"Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby?" Jim squints up at the little girl perched on his shoulders. Her tiny hands are pressed against his forehead to steady herself, and her little sneakers kick happily against his hands.

She tosses her brown curls - bouncy and shiny, just like Pam's - and screws up her mouth - a little too expressive, just like his. "Why are the giraffes' necks so long?"

"So their daddies don't have to put them on their shoulders so they can see over all of the other kids at the zoo," Jim offers, snickering at her dramatic sigh.

"That's ridiculous." Her new favorite word; Pam called a TV commercial ridiculous last week, and Annie has been mimicking it ever since.

He laughs. "It is not. If your neck was that long, I wouldn't have to put you on my shoulders, would I?"

"But you would put me on your shoulders anyway," she states.

"And why would I do that?"

She ruffles his hair - another thing she's picked up from her mother - and sighs again. "Because you like putting me on your shoulders, Daddy!"

"What was I thinking?" he replies, unable to keep the smile from spreading across his face. "Of course I do."

She rests her cheek on the top of his head and stares at the giraffes. "Is it because they have to reach the leaves all the way at the top of the trees?"

He grins; she never fails to impress him. He's pretty sure that his kid is the smartest one ever born. "I think that's right, Banana."

She points out her favorite one: a gangly, wobbly baby giraffe that sticks close to his mother's side. "Want to take it home? I don't think mommy would mind," he teases.

"That's ridiculous!" she exclaims.

They wander around the zoo until they're back at the bench where Pam is sitting with Annie's stroller. "Mommy, Daddy told me I could bring a giraffe home with us!" Annie blurts as Jim lifts her off his shoulders.

"Daddy would say that, wouldn't he?" Pam replies, looping her arm around Annie and pulling her close. Their "Jim is ridiculous" expressions are hilariously similar.

He rolls his eyes. "You two are such buzzkills."

Pam giggles, and Annie mimics her, as usual. "What else did you guys see?" Annie launches into a detailed list of all the animals they saw, and Jim takes the opportunity to tilt his head at Pam with questioning eyes.

She nods, mouthing "fine" before turning her attention back to her babbling brook of a daughter. "What do you say we stop by the gift shop on the way out and find you a little giraffe to take home instead of the real one?" she proposes.

Annie claps her hands excitedly. As they make their way to the exit, he kisses Pam's forehead and winks at her over Annie's head. He looks down to see their little girl staring up at them, grinning, and wonders for the millionth time how he got so lucky.