Shopping with the Baby (Kiara)

[Vanessa Rodriguez]

Investing in a stroller had been the best decision Vanessa made. She had considered buying one of those baby carriers that were situated on the back, as it was a cheaper alternative. Thankfully, she found a used one that was kind to her wallet (and her back.) Not to mention, it had great storage for outings to the mall, with a pouch underneath for baby supplies and the rare splurge that Vanessa bought for herself.

Now, she walked through the mall, smiling as various strangers cooed and awwed at her little Christian. He was tucked into the carriage, comfortably napping, thankfully. There was nothing worse than having an unhappy infant in public. People either gave pitiable looks or rolled their eyes at the 'lack of parenting.' She snorted at the thought, continuing her journey through the mall.

She didn't plan on buying much, as the mall was a haven for overpriced goods. After having her baby, Vanessa preferred shopping at thrift stores, and on occasion, the cheaper mall chain stores. It was just a nice place to spend the afternoon. She hummed to herself, continuing along the semi crowded path as she avoided the slower walkers and people standing around. That was one con of the stroller.

Vanessa was hoping that her day out would distract her from the other night, where it so happened that her baby's dad had come into the bar she now worked in, with what the Hispanic girl presumed was his boyfriend, or something of the sorts. No, she would not think of that now...

Lost in her thoughts, she had failed to realize that she bumped into someone with the tank (not so much) of a stroller. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Vanessa exclaimed with embarrassment. Her son stirred in response, beginning to cry from his interrupted slumber. 

[Deleted]

Going to the mall still didn’t mean that Kiara would buy anything. She still kept a close eye on her bank account, and her mood to dress up nicely for guys was still quite low. Therefore there was no point in investing in new outfits – unless it were sweatpants, which happened to be very comfortable to roam through the apartment, and sometimes even to do groceries. At the moment, however, the girl was at the mall for a new summer dress given she would be heading home later for the weekend to celebrate Easter with the family.

And the option of cutting her hair still twirled through her mind. She had been standing at a window of the hairdresser, checking out the prizes before deciding that it would be something to not be afforded at the moment. With that decision made, the blonde spun around again, onto to bump right into a stroller.

It took a second or two for it to dawn upon Ki what had just happened, but the combination of Vanessa’s apology and the sudden cries of the little one made her quick to connect the dots. And to mutter an apology herself, even though blue optics kept lingering on Christian as her mind mulled on how to make him a happy boy again.

It kind of way painful though. He seemed to be around the same age as Gabe when she last saw him. “Hey, little one.” Kiara mused as she reached down to take his small hand to shake it gently. “Don’t cry.” That only lasted for a split second though, not entirely sure if his mom would appreciate a stranger making this kind of contact. Ki knew she might have grown defensive if this were Gabriel.

“I am so sorry,” she eventually spoke again now that her gaze rested on the dark-haired woman. “I should have watched where I was going… And I didn't mean to upset this cutie."

[Vanessa Rodriguez]

When Christian began to stir and cry, Vanessa sighed to herself before going to the other side of the stroller to calm her baby down. A few people passed, giving lingering stares to herself and the stranger, who was reaching down to touch her son. She stiffened, as she always did. Vanessa knew that nobody meant any harm towards Christian, rather they were interacting with him. Which the little diva (was it wrong to call a boy a diva?) loved. Vanessa watched the interaction, smiling a little when the stranger began talking to them. Although before motherhood, the Hispanic girl never understood how parents could be so content cooing to their child, when it was likely they didn't understand what they were saying. Now, she frequently talked to her son in a higher pitched voice, since he responded well to it.

And clearly, he was responding well to the blonde stranger. Christian almost immediately quieted down, curiously looking up at the girl. His little fists uncurled, as if to reach towards her. Of course, Christian was enamoured. Vanessa lightly laughed at his response, shaking her head. "No, no it's okay, not your fault." She said quickly. "I wasn't paying attention either." It seemed that both girls had been stuck in their mind, instead of the world around them. Vanessa gave the blonde girl a reassuring smile, to show she wasn't upset or anything with the accident. Sometimes, the Hispanic girl had a hard time showing her emotions and looked pissed off the majority of the time.

"He is a cutie huh?" She laughed again, reaching over to lightly move the stroller back and forth. "He likes you." Then again, it wasn't hard to be liked by the one year old boy.

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Kiara meant no harm at all. If anything, she wanted to make up for having caused him to stir. Had Christian stiffened in response to her reaching down, she would have retrieved her hand immediately. Instead, however, there was a positive response and it made the blonde chuckle softly after a finger had been allowed to be held by his little hand for a second, giving it a brief shake. When the contact ended, blue eyes drifted over to Vanessa again and the friendly smile got returned. “I guess we are even then.” Giving a lighthearted chuckle, a nod soon followed to confirm the –quite probably- rhetorical question. Christian was adorable. And Kiara was glad to hear that he liked her.

“They usually like my hair at this age.” The blonde mused jokingly, vividly remembering how Gabe could grow so fascinated by the curls. It made her add a tad bit more explanation as well, figuring that statement might have been odd if the dark-haired woman didn’t understand the context. “I used to date a guy who had a son around his age when I last saw them.” It had made her smile die some though, but Ki managed to keep the sadness limited. “Might have sounded weird otherwise, huh?” She added with a gentle laugh before ever so slightly pursing her lips while her mind mulled on something to say in order to avoid any awkward silences.

“So, um, you’re not from around here, are you?” The girl didn’t mean for it to sound accusing or weird… but it might have been the latter. “I can’t really place your accent though.” She quickly added. Was it weird to say that to a stranger? Probably… but Ki couldn’t take it back now.

[Vanessa Rodriguez]

Using his tiny hand, Christian wrapped his fist around the offered finger with a happy squeal. Since he was a child, the grip was relatively loose and easy to get out of. When Kiara's finger had pulled back, his smile wavered, curiously looking up at the blonde. All of this made Vanessa smile endearingly down at her son, before meeting the girl's eyes. Her smile widened in response, relieved that the conversation seemed to be heading in a positive direction. She remembered one time, back when Christian had been a few months old, Vanessa had bumped into someone who proceeded to yell at her afterwards. Needless to say, it hadn't been a pleasant experience.

And right now, the one with the blonde girl didn't seem like that at all. Looking at the immense blonde curls, Vanessa laughed in response. "For sure. Don't get to close or he'll get his little fists all in there." She herself had been a victim of it once, and ever since, Vanessa usually wore her hair up in a messy bun, out of the way. She had just assumed that the blonde woman use to babysit or run a daycare, or something along those lines. "Ahhh." The Hispanic girl nodded twice at the explanation, not noticing the shift in her smile or demeanour. "They're so cute at this age. Can't wait for those infamous 'terrible twos.'" Vanessa joked, widely grinning. "It's okay, I just assumed you worked with children a lot or something." Before Christian, children weren't something she had a lot of experience with.

She raised an eyebrow at the peculiar question, but answered it. "Oh.. oh, uhm, well I recently moved back here from Texas. I think previous generations were somewhere down in Latin America?" It wasn't a subject she was all too familiar with. "Accent that noticeable?" Vanessa said, with jest to herself. "But yeah, down around there is where I originate."

"By the way, I'm Vanessa. That's Christian." She said, pointing to her son and smiling warmly at the blonde.

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Kiara didn’t intend for the question to be weird, despite the fact that it possibly was. She could have just let the conversation end at that point, yet at the same time she appeared comfortable enough to prolong it like this. So when Vanessa replied, the blonde was quick to shake her head. “No. It’s not that obvious. I should have been able to place a Texan accent.” She chuckled softly. “Just… somewhat different.” Kind of hard to explain. The blonde was bad at wording things though, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. “Hopefully that wasn’t offensive…” She decided to add, just to highlight the fact that her intentions weren’t malicious.

Vanessa soon introduced herself and the little boy though. In turn that made the young woman relax, allowing a gentle smile to curl her lips. “Kiara,” she introduced herself while holding a hand against her chest, underlining the fact that she was referring to herself. Of course the dark-haired woman would know that… Either way, excusing herself now didn’t feel like the right timing, plus Vanessa seemed to be around her age, so maybe… they could hang out?

“I was just going to grab something to drink and a muffin…” A hand motioned to the small bakery not too far from where she had indeed been heading. “You’re free to join me if you want?” Kiara wanted to add that it could help both of them relax again, but she was not sure if Vanessa still was a bit tense because of it, and in turn she did not want to assume either. “It would be on me. The kid of my ex loved the chocolate muffins there.” That one would have been aimed at Christian in case he would understand it.