Helping Aurora

23

"How many times does mama have to tell you to keep your shoes on cheeky girl?" Scarlett playfully scolds as she opens the car door and spots Aurora sat there with a proud smile on her face; her shoes -pink converse that had been double knotted to prevent this very thing from happening- tossed carelessly to the floor of the car.

Aurora simply giggles as she suckles on her pacifier, watching as the woman bends down to retrieve her shoes before deftly undoing them and slipping them back onto her feet. Once secured -hopefully for good this time- Scarlett brings her attention back to Aurora, a light smile gracing her features.

"Huh?" Scarlett continues when no verbal answer was given to her question. "How many times?" She tickles the girls tummy, earning herself a loud screech of laughter as she little one wriggles and attempts to squirm away from the playful attack.

When the girls cheeks turn red signalling she was becoming a little overexerted, she reluctantly halts the attack and reaches forward to unbuckle her from her car seat instead, lifting her up into her arms.

A little breathless, Aurora settles contently in her mother's arms and rests her head against her shoulder, tiny fingers tangling in the baby hairs at the nape of Scarlett's neck.

Scarlett places a gentle kiss to the side of her head in response.

Olivia had had the unfortunate pleasure of working the night shift last night, and she didn't end up getting home until around six in the morning.

Due to that, Scarlett had decided to get both herself and the little one out of the house so she could sleep for a few hours without any noise or interruptions. The woman had thanked them both with a tired smile and a soft kiss, and she was out for the count before Scarlett had even made it to the front door.

"Mama forgot the stroller, so I'm going to have to carry you, okay?" Scarlett explains as she hooks her purse over her free shoulder before closing the car and locking it, making her way towards the malls entrance.

Aurora has absolutely no problems with this, content for her mama to hold her for as long as she was willing to. When they make it inside, Scarlett shifts Aurora onto her hip and gives her padded behind a soft pat.

"Alright my love, where to first mhh?" She reaches up and tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear,  brushing the soft, baby skin of her cheek with the pad of her thumb.

The little one clings to the front of her mama's shirt as her eyes take in all of the surrounding stores. There didn't seem to be much of a difference between any of them, so she simply points to the first one she see's and hopes it would be good enough.

"Claire's? Good choice." Scarlett praises earning herself a bashful smile. She carries the little one inside, looking around aimlessly for a few moments before Aurora lightly tugs on her shirt with a quiet grunt to get her attention.

"Mhhh? What is it baby?" She wonders, gently tugging on the loop of the pacifier in Aurora's mouth to encourage her to spit it out and let her know what she wanted using her 'big girl' words.

She was around two in her headspace today, and whilst her vocabulary wasn't all that great, she could string a few or so words together to let people know what she needed and both mothers encouraged her to do so.

The little one complies with only a small whine of protest, but brightens up when she was immediately rewarded for her compliance with a tender kiss to the cheek.

Scarlett smiles softly as she brings her hand up to wipe away the saliva on the girls chin "What did you find baby?" She tries again, bringing her hand back down to rest with the other that was currently keeping the girl flush on her hip.