Magnolia

Mulberry Street

"Want to see your room?" Josh asked. Maggie looked at him. "It's not much, but it's yours and we can decorate it however you want."

Josh stood up and carried Maggie upstairs and to the bedroom beside his.

"See? This is your room and this is your bed," Josh pointed. "And we are going to have to buy you some clothes. Should we go to a store?  We need to get some blankets that fit a Maggie. Something soft and warm. What do you think?  Want to go to a store?" 

Maggie looked at Josh as though he was speaking a foreign language.

"Thing is, if we go to the store, you have to sit in your car seat in the back, okay?"

Josh decided to attempt the outing with Maggie.

It did not start out well. First, she didn't want to let go of him to go in the car seat. She didn't make a sound though. She just wouldn't let go. Finally Josh was able to coax her into the seat, but getting the straps on her was a challenge. She wouldn't help him at all. She was struggling against the straps.

When he finally got her strapped in, he was exhausted and ready to give up. But he'd gotten this far.

"Do you like music?" Josh asked, as he turned on the radio. Maggie put her hands over her ears.

"Okay. No music for now. That's gonna be a problem. Papa Josh is a musician. But, we'll figure something out."

Josh pulled up to the mall and undid Maggie's car seat straps. She practically launched herself at him.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?  I told ya Papa Josh was gonna take you out right away."

Maggie clung to him. 

They went into Target where Josh went to the kids section. He checked the tag on the back of Maggie's shirt. It was a 3T and big on her. Okay. 3T it is to start.

He went into the girls section and picked out clothes. Maggie shook her head at everything.

On a whim, Josh picked up a blue shirt from the boys section. Maggie nodded. They were getting somewhere.

"Nothing wrong with a girl wearing clothes from the boys section," he smiled at her.

Maggie had only come with a couple of outfits so Josh picked jeans and sweaters, t shirts, socks, underwear (she wanted boxers).

They were approached by a lady who had to have been in her 60s.

"Is this your daughter? She's adorable," she said, reaching out to touch Maggie. Maggie clung to Josh and tried to climb away.

"Uh, yes. She's very shy," Josh said, as Maggie tried to climb him, or something. She was trying to hide anyway.

"I love seeing dads out with their little girls. But, sweetheart, don't you want some pretty dresses?" She asked looking at the jeans and sweatshirts in the cart.

"We really need to get going," Josh said, trying to coax Maggie off his shoulder. The lady still seemed to want to talk and Josh could feel Maggie's tension.

"Ma'am, thank you, but we really need to get going," Josh said and walked away. Maggie was clinging to him like her life depended on it. The whole time she'd been silent. Not a sound. But Josh could feel her distress.

"Think you have it in you to pick some pretty sheets?" He asked Maggie. She didn't answer.

Josh decided to pick out some blankets and towels. He showed a blue blanket with green turtles to Maggie and she grabbed it and held on to it.

"Okay, that's a keeper," Josh smiled.

He also decided Maggie needed things like a toothbrush and toothpaste, a hair brush. Maybe a hat. And a jacket. He found everything and Maggie seemed okay with it. He decided to chance getting some kid friendly groceries. She was calming some so he went for it.

He should have done grocery delivery or something. Women kept coming up and commenting on Josh being out with his little girl. They didn't mean anything by it but Maggie was freaking out.

"Okay," he said. "We're gonna go. We can get groceries later. You did really well my little peanut,"

He manoeuvred the cart to the cash registers and checked out as fast as he could. Maggie looked like she was about to go full meltdown.

Getting her back into the car seat was an exercise in futility. Try as he might, and even explaining she needed to be in the seat to be safe, Maggie wasn't having anything to do with it. Josh sighed and acquiesced.

"We can't make a habit out of this, Peanut," he said. Maggie curled into him and put her thumb in her mouth.

She fell asleep on the drive home.

Josh very carefully picked the little girl up and grabbed all the bags from the back. Maggie stayed asleep as Josh carried things into the house.

He put the milk and yoghurt he'd managed to get away in the fridge and decided the rest could wait. Maggie wasn't going anywhere and he doubted she'd let him leave her. He didn't want to betray her trust her first day home.

Josh sat on the couch and put Maggie down beside him, letting her lean on him, and covering her with the blue blanket with the turtles.

He texted with Tyler while Maggie napped, keeping one arm around her.

He told Tyler about their shopping trip and asked him about Rosie's pediatrician. Tyler said he'd forward him the information and let the doctor know to expect his call.

Once done with that, Josh turned on the TV very quietly and watched a sitcom while Maggie slept on.