Bloody Mate

Chapter Four - Smiles and laughs -

I held Maya's small hand as we walked down pasta aisle at a local grocery store. She was carrying the red basket, swinging it back and forth. 

"Juju, do you think he'll like shrimp alfredo?" She was staring at a bag of noodles to go with our jar of Alfredo sauce already in the cart. I nodded as I looked around the shelves. She squeezed my hand, trying to get my attention. When I looked down, her soft blue eyes held one question. If I was alright? I lightly smiled at her.

"I'm okay, buttercup." I lied. I definitely wasn't okay. I'm a werewolves mate. I'm currently going to a school full of  werewolves. A pack practically threatened me. I wonder who will be alright after a day like this. "Put the pasta bag in the basket. Anything that you want to get for dinner, put it in there. Okay?" I told her. She grinned as she put the pasta bag in the basket and led me to the candy aisle. I laughed. "Maya, candy isn't good for dinner." 

She pouted. "Just one, Juju. Please! Just one I promise." She begged. There was no need for begging. She had me when she started pouting. I crouched down and took the basket from her tiny hands. "How about..." I looked up, pretending to think. Her eyes were anxious. 

"Please!"

I chuckled. "You know what? Get three bags of any candy you want!" Her eyes widen. She threw her tiny arms around my shoulder and shrieked in happiness. "Yay!" I laughed. I loved making her happy. 

"Okay but only three. And your not eating it all today." My words fell into deaf ears. She was bouncing around the aisles getting her bags of candy. When she was done, I picked her up in my arms and made my way to the freezers. 

"I'm cold." Maya told me as she tried to snuggle more into my arms. I quickly grabbed two bags of shrimp and put it in the basket. I then jogged to the drinks aisle. 

"Are you cold now, baby?" I asked. 

She smiled. "No." Good. 

~

In the car, Maya was rambling on and on about a pink shirt she needed for school. Supposedly, this Friday the school was supporting Breast Cancer Awareness by wearing pink.

"But don't you already have enough pink shirts at home?" She nodded and told me she couldn't wear it. "Why not?" I asked. 

"Because I already wore it." She told me. I smiled as I rolled my eyes. My little Queen. We stopped at a little clothing store near our house to get the little Queen a pink shirt. She practically dragged me in. But she wasn't leading me toward the kid's section. "Maya, where are we going?" She ignored me as she kept leading to what was unknown for me. My eyes widen as I saw where we were heading. "I thought we were shopping for you! I have enough clothes at home, Maya." 

"You need new things, Juju." She argued. I sighed. I wasn't going to win this. She started to look through racks, saying things like "this is pretty" and "pink will look good on you." The girl is in love with the color pink. She stopped searching when she saw that I was just standing there. "Juju, I want you to have fun tonight, okay?" She told me. I saw the little tint of concern in her eyes. I smiled. 

"I'll try, okay?" 

She shook her head no and walked up to me. "You have to have fun. And we are going to look pretty and eat pretty food," I laughed as I took her in my arms. Feeling loved and a bit cared for was rare in my world. But I'm no loner in my world. I'm with Maya. I'm not alone anymore. "and you're going to laugh and smile!" If I have her by my side, I'll laugh and smile for all eternity. Literally. Instead of Maya and I looking for an outfit for me to wear, Maya insisted we have someone else pick our clothes, someone with experience. 

"My sister new boyfriend is coming for dinner!" Maya told the nice sales lady. She was in her early thirties. Blonde hair, green eyes. She was very pretty. She escorted us to the dressing rooms and asked me of my sizes. Everything from bra size to shoe size. She studied me, probably visualizing what I would look good in. I playfully modeled for Maya, as she made a fake camera with her hands. She shouted compliments as I posed for the 'camera'. I haven't had this much fun in a long long time. 

~

"Is the water boiling yet, Maya?" I asked as she stirred the pot. We were in the kitchen. I was about three feet away from her, sitting on the granite counter top. Maya wanted to cook dinner and said I couldn't see her 'pretty food'. We were already showered, dressed and groomed. She looked so adorable in her cream floral shirt that matched perfectly with a pink fluffy skirt that was almost 'tutu' like. 

"The bubbles? Yes." I needed to distract her so I can drain the noodles. I didn't want her to burn herself, or be in any harm. 

"Maya, can you get me my make up bag upstairs?" She nodded and hopped down from the chair she was standing on. When I heard her light footsteps upstairs, I quickly drained the noodles and place it in the pot with the already cooked shrimp. I poured the Alfredo sauce and other and out other spices in it before stirred it all up. I had the stove on low so it could stay warm until our guest comes. 

"Juju! No!" She was freaking out as she pushed me away from the food. I laughed. "You can't do that! Now you saw the pretty food!" She yelled frantically. I grinned as I picked her up and tickled her. I didn't want her to be mad at me. Her laughs were the only thing that were heard until the door bell rang. 

Maya screamed as she got down from my arms.  "Go get it! Go, Go, Go!" I was laughing and shaking my head as I opened the door. I smile grew when I saw Rain next to pine cones and mint. But it dropped when I saw laid my eyes on the extra heartbeat: Lucas. The mutt glaring at me in the hallways today. And he was still glaring at me right now. I have a feeling dinner isn't going to go smoothly as I hoped.