24 Hours (Wattys 2016)

Hour 10

Hour 10

(4:00 PM EST)

We hopped out of the car when Beckett pulled up at the grocery store.

"What are we buying here?" I asked Beckett as he slipped his hand into mine.

"Dinner stuff." He shrugged.

"What are we making for dinner?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Whatever you want." He shrugged again.

"Beckett." I groaned, but I was smiling. "We have to know what we are buying."

"Lets just look around and find something that looks good." Beckett grinned sheepishly.

We stepped into the grocery store and were immediately overwhelmed by the cold inside.

I walked over and found a basket, pulling it out. Beckett placed his hand on the basket, stopping me.

"Let's get that one." He pointed to the basket in the shape of a car, the kind little kids can sit in.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's impractical and we should let the children use it." I explained.

"When was the last time you used one of those?" He pointed to the basket again.

"I don't know, when I was six."

"And when do you think you will be able to use it again." I wasn't understanding his logic, but I played along.

"When I have children." I shrugged.

"Exactly." He said in a firm tone.

"How is that supposed to change my mind?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"You aren't going to use one for a long time, and this is our last time to use it together." I was completely lost and had no idea why he wanted to use the little kid basket but he looked so happy that I just shrugged.

"Yay I love you so much." He kissed my cheek and pulled out the clunky blue car shaped basket. "Your carriage awaits you, milady." He gestured for me to get in the top section, where little kids sit and stick their legs out the holes.

"No." I laughed. "We can use it, but I will not sit in it."

"Why?" He pouted again.

"Dignity. Self respect."

"But I want to push you around." He gave me the puppy dog eyes and I sighed.

"Beck I'm not going to fit in there." I pointed to the leg holes that were the size of a five year old's thighs.

"So kick your legs into the main basket and sit facing forward." He explained, showing me how to sit.

"I don't even think I can get up there."

"I'll help you." Beckett held out his arms and I walked slowly into them.

He lifted me up so my butt was squished in between the handlebars and the small space for the children to sit. I put my legs over the divider and they hung into the main part of the basket. I leaned back and was steadied by Beckett's chest.

"See this isn't so bad." Beckett said, kissing the top of my head.

"No, I have no control of where we go." I complained.

"Just trust me." He whispered into my hair, pressing another kiss to the top of my head.

"Always."

()()()()

"What are we making?" I asked again, as Beckett tossed sourdough bread over my head and into the basket.

"Bruschetta." Beckett pushed me and the clunky cart over to the rack of tomatoes.

"Yay!" I cried, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Do you know how much I love you right now?"

"As much as I love you." He kissed my cheek before grabbing some tomatoes and putting them in the basket, under my dangling feet.

"You two remind me of Herald and I when we were young." An elderly lady gave us a sweet smile as she grabbed some of her own tomatoes. "How long have you been married."

"Oh we aren't-" I started to say but Beckett cut me off.

"Three years." Beckett said, hiding a smile.

"Thats a while for a couple so young." Her smile never failed to shine.

"We wanted our love to be forever." I played along and looked at Beckett with my best puppy love look.

"Well, a word of advice," The woman said. "Never lose eachother. Oh and bruschetta is better with french bread." She winked at us then hobbled over to her cart and walked away.

"She's right you know." Beckett said, looking down at me.

"That we should never lose eachother?" I asked, staring into his eyes.

"No, about the french bread."

I laughed, hitting him lightly on the chest.

"But we should never lose eachother either." He pressed a kiss to my lips and I leaned closer, but he pulled away.

"We are in public, Harlyn!" Beckett teased.

"One more kiss?" I pouted, taking a trick out of his book.

"Kiss the mozzarella!" Beckett laughed, shoving the cheese in my face.

I laughed with him, struggling to sit up in my awkward position in the cart. I pretended to lean close to the mozzarella and just as I was about to touch it with my lips, then yank it away because that's disgusting, a flash went off.

"Beckett!" I laughed again. He held up his camera and grinned.

"Documentation of your makeout with the cheese."

"I was never going to kiss the cheese." I jutted out my lower lip in a pout.

"Don't pout, it's attractive." Beckett teased.

That made me pout more.

"You look like a ten year old." Beckett stuck his tongue out at me.

"You started it." I said in a nasally voice, making fun of ten year olds everywhere.

"Real mature." He smirked.

"Real mature." I mocked him, raising my voice higher.

We locked eyes, and for a moment we stayed there like that, me awkwardly in the basket and him standing next to it, looking down at me.

Then we lost it.

"You-You." I choked out in between laughs.

"Ten year old skills." Beckett gasped between his own laughs.

"I love you." My voice was still high from laughter.

"I love you too."