Deidara and I share a strangled look.
The officer happily reports something into the walkie-talkie that hangs from his front shirt pocket and then waves us forward. Uneasily, Deidara and I follow him across the store in our speed-machines, which have been demoted into slow-machines now that our racing days have been pushed behind us. When we reach the front, we find the now even paler teen standing beside a little four year old boy.
I frown. "Deidara...When did we have a kid?"
Deidara is speechless.
The child is the perfect example of what would happen if you chopped both Deidara and I into bits and poured us into a blender.
He has longish straight blonde hair, the exact shade of Deidara's, and ugly brown eyes like mine. Tears stream heavily down his red tinted face, lower lip quivering. He surges forward and throws his arms out. Instincts kick in and I bend down and scoop him up. He throws his arms around my neck and sobs into my shirt.
"Momma, I'm so sorry!" He whimpers in his squeaky, barely intelligible four-year old lingo, "I'll never run off again, yeah!"
I think my eyes are about to explode, they're that wide.
"Did you rape me in my sleep, hmm?" Deidara climbs off his buggy and steps closer to us, peering down at the kid in my arms. "And then knock me out for four years and nine months, un?"
I shake my head. "Not that I can remember."
"What's going on?" Kisame steps forward, a small clear plastic bag in one hand. A large golden yellow gold fish swims around within it. My fishy friend pauses when he sees the kid. "Um, is there something you two need to tell me?"
"Trevor!"
We all whip around, including the kid in my arms. A woman with light brown hair and brown eyes stands several feet away, looking horrified. The kid in my arms stops sobbing into my chest long enough to glance back and see the woman. His brows furrow, gaze flickering back and forth between the two of us, confused. It clicks in my head though and I smile in relief.
"Is that your Momma?" I ask Trevor carefully setting him down onto the floor. He nods and rushes forward, throwing his arms around the woman's neck. The mother scoops him up and hugs him for a few moments, planting worried kisses all over his face. The guard and register clerk stare at us confusedly and step aside to talk to the mother.
Deidara lets out a small sigh of relief. I look to him, trying hard not to laugh.
"For a moment there, hmm..." He trails off, gorgeous eyes widening slightly.
I laugh. "At least it wasn't just us. He even fooled Kisame."
Kisame stares at the mother for a few moments and then looks back to us. He holds up his fish and beams. "I picked one out."
"Let's go get some fishy stuff." I throw my hands into the air. Deidara and I drop our speed machines off at the front and bid our goodbyes to them. They were good racers. I shall miss them. Then, hand in hand, we leisurely stroll back to the pet center to pick out stuff for Kisame. I text Sarah and tell her to start rounding up the troops so we can get Subway and leave.
When we get to the isle, Kisame is standing in front of several fish tank accessories, eyeing them peculiarly.
"What's this?" He picks up a 'sunken' pirate ship.
"It's stuff for the tank to make it look all cool. You can get one or two if you'd like." I squat down and examine all the tanks. I pick the cheapest one and tell Deidara to grab it. While he does that, I grab all the cleaning stuff and food and the net. Kisame picks out the pirate ship and a small fake reef set. "You'll need some sort of base. You can get marbles or some of those rocks." I point them out so Kisame can pick. He grabs the pebbles and I nod. I don't really like the shininess of the marbles.
