joe's foster home // fillie

s i x

chapter six

december 21st, 5:30pm

after a few hours of shopping and stalking the other kids at their job, joe and millie sat down for lunch around two in the after noon.

they had accumulated about three bags worth of clothes, one that included noah's amazing secret santa gift, and they headed for the home decor store as their final destination.

the whole day, honestly, felt like only a few hours because joe was cracking terrible jokes and he was always enthusiatic and willing to go into whatever store caught millie's eye. they even went into a hot topic for a few seconds before millie wanted to leave.

even though it was a generally positive experience, she still felt like something was missing. and there was just a weird pang in her chest, and she knew it had something to do with her family, but she kept pushing it down, because she was scared she'd break down in public.

they got a family meal of panda express to go for dinner as they waited for all the kids to be done. they all got off around six, which was convenient, and waited for them at the exit of the mall. caleb and sadie came together first, caleb still in his black an white striped uniform, and sadie wearing a yellow button down an brown khaki pants.

millie tilted her head, whispering to joe, "where do they work again?"

"caleb works at footlocker, and sadie works at jamba juice," joe said. millie smiled.

noah came next, a few minutes later, with a pink shirt on with a little baskin robbin's logo in the corner. he came up he said, confidently, "joe, i want to drive,"

"do you?"

"yes,"

"okay, you don't have your license," joe said, holding his pointer finger up.

"i have my permit,"

"hmmm, do i trust you with two driving experiences, with a car full of my five other children and myself?" joe asked rhetorically, tucking his finger under his chin.

"fair enough," noah said as he turned towards millie, "you drive?"

millie nodded slowly.

"why doesn't millie drive? she's probably better than finn," noah said.

"finn's a great driver, first of all," joe said, smiling, "and millie can drive if she wants to, but she has to pass the joe driving test first,"

"the joe driving test? since when does that exist?"

"literally forever," joe said, drawing his eyebrows together, his head tilted with a stretched a smile on his face.

suddenly, gaten came up from behind the bunch and his eyes brightened at the sight of panda express, "yes! the good shit!"

"language," joe said.

millie saw the little amc movie theater logo on his black polo shirt, as he practically whispered, "sorry,"

he stood next to noah and millie, as he peeked into the bag, "did you get any egg rolls?"

joe placed a hand to his heart, gasping, playfully feigning offense, "how dare you? i would never forget the egg rolls."

gaten pretended to wipe away a tear, "you're an angel, joe,"

and finn came last, not seeming to wear any uniform. he just had on black pants and a t-shirt, a beanie thrown over his head, a snow coat hanging on his forearm.

as soon as joe saw finn join the group, he shouted, pointing towards the exit, "once you have your snow stuff on, let's move out,"

millie turned towards the exit an she zipped up her jacket. suddenly, finn was next to her, trying to fit his arm through the sleeves of his jacket as he curiously asked, "so? do i get twenty dollars?"

millie turned towards finn and drew her eyebrows together.

finn raised his eyebrows, a smile still firm on his face.

millie then widened her eyes, let out a long, "ohhh," before smiling and nodding, saying , "yeah. we passed by footlocker at least twelve times. i don't think we passed by your place....where do you work?"

finn zipped up his jacket as all seven of them exited the mall into the snowy landscape, where the cold caressed all their exposed skin. millie felt a chill roll through her body.

"i work at pup's,"

millie drew her eyebrows together, trying to make her confusion known to him. he seemed to notice, as he elaborated, "it's the local guitar shop. it's not a chain or anything,"

"ah," millie said, suddenly taking notice of the warm breath that seemed like smoke in contrast to the cold air. she let out another warm breath, just to see it again. her younger sister used to call them clouds, despite the fact that theirs were much smaller and disappeared almost immediately. her older sister used to pretend they were smokers, which, millie will admit was stupid, mostly because their mother would scold them endlessly about how it's not funny, but paige and millie would always giggle about it behind her back nonetheless.

she bit her lip and shook her head and refocused on finn.

not the time to get distracted by literally nothing, she thought.

clearing her throat, she asked, "how'd you get a job there?"

"oh, well i'm in rock band at my school, and i take it with my friend ayla, and her dad owns the store, and they need a little extra help on saturdays, so i come in," finn said, tilting his head, shoving his hands in his pockets.

millie nodded, "cool,"

suddenly, joe, who led the line of teens, stopped before the crosswalk and announced, "alright my beautiful children, none of you get frickin' run over, got it? that means look both ways across the street. both ways, noah,"

"i feel attacked," noah replied, pressing a hand to his chest.

"better to be attacked by joe than a car," gaten said.

"ooh, i like that," joe said, nodding, "gaten, i'm gonna need that quote framed and on the fridge when we get home,"

gaten saluted, "you got it, chief,"

millie laughed softly as they all gave him a thumbs up. they started to cross the street, as millie asked, "is joe always like this?"

"like what?"

"fun? funny?"

finn shrugged, "he's fun, but he's serious when he needs to be. parenting is a ride, i guess. he really likes it,"

millie turned towards joe who led the way, and she didn't want to, but her mind went to her parents.

they wanted to be parents. they loved being parents. they would play with her and ava all day if they could, and they gave her so much love. sometimes it was even stupid little forehead kisses that made millie realize how much her family loved her. she felt her eyes tear up and she looked down towards the ground, using her sleeve to wipe away a tear.

don't be dumb, they don't give a shit about it, millie thought. but as she glanced at joe, who was smiling at all the kids, teasing them, while simultaneously making sure they don't get run over as they crossed, she wondered.

maybe they do give a shit.

ok i decided to publish the short one because i'm still figuring out how to make the next part perfect, so sorry & oops.

let me know how you like it :)