"I know it's kind of shitty, but I like the zoo," Hannah said as she and Laura leaned against the railing in front of an Alligator exhibit; she sipped from her straw and added, "I know these animals shouldn't be in captivity, but I also like to see them. It's one of those double edged sword situations. Damned if I do, damned if I don't."

"I don't think you should judge yourself on the moral merits of whether or not you like the zoo," Laura said, "that seems a little obtuse. Judge yourself on whether or not you think people deserve rights or whatever. Animal rights are important and all, but most zoos take very good care of their animals."

"I know," Hanna said, laughing, "I know it's a little ridiculous."

Jasmine tugged on Laura's sleeve and she turned to see Jasmine pointing at another exhibit. Hannah and Laura followed Jasmine as she ran ahead to the exhibit, which featured an enormous snake inside a completely enclosed tank. In fact, this whole little area, the Reptile section, was a small, enclosed manmade cavern above ground that featured spiders, lizards and all sorts of similar creatures. Laura and Hannah were happy that Jasmine wanted to see this, because it meant getting out of the Florida heat.

"Do you like snakes?" Hannah asked Laura as they stopped behind Jasmine and looked at the snake.

"I mean, I can't say I'd willingly spend my time with one, but they don't scare me exactly," Laura said, shrugging.

"I love snakes. I love things that people think don't deserve love," Hannah replied, placing one palm on the case. She felt Laura slip her hand into Hannah's free hand, and she blushed. Hannah had so much to say, and was so uncertain how to say any of it. For all her intelligence, her emotional maturity, she was only fifteen, and life isn't exactly anymore easily understandable then than it would be at thirty. Just ask Laura's parents.

                                                                         ***

"Glad you could come!" Sasha said, opening the door and letting Gayle and Jason into the loft.

Gayle and Steven entered, Steven somewhat cautiously, and took off their coats, handing them to Sasha who hung them on the nearby coat rack by the door before turning on her heel and heading towards the kitchen. Steven stayed behind in the living room, admiring the photos on the wall, while Gayle followed Sasha into the kitchen, standing opposite the island of her.

"Your place is beautiful," Gayle said as Sasha pulled out a bottle of wine from the fridge and opened it before gathering a few glasses from a nearby cabinet.

"I'm glad you think so," Sasha replied, smiling, "I put a lot of my effort into interior decoration, but only for my own home. I figure if this is the place I'm gonna spend the majority of my time, I may as well make it as appealing as possible, you know?"

"My husband has the same idea about the bathroom," Gayle said, making Sasha cackle.

This has been Gayle's idea. She'd asked Steven about it the night before, about possibly meeting back up with Sasha and Jason, and much to her surprise, he'd agreed. So, Gayle called Sasha up, calling up the the number Sasha had written on her hand - which Gayle had put down on a napkin when they'd gotten back to the hotel that night - and Sasha sounded more than happy to have their company. Now, standing in the gorgeous Florida loft, Gayle realized just how different her and Steven's life was from Sasha and Jason's.

"You look beautiful," Sasha said, making Gayle blush and divert her eyes, pushing her hair back behind her ear nervously.

"Well, it's hard when you're a mother of two to find time to make yourself up, but god knows I try," Gayle replied.

Meanwhile, Steven was standing, staring at a large photo of a an elephant standing in a river in some desolate landscape, all black and white, when suddenly he felt Jason's presence beside him. Steven turned and smiled, nodding at him politely. Jason lifted his cigar to his lips and took a long drag.

"I took that photo," Jason said.

"Weren't even gonna wait for me to ask, huh?" Steven asked, making Jason chuckle.

"Well, sometimes a guy just likes to brag," Jason said, shrugging, "regardless, it wound up being featured in some magazine for animal preservation, ya know, saving endangered species or species that have the chance of becoming endangered. Felt pretty good about that. Felt like I was somehow doing something worthwhile simply by enjoying my hobby."

Steven nodded politely, trying not to respond. He hated people like Jason. These holier than thou 'everything I do is great' smug ass attitudes. But he wasn't going to say anything to ruin it. He knew Gayle wanted to come here, and he was doing his best to ensure she had a good night. Finally Gayle and Sasha rejoined the men in the living room, handing them both glasses of wine, which Steven was very grateful for. If he was gonna have to endure this, he might as well be buzzed.

"How much does a place like this cost?" Steven asked after taking a sip.

"More than we'd like," Sasha replied, "honstly, I'm looking into leasing it for part of the year, maybe spending some time elsewhere. It's not that we don't have the money, it's more just that that money could go somewhere else. It's ridiculous how expensive everything is."

"I'm sure," Gayle added, "Florida, being a tourist destination, can't help things."

"Bingo," Sasha said, pointing at her, "yeah, it doesn't. Being a tourism city has pros and cons. On one side it's great for your economy, keeps businesses in business, gets money for things to be fixed or added, but it isn't great for the locals. Not only do we have to endure all these people coming and going, taking up our resources, but then it drives our prices up as well. There's no price just for locals, you know? So we pay the same as anyone who's simply visiting."

"Well, sorry to be part of the problem," Gayle said slyly and Sasha grabbed her arm.

"You're not the problem, sweetheart," Sasha said, this gesture making Steven uncomfortable as she added, "trust me, it isn't people like you two, it's the in and out, quick and easy tourists. The ones who come to take some pictures, see some sights and then post them online never to discuss it again. This is a destination to them, not a place to really admire or respect. You guys are clearly smarter than that."

Steven nodded, taking another long sip, as he watched Sasha tighten her grip on his wifes arm. Tonight was gonna be hard.

                                                                           ***

"I like novelty items," Laura said, "call me a based consumer, but I think they're cute. It's nice that you can go somewhere like a zoo and get a cup shaped or colored like a tiger. I like that kind of stuff."

"I don't think that's dumb at all," Hannah replied, "I think I agree with you. It's cool to have things you can only get at a certain place."

The girls were continuing through the reptile cave, following Jasmine who was walking steadily ahead of them, until they all exited out the other side and were back under the hot Florida sun. Laura shielded her eyes with her forearm, then suddenly felt Hannah tug her towards a little kiosk selling items such as t-shirts and hats. Hannah grabbed a sun visor and placed it on Laura's head, making her blush.

"There," she said, "now you won't be bothered."

"That was very thoughtful of you," Laura said.

Jasmine, meanwhile, had made her way towards a large enclosure that featured a pair of lions, a male and female, and two cubs. As she pressed herself against the class, looking inside and watching, Hannah and Laura sat down on a bench nearby and watched. Hannah sighed and took another long sip from her drink as Laura adjusted her hat.

"Imagine what it must be like," Hannah said, "to have no autonomy. To have a mate placed in your quarters that you're just expected to be with, because it's 'the norm'. To be that trapped must be awful. That's how it is at home. My parents want so badly for me to date the son of this friend they have, and like...he's a nice guy, he's not at all a bad choice, but it's sad that they're pushing me into something they think is what everyone wants when not everyone wants the same thing."

"That must be hard," Laura said, starting to worry about the direction the conversation was taking.

"And we're friends and they're all like 'oh, you're already friends, it'd be so easy to become partners!' and like...number one, that's really creepy that they're pushing that hard for me to be romantically involved at all because it's not anyones business but my own, and number two...I...I don't want to be with him. Or any guy. But I can't say that, of course, that'd break their hearts. I miss the days when the only ways I could disappoint them was by getting a bad grade or being rude. Now that I'm older, there's so many different ways I wasn't even aware of that I could disappoint them with."

Laura squeezed Hannah's hand, and Hannah smiled weakly.

"I wish I knew what to say," Laura said quietly.

"Saying isn't as important as listening, and you're really good at that, so it's okay," Hannah remarked, looking down and lifting Laura's hand up to her lips and kissing it, making Laura giggle. Hannah smiled and scooted closer on the bench to her, resting her head on Laura's shoulder as Laura reached up and stroked her hair; Hannah sighed and added, "it's supposed to be easy. This is easy."

"Are you calling me easy?" Laura asked, laughing.

"You know what I mean," Hannah replied, also laughing, "being with you...it's easy. I can talk to you without feeling weird or judged, and I always feel like you understand me and if you don't I feel like you'd make the effort to. It's nice. Easy is nice. Easy is how it should be."

Laura nodded in agreement. This was easy, and that was nice. She continued running her fingers through Hannah's hair as Hannah shut her eyes and relaxed. Laura kept watch on Jasmine, making sure she didn't leave the area, but the whole time her thoughts were elsewhere. Her mom had made it seem like being gay was fine with her, and nothing to be ashamed of, but the way Hannah had spoken...it seemed like her parents felt the opposite. Laura suddenly felt grateful for having such a cool mom.

If only she knew her mom also liked girls.

                                                                             ***

"This is so smooth," Gayle said, running her hand over the black silk sheets on the bed, "and they say money can't buy happiness. This would buy me lots of happiness. I hate having to use the awful sheets I have to buy at big box stores. I wanna splurge. I wanna buy nice sheets."

"Well," Sasha said, sitting on the bed, "it's not like you can't. You're the money maker, right? Buy what you want. I know it's a whole thing, like, to match up with your husband and make sure you guys are one the same page financially, but sometimes you have to treat yourself, especially when you work as hard as it sounds like you do. You deserve nice things. And he should too. You both should."

Gayle sat down on the bedside, finished her wine and placed the glass on the table, then sighed.

"Everything's fucked," she said, "we keep trying to be happy. We don't hate eachother by any means. But it feels like things aren't working out anymore, no matter what kind of attempts we make. I'm tired of putting in so much effort only for it to lead to nothing. It's exhausting. And then I also feel bad for working so much, feel like I'm a bad mom, even though everyone insists I'm not. But I'm the one who makes the most money between Steven and I, and so I feel like I have to work as hard as I do to maintain the life we have."

Sasha rested her glass on her bedside table and crawled across the bed, right up behind Gayle, putting her hands on Gayle's shoulders and massaging her. Gayle moaned and shut her eyes, enjoying the physical attention.

"Well," Sasha said, her long dark brown hair falling around Gayle's shoulders, her voice low and sultry, "then let yourself relax, and not feel so pressured. Let your guard down and just feel comfortable. There's no expectations or pressures on you here."

Gayle nodded, feeling her shoulders lighten, her breathing slow down, her muscles soften. Sasha run her hands down Gayle's back and kept kneading at her spine.

"I love him, I just worry that I'll never be good enough," Gayle whispered, her eyes still shut, "and then that coincides with all my other fears about myself, like, maybe I got married for the wrong reasons or...or had children for the wrong reasons, not that I don't love my daughters because they are my whole world, but...I hate that when you become a parent or even a spouse, you're suddenly no longer seen as an individual and all your personal wants and needs, hopes and dreams and goals and aspirations, suddenly vaporize into thin air."

Sasha climbed around the front of the bed and sat in Gayle's lap, holding her face in her hands. Gayle opened her eyes, her breathing faster.

"That's one reason I don't wanna marry Jason or have kids," Sasha said quietly, "because you're right, especially if you're a woman, you're suddenly meant to give everyone else your all and whatever you need is secondary. So what do you need, Gayle? Tell me."

Gayle bit her lip, blushing. She knew what she needed. She just didn't want to say it. Turns out she didn't have to. Sasha understood all too well, and kissed down her neck. As she got further down, she dropped to her knees between Gayle's legs and opened them, pushing her dress up, and burying her face between her thighs. Gayle gasped, putting a hand on Sasha's head, closing her eyes, enjoying the sensation of being taken care of for a change. And then the door opened, and there stood Steven, staring at the sight of a woman eating out his wife. Gayle and Steven's eyes locked for a moment, before he turned and left. Gayle could hear the front door to the loft open and close, but she didn't try to go after him. She couldn't pull herself away from actually being focused on for once.

When Steven got back to the hotel, he stood around outside angrily muttering, pacing, finishing the cigar that Jason had given him. The doors to the front opened, and Erin came out, in full uniform, tugging a luggage cart behind her. She stopped and looked at Jason.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked.

"...I don't...I...I don't know," Steven said, as it started to rain lightly.

"Where's everyone? Where's your wife?" Erin asked, and Steven sat down on the front facing flower beds, crying into his hands. Erin sat down beside him and ran a hand over his back. She didn't even ask another question. Whatever had happened, it had reduced the man to shambles, and sadly, shambles was something Erin herself understood very well.

"I'm not good at my job, I'm not good at being a dad, and I'm not good at being a husband," Steven said, sniffling, "and I don't...I don't know how to fix any of that or do better. But it can't hurt to try, right? Can't hurt to try. Even if I'm the only one trying."

"I wouldn't know, I'm not exactly good at being in relationships myself, and I sure as shit wasn't a very good daughter, according to my dad," Erin said, "but...a family unit isn't comprised of a hivemind, man. You're still a person, first. You'll always be a person, first. So don't feel too bad, okay?"

Steven nodded, wiping his eyes on his sleeve and smiling weakly at Erin.

"Yeah.....thanks," he said, "thank you."

"S'what I'm here for, to help the customers," Erin said, smirking.

                                                                            ***

When Gayle picked the girls up from the zoo, she didn't say anything. They all just sat in silence in the car as she drove downtown to get everyone something to eat before heading back to the hotel. Once back at the hotel, Laura opted to walk Hannah back to her room, while Gayle took Jasmine inside the suite and, after putting her headphones on, laid her down for a nap in the girls suite before heading into her and Steven's to find Steven waiting for her on the bed. Gayle shut the door and sat down on the bed, neither one sure what to say. While Hannah and Laura walked down the hall, still holding hands, Hannah just shook her head, chuckling.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Hannah asked, "the souvenirs you find on vacation."

Laura laughed and nodded in agreement. They stopped at the end of the hall that housed her room and Hannah turned to face Laura.

"You probably shouldn't come closer," Hannah said, "I just...I don't want my parents being weird. They know we're friends, but...I don't..."

"Don't want them knowing you want something more?" Laura asked, and Hannah didn't respond; Laura took Hannah's hands and asked, "you do want something more, right? With me?"

Laura was impressed with herself. She'd never once managed to be this forward with someone she liked. In fact, this was the first time she'd ever openly confessed to another girl about how she felt. Hannah looked Laura in the eyes and nodded slowly.

"Y...yeah, I do," Hannah said, near tears, "but...what happens when the vacation's over? Then what? Then you're just another memory tied to this place, like my grandma."

"Don't have to be," Laura said, "We can stay in touch."

Hannah nodded again, as Laura leaned in and pushed Hannah gently against the hallway wall and kissed her, Hannah happily kissing her back. After a few minutes kissing, Hannah rested her forehead on Laura's, crying quietly.

"Don't leave please," she whispered, and Laura nodded.

"I won't," she whispered.

Laura, in her wildest dreams, never could've imagined this kind of thing happening to her, especially not on vacation. Back in the suite, however, Gayle and Steven weren't having such luck. Still sitting there on the bed in total silence.

"Do you want a divorce?" Steven asked and Gayle shrugged; Steven exhaled, adding, "is it me?"

"It's not you," Gayle said, "it's me. I'm stressed."

"I can do the same thing for you she did. You just have to ask," Steven said, making Gayle chuckle slightly.

"It isn't about what she did, Steven, it's about who she is, that's the difference," Gayle said.

"Ah, got it," Steven replied.

They continued to sit in silence. Steven couldn't help but wonder...how do you fix a marriage when the people in it aren't broken and don't need fixing?

"I wouldn't stop you, if you wanted to leave," Steven said.

"I don't want to leave, Steven," Gayle said, "but something has to change. Something has gotta change."

Steven nodded as he shrugged.

"We can try to change things," he said, leaning in and kissing the side of her head, making her blush, as he added, "can't hurt to try."