Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 149 - Daddy Solomon

Chapter 149

They decided as a family it would be nice to go out and do something to distract themselves from their inability to do proper cases. They invited Myra along, who happily accepted, but Ghastly stayed back with Laila as her parents worried she would overheat in the seriously hot Arizona temperatures. It was silly, and the parents knew it, because it was November and the weather girl on television promised it would only go as high as twenty-three degrees Celsius and that was unlikely at any rate, but Ghastly and Laila remained home anyway. Tanith was certainly pleased to be out of the house. Fletcher was working nonstop so he couldn't come.

They took the minibus and drove out to a town nearby, parking at the little diner. They didn't go to eat straight away but rather split up so they could enjoy the little town instead. Nadia and Tanith giggled in whispered voices a few steps ahead of Valkyrie. She smiled as she watched them. Nadia was wearing shorts. She was more than happy to be a part of their nefarious, giggle plans if she got to keep staring at Nadia's butt and legs.

They went into a little thrift store, a really nice little place, and had a look around. None of it was Valkyrie's size, but Nadia found a bunch of things she liked while Tanith looked over the baby clothes area as well as at a few of the tops that would fit her. Valkyrie got to hold their shopping, smile and tell Nadia if something was the correct colour for her skin or not, like the good girlfriend she was. She didn't actually know half of the time, just went off of how much Nadia seemed to like the item and told her whether it was nice or not based on that. It seemed to work.

"You're in a really good mood," Nadia commented, smiling at her. There was a dusty smell in the air, something old and woody. "I thought you would be upset after earlier."

"No, I'm alright," she smiled, sidling a little closer. "They fixed me up on scene, so I just had hurt feelings really. But if I get to spend my time with you instead of working, I don't think that's really a loss. Do you?"

Nadia giggled. "Well, that was why you quit your job, wasn't it? To spend time with me?"

"Of course," Valkyrie giggled back and went in to kiss her when there was coughing behind her.

She turned and saw a pudgy, narrow-eyed woman with her hands on her hips. Valkyrie smiled brightly at her. "Hello," she grinned.

The woman pursed her lips but did relax slightly. "Do you girls need anythin'?" She asked with a slight drawl to her voice.

"No, we're just looking thank you," Nadia said sweetly, flashing her big eyes at the woman. She shop keeper hmphed but was satisfied enough to walk away and over to Tanith who seemed to have pulled apart the entire baby section.

"Maybe we shouldn't do that here," Nadia whispered quietly, looking back at the clothing rack with a little less enthusiasm.

Valkyrie frowned. "No, we can do what we want."

"Yeah, but this isn't really our home or anything Val," Nadia whispered back, looking over a modest, three-layered shirt with disgust. "This might be one of those really conservative places. I don't want to get thrown out, okay?"

"It's none of their–"

"Valkyrie," Nadia interrupted, turning to look at her. "I know. I know, okay? But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to not make a scene. I'm just asking you to respect that."

Valkyrie pouted because she knew she'd been bested. Nadia continued shopping and got her enthusiasm back when they met back with an excited Tanith. The lady had pulled some new drop off's from the back of the store from the brand she had bought Laila in Ireland, but in all different designs since in America, the company produced some different things. She was showing off how soft the sleeping onesie was when the lady came back over.