"Stay by the car please Lauren." Nina said as she grabbed ahold of the little girl who nearly bolted out of the car as soon as they arrived at the mall.
Bouncing on the tips of her toes while she waited for everyone else, Lauren couldn't hide her excitement. While Lain unbuckled Faye, Nina was in the midst of unlatching Kaila's restraint when the small girl tapped the woman's chest.
"Yes sweetheart?" She asked as she popped the restraint off of Kaila's shoulders.
"Carry?" She asked with a trembling lip.
"No baby, not here. But you can hold mama's hand."
"No. Wanna be carried. Please mama." The girl begged.
But Nina only shook her head. "As soon as we finish up here, mama will pick you up. For now I need you to be a big girl and walk for me."
Whimpering as she stepped out of the car, Kaila immediately snatched the woman's hand. Too terrified to even think about letting go.
As Nina rubbed her thumb against the back of Kaila's hand reassuringly, the woman saw Lain had both Lauren and Faye in her hands while her brothers were talking on the side.
"Lead the way." Lain playfully smirked as she gestured for Nina to lead the group.
While the couple listened to Faye rambling about what new things she wanted to look for, every time a stranger passed Kaila by, the little girl gripped so tight onto Nina's hand that it caused the woman's fingers to go purple.
"Can you loosen up princess? You're hurting mama." She asked as Kaila reluctantly eased up on her grip and instead forced her body as close as possible to Nina's.
Entering the large two story building with lights and sounds from both the people and stores that surround them, Lauren was in awe. It had been so long since she had seen anything like this. To say she was excited would be an understatement.
While every inch of the mall was covered by people coming and going from store to store, the large windows that displayed the various items sold within the shops grabbed Lauren's attention completely.
Especially one in particular.
Located right near the entrance of the mall stood a shop with big and small stuffed animals alike on pedestals. Some were dressed in clothes and other in accessories. The different colors and types of animals seemed entrancing.
From dragons to teddy bears there were many different creatures to choose from. It seemed as if every color was on display. From vibrant pink to classic brown the possibility was endless.
"Mommy, can we go in there?!" Lauren asked while pointing to the store as Faye eagerly nodded in agreement.
"If we get all of our shopping done first then we can stop by there." The tan woman conditioned.
"And laser tag!" Nick shouted from behind.
Chuckling at his youthful essence Lain turned to her girls. "And after a game of laser tag."
"That's so long." Faye pouted.
"I don't think it's going to be that long honey, we just need to grab a few things. And what did you guys come for?" Nina asked as she turned to face her brothers that were lacking behind everyone and who were still deep into their own conversation.
"Hm?" Nelson was caught off guard. "Oh, Nick and I just wanted to pick out some new clothes. Seems like forever since I've had a change of style."
"What do you guys think about splitting up then? We can go get our things while you guys get yours and we can all meet back up at the laser tag center." Lain suggested knowing it would cut their shopping time in half and her girls could get their treat sooner.
"That's fine. We'll meet you at the center in two hours." Nick said as he and Nelson wandered off into a nearby store.
"Two hours!" Lauren exclaimed as her mouth gapped wide open. "Mama you said it wasn't going to be long!" She complained as passerby's glanced at the small family strangely.
"Let's use our indoor voices sweet pea." Lain said firstly not wanting to get any unwanted attention as Lauren huffed in response.
"None of that now, two hours isn't that long. You girls will be too busy looking at all the clothes that time will fly by." Nina said optimistically.
Hoping that the woman was right, Lauren kept a hold of Lain's hand as they traveled through the mall into their first store.
While her wife and two girls were looking for clothes in a nearby area, Nina noticed Kaila hadn't been looking at all. While Lauren found the clothes as a distraction from everything going on around her, Kaila couldn't help but get caught up looking at the people walking by.
"What about this?" Nina asked holding up the millionth piece of clothing to Kaila. But before her eyes even looked at the shirt in her hands, the small girl shook her head.
Sighing Nina dragged Kaila into another section of the store quickly. One that was less crowded and had an empty aisle in the back. Without any goods to display, Nina knew this would be a good place for some privacy.
Kneeling down in front of Kaila she grabbed both of the little girls hands as she spoke in a low and soft voice. "Sweetheart I need you to look at me." She asked waiting until their eyes locked. "Nobody here is going to hurt you. I promise."
"But they might..." her voice quivered as it trailed off and her head anxiously looked around to check her surroundings.
"Baby, mommy and I can't keep you locked away in the house forever. We want to be able to take you out to places with us. But we can't do that if you're always scared about being around others."
"Sorry." Her little girl mumbled as she felt like crying. She felt guilty being afraid of the unknown. Letting the tears drop down her cheeks she dropped her head.
Pulling her girl into a firm hug, Nina lifted Kaila onto her hip as she rocked her soothingly. "You don't have any reason to be sorry honey, it's not you're fault. But mama just wants you to know that as long as you're with mommy and I, nobody is going to lay their hands on you. They won't even get close."
"Promise?"
"I promise that nothing bad will happen to you Kaila." Hiding her tear soaked face into Nina's neck, the pair waited in the back aisle until Kaila's tears ceased.
As her breathing evened out and the tears stopped Nina finally asked. "Are you ready to meet up with mommy and sissy's now?"
Nervously nodding her head, Nina put Kaila down before grabbing hold of her hand tightly as they regrouped with the others.
As Lain was browsing around, both Lauren and Faye were stuck together as they looked at clothes off to the side.
"Go on and look." Nina encouraged trying to ease Kaila towards her other girls. Seeing the anxious look on Kaila's face, Nina smiled gently. "It's alright. Mommy and I are right here." She said assuringly. "I'm watching you."
Gulping as the woman's fingers slipped out of her grasp, Kaila walked over to Faye and Lauren quickly. Immediately both girls began engaging in conversation with Kaila, but that didn't stop her from looking back every other second to make sure the couple were still in view and checking on them.
Seeing Lain proudly waving at her, the ends of Kaila's mouth slowly lifted up as she waved back. Turning to look at the clothes with the other girls, the couple were able to get their shopping done in half the time with everyone spread out.
After paying for their items, the couple walked out with bags all along their arms and their girls held tightly in their hands.
This time, however, they swapped.
Kaila held on tightly to Lain's hand as the family began walking over to the laser tag arena to meet up with Nickolas and Nelson.
"Mama told me about what happened earlier." Lain told her quietly. "When she took you to the back."
Remembering how fearful she felt in that moment because of all the things she couldn't control Kaila held back returning tears. "I think they're still scary." She admitted. Blushing as she looked down, Kaila felt a peck on the top of her head.
"But she was right you know." Holding their hands up to eye level Lain said, "you don't have to be scared. You're strong."
"No I'm not." Her voice cracked as she spoke softly.
"Yes, you are. This is what makes you strong." She shook their hands.
"Holding hands?" Kaila asked in confusion.
Laughing Lain shook her head. "No. Holding hands doesn't make you strong, but the amount of trust you have in us will. As long as you trust that mama and I will keep you safe, then you'll see that you aren't in danger anymore. Not while we're around."
Looking at their intertwined fingers, Kaila could feel a white glow omitting from it. She couldn't quite describe it but she knew that she could confide in it.
Latching her fingers onto Lain's hand firmer than before Kaila nodded with more certainty for her safety.
Exchanging a set of sweet smiles, the family eventually made it to the laser tag center with no sign of the twins anywhere. Looking down at the watch on her wrist Nina raised an eyebrow. "We were in that store for two and a half hours. Where are they?" She asked. "We aren't that late."
"I don't know." Lain looked around but found no use to it. "Try calling them."
Pulling her phone out, Nina rang both her brothers but ended in the same response. Voicemail. "They aren't picking up."
"Well they've got to be here somewhere."
"I should've guessed that they would've been gone for longer than expected. They're never on time for anything." Nina said slightly irritated as she tried to ring them again.
"Mama." Faye said softly as she tugged onto the woman's shirt.
"Not now sweetie, give me a second."
"But mama." The girl tried again.
"Faye please give me a second to try and call-"
"But mama look." She cut the woman off as the volume to her voice increased.
Looking up in the direction of Faye's pointed finger, the woman spotted Nickolas giving Nelson a high five within the laser tag center next to the front desk. They were both in glowing vest with plastic guns attached to their hips.
Rushing her family inside the entrance Nina looked at her brothers with a look of disapproval. "What're you guys doing in already?" She asked slightly irritated.
"Good to see you too, sis." Nick chuckled at Nina's annoyed look. "We got here after the two hours were up and didn't see you guys coming."
"So you played a round of laser tag without us?"
"More like six rounds." Nelson added. "We got bored waiting around."
Rolling her eyes, Nina stared them down.
"Don't look at us that way. We said two hours." Nickolas defended. "Besides we were only practicing...but I mean it's not like we would have needed to in order to beat you." He said cockily towards the end as he puffed his chest out.
"Is that so?" Lain competitively asked. "Let's go then. All of us against you two."
"You're on." Nelson said going eagerly to the front desk to pay for another game.
"Babe?!" Nina looked to her wife. "Really? You challenged my brothers?"
"What? They think they're going to beat us that easily. As if! I'm going to prove them wrong." She said hyped up. "Come on girls." She walked over to where Nelson stood with all three girls at her side.
Chuckling as they watched Lain and the girls get strapped into the same glowing vest with plastic guns attached to them, Nina and Nick walked over to them while they continued bickering.
And after Nina put her vest on she was ready to help her wife in her desire to win.
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Let me know what you think. Thanks Lexx signing off