No Regrets

Chapter Twenty One - Move Forward

DOMINCK'S POV

Mollie's first tooth is beginning to cut through her gums. This means Mollie has begun teething and perhaps a few weeks she'll be eating puréed solids at some of her feeding times. Today, I have been allowed to get out of the house by myself to run errands. My parents rarely allow me to leave the house by myself, weeks later and I'm still grounded; however, when I am allowed to go out on my own there are certain rules I must follow. I have to call and check-in hourly with them. Fill them in on where I am and what I'm doing. Another rule is that I can't go over or see any of my friends', no exceptions. I have a new curfew of six o'clock in the evening, if I am one minute late it's straight back to having to be driven everywhere by my parents.

Right now, I am standing in the baby-care section at the supermarket. Mollie is sitting the cart happily giggling while watching people who walk past. I decided to take her with me to this trip to the supermarket because there wasn't any reason to leave her at home. I'm not going anywhere after here and she can actually be quite good company. She's begun "talking" back to someone if they speak to her; or sometimes she'll just crack out laughing if someone talks to her.

Carrot-Plume purée. Sounds more like poison than food. I think as I take a baby food jar of the shelve. I get Mollie's attention and show the jar to her. She furrows her eyebrows at me and slaps her hands down with a little squeal. "I know, sounds awful." I say to her as I place the jar back on the shelf.

I'm trying to buy only puréed fruits and vegetables for Mollie; because the baby book and sources on the internet recommended feeding the babies healthy food. However, none of the healthy baby food sounds even slightly appetizing.

Orange-Apple... why does this exist? I think to myself placing another jar back. "Excuse me sir. Your baby has spit up." a voice says from behind me. I look over my shoulder at Mollie and see white spit up running down her chin. I turn to thank whoever spoke but they've already walked away.

I quickly get out a burp cloth from the diaper bag and clean Mollie's chin. Some of the spit up got on to her shirt, I clean it off to the best of my abilities. Why do I never pack a change of clothes in the baby bag? I ask myself. I know I should pack a change of clothes, I even make a mental note; but I always fail to remember to pack a change of clothes until it's too late and I need them.

"We're almost done here, no need for dramatics." I say to Mollie. I turn back and proceed to browse through the baby food.

"Dominick?" a familiar female voice says from behind me. I look over my shoulder expecting to see one of the girls from school. There are several girls who somehow know me, but I have no recollection of ever meeting them. However, when I see Aria standing there I can't hide my surprise.

I instantly fully turn around and grab on to the cart. "Hi Aria." I say. I loosen my grip on the cart's handles, not sure why I grabbed them so suddenly. "What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Running errands with my mom. I was walking through when I spotted you." she answers.

You were walking around the baby section? Why ? I wonder. I almost ask her, but decide against asking. "Oh okay, I'm- I mean we're running errands as well." I say gesturing to Mollie.

"We just visited her." Aria says quietly to me. Her facial expression because an image melancholy.

Why did you tell me? "How was the visit? Do you often visit her?" I ask. Mollie starts babbling and slapping her hands down. I take a teething ring out of the bag and give it to her. I look at Aria waiting for an answer, wondering if I might have once again over-stepped somehow.