Of Baristas and Coffee Shops

As we head to the counter I see her start to smile. She gives a little wave and says "Hey Lion. I love your dinosaur shirt."

He laughs. He smiles and bats his eyelashes at her in only the way a two year old can.

She takes my order and says "I could just eat him up, he's so cute."

I smile in return and hug him a little tighter. "Yep. He's the best."

I head to the end of the counter to await my coffee. He doesn't even have to call out my order, he knows it by heart. "Here you go, Renee. Do you need help with the lid?"

"No I've got it. You get used to doing things one handed after a while."

"Enjoy."

After I get my coffee, we get Lion his water. He loves that he can press the lever on the water jug. I have to hold back his enthusiasm just a bit so the water doesn't over flow on to the floor.

Drinks in hand we head to the table. I break up pieces of the pumpkin or zucchini bread for him. He grabs a piece and shove it into his mouth "Nak. Yay nak."

"Yes baby. It is a yummy snack."

I take a drink of my coffee and sigh contentedly. The chaos of the morning slips away with each sip. It doesn't last long because the Lion cub does not have the patience to savor an entire cup.

Lion throws away our trash. We bundle up and get ready to face the grocery store. Before we leave we say good bye to our friends and know that we get to do this again tomorrow.