"Noelle." He spoke.
That was my first time hearing my name off his lips, and I may have lost my cool for the first time in my life.
"Now that I say it, you're more of a Noelle than a Nikki" he gave a goofy grin.
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Noelle.
"Mommy can we get this cheese?" A soft voice spoke as I leaned against the cart, staring down at the checklist on my phone. My eyes snapped to my daughter, looking down at the cheese she was holding. Pepperjack, "That cheese is spicy baby, we can get it if you want to try it, though" I replied, setting my phone down in the cart to give Leilani my full attention.
She scrunched her face up in disgust, "Spicy cheese?" she questioned, causing me to stifle a chuckle, a hand covering my mouth, "Yes ma'am, it's actually really good when you have it with certain stuff" I replied, a hand rubbing my daughters head. "Like what?" She asked curiously, her big dark dough eyes looking up at me. Here come the million and one questions, I loved it though. She always wanted to learn something new, I never really asked questions when I was younger cause I'd get yelled at, so when she does it, it makes me wanna answer her questions even more. There's nothing wrong with wanting to learn outside of school, and even if I don't know the answer to her questions, I'd always try my best to figure them out so that she'll have an answer.
"How about we buy it and we can look at recipes together when we make it home?" I suggested, a small smile lifting Nani's lips, "Okay!" She beamed, putting the cheese in the cart. We continued around the store, stopping and picking up what we needed, "Can I push the cart?" Leilani asked. I looked at her, then the cart, thoughtfully before giving in.
"Okay, but only push it when mommy tells you to, we have to make sure we watch out for the other people shopping" I responded, allowing her to remain entertained while in the store. She grinned, holding the cart as best as she could. She gripped the rails of the cart, watching and waiting for me to choose a good carton of eggs. I put the eggs in the cart and held on to the side, seeing my hand on the cart and my small head nod, my daughter started pushing, the most content smile on her face, looking down to watch her steps every now and again.
I stopped, looking over to the canned goods aisle, before I heard her soft high pitched voice "Are you okay? I'm sorry" my eyes snapped to Nani's as she stayed behind the cart, sure enough not to get close to the stranger. Good girl. I take a few steps to my daughter, standing behind her. "I'm okay, I'm sorry, I'm the one who bumped into you" I stared, in utter disbelief, as the eyes of the stranger locked with mine. "Noelle, breathe, this was bound to happen" I told myself in my head.
"Noelle?" the voice spoke, "Jeremiah" I replied. "Who is he mommy?" my daughters voice rang, making me snap my gaze from him to her. "He's your Uncle Keith's friend" I replied. I picked up my daughter and placed her in the cart, "I thought you said I could push?" She pouted, looking up at me. My eyes cut from her to him, as his eyebrows scrunched together. "Next time, baby, I promise" I choked out.
"You have a daughter?" Jeremiah asked, stepping closer to the cart. He looked at the back of my daughter's head and I watched his eyes pan to me. I nodded, faking a small smile. My heart was pounding, I was sure that anyone standing within a five mile radius could hear it by now. Leilani turned around, smiling at him as his eyes grew a little bigger, eyebrows raised, "This is Noelle, my mommy" His lips formed a small smile, "How old is she?" He asked, his eyes locked with mine.
