Patience

24

Walking into Walmart they can see the bustling people wearing masks and gloves and they're practically sprinting through the aisles. When a woman walks past them with five packages of toilet paper in her cart, Tori looks at Stella. 

"Why are people buying toilet paper it's stupid, but you should probably go grab some. I'm going to start in the produce and we'll work our way down. You have my number, call me and then we'll find each other." Tori sighs grabbing a cart and pushing into the store. 

Tori's looking a very bare aisle of soup when Stella drops four things of toilet paper into the cart. 

"Stella, three?" Tori questions.

"One for each of the bathrooms we'll be occupying. Lori's, yours and mine, and dad and Stevie. I have a feeling there going to be sharing a bedroom." Tori shrugs.

"Alright, shall we continue." Tori sighs.

About five hundred dollars later, they're on their way home, drained and exhausted. They got to Walmart about ten and they were finally able to drive home around three in the morning. The trip shouldn't have taken that long but Tori had to backhand someone because they tried to take the toilet paper out of her cart while they were standing in a mile-long line. 

***

Tori and Stella walked into the house and Lindsey was passed out on the couch. Stevie was sitting y him and she was up writing in her journal and Tori and Stella just stared at them until Stevie finally jolted up and looked at them.

"Oh I'm sorry, you guys were so quiet I didn't hear you come in. It's three in the morning, was Walmart really that bad?" She asks. 

"It was so bad. Tori got in a fight over toilet paper." Stella pouts as Stevie stands up and takes her into her arms. 

"I'm sorry, go wake your father and we'll help you carry the groceries in," Stevie instructs grabbing at her jacket from in the closet. 

Upon seeing all of the groceries in her kitchen. Stevie cocked an eyebrow. "Are you fucking kidding me?" 

"Mom, we're going to be stuck here. Snacks are essential." Tori shrugs. 

"Tori...Little Debbie's, cake mixes, brownie mixes, muffin mixes, cinnamon rolls, fruit snacks, candy bars, Nutella, these are not snacks, they're junk food. Snacks would be the cucumbers that you bought, the apples. the grapes. the oranges. the bananas, raspberries, and blackberries, and yogurt are snacks. And you bought two liters of Coke. Come on girls we're trying to be healthy your dad just had heart surgery for christ sakes." Stevie sighs putting the groceries away. 

"Hey, my heart is fine," Lindsey states ripping into a piece of beef jerky. 

"Mom, At least I bought this." Tori shoves a box filled with wine bottles towards her mother.

"Awe, reds...that's my girl." Stevie winks taking the bottles out and putting them into the liquor cabinet. 

"Mom, it's food. I know it's not your stupid weight watchers or lean cuisine or whatever diet you go on when you're going on tour but it's food. We got what we could, A lot of the meat that I grabbed was the last on the shelves. We have to make do with what we got." Tori sighs.

"But Tori, canned chicken. I haven't had canned chicken since 1973." Stevie groans holding up the little tin can. 

"I'm making dinner with that tomorrow. You'll eat it and you'll like it." Tori states.

"It's nasty though." Lindsey whines.

"Not the way I make it. So let's get these groceries into their rightful places and then let's go to bed. I'm exhausted and I had to smack someone away from my Charmin." Tori replies. 

***

The next night, Tori carries her pot of food into the dining room and takes the lid off. Lindsey eyes it skeptically and wrinkles his nose. Stevie does as well and Tori's face falls. She hasn't made a lot of meals in the few months that she's lived with Stevie and Lori because Stevie likes to nurture and take care of her.  and then Lori looks between them.

"What is the matter with you two?" Lori asks.

"It's just...she made it with canned chicken," Lindsey tells them.

"And...I make chicken quesadillas with canned chicken." Lori shrugs.

"I'm sure it's fine... it's just that Lindsey and I lived off of things like canned chicken, tuna, and hamburger helper. I get nauseous when I think of it." Stevie shakes her head and presses her hand to her stomach.

"Tuna makes me sick too. But this isn't Tuna. A lot of things are going to be changing now that we're in quarantine and we need to make the best of it. Just try it and if you don't like it, you don't have to eat it." Tori tells them.

"Yeah, daddy always says you at least need to take three bites." Stella fires at the adults as Tori smirks.

"Yeah daddy, follow your own rules." Tori crosses her arms.

"Awesome rule Daddy." Stevie rolls her eyes before stabbing into the casserole dish. 

"It's actually really good. What's in it?" Lori questions.

"Just a can of chicken, a can of cream of chicken soup, and egg noodles," Tori tells her. 

"Well, it's really good. Great job kid." Lori winks shoveling more of the food into her mouth. 

Stevie tastes the food and then she moves her head side to side and sighs. "It's actually not bad. You can't even tell that it's canned chicken." Stevie sighs. 

"See. I told you, mom." Tori sticks her tongue out.

"Hey, no sticking your tongue out at the dinner table. I'm sorry Tori it is quite good." Lindsey scolds but concedes and spoons more into his bowl. 

"Do you guys think it'll be okay, and we'll like...get through this alright?" Stella asks after a while sipping out of her glass of coke.

"Oh sure. Don't worry about it." Lindsey tells them.

"I think as long as we follow the rules and stay in and not do anything we'll be fine. Have you heard about school yet?" Stevie looks at Stella.

"Oh, yeah...I got a call this afternoon. They're going to hold class on Monday to allow the teachers and the students to go in and get what they need. The school will be providing some sort of packet and a laptop if needed because they'll be going viral until as of right now, April 6th but anything can change." Lindsey nods.

"So I have to go and risk exposure on Monday." Stella groans.

"You went to Walmart last night honey, it's hardly any different." Stevie rolls her eyes.

"Yeah but..." Stella starts "And Spring break I'm not going to get to go to Maui like mom promised." 

"Maui is hardly important Stella. If you're that worried about contracting it I have a drawer full of hand sanitizers in my bathroom." Tori tells her.

"And you weren't going to Maui anyway. Your mom can't afford it and she and her lawyers tried to get me to pay it and I said no.  Spring break would've been my week anyway." Lindsey points with his fork.

"But...that's" Stella starts but Stevie cut her off.

"STELLA EAT! This is going to be good for all of us. We're a family now and we're going to get through this." Stevie pats Stella's hand.