Finding My Way Home - Short Story

Chpt. 10 - A Day Out

"It's okay, come here. I understand you're feeling a bit overwhelmed." I took her into my arms like I did when we were at the park. She put her head into the crook of my neck and I caressed her back in a comforting manner.

"Shh, it's okay, you're okay Sam. I got you. You deserve nice things too. And I'm going to make sure you get them. You can stay with me as long as you want to." I told her as she slowly calmed down.

"I've n-never had anyone take care of m-me like this." She shakingly got out.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry. But you've got me now. I want to take care of you, it makes me happy. All I need you to do is let me." I let her nod her head a little and knew she was okay again.

We ate breakfast in a comfortable silence and than we cleaned up before getting ready to leave to go shopping.

I gave her one of my older hoodie which had a smaller size, that way it was not as big on her. And I also gave her some jeans that I rolled up at the end.

She had allowed me to wash her stuffed animal so I had put it in the washing machine before we left.

-

We went to a large shopping mall which was located out of town. After around half an hour, we arrived. You could see the different sorts of large mall buildings from where we parked. I could tell she was nervous.

We stepped out of my car. I locked it and made my way over to Sam. I wanted to comfort her so I held out my hand for her to grab, hoping she will accept.

Luckily she did. Her little soft hand felt so fragile in mine. I gave her an encouraging squeeze and together we started walking towards the mall.

"What do you want to look for first? Clothes or maybe something for your room?" I asked as I grabbed the list out of my bag.

"Y-You pick please." She whispered out.

"Oke, let's get you some clothes first. Then you can put it on immediately after we find something you like. Does that sound like a plan?" She nodded her head.

We walked into the mall and went onto the escalator to go to the second floor where the women's clothing was. I had to search a bit, but found it after some walking around. Sam stayed close to me and never let go of my hand, like she was scared I would disappear if she were to let go.

As we entered the shop, I looked around the area. "What style do you like?" She looked around but shook her shoulders.

"I don't know." Sam looked down, disappointed in herself. I quickly but gently took a hold of her chin and lifted her head up to look at me.

"It's okay if you don't. We can just try on some different sort of things. It's going to be okay, I will find something."

I grabbed some of everything; tops, bra's, shirts and jeans in different sizes, from different shelfs and walked into one of the fitting rooms. I put the things I choose on a chair that was placed in the small room and looked at Sam.

"I'm going to wait outside and you can try some of this on. If you like something, maybe lay it aside. And if you want to, you can show me some outfits too, but you don't need to." I informed her. She looked a bit overwhelmed but mumbled out an 'Okay'.

"Just take your time, don't rush, just see what feels like you and what you like." I gave her a quick smile before walking out and closing her door.

I took a seat on a small bench opposite of the fitting room, and just went to play some games on my phone to pass the time as Sam was trying out the clothes.

After about 15 to 20 minutes, I heard the door open saw her shyly walking out in a new shirt. It was a little big, but looked cute on her.

It's a regular t-shirt with a little smiling avocado with hands and feet on it. She had chosen to wear the black ripped jeans with it, which looked good with that outfit.

I stood up and walked over to her. "It looks really good on you. I like it." She gave me a small smile and looked at me.

"Really?" She said unconvinced.

"Yes really, it fits you."

I grabbed other the things she had put aside that she also wanted, which were more shirts, some jeans, a couple of sport bras, hoodies and I also saw a denim overall in there and I couldn't wait to see her wear it.

I paid for the clothes and luckily Sam could leave the ones she had on, on. They just had to add them to the prize and cut the cards off, which I did because she didn't want them being so close to her.

After we were done shopping for clothes, we went to the furniture/decor area for homes. We didn't stay there that long because she didn't want to get that much.

She had chosen two little plants, some fairy lights to hang on the head of the bed and then shyly asked me if she could also paint a wall in her room. Of course I said yes, so she choose a pastel blue color and cutely explained how she wanted to paint one of the walls that color.

However, to me it wasn't enough, so I also bought a small desk with a chair and some penholders and books. Now we were finished.

I could see Sam was starting to get tired of our long trip and honestly so was I. It was also starting to get late so I quickly finished getting the remaining things on the list that I had made, and then decided to drive to a little restaurant that served great Italian food.

Sam looked at me with a confused expression as she noticed my intentions.

"Are we going in there?" I nodded, confirming her suspicion.

"I've never eaten at a place like this before." I want to say I'm shocked, but by now I know she hasn't had a chance to do a lot of things in her life. I'm going to make sure she remembers this experience when we are done with dinner.

"Don't worry, you'll love it. I'm right beside you the entire time." She looked better after I said that and we made our way inside with her holding my hand once again.