"Ok, don't forget Lemon, we have to stick to the list," Jack reminded her as they entered the grocery store. He was immediately unimpressed by the small place that didn't seem to have the highest quality of food (at least not like he was used to). Liz couldn't help but roll her eyes as she pulled up next to him with the cart.
"I know! My mom gets really annoyed if I don't follow the list exactly anyways. Especially because she's going to want to pay me back for what I've bought for her. The moment I go off the list, I have to prepare myself for her complaining," she said. Jack snorted at her response.
"Plus, I know how you'd rather get junk food instead of Christmas dinner supplies," he muttered, poking her in the side. Suddenly, he was distracted by his daughter pulling on his coat.
"Daddy, I wanna sit in the cart!" Alice begged. He scooped her up and plopped her into the seat. The five-year-old smirked at her older sister, who didn't care at all, because she was more focused on what Liz was doing. Jack noticed that his eldest daughter was being very serious, and he began to question her as they headed into the produce section.
"Liddy, what's going on with you? You're awfully quiet," he prodded. She rolled her eyes and put her hand into Liz's.
"I want to learn everything that's happening here! I mean, I'm ten years old! I'm going to have to know how to do this on my own at some point!" Liddy said, with a little panic in her voice. Jack and Liz couldn't help but laugh.
"Sweetie, I think you're having a bit of an overreaction…"
"But, mom- I mean, Liz, I wanna learn how!" she begged.
Liz didn't miss her step-daughter's slip up. It had been happening a lot lately, even though Liddy was completely aware that Avery was really her mother. Liz figured that it was because Avery didn't see Liddy that much since she had basically become MSNBC's female version of Anderson Cooper and was spending a lot of her time reporting from the Middle East. Not that Liz, Jack, or maybe even Liddy minded, which really did upset Liz deep down. Jack and Avery had sat down Liddy and explained the situation, and she was a smart enough girl to understand what was going on.
But Liz wasn't going to deny that it made her heart swell whenever Liddy did call her "mom", just as it did every single time Alice, her biological daughter, did. Though Alice was very much a daddy's girl, and clung to Jack constantly. Of course, it didn't help that he spoiled both of his daughters immensely.
Liddy, however, was often more attached to Liz, and Liz couldn't help but love it. Liddy loved to follow her step-mother around at work and act as if she was running the show, too. She even told her class during career day that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up, just like Liz.
As they made their way through the produce, Liz taught Liddy how to make sure the fruits and vegetables looked perfect enough to bring home and eat later. Meanwhile, Jack was stealing grapes and giving them to Alice.
They moved down the list with relative ease. Alice was distracted by every single food made to grab the attention of children, while Liddy acted as if she was too mature for that, and stuck to Liz's side. When they were left with only four items left on the list for Christmas dinner, Liz managed to snag the one thing she had been looking for that wasn't on the list without Jack seeing. Liddy, of course, noticed immediately, but Liz quickly put a finger over her lip and she pretended as if she didn't see anything.
But as they turned the corner, Jack noticed the orange bag Liz was trying to keep out of sight.
"Lemon, don't think I didn't see that snack food. I thought we were going to stick to the list?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Liz turned to Liddy and asked her to push the cart for a while and to show Alice where the freezer items were, while she and Jack hung back a little.
"Ah, you caught me…" she let Jack see that she had snagged a bag of Sabor de Soledad. He looked confused.
"Why do you have that? I thought you only craved that stuff these days when you're preg-" He froze, mouth open a little as Liz blushed and nodded.
"I'm sorry, sweetie, I was going to tell you Christmas morning in private, but I just really needed this junk food. And I know we didn't really talk about having another kid but I mean I guess it just happened and I'm sorry," she rambled, but he immediately pulled her in for a very passionate kiss.
"Really? Liz, this is fantastic! We're going to have another child!" he whispered in excitement and she beamed back at him and kissed him again. Suddenly they heard around of "eww's" from their daughters.
"Come on, you guys, not in public." Liddy begged. The couple laughed as they noticed the horrified look on the girls' faces. They continued down the aisle and Jack leaned into Liz's and whispered into her ear.
"Let's keep it secret as long as we can, though, I'm not ready to explain to Alice where babies come from."