The One and Only Family

The giant eyeballs are cameras that the zoo puts up so that humans can watch the animals on their computers. Bob asks when the baby is coming, figuring it can’t be long since it only takes dogs about 60 days. Since it takes gorillas eight and a half months, Ivan sighs and says, “[Y]ou really don’t want to know” (58).

Kinyani returns from a vet appointment with a bald spot on her stomach. The humans shaved it, gave her a bunch of yogurt raisons for being good, and then poked her with a silver thing. Afterward, the humans celebrated and held up two fingers. Ivan and Kinyani don’t know what that was about. Ivan says, “[A]t least you got some yogurt raisins out of the deal” (60).

Ivan often meets with Bob and Ruby at Canine Corner. Since Bob’s girl is getting older, she doesn’t have as much time to bring Bob around, and now that the elephant enclosure has been expanded, Ruby spends time walking with the elephants more. Though Ivan misses them both, he’s happy for them—“[I]t’s a special kind of joy, feeling happy for a friend” (62).

A new baby elephant joined Ruby’s herd a few months ago, and the two have been inseparable since. Bob’s girl brought a friend and his dad to the zoo today. Ivan watches how the father deals with his children, finding that he’s lately observed “parents—even human ones—with more interest than [he] used to” (64-65). The visitor is making a documentary about Ivan and the baby.

Ivan remembers his first crayon—a blue one that Bob’s girl gave him when he was at the arcade zoo. Ivan drew squiggles and lines with it and then ate it because he was hungry. Eating the crayon made him sad because it was gone forever. In contrast, looking at his drawing made him feel happy: “[U]nlike my crayon, it would last forever” (70).

The baby elephant follows Ruby to Canine Corner one afternoon. As Ruby chats with Ivan and Bob, the little elephant keeps interrupting to ask silly questions. Ruby is annoyed until Ivan and Bob point out that Ruby was the same way. Before Ruby and the baby return to the herd, Ruby thanks Ivan and Bob for putting up with her when she was little, to which Bob says, “[W]ouldn’t trade a minute of it” (76).

Stella is an elephant friend of Ivan’s who passed away. Even though it’s been a long time, Ivan still misses her. The missing has changed; “instead of a hurting place to avoid, it becomes a healing place to seek out” (78).

The new gorilla enclosure is finished. Where the old one was cramped and dark, this one has trees, boulders, a pool, and a sense of Ivan’s real habitat. In short, it’s everything that a gorilla could want, “that is, of course, if a gorilla doesn’t want to be free” (79). Ivan worries that his own children will never be free of humans. Kinyani agrees that that seems likely but says that they will parent as best they can. Ivan falls asleep and has uneasy dreams. When he wakes, Kinyani is gone.

Ivan searches for Kinyani and is frightened when he can’t find her. Finally, Maya opens the door to the special vet room, which lets Ivan smell that Kinyani is nearby. Maya offers Ivan a piece of apple, which he doesn’t eat. She tells him to calm down: “You’re going to be a dad, Ivan! Can you imagine?” (87).

Ivan is left alone again. When he sleeps, he is fitful, which makes him realize, “I’ve been alone a lot in my life. But tonight I feel more alone than I ever have” (88).

In the morning, there’s still no sign of Kinyani or the baby. Restless, Ivan goes to Canine Corner, where he is relieved to see Bob. Ivan asks if Bob thinks that Kinyani and the baby are okay. Bob says that he’s sure they are, and though Ivan still has no proof, “[he’s] not in the mood to doubt [his] old friend” (93).

Finally, Bob hears Maya calling Ivan. Ivan runs back to the gorilla enclosure, where he sees Kinyani in the vet room, nuzzling an infant gorilla. A new protective instinct comes to life inside Ivan. He redefines himself by thinking, “I am Ivan. And I am a dad” (97).

The vet turns around and holds up a second infant. Ivan is shocked with the knowledge: “I am the father of twins” (98).

Ivan’s first reaction to the twins is joy, and he thinks, “[I]magine the endless delight, watching two little gorillas explore their world!” (100).

Ivan’s second reaction to the twins is fear, thinking, “[I]magine the terror of twin tantrums!” (101).

Ivan shakes off his emotions, believing that he and Kinyani can handle whatever comes. As humans gather around, he hollers out his joy because he is a dad and “the world is made of miracles” (103).

Later, the vets shoo Ivan away. He reluctantly goes to see Bob and his humans, who all wish him well. Ivan doesn’t understand why the humans won’t let him near his twins. Bob explains that the mother does most of the work in the beginning, while the father is kind of pointless. Ivan argues that taking care of his babies is his job, to which Bob says that it would be in the wild. In the zoo, things are different. Ivan agrees, even though “[he] want[s] to argue” (107).

Ivan returns to watch Kinyani and the twins. The humans are feeding the babies and seem anxious. This sets Ivan on edge because he’s unsure of what’s happening and “[he] hate[s] not being sure” (110).

Ivan settles down by the window to Kinyani’s room for the night, but he can’t sleep. He thinks about his past and the trials that brought him to this moment, realizing that his life has been “so much pain. And so much love” (112).

Ivan watches Kinyani through a window, marveling whenever one of the twins moves. Maya goes to close the window shade, but Ivan leaps up in protest. Maya leaves the shade open, and Ivan is relieved that he can watch over his family because “it’s [his] job” (113).

Ivan watches his family for the next few days. Humans feed the twins, and Kinyani looks anxious. Ivan wonders why Kinyani doesn’t seem happy about the babies, concluding that “maybe, like [him], she’s not quite sure what to do with them” (114).

Ruby tells Ivan not to worry because humans help new elephant parents too. She also says that Ivan is doing his job by being there for Kinyani. As she gallops back to her herd, Ivan thinks, “[M]y little elephant friend isn’t so little anymore” (116).

That night, Ivan sits by the window again. When he puts his palm to the glass, Kinyani rests hers on the opposite side. Watching them touching but not, Ivan thinks, “[W]e are parents, only not” (117).

The next morning, Maya is holding the demon dolls while the vet holds the real babies, and Ivan “cannot even tell what [he is] thinking” (118).

Maya plays a video for Ivan and Kinyani of gorillas taking care of their babies. Ivan watches intently, and when the movie is over, “Maya plays it again. And again. And again” (119).

That night, as Ivan lies awake and thinks about how his entire environment was built by humans, he hears excited shouts coming from Kinyani’s room. Kinyani is holding both infants, who “look sleepy and well-fed and content” (120).

Kinyani is moved to an enclosure that’s only separated from Ivan by wire, meaning that he can finally talk to her and really observe his children. Ivan laments that he wouldn’t be separated from them at all in the wild. Kinyani tells him to stop thinking about the wild because they’ll never be there. Ivan reluctantly does so, though he dislikes what the future holds for his children. Instead, he watches the twins play, which makes him content. He realizes that “right here, right now, this moment is enough” (124).