One Mississippi, Two Mississippi

S-h-o-p-p-i-n-g

"Do you wanna look for a kids book now?" Logainne asked, gesturing to the section next to it.

"Oh, right." Leaf nodded, moving over and having a look there. He spied a book called If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, which had a colorful drawing of a mouse and a cookie. He smiled even bigger and skimmed through its pages, giggling at the pictures.

He seemed to be happy with that choice too, and was about to wander around some more, when he spotted another coloring book about sea creatures.

He gasped, picking it up and looking at Logainne, who was biting her lip slightly. If she indulged him too much, there wouldn't be any money left over.

"You can get both coloring books, but then I wouldn't be able to read to you." She stated, trying to compromise.

Leaf sighed sadly, looking over his books. He put the coloring book with the sea creatures away, and held the others tight.

"Come on, let's get some crayons." Logainne turned around to the crayon and marker section, with a wide array of sizes and brands. Leaf looked around and picked up a 24 pack of crayolas.

They looked at the last item on the list, stuffies. Logainne hummed, looking around. She led Leaf through the aisles again, trying to figure out where they'd be.

Soon enough they came across a large bin filled to the brim with soft, plush animals. Leaf's eyes lit up and his grin went from ear to ear. He rushed over to the bin, practically burying himself in it.

It took a few minutes, but eventually he pulled out a cream colored cat stuffie. He hugged it tight, burying his face in its fur.

Then he noticed another stuffie that fell to the floor; a round, light yellow bumble bee. He gasped, picking it up and brushing it off, making sure it was okay.

He then realized he couldn't possibly choose between these two precious angels, it just wasn't fair. He looked at Logainne with the widest puppy eyes he could muster.

She thought about it for a moment. Adding everything up in her head; three pacifiers, two sippy cups, a coloring book, a kids book, a pack of crayons, that was eight dollars. Getting one stuffie would be nine dollars, leaving one dollar over.

She thought, what the hell, she'd use up her allowance. "Here, let's get both of them."

But Leaf had been doing the same thing, with a bit more effort nonetheless, and that pang of guilt came back. "Oh, no, but you said-"

"It's fine, Leaf, one dollar won't make a difference."

He smiled, Logainne doing the same. "Or, you can get that second coloring book instead." She suggested.

Leaf shook his head. "I don't want them to be lonely." His speech was becoming slurred again. Logainne made a note of that. "Well, come on, let's get checked out!"

They headed over to the checkout counter where a nice young lady was waiting to ring them up. Logainne put all the items onto the conveyor belt (even the stuffies, after coaxing Leaf a bit).

The nice young lady rang it all up, and Logainne handed over her $10 bill with a smile. Leaf started tuning out, getting nervous on the lady's reaction. She's gonna think it's weird, she's gonna be disgusted, she's not gonna like me was all he could think.

But none of that came to fruition. "Have a nice day!" She greeted warmly. She then looked at him, offering a smile and a small wave. He blushed a bright red and gave a smile in return, feeling himself regressing further.

"Come on, let's go." Logainne held out her hand. Leaf took it and followed her out of the store, still slightly smiling.

They held hands the entire walk home, which seemed even briefer. "Alright, now we just gotta sneak this past my moms." She said as she turned her key into the lock.