Small

Grocery Shopping

Darren stacked our plates in the sink and washed his hands. He grabbed the towel from where it hung over the handle to the oven door and dried his hands off as he walked back to me. "So, Aly. I need to run out and do some grocery shopping today."

I nodded.

"I didn't think about it earlier or I would have just had them delivered here like I have been so we have to go out and get them ourselves. Are you okay to go with me?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. "To the grocery store?"

He nodded. "If not, I can ask my mom if you can stay with her for a few hours."

I thought about my options. I really liked his mom and enjoyed spending time with her. But I wanted to see what it was like to go grocery shopping. I'd never been before and it seemed like something I should know how to do.

"I wanna go with you."

He seemed surprised by my response. Going to the store with him was a big step for me considering I hadn't been out too much. I was never around people enough to know how to act or know what to say. It was intimidating but I was ready for it.

"I have to make a list before we go but that won't take me long. Can you think of anything we need?"

"I think we need to get more ice cream. We never seem to have enough."

He laughed and reached into one of the drawers. He pulled out a notepad and a pen without a cap. "How about something healthy?"

I made a face. "Healthy stuff doesn't taste good."

"You just haven't had good food then. I'm not the best cook but I think I could make something that isn't too bad."

I sighed. "If you insist."

He began to write things down on the notepad. I couldn't tell what any of them said since I couldn't read but I had a feeling he was writing down several types of vegetables for me to try.

"Why don't you go get ready and I'll finish the list here?"

I nodded and jumped down from the bar stool I was sitting on. I headed back to my room and got out a dress to wear. I wasn't sure what type of clothes people wore grocery shopping but I knew pajamas weren't acceptable.

I was never around too many people. Darren wasn't one to have friends over or do things socially. The farthest he got was when we went camping and even then, he didn't interact with other people much. Owen had people over all the time. I didn't really like his friends. A lot of times they would pick on me or make me do things I didn't like doing.

Were all people like that?

Darren walked into the bedroom and leaned down beside the bed to grab my shoes. "You can take Ted with you but he has to stay in the truck. I don't want you to lose him at the store."

I nodded and stuck out my left foot. "Is the store really big?"

He looked up at me. "I was planning on taking you to a smaller grocery store. I don't want to stress you out your first time going somewhere."

"I've already been places, daddy. We went to that place to eat when we were camping, remember?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the diner. I forgot about that."

"Are there other places like the diner? Like other places to eat at?"

"Oh, yeah. There are lots of places. Some are specific to different types of foods and nationalities like Chinese or Indian. Then there are buffets where they have containers of food where everyone can get what they want and how much."