Chapter 14 - The First Grocery Trip With All of Us
That Saturday morning Dad said we were all going to the store together. It wasn't how we usually did it. Usually Laura took her kids while I stayed with Dad or stayed home, and Dad grabbed whatever we needed on his way back from work. This time he stood in the hallway by the front door and said, "We're all going. Everyone picks one dinner for the week."
I didn't know where to stand. Laura had her purse over her shoulder and her keys in her hand. She looked at me and nodded toward the door.
"Let's go," she said. "You can help me remember the list."
We took her SUV because it had the third row. Dad drove. I sat in the middle row next to Maya and Jonah, Laura's kids. Maya had her backpack with her because she liked to bring a book everywhere. Jonah kept kicking the back of the front seat until Laura reached back without looking and put her hand on his knee. He stopped. No one said anything about it. The grocery store was the one off Highway 9, next to the gas station with the big car wash. It was busy for a Saturday, carts rattling across the parking lot, parents lifting kids into those double carts.
Inside, Dad got two carts. He pushed one and Laura pushed the other, then Laura stopped and looked at me.
"You want to push?" she asked.
I nodded. She handed the handle to me. It was cold. Maya and Jonah pushed Dad's cart together, both hands on the bar, arguing quietly about who got to steer.
Laura had a paper list on her phone but she'd written it out by hand too. She unfolded it and held it so I could see.
"Rule is everyone picks one meal," she said, loud enough that Maya and Jonah could hear. "You first, Ethan. What do you want?"
I stared at the produce section. I hadn't ever been asked like that in the store before. I felt my face get warm.
"Spaghetti?" I said.
"Spaghetti's good," she said. "You want to pick it out?"
We walked to the pasta aisle. Dad stayed a few steps behind with Maya and Jonah while they debated between tacos and chicken nuggets. He didn't jump in. He just watched, his hands in his pockets.
In the aisle, Laura stopped the cart beside the sauces. There were at least twenty jars. Red labels, white labels, some with pictures of tomatoes and basil.
"What kind do you like?" she asked me. "Marinara? Meat sauce? Or the garlic one?"
I didn't know I had a preference anyone would ask about. At school I'd just eaten whatever was served.
"I like the one with meat," I said quietly. "But plain is fine too."
She picked up two jars and held them out. "This one has sausage in it, this one is just tomato and basil. Which one sounds better to you?"
I pointed to the one with sausage. She put it in the cart and then added a box of spaghetti and a bag of shredded cheese without asking. Her hand brushed my shoulder as she put the cheese in.
"You want parmesan too?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"Yeah, that's good," she said, and she put that in too.
Maya and Jonah came around the corner with Dad. Maya announced they'd picked tacos for Tuesday. Jonah said he wanted breakfast for dinner on Thursday. Laura wrote all of it down on her list, checking each one off as she added the ingredients. She asked Jonah if he wanted pancakes or French toast and he couldn't decide, so she said they'd get both and he could choose later.
Near the cereal aisle a woman with a toddler in her cart smiled at us. She looked at me and then at Maya and Jonah.
"Are these all yours?" she asked Laura. "You have your hands full."
Laura didn't stiffen the way she used to when people asked. She glanced at me, then at Maya and Jonah.
"They're all ours," she said. "We're figuring it out together. Still learning how to shop without forgetting something."
The woman laughed. "Good luck. I always forget the bread."
Laura smiled. It was a real smile, tired but real. She touched the back of my cart, just lightly.
Dad had heard the whole thing. He was standing by the cereal, holding the box Maya had picked. He didn't correct her or add anything. He just nodded at the woman and let Laura answer. I could see he was doing it on purpose, letting her lead.
We checked out together. Laura made sure everything was separated by meal on the belt so the bagger wouldn't crush the bread. She let me hand the card to the cashier and then take the receipt. Outside, the parking lot was bright and hot. Dad and I pushed the carts to the SUV while Laura buckled Jonah in. The asphalt smelled like heat and gasoline.
May you like
On the drive home, Maya read the back of the taco kit out loud and Jonah tried to sing along to the radio. Laura turned around from the front seat and asked me if we had enough butter at home for the garlic bread I wanted with the spaghetti. I said I thought so but we should check. She said we'd check together.
When we pulled into the driveway, Dad cut the engine and we all sat for a second before getting out. The groceries were in the back, equal bags for everyone, and nobody had to carry someone else's dinner while going without their own.
