Our baby

What is this town

Word count: 2865

It had now been a month since Daniel moved into the neighborhood and finally he had gotten his first paycheck. He had been working hard throughout the month, never once slacking off and trying to prove himself to his new bosses. Now that he had some money he decided to call up Rachel, who had started feeling bad for him when he had admitted he didn't have enough money for food one week after spending most of his leftover money on Uber rides. She had decided that he'd just have to call her and she'd take him anywhere free of charge. He didn't want to take advantage of her kindness but reluctantly called her on his day off asking if she could take him to the store. Which she did gladly. Driving him to the store she parked and got out, which surprised him. She had told him she wanted to help him shop, make sure he's caring for himself properly which made him blush. They walked in together and immediately the store felt different, he usually never went on weekends and usually after he got off work which meant it was not usually super busy. As they walked in Rachel grabbed a cart and paused next to Daniel waiting patiently. "What is it?" Daniel asked after she had been waiting for a little bit, people walking by giggled at the two standing, but it felt like they were giggling at Daniel. Like Daniel was doing something so silly, which is when it dawned on Daniel. Everyone except for a select few had one person pushing the cart and the other or sometimes even two holding onto the carts like little kids. Rachel gestured to the cart, "you going to hold it?" Daniel looked at the cart with a curious expression. "Why?" He asked confused as to why he had to lead Rachel to also chuckle, "it's a custom here, come on hold onto it right here." Rachel reached over grabbing Daniel's hand and placed it onto the railing of the cart with a friendly smile. Once he had a firm grasp and wouldn't be wandering off she began pushing the cart.

She began asking Daniel all sorts of questions about the foods he likes, picking out fruits and vegetables that he could make into healthy meals that weren't ramen or frozen foods. Something that also made no sense to Daniel was sometimes he'd see a food item he wanted so he would let go of the cart to go grab it but Rachel would call his name and point sternly at the cart, it made him feel bad like he had done something really bad and had to obey her. He tried to ask her why but she wouldn't respond with anything besides "it's customary" before asking what it was Daniel wanted and moving the cart over to it. When they got to the sweets aisle Rachel too was bossing Daniel around about letting go of the cart or how much sugary treats he buys. Even at one point making him swear to not eat them all in one sitting.

As they continued through the store Daniel began to notice just how many baby aisles they had. And to his surprise when Rachel turned down one. "I need to grab something for my... baby..." she said it in such a way it felt weird to Daniel but he chalked it up to his social cues issues. As he stared at the baby spoons he had let go of the cart because one set caught his eye, a Winnie the Pooh set. Rachel turned and went to scold him but noticed what he was doing, "are you interested in them?" Rachel asked softly and cautiously not wanting to scare Daniel away from something that he may like. He nodded softly, "I have sensory problems, metal knives and forks feel weird on my skin but these... feel..." he almost whispered as he handed them to her, she smiled. "Yeah their silicone, softer on the skin... Do you want to try them?" Daniel couldn't pin his finger onto why but something in him said he needed these spoons. He nodded his head as Rachel smiled at him, "you want to try some silicone forks too?" Daniel didn't notice how she didn't use the word baby, he did notice though how it felt so normal the way she said it. Making him feel safe as he nodded locating a set of small forks that were silicon and weren't a texture he hated. Rachel smiled as she gently led Daniel back to the cart having him hold on. "Anything else you want to try? My treat if it's something that will help you I want you to have" Rachel spoke so softly and motherly it made Daniel confused, why did he feel so safe and so... fuzzy? His body felt warm all over and comforted by her words as he looked over all the items. Shaking his head as Rachel took that as her answer. Now being all done she brought them to the checkouts. "Why were you so nice about me getting a baby-" as he began speaking Rachel cut him off, "Daniel you will grow to learn how this town is very accepting. Also it's only a baby thing if you make it so. If it helps you to eat your food and enjoy it then I want that for you." He smiled as they reached the front of the line, he let go of the cart and went to help but before Rachel could speak up the cashier spoke up. "Hey kiddo! Leave that to the grown ups alright? Hold onto that cart for me ok?" She smiled down at him as he gained a very confused look. Rachel gave him a "I'll explain in the car" look as she too instructed him to hold onto the cart.