Closer

185.

"Okay, princess, I say we stop on the way and visit a store," Ray said to Elise while strapping her in the car seat. "Because uncle Ray wants some ice cream for when you refuse to sleep tonight."

Elise smacked him in the head with the shark with a squeal, and Ray just laughed.
"I know, I know, ice cream is bad for me, but it tastes so good, you see. I'll let you have a tiny taste and we'll see what you think," he said, tickling her tummy to make her laugh before closing the door and going around the car to get in the driver's seat.

Elise was quiet for the most part in the care except the occasional squeal the entire way to the store. Ray kept checking the back mirror to see that she was alright. He really felt honoured to be given the responsibility of taking care of her, the most important person in Brett and Eddy's life. This beautiful, fragile little human.

She squealed again and Ray smiled at her in the mirror.
"It's alright, we're almost there," Ray said, despite not really thinking she understood. He'd read somewhere that talking to babies was important, and it would be awkward not to anyway.

As he unbuckled her from the car seat in the parking lot of the store, he thought about what his mother had asked him when he told her he was babysitting him.
"Don't you want to find someone to have kids with yourself, then, Ray?"
Sure, yeah. It didn't sound like an awful thought. He actually kind of fancied the thought. The issue here was the "find someone"-part.

"There we go, let's bring Sharkie and see if we can find some ice cream for uncle," Ray said cheerily as he lifted her onto his arm and handed her the shark while he shut the car door.

Ray could feel a few stares from people when he went through the store and pointed out different food items for Elise that he would cook for her when she's older, or when he took the shark to pretend for Elise that it was trying to eat through a can of tuna. She thought it was hillarious, though, which was the most important part.

They eventually reached the ice cream freezer. Ray looked through the options, everything seeming tempting. He eventually spotted a vanilla ice cream with oreo cookies in it at the very bottom shelf and decided that's what he wanted today.

Holding onto Elise, he squatted down to grab it. Elise laughed the entire way down, but once they got there she got quiet for a bit before starting to fuss a bit before starting up a proper cry. Ray quickly grabbed the ice cream and stood back up, looking at her.

"Shh baby, why are we crying, huh? What's wrong?" he asked softly, rocking her gently back and forth. "Shops are that boring?"

He started making his way towards the checkout, talking to her to try and calm her down. Her tiny hands was holding onto his shirt for dear life, and as they left the ice cream aisle she grew more hysterical.

"It's okay baby, I'm sorry we stayed so long. We'll move on so you can get a nap or something to eat," Ray said softly, rocking her. Her cries felt even more off as they left the store.