War Against the Rouges

Shopping with the Little One

    Miach let out a giggle as she threw two boxes of Oreos into the cart. I smiled at her and rolled my eyes. Miach only entered my life a week ago, but it feels as if she were my own child. She blushed furiously two nights ago when she accidentally called me 'dad.' I had grown used to waking up with Miach curled up in a ball in the room two doors down on the left from mine. She started to come out of her shell slowly and I was glad for that. I looked down at the list we had made last night and crossed off 'cookies.' 

    "Now, what about vegetables?" I asked her. She frowned and looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. "C'mon, Mia, you gotta have veggies! You'll grow taller and they're good for you!"

    "I like corn," She smiled. I frowned.

    "Other than corn! Something green!" 

    "I dunno. Mama used to make salads for me," She answered. I nodded and walked to the fresh veggies section. Miach looked around. She was still pretty nervous about being at the store, even though it wasn't on our packland. My father did a great job of scaring the shit out of her and now she was afraid of people, even humans! 

    "I'll grab some stuff for salads," I nodded. I picked up lettuce, cucumbers, onions, and some olives. I crossed off the 'veggies' that was on our shopping list. I frowned when I realized I still needed to pick up more clothing for her. She had been wearing the extra children's clothes from the pack, but I wanted her to have some of her own stuff. 

    "We gotta get juice!" Miach beamed as she started pulling my hand towards the juice section of the store. We received a few curious gazes and they received a cold glare back. I hated how we had been earning strange looks since we had arrived. Miach picked up some apple juice and reached on her tippy toes to set it in the cart. I looked over the other juices and picked up cranberry and orange juice. She scrunched up her nose when she saw the cranberry juice. "Ew! No, Thanos, cranberry juice is nasty!"

    "Have you ever had it before?" I asked her. She shook her head. "Then you can't say it's nasty! You'll have to try it when we get home. You never know, you might like it!" I looked down at the list and started leading Miach to the bread section. We picked out a loaf and some bagels. I was happy that we completed part of our shopping trip.

    After we completed our grocery shopping, I pulled into the JcPenny's at the mall. I was annoyed that we would have to go into a store that was connected to the mall because there were always a lot of people here. I was getting tired of the strange looks we had been earning all day.

    "What're we shopping for?" Miach asked as we walked inside. I looked at the signs before I started walking with her by my side to the children's section. 

    "We gotta get you some clothes. I'm tired of you having hand-me-downs," I told her. I sighed when I realized I had forgotten to get a cart. I saw one by some children's t-shirts and looked to my right and left. Making sure no one was looking, I slowly moved towards the empty cart. I waited ten seconds but no one came and claimed it. I mentally shrugged my shoulders and took it. I turned around with the cart to find Miach shyly smiling at me.

    "I didn't see anything."

    "Good," I laughed, "Now do you like...know your sizes and stuff?" She nodded her head. She told me her sizes and I started looking through some t-shirts while she searched through the jeans and pants. I grabbed about fifteen different shirts I thought she'd like before I called her over.

    "Ew, Thanos, no offense, but I don't want to wear that!" She whined, "I don't like pink or flowers!" I let out a laugh when I realized all fifteen of the shirts I had picked out for her had either one of those dislikes or both. I again looked from my right to left making sure there were no witnesses. I easily grabbed all of the shirts and put them on  different hooks. Miach let out a giggle when she saw what I did.