Chapter 49: Grocery Shopping

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Fernando asked, eyeing the shopping cart weirdly.

Lia threw a pack of potato chips into the cart and turned to look at him. "We talked about this babe, it's okay. Besides we are already here so we might as well-" she trailed off as she spotted something that wasn't on her list that she wanted to get. "Uhm babe, just relax and look around. If there's anything you need, then take it."

"Uhm-" he looked unsure and she shook her head.

"Just go." She walked off, pushing the shopping cart in front of her, bee list in her other hand.

She paused beside the sweets aisle tears filling up her eyes as a memory came back to her.

"Mummy, pink,"

Janet Lawson shook her head, looking down at her list again. "It's not on the list Amelia. We are only getting things on the list."

"But I want it." Young Lia protested but Janet didn't bulge.

Young Lia started crying, right there in the middle of the sweet aisle.

"Babe, you okay?" Fernando asked, his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and nodded, feeling too emotional to speak.

When she started to walk away, he held her back and held her face in his hands.

"What's wrong babe?"

Lia smiled, pinching his cheeks. "I promise you there's nothing. I just remembered something from my childhood with mum in that aisle."

She pointed at sweets aisle and he followed her hand movement. "Janet and I used to fight in that aisle all the time. I cried once."

Fernando chuckled as he tried imagining a young Lia crying for a pack of sweets. "It's funny just thinking about it."

Lia sent him a playful glare and leaned against him, her head against his chest. "I just wanted to do the grocery shopping today because we always used to get our own groceries."

Fernando patted her head and sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't interested in it. It's just I have never done this before. I always have someone to take care of it."

She sniffed and looked at him. "You're a billionaire, I understand."

"That's not it. I just thought it would be too much of a chore. I mean what guy likes shopping?"

Lia rolled her eyes with a smile. "True. So do you still want to go home and get someone to do it?"

She had already gotten a few things that she needed; some toiletries and a few snacks. She could hold on until his guy brought the rest. And coming here still held the same meaning it always did so she didn't mind leaving if he wasn't comfortable.

He shook his head and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "No. I don't mind it as much today for whatever reason. And I can get somethings I didn't plan to get which I need but always forget to add to my list."

Lia felt like a proud teacher. If she hadn't pushed him to do it then maybe he wouldn't have noticed these kinds of perks.

She made a move to pull away from him and moaned when something hit the back of her head. "Ow,"

She glared at Fernando and he raised his hands in defence. "I didn't do it."

Then who did?

Lia looked around with a frown. Then she spotted a set of twins inside a cart playing with their mother's shopping. She laughed, shaking her head as she walked up to them.

"Hey lovelies, which one of you threw something at me?" She asked, bending to look at them.

They didn't look a day older than three and they weren't twins much to her surprise. Their mother had only dressed them up in the same clothes, probably in a rush to do her shopping.

The girl pointed at the boy and the boy did the opposite. Lia smiled and leaned up, ruffling their hair.

She said her goodbyes and walked back to Fernando who had a weird look in his eyes. "There are so cute. I can't get mad at them. Hey, you okay baby?"

He nodded but the weird look was still there. "Uhm, I want that." He cleared his throat and his cheeks were flushed.

"I don't understand Fernando,"

He pointed at the shopping cart where the children were sitting and sighed. "I want to have a family, kids the whole deal."

Lia's eyes filled up quickly and she coughed. "Uhm, I'm sure we can work something out."

"No," he shook his head taking her hands in his. "I want to go grocery shopping with a baby in the cart. I want my child to scream about sweets in my ear even after I have refused."

"I know what you meant Fernando and yes I want it too, with all my heart." She whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

He used his fingers to flick them away and pulled her closer to himself with his other hand. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear. "How about we ditch shopping and start working towards it?"

He winked after saying that and Lia laughed, brushing her tears off. She wasn't halfway through with the list but perhaps she could finish it someother time.

"Sure. Why not?"

***

"I thought you were getting groceries?" Jane asked, turning to face Lia. The door of the fridge was still open so she dropped the pack of potato chips on the table and grabbed a can of malt before shutting the door again.

Lia flushed and reached for the pack of chips, tearing it open. She took a chip and popped it into her mouth, chewing noisely.

"So what's the story? Let me guess you chickeend out and decided you'd prefer someone else does the shopping." Jane concluded and Lia narrowed her eyes.

It wasn't what happened but it was close. She shook her head and popped another chip into her mouth. Jane glared at her and snatched it from her.

"Get yours." She opened the can, the gas making noises as it fizzled out. "So what exactly happened?"

"To what?" Lia asked reaching for the can but Jane pushed it away, beyond her reach.

"Get your own. Why is your fridge empty? You were supposed to get groceries."

Lia coughed to hide her blush and looked around. "Well, something came up and we had to come home."

"We?" Jane raised her eyebrows, sipping from the can.

Lia shrugged. "Fernando and I."

"Oh. I didn't think he was into that sort of thing." She pointed out and Lia shrugged.

"He's actually not but he stuck it out for my sake. Enough about me, how is that yummy love interest of yours?"

Jane avoided her gaze and instead focused on the bag of chips. "I don't know what you're talking about. What yummy-?"

Lia glared at her. "Don't you dare Jane Austin. Talk."

Jane cleared her throat and Lia narrowed her eyes. Her friend's cheeks were flushed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on Lia. It's like I said the other day, I'm not ready for anything serious."

"Bullshit."

Both women looked behind them to find Lydia standing in the doorway.

"When did you get here?" Lia asked, rising to greet her.

Lydia accepted the hug and galred at Jane. "That's a load of bullshit and you know it." She looked at Lia and smiled. "Just now."

"Why are y'all attacking me? Ben and I aren't together."

"That's not what I heard from my room the last time I slept over at your place." Lydia shot back at her, her eyebrows raised.

Jane flushed and couged to hide her blush. "He just called that one time to say hi and we ended talking for hours."

Lia and Lydia shared knowing glances.

"What?" Jane asked, shrugging her shoulders. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Why aren't you giving this guy a chance? You obviously like him." Lia pointed out and Lydia grabbed the bag of chips.

"Oh, someone went grocery shopping." She popped some of the chips into her mouth and moaned. "Oh this is good, damn this is good."

Lia raised her eyebrows, a smile on her face. "You sound like you're having an orgasm."

"You would know about that." Jane retorted and Lia cleared her throat, using her hair to cover her cheeks.

She pointed a finger at Jane. "Don't change the topic. Why aren't you giving Ben a chance?"

Jane shrugged. "I'm just not ready yet. George's betrayal is still fresh."

Lia sent her a sad smile. "But you need to move on at some point."

"Yeah Jane, it's long overdue. You need to put yourself out there again or since Ben is already knocking, open the door for him. How bad can it be?"

Lia reached for Jane's hand and squeezed it. "You don't have to rush anything. You can take your time and if it's not what you want then you tell Ben. But you have to discuss about it first so he can be aware."

Jane sighed and looked from Lia to Lydia and then down at her hands. "Fine. I'm not promising anything, I will try however."

Lia sent Lydia a victory smile and looked back at Jane. "That's all we ask."