My mommy is dead,” Bo whispered, as if it were a secret. As if they hadn’t passed an enormous metal statue commemorating the actions of The Women on the way into the zoo. It wasn’t the kind of thing anyone on Ulfgard was likely to forget.
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Zyr said immediately.
“She’s an angel on Vallagard now, with the other heroes,” Bo said proudly. “And she’s a statue at the library.”
“That’s incredible,” Zyr said. “The rest of us are so grateful to your mom for saving our system.”
Bo nodded and looked down thoughtfully at the fluffy ice horse wrapped in her arms.
April watched her carefully. It was good that Bo felt comfortable talking about her mom. And while Bo had been too little when her mom died to really remember her, it was still traumatic to grow up in the shadow of the person who might have loved you most of all.
The elevator dinged and Bo ran inside before the doors had even finished opening.
“Daddy, I won prizes,” she yelled.
Her sweet voice was jubilant, and she giggled when he swept her up in his arms, ice horse and all.
“You’re home early, Captain Rivvor,” April said happily. “Bo and I wanted to make soup for dinner, does that sound okay?”
“I brought home a pizza,” he said, his voice flat.
He was staring at Zyr, his eyes narrowed, the rich green of his skin fading to a mossy tone.
“This is Zyr Toxfylt,” April said quickly. “He’s the nephew of Mrs. Ginger on the first floor.”
“Nice to meet you, Captain Rivvor,” Zyr said. “As a professional photographer, may I say that I admire your home and your family? If you would ever like a complimentary—”
“Excuse us, Mr. Toxfylt, but I’ve just come home from a long commercial flight, and I need to catch up with my children,” Khall said in a dangerously polite tone.
“Of course, sir,” Zyr said quickly. “April, Bo, it was nice to meet you. See you around.”
April gave him a little wave and turned worriedly to her employer. Hopefully, he wouldn’t think that she would ever let herself be distracted while taking care of Bo.
But that coldly polite tone seemed somehow worse than naked anger.