The Beauty in Time

48

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"I just think it's worth looking into."

"Elle, we are not getting a bird."

"Why not?" I groan loudly, right here in the store in aisle five where the bird toys are conveniently beside the toys for dogs and cats.

"Because they smell."

My jaw drops like he just told me I smell. "They do not!" I argue stubbornly. I don't think they do, anyway.

"No." He picks up a thick, red and blue laced rope toy for Cujo. I purse my lips stubbornly.

We'll see.

After he's picked up a mouse toy for Dizzy, he tosses them into the cart and starts pushing it with one hand, freeing up the other. I try to resist, but he manages to catch my hand. I stand no chance after his palm grazes mine, and end up being the first to interlace our fingers. "What about a lizard?" I frown up at him. "A bearded dragon."

"We are not getting a dragon, Elle."

"It's a bearded dragon."

"No."

I sigh deeply and loudly. He starts to smile but doesn't falter. "What about a snake?"

"No." He decides quicker. "You're not going to be able to get through the feeding process, and I'll end up doing it. And I don't want to do that."

Fair enough. "Fine. What about a puppy?"

"We have a puppy." He dismisses. Cujo, he means. The dog that is literally named after a killer dog. Not that it's a bad thing, of course. I think Cujo was misunderstood.

Either way though, Cujo is not a puppy. "Cujo's not a puppy."

"He's always going to be a puppy." He dismisses. "But fine, Elle. If you want another pet, you can get a fish."

"A fish?"

"A fish."

"...Just one?"

"Two. Just so they're not lonely."

"Hm." I smile to myself as I decide I can work with this.

"But not today."

Maybe not. "What? Why not today?"

He chuckles, leading me into a different aisle for treats. "Because we need to get a tank." He reminds. "Go home, figure out where to put it, do some research, and figure out what kinda fish to get."

I sigh deeply. Again. "But we can get them? Eventually?"

"Eventually."

"Soon?"

"Soon-ish."

Soon-ish. I can work with soon-ish. I'd rather it be now-ish, but soon-ish is good.

He pulls his hand away because he's busy throwing the dog food bag over his shoulder to toss into the cart. He grabs the cat food too. This time, I grab the cart to push it along towards the front. "Why can't we get a lizard?" I ask, sighing dreamily at that aisle.

"Because we're getting a fish. Two fish." He lifts the cat food bag onto the conveyer belt since it's smaller. He adds the couple of toys too, waiting until it's our turn. There's a guy in front of us paying for a bag of bird food.

His hair is a little long, curling at the end around his ear. He smiles softly at the lady behind the counter as he agrees with her about something. He lifts his hand to stick his card in the machine, and he has a little tattoo on his wrist. Very small, a little tree. Maybe it stands for something, maybe it doesn't. I watch his shirt constrict around his biceps as he pulls his card out, reaches into the front pocket of his jeans to take his wallet back out, and puts his card away.

My eyes drift up to Matthew, and his gaze is elsewhere. Also on the man. For a few seconds longer as the man gets his things bagged. He smiles at the woman, bids her a good day, and turns to leave. Matthew's eyes move over to mine as he's leaving. Absently, they drift over. When they focus on me, he smiles simply.

I slowly grin up at him.

"What?" He asks. I hum simply at him, rocking on my feet. He shakes it off and grabs the front of the cart to roll it forward as he walks along with our stuff on the conveyer belt. The lady greets him with a smile, and he smiles back at her.

After he's paid and the toys are in a bag—plus the pack of gum I tossed into the mix at the last second—he takes the cart to roll it out of the store. I skip along beside him. "We're gonna have so much fun, Matt." I tell him happily. Because he noticed what I noticed.

He laughs cluelessly. Gosh, I love him. Him and his cluelessness. It's the cutest.