Chris and Buck stopped in their tracks as they entered the living room. Nathan, Josiah and Ezra were sitting on the floor surrounded by a perimeter of four jump ropes.

"Hi, Buck! Hi, Chris!" JD crowed. "Come see our petting zoo!"

Stifling a laugh, Buck said, "Why, sure! Howdy, boys."

The men on the carpet flushed at being caught, but said nothing.

"So, what do we have here?" Chris asked, moving closer.

Pointing to Josiah, Vin said, "This is our polar bear."

Chris’ brows rose. "In a petting zoo?"

"He’s tame," JD said complacently. "Want to pet him?"

Josiah bared his teeth and took a playful snap at Buck.

One amused brow raised, Buck said, "Tame, huh?"

"They must be hungry," Vin decided. "We was about to feed ‘em."

Taking their cue, Nathan slapped his hands together and made yelping noises, doing a fair imitation of a seal, while Ezra leaned close to Vin and rubbed his head against the boys chest with what sounded like a purr.

Giggling, the boys scampered out of the circle and ran towards the kitchen.

"A polar bear, a seal and a…?" Buck prompted.

"Siberian tiger," Ezra provided in a whisper. "Apparently this is an arctic petting zoo."

He instantly quit talking, instead uttering a fairly convincing feline meow as the children returned.

"Hey, what's for lunch?" Buck asked interestedly.

JD held out his hands. "Fish!"

In each small palm rested a handful of goldfish crackers. Vin also
hand a handful, which he tossed, one cracker at a time, in Josiah's
direction. To the boys' delight and the men's surprise, Josiah
managed to catch every one of them in mid-air. Nathan and Ezra were
less successful in catching JD's throws, but still managed to each
get a couple of fish.

"Are they safe to pet now?" Chris asked, chuckling as he reached over
and patted a glaring Nathan on the head.

"I want to be in the zoo too," Buck declared. "Those fish look
mighty tasty."

JD and Vin exchanged a questioning look. "What kind of animal are
you?" JD demanded.

"How about a timberwolf?" Chris suggested.

Vin beamed. "We don't have one of those yet."

Taking that as permission, Buck plopped down next to Ezra, nudging
him and uttering a loud bark to which Ezra responded by hissing and
swatting at him with fingers outstretched like claws.

"Bad kitty," Buck whispered, causing the "tiger" to erupt into a very
un-catlike snort of laughter.

"You want to be an animal too?" Vin asked Chris.

He backed off a step. "No thanks. Somebody's got to be a paying
customer, right?"

JD promptly held out his hand. "That'll be one dollar, sir."

Ignoring the snickering of the zoo inhabitants; Chris checked his
pockets and came up with four quarters. He handed two to each boy.
"Here you go."

"Thanks!" Vin said happily, handing him a goldfish. "A souvenir of
your visit, sir."

Popping it into his mouth, Chris grinned wickedly. "So, your animals
do any tricks?"

END