25 days of cadnis + twins

day 12: christmas shopping

"Wannit."

"We'll have to put that in your letter to Santa, then," Cady says, making a mental note. "We need to pick a present for Lolo, though. What does Lolo want?"

"Lolo want... uh... b'ankie," Layla says. "Soft."

"She does love blankies, that's a good idea," Cady agrees. "That's this way."

Layla hums a little song to herself as Cady pushes her over towards the bedding section. Cady smiles and kisses her forehead.

"Okay, which blankie should we get for sissy?"

Layla looks up and around at all the different patterns of fuzzy blankets. Cady pushes her a bit further so she can see all the options. Layla takes her time, carefully weighing the pros and cons of each.

Eventually, she settles on a Winnie the Pooh theme. It even comes with a little cushion, a stuffed Pooh, and a short story. Cady smiles and puts it in the cart.

"Okay, that's Leo's present! Now we get to go shopping for Mommy," she says. Layla grins and starts rocking in the cart in an attempt to make it move. "Easy, come on. What do you think Mommy would like?"

"Uh... um... dose," Layla replies, pointing with both hands at two racks of bras. Cady bites her lip to hold back a laugh and shakes her head.

"Mommy does not like those," she giggles. "But that's a nice start. Let's pick something else."

Layla considers all the things her mama points out that her mommy might enjoy. Her favorite cookies, some new paintbrushes, comfy pajamas. She eventually settles on a toilet brush. Or a 'magic wand', as she calls it.

"Mommy's gonna love it," Cady nods, sighing internally. "Okay, now we get to go shopping for your aunties and uncles."

"Aunt Weggie?" Layla asks, pointing to a pack of toy cars.

"Um... sure," Cady replies, putting them in their cart. "Who next?"

"Uh... Unca D," Layla says, pointing to a pack of socks. That's actually not bad since Damian collects them, but the pack she means is way too small for him.

"Okay."

Gretchen gets a box of tissues, Karen gets a gallon of chocolate milk, and Aaron gets a patterned beach towel. After some other miscellaneous objects for grandparents and Juliana, Cady rests her coat over the cart to hide everything and heads back to the front of the store to meet up with Janis and Leo.

They're already there waiting for them. Leo smiles widely when she sees the rest of her family approach. "Mama!"

"Hi, baby love! I missed you," Cady says, going to kiss her cheek and pick her up. "Now you get to come with me to pick something for Mommy."

"An' Lala an' Mommy go?"

"Yep, Layla gets to go with Mommy now," Cady nods. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah. Got p'esents," Leo says. Cady grins and kisses her again.

"Good, I can't wait to see."

Cady kisses Layla and hands her over to Janis before setting off again with Leo. Layla waves and starts chattering to Janis about what they got. Hopefully she doesn't spoil too much.

"What should we get for Mommy?" Cady asks. Leo looks at her with a smile.

"Cuddle."

"Aww. She'd love that," Cady says. "But what about something from here, too?"

"Cuddle," Leo repeats, reaching out for her. Cady picks her back out of the cart and holds her close.

"I love you so much," she says. Leo rests her head on her shoulder and pats her collarbone with a little hand. "Okay, what do you think?"

"Mommy like... paint wif me," Leo says.

"She would love to paint with you," Cady agrees with a nod. "Let's see... oh, look, here's a paint with me set, what about this?"

"Yeah," Leo agrees.

"Well, it's a little more for you, but Mommy would love to teach you how to paint. She's gonna be so happy," Cady grins. "I think we're all done here, let's go buy our stuff!"

"Getta candy?" Leo asks, looking up at her.

"Yeah, I think you can get a candy. Come on."

—————

"Alright, Ladybug, what should we get for Mama?" Janis hums, resting her elbows on the cart and leaning in to kiss Layla's nose. Layla giggles and kisses Janis on the chin.

"Mama want... uh... popcown."

"Popcorn?" Janis chuckles. "Why would Mama want popcorn?"

"For moobee," Layla explains. "Moobee cuddles."

Janis puts the pieces together. Popcorn means movies, movies mean cuddles. Cady does love snuggling, especially with her family. And especially during movies.

"Actually... that's a pretty good idea," Janis says. "Okay, let's go get some popcorn. We'll get the good stuff."

"Dat one," Layla says, pointing to a tin of fancy popcorn. Janis reads the label and finds it's still microwaveable. She takes it off the shelf and hands it to Layla, who cuddles it like a stuffed animal.

"Once we find Mama we need to hide it so she doesn't see, okay?" Janis says. Layla nods seriously. "Okay, let's go buy stuff so we can go home."

"Home," Layla nods.

————-

"Bumblebee, what did Mama get you?" Janis laughs when they meet back with Cady and Leo. The popcorn has since been hidden under Janis' jacket.

"Getta candy," Leo explains, holding up what remains of her chocolate bar. A majority of the other half seems to have ended up on her face.

"And we got this one for Lala," Cady says, picking Layla out of the cart and handing over another candy bar. Layla fiddles with the wrapper for a second before she hands it back to Cady with a frustrated whine. "Do you need help?"

"Help," Layla nods. "Candy."

"Okay," Cady says, taking the chocolate back and opening it for her. "Here you go."

"T'ank you, Mama."

"You're welcome, baby. Come here, Mommy's gonna go buy your stuff and then we'll go home," Cady says. Layla happily digs into her chocolate and also gets a significant quantity of it on her face.

—-

"Did you have a good time?" Cady asks, squeezing Janis' hand gently as Janis drives them home. The twins are sleeping off the effects of a sugar crash in the backseat.

"I did. Missed you, but yeah," Janis says. "It's kinda nice to get one on one time with them sometimes."

"It is," Cady says. "We should do it more. Just maybe not shopping, I don't think they quite understand the concept yet."

"Maybe not," Janis says. She starts giggling suddenly. "Leo picked a box of tampons for Damian."

"And you let her?" Cady laughs.

"He'll think it's cute," Janis defends. "He'll find something to do with them, it'll be fine."

"We're getting him a gift card to make up for it, too," Cady says. "But that is sweet."

"Works for me," Janis shrugs, bringing Cady's hand to her lips for kisses. "I love you."

"I love you too," Cady replies.

You're the best present I've ever gotten.

—————

hope you enjoyed!! see you tomorrow!