The next morning, we got an early start, Theodore seemingly eager to show us around. Harry dressed in his favorite jeans and a t-shirt with a blue and white hoodie over it.

We went to a diner-type restaurant for breakfast and when Theodore and I both ordered coffee, Harry asked, "C...can I try some, too?"

At the same time, I said, "Yes," and Theodore said, "No."

I eyed Theodore and calmly said, "He is almost an adult. I don't think there's any harm in it." He sighed in defeat and nodded to the waitress to bring Harry a cup. Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.

When it came, Harry  looked at the waitress's nametag and said, "Hello, Jill, my..my name is Harry. Thank you for the coffee." She smiled wide and said, "You're welcome, cutie." I was pretty sure the blush on his cheeks could have been seen from outer space.

I told him, "Coffee is very strong and kind of bitter. You might not like it. You should try some cream and sugar in it." He asked how much of each and I gave him my suggestions. Then he took a small sip and grinned, "I like it."

Again, I saw that funny little smile from Theodore, the one I had seen on the plane yesterday. Was it possible he was warming up to Harry after all these years? Or was he seeing how much Harry had grown and changed, and - hopefully, possibly - was he thinking that maybe Harry's previous diagnoses had been wrong? I knew I was reading a lot into a little smile, but I couldn't help but think Theodore had to see how well Harry was functioning.

After breakfast, Harry got his wish and we went to the zoo. The coffee may have contributed to his inability to keep still, but I think a lot of it was the pure thrill of being somewhere new and exciting. Theodore paid and ushered us through the turnstiles, guiding first Harry and then me to the main entrance, with his hand lightly on the small of my back. I glanced up at him and he just gave me an innocent smile. I couldn't figure this man out. Why was he suddenly being so tolerable? But then again, I couldn't complain.

The first area was dedicated to prehistoric animals. "These animals are all extinct," I explained to Harry. "That's why there are statues instead of real animals. Do you know what extinct means?"

He nodded. "Means they're all dead."

"Right!" I cheered. "The last one of each of their kind died millions of years ago. But there are some animals today that are almost extinct, so scientists are trying to figure out a way to keep them from dying out like the dinosaurs."

"Wh...which ones?" He asked, a nervous tick twitching his head to the side.

"Some kinds of gorillas, a few different turtles. I'm not sure about all of them. I'd have to look them up on the web," I said.

"I like turtles," Harry said, and I noticed that every time he spoke, he looked towards Theodore in expectation. Was he waiting for Theodore to tell him he was stupid? Or was he just wanting his father to pay him some attention. Then he said something that made me laugh. "I wish mosquitoes would be...wo...would go extinct."

To my utter surprise, Theodore laughed, too. Out loud. "We all wish that, Harry."

Oh my gosh, this cold, intimidating man must have taken his own dose of Valium because he was more relaxed than I'd ever seen him. And personable, even. Was it possible that, when he was about his business, he was all business, but when he was relaxing, he was a decent person who enjoyed spending time with his family?

Next we went to the Canadian wilds exhibit, which showcased many animals that probably could be seen in the woods behind Harry's house. Still, he found them all very interesting. When we got to the penguin exhibit, there was a small group of girls probably around his age, looking over at him and giggling. He was completely oblivious that they were eying him up. I couldn't blame them - he was damn cute! They moved a little closer and I smiled towards them. Harry picked up my cue and turned to face them straight on. "Hi, my name...name is Harry. Can we be friends?"

They glanced at each other and then at Harry and giggled some more. "Um, sure," one girl said. "I'm Monica. These are my friends Tanya and Grace."

"H...hi...," he said again.

"So, are you from around here?" Monica asked.

"N..no, I came on..on an airplane," he said and started fidgeting a little more than normal.

"Oh, cool," she answered. "Well, see ya." She and her friends walked away, still giggling and looking back at the super cute guy they just met. They didn't even seem to be put off by his stuttering.

He looked at me proudly and said, "I made three friends. Four, if you count Jill."

"Jill?" I asked and then remembered, "Oh, from the restaurant." He nodded happily.

As we explored the exhibits of animals from Africa, Europe and Asia, I explained to Harry that the animals came from different parts of the world, like some of the places I had shown him on his world map puzzle.

"Are there any animals from that place that's shaped like a boot?" He asked and I chuckled. He was obsessed with Italy for about a week after learning about it, thinking it was so cool that it was actually shaped like a boot. I had also shown him Michigan, which is shaped like a mitten, and when I told him how close I lived to Michigan, he declared that he would go and visit with me some day.

"I'm not sure about animals from Italy. I haven't seen anything like that yet," I told him. "It might just say they're from Europe."

The gorillas were fascinating and he loved the lemurs, too, saying that he wanted to jump into their habitat with them and swing around on their toys. I didn't doubt that he'd have the energy and agility to do it, too, but luckily, he knew better.

We neared the end of the visit and Harry was exploring in the gift shop. I quietly said to Theodore, in a teasing voice I hoped he would acknowledge, "What exactly were you saying about taking him out in public? That it caused...problems?"

"Oh, hush you," he said with his own teasing grin. "He's definitely having a good day, I can see that."

"Thank you," I said in all sincerity. "I know this means a lot to him. And it means a lot to me that he's enjoying it. I just want him to be happy."

Just then, Harry appeared before us in a soft, fluffy hat that was shaped like a bear, complete with ears, and it had long puffy strings with which to fasten it on his head. Theodore stifled a chuckle while I smiled fondly at him, attempting to control my own giggle. I was trying to decide if he looked silly or just insanely adorable.

"Do you want to buy that?" I asked. He nodded, the cheesy grin never leaving his face. "Okay, well you know how much money you have," I reminded him. I had given him some spending money before we left. "How much is the hat?" He looked at the tag and told me the price. "So, do you have enough money to buy it?"

"Yes," he said proudly.

I nodded towards the checkout counter, following close behind since he had hardly ever met another person, let alone conducted a business transaction.

Theodore leaned in and whispered, "You're really going to let him buy that?"

"Making his own choices, self-expression, handling money. These are all very valuable skills that he will need to be independent one day."

Theodore's face turned to stone and he shook his head, saying, "He'll never be able to do that."

I wasn't in the mood to argue with his logic, or lack thereof. I knew he was seeing the same kid I was, and Harry was doing quite well acting like a normal, happy, fun-loving, curious teenager.

Harry wore the hat out of the store and only received a few sideways glances. I assumed they were more based on the fact that it was too warm outside to be wearing a winter hat as opposed to the fact that Harry looked a bit silly wearing it.

A play area with rides caught his eye next and he turned to me with a questioning look on his face. "Let's ride the carousel," I said and he jumped about three feet in the air. Theodore opted out of the ride and watched us as we rode side by side on the backs of endangered creatures. After that, we took a ride on a colorful miniature train around the grounds.

Honestly, I think it was the happiest day of my life because I was able to witness Harry's unbridled happiness.

Our next stop was Calgary Tower. We stood below the impressive structure, feeling a bit intimidated by the view. "Oohh, let's do this," I suggested to Harry, pulling on his hand and lying down on the pavement so we could see straight up in the sky.

Theodore chuckled at us. "What are you doing?"

"This is the best view. Trust me," I said. "You can't truly see straight up by tilting your head back. You have to be lying on the ground.

"I'll take your word for it," he said.

"Can you take our picture?" I asked, handing him my phone. He seemed amused by my glittery gel phone case, but he snapped the picture as Harry and I grinned like crazy.

We took the elevator to the top floor and that view, as well, was quite intimidating but mostly just jaw-dropping. I was always amazed by what modern technology had accomplished, like this tower sticking straight up into the sky so we had a literal bird's eye view.

Harry gasped in shock a little and hesitated before he ventured towards the windows. Theodore watched while I hugged Harry's side and encouraged him to put his arm over my shoulder. "It's okay," I coaxed. "We're completely safe."

We slowly made our way to the windows on the outside of the platform which was obviously surrounded by windows; otherwise what would be the point? But the thing that caught my eye was a special observation deck that jutted out further from the main deck and the floor was completely see-through. "What do you think, Harry? You wanna try it?" I asked in an encouraging tone.

"I...I don't know. Is it safe?"

"Very safe. They built it to hold a lot of weight."

"I'm...kind of..." He was mumbling and he hesitated to finish his sentence.

My arm was still around his waist and I squeezed him closer to me. "What is it? Are you scared?"

He looked shyly at me and bit his lip; then nodded in shame.

"Harry," I whispered, looking right into his face, his mop of hair falling so it occluded anyone else's view of us. "It's okay to be afraid. Everyone is afraid of something. But do you know what courage is?"

"When you're not afraid."

"That's true sometimes. But many times, courage is choosing to do something even when you are  afraid." His eyes widened at the revelation. "Mhm," I nodded. "That means you can choose to do anything you want to do, in spite of how you feel about it. I won't make you do it. But I wonder if you could show me your courage. I know it's in there. Having courage is part of growing up."

"Will you come with me?"

"Of course."

Together we shuffled towards the glass-bottom observation deck. When we finally took our courageous steps onto the platform, his knees wobbled a little but then he looked at me, positively filled with pride. "You did it!" I cheered.

I asked Theodore to take more pictures, and I introduced Harry to the concept of a selfie. We smiled with our heads close together, the entire panoramic view of Calgary in the background and I snapped the shot.

I was just about to post it to Instagram and Theodore interrupted loudly. "Don't!" He said and several people looked at him so he lowered his voice. "I mean, please don't share that on social media." I shrugged and said okay. I was kind of disappointed, but this was his kid after all, and lots of parents were uncomfortable about sharing their kids' pictures online.

After we finished on the observation deck, Theodore suggested we have lunch at Sky 360, a restaurant on a lower level of the tower the revolved around the center of the tower. As we stepped onto the elevator, he once again lightly placed his hand on the small of my back. I believe Harry noticed because when we stepped off the elevator, it was Harry's hand resting on my lower back in a gentlemanly fashion. I gave him a very warm and grateful smile, wanting him to know how much it meant to me that he had noticed and performed such a grown up gesture.

Back at the hotel that night, I was up for another movie fest. I decided that Harry needed to see The Sound of Music, one of my all-time favorites.

"Theodore, would you like to join us?" I asked.

"I...don't think so. I was going to wind down with a glass of wine. Would you care for one?"

"I'd love one," I said. "And I don't remember ever hearing any rule that you can't drink wine and watch a movie at the same time. Come on, when's the last time you just sat down and did something for fun?" I had seen a bit of a softer side of him on this trip and I was hoping to get him to let his guard down for me so maybe we could agree on more about Harry's well-being.

"Oh, all right," he said and poured the wine.

"Can I have some?" Harry asked, seeing the glass of burgundy in my hand. This time, both Theodore and I said no in unison. He was quite dejected.

"It's not because we don't think you're grown up enough," I said. "But it's the law - you're not quite old enough. Besides, sometimes when you take lots of medications, things like wine and beer can have some really bad side effects." I shot Theodore a pointed glance, hopefully enough to remind him that I should be informed about Harry's meds.

He caught my hint, but he ignored it. Oh well, it was worth a try. Still, I watched Theodore as he watched the movie, trying to catch more glimpses of humanity in this perplexing person. His face ebbed and flowed with the emotion of the movie and I believe I even heard him humming Edelweiss along with Christopher Plummer. For a moment, the thought of myself and Theodore fluttered into my brain because heavens, he was good looking, especially when he smiled and he had actually turned into a somewhat likable human being for the past two days. Of course, the three glasses of wine I drank might have had something to do with it.

Maybe I was young and naive like Maria, and Theodore was older and hardened with life. Maybe he needed someone young and optimistic like me to open his eyes to things he'd missed. He already seemed to be noticing Harry's progress and maybe that was something he just couldn't see before because of who knows what? I imagined it might have been difficult for him to lose Harry's mother. Perhaps she was taken when he was young and he couldn't properly care for Harry because of his grief. It could be that only now was he able to see his son for what he was, a promising, intelligent boy.

That night, I believe I slept better than all the nights I'd been with the Styles family, comforted by the thought that things might just be turning around.

* * * * *

You all rock!