Family

Sleepy Kittens

Lucy hugged and kissed each of the girls in turn. They were staying at a friend's house for the afternoon, while she and Gru went shopping for Agnes's birthday. They had been reading the same bedtime stories to the girls over and over again each night, and the girls had been requesting new ones. The two of them were going to the local bookstore this afternoon to get some new ones as a gift.

When she and Gru had both said their goodbyes, they waved to their friend's parents, and stepped out the door.

They got into Gru's large, silver car, and drove towards the bookstore. They parked, in Gru's normal fashion, of course, and walked in the front door.

They headed straight to the children's section. It was located in a small nook towards the back of the store. There was stars on the carpet, comfy couches in the middle, and shelves full of colorful books lining the walls.

The couple started looking through the shelves. The girls loved all kinds of books. Agnes specifically loved books with princesses or animals. Gru picked up one with a mouse dressed as a ballerina on the front, and started to flip through it. Lucy just looked at the shelves, occasionally pulling some out when they looked interesting.

She noticed a section labeled 'Puppet Books', and walked towards it. She remembered the puppet book that Gru had written for the girls. They loved that book more than any other. It would be cute to get Agnes another one.

She picked up one that had three colorful kittens on the front. She opened it up, and saw that it had three little finger puppets on the inside. She looked through the rest of the book. It was adorable! The girls would definitely love this one!

"Gru! Look at this one! Isn't it so sweet!" She called to her husband, who was still flipping through the same book with the ballerina. He set that book down and walked over to her.

When he got over to her, she held the book up, so that he could see the cover. He saw the title, and immediately his hand flew through the air.

SMACK! He slapped the book right out of her hand. He was pulling out his flamethrower, ready to torch the book, right there in the store, but Lucy stopped him.

"Woah, hun!" She said, still very surprised. "We don't have to get it, if you don't want to."

He calmed down, and put the flamethrower away. She picked the book up off the ground.

"But, if you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with it?" She asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

He sighed.

"That was the book that the girls had when they first came to live with me. It was the first bedtime story that I every read to them." He explained.

"Aw!" She replied. "That's adorable! But, then, what's wrong with it?"

"It's garbage!" He exclaimed. "A two-year old could've written it!"

"But it's the first one you ever read to them, and it's so cute!" She pleaded. "Can we please get it?"

"Absolutely not." He said, firmly. "If we get that book for her, she will want to me to read it all the time, and I barely made it through that book the first time."

"Alright," she sighed. "But, since you won't buy it, will you read it to me, just once?"

"No! Absolutely not!" He replied. "Why on earth would you want to listen to that!"

"Because, it's sentimental," she said. "And, you read it to them. I want to hear it, just once."

She looked at him with her big emerald eyes that he loved so much. He swore, her face got cuter in the couple of seconds that he looked at her.

"Fine," he sighed.

"Yay!" She cheered.

He walked over to one of the couches and sat down. Lucy practically skipped over and snuggled up next to him.

He had to admit that, even though he didn't like this book, he wanted to read it to her. As he opened the book and slipped his fingers into the puppets, he wished that he could remember this moment forever.