Waoooooooow...I'm just giving you guys a heads up: this one is long! It's over 7000 words, which is a good 2000 words over the usual length of the Chapters for this story. It wasn't really planned, it just happened that way. My fingers couldn't stop moving across the keyboard haha :)
Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this Chapter. It's a little different from all of the others, but in a completely normal and fine way (does that even make any sense?)
So everytime that I write a Chapter of this story, I always have one song playing on repeat as I type. Like, for the Eloping Chapter, it was "Me, Myself and Time", and for the Ferris Wheel, it was "Wouldn't Change a Thing". Do you guys know what this Chapter was (not that most of you would care haha)? It was "We'll Be A Dream" by We The Kings and Demi Lovato. And yes, all of the songs that I listen to while writing this story have Demi in them. Because her vocal chops are amazing!
That was your random piece of author information for the day haha ^^
Also, I just wanted to shout out and give thanks to MonkeyGirlxoxo for all of her amazing rhyming skills! You guys will see what I mean shortly. So without further ado, I present to you, Chapter 9!
Disclaimer - I do not own SWAC or Lindt
Chapter 9
G is for Grocery
Tawni watched in disgust as I piled my plate high with three slices of piping hot pizza. The cheese, melted to perfection, dripped off of the sides and pooled around in my plate, sending the warm steam to swirl around my face. I closed my eyes and breathed in the sweet scent of my dinner, the pineapples decorating my slices like yellow jewels.
"Whoa, take it easy there, Sonny," she said, wrinkling her nose delicately.
I slurped a bit of my strawberry banana smoothie and regarded her with one eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about, Tawni?" I asked, setting my cup down on the table. Instead of picking up one of my slices of pizza, I balanced a hot wing between my thumb and forefinger and took a hearty bite, the suicide sauce burning my tongue. I puckered up my face for a short second and then came back for more, welcoming the pepper dancing around in my mouth.
Across the table from me, Nico and Grady looked at our exchange, their mouths agape. Our pizza had only arrived five minutes ago, and yet they were already halfway finished with their second slices. Zora was the only one who didn't seem fazed by my eating habits, keeping her attention on the ketchup that she was squeezing all over her dinner.
Grady cleared his throat nervously while Nico munched on his slice of pizza next to him. "Sonny, you know that we love you, but isn't your plate a little…full? Every other pizza night that we've ever had, you've only eaten one slice of the pie, and about four hot wings."
Tonight was our monthly pizza night, and our whole cast had met at Pizza Shack and sat down at our usual table. When we had been younger, we had gotten together for pizza every week, but as the years passed by, our outings had diminished until we decided to meet up only once a month. And this was our first pizza night since we had all gotten back from Australia, which had been a while ago.
I opened my mouth to say something, but was cut off by Nico's high pitched shriek. We all turned to him, and Tawni slapped her hand over her mouth, trying to hold in her giggle. Nico has sitting back, his hat askew on her head. He was holding a piece of pineapple and staring at it accusingly, his eyes narrowed.
"Stupid pineapple," he muttered, flinging it to the edge of his plate.
We all started to laugh and I almost choked on my mouthful of pizza. Grady started to double check his own slices and Tawni just pushed her plate aside and started to check her makeup in her compact mirror. Zora finished up on her slice and reached out to the pan to take another, which she ate sans the ketchup this time.
I shifted my plate to the side and the chicken bones clattered against each other. "I'm just going to head to the bathroom," I announced, pushing my chair back and standing up.
Tawni raised her eyebrows at me. "Sonny, this is the third time that you're going to the bathroom in the hour that we've been here. Are you ok?"
I bobbed my head up and down, my black hair bouncing against my shoulders. "I'm fine, Tawni. I just had a little too much to drink, that's all. It's no big deal; I'll be right back."
I walked over to the bathroom and bumped my hip against the heavy door, pushing it open. I stepped inside and wrinkled my nose at the scene that greeted me: stained walls and strips of toilet paper coating the floor. It had definitely gotten worse since I had last been here, and it was disgusting. I quickly used the toilet and then washed my hands, pausing in front of the sink to fix my hair. I pulled the ponytail holder off of my wrist and gathered my hair back in a high ponytail, leaving my bangs out to fall over one eye. Then, satisfied, I smiled at myself in the mirror and left the bathroom.
When I arrived back at our table, I was completely floored to see that our table had three new additions. I slid back into my seat and ended up being sandwiched between Kevin and Nick Jonas. Tawni had switched seats with Nico and Grady so that she was across from me, and Joe was at her side, his arm slung over the back of her chair. He had gotten a haircut since the last time that I had seen him, and had stopped wearing his contacts as often, opting instead to go with his black rimmed glasses. Tawni had one hand wrapped around his arm, her well-manicured nails sparkling. Sometimes I felt that every colour of nail polish that Tawni owned was equipped with sparkles, because her nails seemed to glitter every single day.
"Oh, hey you guys," I said, picking up one of my slices of pizza. I ripped the slice in half and pulled off all of the cheese, sending a burst of steam up into the air. "What are you doing here?"
"Tawni invited us," Joe said, grabbing a hot wing from the box in the middle of the table. He put it on a plate and then reached into the pizza pan, his hands emerging seconds later with a slice of pizza between his fingers. "She said that we were going on a pizza night."
I sent a glance Tawni's way, my eyebrows raised. "Really? Well that's cool. Maybe next month I can invite Chad along, then."
Something flashed through Nick's eyes, but I couldn't put my finger exactly on what it was. "So, you guys are still together?" he asked quietly, keeping his eyes trained on his plate. He was nervously fingering his chicken bones, tapping them against the ceramic plate in front of him.
I nodded my head enthusiastically, licking the grease from the cheese off of my fingers. Everyone looked at me as I swallowed and I self-consciously patted the corners of my mouth with a napkin before continuing. "I mean, yeah, we're still together. Actually, right now we're planning our wedding. Or really, trying to plan it," I said. I broke the rest of my pizza into small pieces, which I then popped into my mouth.
"What do you mean?" Joe asked, detaching his arm from Tawni's grip. Nico and Grady snickered until he rested it on the back of her chair, across her shoulders. The look in Tawni's hazel eyes made them shut up, and they busied themselves with their soda, draining half of the cup in one pull.
"I'm surprised that Tawni didn't already tell you," I answered, waving the crust of my pizza in the air as I spoke. I paused to take a bite out of it before I resumed my actions, everyone chuckling at me. "I thought that she would have."
"You mean the bet? Oh yeah, Tawni told me about that already. But I thought that you'd be done by now."
My eyes widened and I dropped the rest of my pizza crust onto my plate. "Done? How could we be done by now? We've only reached….well, about two weeks ago, we got married on a ferris wheel."
"For what? F?"
I nodded my head and brushed my bangs out of my eyes, tucking them behind my ear.
"Well," Joe continued. "When I said that I thought that you would be done by now, I meant that I thought that Chad would try to find a way to have like, a wedding a day."
"Why?" Zora asked, the first word that she's spoken since I'd come back from the bathroom. She pushed her plate aside and fixed her stare on Joe, folding her hands on the tabletop. Her fringe fell in front of her eyes, but she didn't lift a hand. She simply shook her head to the side slightly, and her vision cleared.
"Because…well, I just thought that he wouldn't be able to wait to marry Sonny. I mean, you could see it in the way that he looks at her; he's completely smitten. So I just thought that he would have made those trial run things last as short as possible as then have had the actual wedding." Joe said all of this causally, as if he were talking about the weather. As if his words weren't making the butterflies in my stomach all excited and frenzied. He had no way of knowing what his little speech had meant to me, although I felt that the colour of my cheeks would have been a clear indication, had he looked at me.
Nick pushed back his chair so suddenly that the legs resisted, screeching against the tile shrilly. "I've got to go to the bathroom," he said shortly, and left without another word. We looked at his retreating back and I felt the butterflies in my stomach act up again, although with a much different motivation this time.
Kevin was the one to speak up first, his voice sympathetic. "Don't mind him, you guys. He's still a little hurt, that's all. I don't think that he ever got over his crush on Sonny, and Joe's little speech back there didn't exactly help matters any. Just give him some time to cool off and he'll come around."
We all nodded, but a voice in the back of my mind was sounding very doubtful. Even though Nick had liked me ever since we met, I had never led him on at all, already being together with Chad at that time. And I had ignored any advances that he had made, reminding him time and time again that I already had a boyfriend. I thought that if he didn't get it by now, he probably never would. And that was a shame, because he was actually a really nice guy when he wasn't trying to steal me from my fiancé.
"Well, actually, he really takes his time with these trial runs. I think that he wants to make sure that they're perfect, because he gets all stressed before we have our wedding, especially if something goes wrong," I added, remembering how upset he was when his thieves had flaked on him during our Aladdin themed wedding.
Tawni brought her hand up to her chest, her eyes shining. "That's so sweet!"
I was about to reply when I saw Nick coming back from the bathroom, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his head down. Wanting to steer the conversation back to as safe a topic as I could, I turned my tone jokey and said, "So, next time we have a pizza night, Tawn, our cast and Chad?"
Just as soon as Nick took his seat, all of my cast mates started to laugh, their protests mingling together and becoming a group grumble. Nick seemed to be in a better mood, because he smiled and looked around the table, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out what the joke was. "What's going on, you guys?"
Joe raised one eyebrow at his girlfriend, who was doubled over and laughing so hard that she seemed to be having trouble getting her words out. "I'm not sure," he said. He lifted his arm off of Tawni's shoulders and poked her gently in the arm. "Tawn, what are you laughing about?"
She sobered up and brushed one curl away from her face, her lips twisted into a teasing smirk. "I think that we all agree that we don't want Chad to join us next month for pizza night," she said, gesturing around the table. Before I could even ask why, she ploughed on. "Because the whole point of pizza night is for our cast to enjoy some time together and eat pizza. And if Chad were to come…well, no one would really be enjoying their pizza."
"Why not?" Kevin asked, setting his balled up napkin down on the table.
"Because," Nico cut in, repositioning his hat. "Because Sonny and Chad are way too lovey-dovey. They're always kissing, or holding hands or just being too coupley. And that, my friends, makes us sick!" He said the last sentence with a smile on his face, letting me know that he wasn't trying to be mean.
I laughed along with them, my cheeks turning a rose colour. It was true what he had said; we did tend to act coupley whenever we were together. But it's not like anyone could blame us for being that way. We wouldn't have been engaged if we didn't love each other.
I took a sip of my smoothie, pinching the straw between my fingers as I pulled up the beverage. I was almost finished my drink, so all that I got was a mouthful of strawberry seeds, which I hated. I stuck my tongue out, trying to forget the feel of the little pellets running down my throat, and set my cup back on the table. While doing so, I caught sight of my watch and gasped in surprise. "You guys! I should go home now. It's pretty late, and I want to spend some time with Chad before I go to sleep."
Everyone rolled their eyes except Nick, although his did seem to darken. He fixed his gaze on me as I got up and hung my purse in the crook of my elbow, waving to everyone as I passed. I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out a wad of money, pre-counted and folded together. Every single time we had a pizza night, the cost was the same. Since we already knew how much money our dinner had cost, we were able to divide the price equally every single month, and I dropped my share on the table now. "Bye guys!"
Once I had settled down in my car, I heaved a huge sigh of relief and started to head home, my bright coloured purse occupying the passenger side seat next to me. I was concentrating on the road, but in the back of my mind, I couldn't help thinking about Nick. He had seemed so uncomfortable and upset while we were talking about Chad, and even thought I felt sorry for him, I also thought that it served him right. After all, he did know that Chad and I were engaged, and if he chose to not move on, that was his call. But he couldn't expect me to not act like I was in love with Chad, because I was. And after all of the times that he tried to break us up last year, he also couldn't expect any sympathy from me either.
Before I knew it, I had reached home. I pulled into our garage and stepped out of the car, making sure to lock it before I ventured inside. My ballet flats were silent as I tiptoed through the house trying to find Chad, and I mentally praised myself for deciding to leave the heels up in my closet for once. I wanted to sneak up on Chad and jump him from behind – something that I had always wanted to try, but the opportunity never arose. Now was the perfect time though, and I was definitely going to take advantage of that.
I finally found him standing at a counter in the kitchen, making a sandwich. A bag of lettuce was opened next to him, and sliced up tomatoes decorated his plate, half lying out of the bread. I stifled a snicker and crept up behind him, my knees bent and ready to pounce. But before I could even leave the ground, Chad raised a single finger up over his shoulder. "Don't even, Sonny," he said, his voice making it clear to me that he was trying not to laugh.
I sighed again and stomped around to the other side of the counter, crossing my arms and perching on a stool. "How'd you know?"
He picked up half of his sandwich. "I smelt you. I can always smell you. Actually, I smell you before I see you sometimes. First I get hit by this wave of vanilla and strawberries, and then you step through the door, looking all cute and stuff." He shrugged and took a bite, a leaf of lettuce falling out of his mouth.
I smiled and grabbed the other half of his sandwich. I had just finished eating my pizza so I wasn't exactly hungry yet, but I was feeling a little peckish. I ripped off a corner of the bread and dropped it onto my tongue, welcoming the dry taste. Usually I hated when my bread was too dry, always insisting that anything I eat be lightly coated in butter first. But strangely enough, the dry bread was just what I needed right then.
I put down the sandwich and plucked the other half from Chad's hands. He frowned at me, his mouth still full of food, but I just linked our hands together and led him into the living room, stopping in front of our couch. I slipped my feet out of my shoes and gestured for him to sit down first, waiting patiently as he lowered himself onto the seat. Then I sat next to him and stayed still for a moment, ignoring Chad's questioning gaze.
"Sonny, what are you doing?"
I brought my legs up onto the cushion beneath me and lay down, my head against the armrest. I stretched my legs out and draped them over Chad, whose hand was still entwined with my own. I repositioned myself so that I was more comfortable and rested my cheek against my palm, creating my own makeshift pillow. I heard a rustling behind me, and then felt two arms wrap themselves around my waist and join together in the front, hands clasped.
"Sonny," Chad said into my hair, his voice soft.
I turned my head around as kissed him slowly, keeping our mouths connected for as long as I could before I turned away. I stared back into the fire burning in front of us, sending heat throughout the whole room. A fireplace was one of my favourite things in this world, and I could just look at a live fire for hours on end. Provided, of course, that I had something to do, like music to listen to or a fiancé to snuggle with.
"So, I saw Nick today," I said quietly, playing with his fingers. I twisted them around each other, undoing and then redoing the limited patterns that I could make. When I said those five words I felt him stiffen, and I knew that he still remembered all of the trouble that Nick had caused.
He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "And what did you guys do?"
The flames danced in front of me, battling to see who could raise the highest. I stared, completely transfixed as I tried to put the evening in words. "Well Tawni invited him and his brothers to our pizza night, I guess because she wanted to spend some time with Joe. And then we got to talking about you, and our bet and our wedding, and he got upset because of something that Joe said. So he went to the bathroom all in a huff, and Kevin said that he still had a crush on me."
At this, Chad stiffened even more, and I gripped his fingers tighter. He relaxed into my hand and I snuggled closer to him, continuing with my story. "So then, when Nick came back to the table he seemed fine, until I said that I had to leave because I wanted to spend some time with you. Then his eyes darkened. But I don't want you to worry Chad, really. Because even though I know that he still loves me, I don't like him like that at all."
Chad scoffed. "Me, get worried because of that? I'm Chad Dylan Cooper, and I'm way hotter than Nick Jonas. I have nothing to be worried about."
I sighed. "Seriously though. I love you."
His tone softened. "I know. I love you too, Sonny."
He tightened his hold around my waist and I relaxed into him, our bodies flush against each other. The fire gave off a warmth that saturated the air around us, and I felt completely calm and safe, being with Chad like that. I enfolded my leg between both of his and together we lay like that until morning.
"Good morning Tawni!"
I stepped into our dressing room and draped my purse over the back of my vanity chair, not slowing my pace at all. Tawni, who had been seated in front of her own vanity, twisted around in her chair to look at me, a glint present in her eye that I wasn't sure that I liked.
"Hey Sonny, I got something for you," she said, standing up and crossing the room. She stopped in front of the couch and sat down dramatically, pulling her own purse onto her lap. "Now if only I could find it," she added under her breath, rifling through the contents of her bag.
I sat next to her and started to play with my rings, nervous. Tawni was my best friend, but she hardly ever got me presents, especially for no reason. The last spontaneous gift that she had gotten me was last year, when she bought me a shirt to wear on one of my dates with Chad. And since we were way past the fighting to impress Chad stage, I couldn't help wondering just what it was that she had gotten me.
"Here it is!" she cried out, extracting her hands from her purse with vigour. She held a box out to me, her hand covering the name of the product. I looked at her strangely and took the package in my own hand, my eyes widening when I saw what it was.
"Tawni! A pregnancy test? Why would you get me this?"
My best friend plopped her bag back on the table in front of us and looked at me as if I was completely clueless. "Because, Sonny, you are pregnant. So just take this test and let's make it official!"
I stood up so suddenly that my necklaces clanged against each other, the only sound in an otherwise empty room. Tawni was looking up at me, her eyes shining with excitement. When she noticed my expression, the shine dimmed, quickly becoming replaced with confusion. "What makes you so sure that I'm pregnant?"
She stood up too, facing me squarely, the sound of her own necklaces mixing in with mine. "Because Sonny, you are. Listen to the facts, ok? You need to use the bathroom a lot, you eat huge amounts of food, you've thrown up – and don't even try to deny it, because Chad was worried about you and asked me to keep an eye on you and see if you were sick. Besides, when was the last time that you even had your monthly visit from our dear Aunt Flo?"
I listened to her reasoning without a word, the truth slowly beginning to dawn on me. By the time that Tawni had uttered her last question I had fallen onto the couch, holding my face in my hands. Of course she was right; I hadn't had my period in the longest while. I had just been so preoccupied with all of the weddings and the excitement that I hadn't even realized that I had skipped this month. And last month. "Oh my God."
Tawni sat next to me and gripped my arm in a comforting manner. "This is a good thing. A great thing! Now I can have a little niece or nephew, and you'll be a great mother, Sonny. Why don't you go and take a test, and we'll wait for the results together, ok?"
I was positive (no pun intended) that I didn't need to take a test, but I gamely unwrapped the box and held it in my hand. "Tawni, how come you bought two tests? Don't tell me you and Joe….!"
She laughed and waved a hand dismissively. "Not even, Sonny. But it was a buy one get one free, and they were already packaged together so I just took them like that. Besides, never know when we'll need another one, right? Especially with you and Chad," she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and I smacked her arm. "Now go to the bathroom and let's do this thing!" she cried out happily, shoving me out the door.
I went into the bathroom and took the test, feeling as if I was in a daze the whole time. I couldn't believe that I was pregnant…pregnant! Me, Sonny Munroe, with child. I was excited, I couldn't lie about that. My whole life I had dreamed of finding the right man and having kids, but now that it was happening so soon, I was also a little nervous. Well, maybe not a little nervous…more like a lot nervous.
I slowly made my way back to our dressing room and held up my hand to stop Tawni, who was bouncing over to me like an overexcited rabbit. "I still have two more minutes left until it says whether I am or not," I said, sidestepped her and collapsing on the couch. She followed behind me, and even though she was sitting down, her legs couldn't keep from bouncing. She kept squeaking and squealing, and once she even leaned over and hugged me for a second. Then she realized what she was doing and backed away as if I had burnt her.
I finally checked my watch, and my mouth went dry. I couldn't check; what if it said negative? Tawni had been so sure, I had been so sure that I had built my hopes up. If we were wrong, it would just break me. Wordlessly, I held the stick out to my cast mate and she took it from me, seeming to understand. She squeezed my arm reassuringly and then checked the stick, her eyes staring for a long time. Her mouth dropped open, but no sound came out.
"Tawni?"
All at once, she let out a shrill shriek, not unlike Nico's the night before. She dropped the test on the floor and jumped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly. I knew what her reaction meant, but I just had to be 100% sure. I got down on my knees and peered at where the stick had fallen under the table, face up. I took one look at it and felt all of the air leave my lungs.
Positive.
I was excited to tell Chad about the baby. Completely, totally and fully excited. Except that there was a hint of nervousness in the mix too. But really, any pregnant 20 year old TV star would be nervous when it came time to tell her fiancé that she was carrying his child, isn't that right?
Because Chad had the day off today (Mackenzie Falls had already finished filming their seventh season, and they had a couple of days off before they began on their eighth) I wasn't able to tell him the news while at the studios today. And I obviously wasn't going to tell my cast mates before I told my fiancé; the only one who knew was Tawni, and that was because she had bought me the test in the first place.
Of course, news like this wasn't acceptable to share over the phone, so I wasn't able to call him. And Marshall was being very tight on our schedule these days. He was trying to wrap up our season as soon as possible to compete with Mackenzie Falls, which was why I couldn't even sneak back home to talk to Chad. The only time that I could let him know about our baby was after work, when I went back home. This was where I was now, but there was just one small problem: I couldn't find Chad anywhere. I had left him at home when I went to work this morning, and I had assumed that I would find him at home when work was finished.
Obviously, I was wrong.
The house was deathly silent as I stepped into the foyer, everything motionless and still as I continued through the rooms. Chad was nowhere to be found; in fact, it looked as if no one had even been in the house all day. Everything was just as I had left it this morning, slightly ruffled but more or less presentable. The dishes were done, the TV remote had not been moved and the blanket was just draped over the back of the couch, just as it had been last night.
"Chad?" Silence answered my calls and a huge knot formed in my stomach. Where could he be? He hadn't even called or texted me all day, and he never mentioned any possibility of him disappearing when I was leaving for the studios this morning. "Chad?"
I padded into the kitchen and found a white piece of notebook paper resting on the counter, folded in half. My name was on the front in what I recognized as Chad's handwriting and I grabbed it as if it were a life preserver. I just held it in my hands, relief spreading through my veins. If he had left a note, then he was ok. I breathed a sigh and opened up the paper, a large grin spreading across my face as I soaked in the words.
Sonny,
G is for Grocery. I know that this seems a little weird, but trust me, when this whole game is over, it'll make lots more sense. Now, the rules of this game are really simple. Just head down to our regular grocery and find the notes that are attached to certain foods. Keep going until you find the last clue. When you've finished buying all of the items that the clues were pointing at, come back home and a surprise will be waiting for you. Have fun, Sonny.
Love you,
Chad
I refolded the note and tucked it into my pocket, already heading back for the car. As I slipped in behind the wheel and started towards the grocery down the road, I couldn't help but make up possible surprises that Chad had for me. Maybe he had already found out about the baby, and he was going to tell me that he was happy. Or maybe he had gotten a movie deal, and so we were going to move away temporarily. Or maybe he had decided that traditional weddings were best, and he wanted to stop the bet right now.
Surprisingly, my heart fell as I thought of that last one. Even though all of these weddings were not exactly what I had pictured, everything that Chad had done for me so far was perfect. And even if he ended up winning the bet, I didn't really care anymore. Just being able to get married to Chad 26 times was enough to hold me over until our real wedding, no matter what it was.
I pulled into the grocery parking lot and slid my car into one of the spots closest to the door. The whole parking lot was empty, save for my car and a small black hatchback further down the way, a good few feet away from me. I walked across the bare tarmac, my steps animated, and I could feel every rock and grain of asphalt under my feet. Ever since I had found out that I was pregnant, I was wary to walk around in heels, so my feet were clad in sparkly ballet flats. The soles were thin though, which was why nothing on the ground was left to my imagination.
There was a single man at the entrance to the grocery, his hands folded behind his back in a professional manner. When he saw me approaching, he dropped his hands to the sides and took a step forward to meet me halfway. "Miss. Munroe, welcome! Mr. Cooper had rented out the whole store for your convenience, so please don't worry about keeping any other customers back."
I nodded my head in thanks and made a move to step into the store further. The automatic door swooshed open, but the clerk cleared his throat and I stopped in my tracks. After a moment, the door closed back, cutting off the steady stream of air condition that had been hitting me. I turned around and he smiled at me, holding out a folded piece of paper. "Mr. Cooper said to give you this."
I smiled in return, my grin so wide that my cheeks started to hurt. The clerk chuckled and handed me the letter, turning and disappearing into the store before I could even unfold the paper. There, in Chad's messy scrawl, was the following note:
To start this game off, I'll be nice
Go and pick up a bag of rice
I looked the words over once again to make sure that I was reading this correctly and then ran inside, grabbing a hand basket en route to the rice aisle. The grocery was completely silent, scarily so, and I felt a surge of thrill run through me. Except for the clerk who had handed me the first clue, no one else was here at all. All of the aisles were fully devoid of people, something that I had never seen before in my entire life.
I reached in the rice aisle and saw endless bags of the grain, stretching from the beginning of the row all the way to the end. One of these bags had to have a clue on them though, so I started from the left and scoured each item, searching their surface for a folded piece of paper. Finding nothing, I turned on my heel and worked my way back up, looking at all of the bags on the right this time. A flash of white caught my eye and I all but pounced, grabbing the note in triumph. I picked the sack of rice up and put it in the basket at my feet, picking it to the side while I opened the note.
Our next stop is in the veggie aisle,
I hope the colours will make you smile
My brows furrowed as I scanned the page again. Obviously, these clues were going to get harder as I went along, but I didn't really mind. I was having fun trying to figure these things out and get the food. And of course, just knowing that Chad cared enough about me to go through all of this trouble made this whole thing one thousand times better.
I stopped as soon as I arrived in the produce section, fruits and vegetables lying before me. Chad had specifically said that the next clue would be on a veggie, so that meant that I could eliminate all of the fruits from my search. That made me feel a little closer to the answer, but I still couldn't figure out what the second part of the rhyme had to do with anything. Colours that would make me smile? Chad knew that I liked pretty much any bright colour, so that didn't really narrow anything down.
On a whim, I made my way over to the peppers, an alarm bell going off in the back of my mind. If there was one vegetable that I knew came in a variety of colours, it was peppers. I once had a dish in a restaurant where almost half of the meal was peppers, but the chef had arranged it so that the chunks looked like different foods. It didn't really fool me though, if only because the blocks of yellow, green, red and orange all tasted exactly the same.
Sure enough, there was a little note taped to a green pepper, the stark white totally contrasting with the forest colour. I pulled two green peppers out from the display and rested them on top of the bag of rice before detaching the note. On the front fold there was a little hand drawn arrow pointing to the right and I turned to find another display, this time of red peppers. A light bulb went off in my head as I realized what Chad had meant about the colours making me smile. Red and green: Christmas, which was, of course, my favourite holiday. I chuckled quietly to myself and plucked two more peppers from the pyramid to put in my basket. Then I opened up the note, eager to move onto my next clue.
The next item is filled with protein
Remember yesterday you dropped some on your jeans?
I tried to think back to what had happened yesterday, which wasn't exactly an easy feat. I had to sift through all of the excitement so far from the day, but I wracked my brain and finally remembered. Chad had been eating a bowl of rotisserie chicken before I had left for pizza night, and I had been already dressed and set to go. Before leaving though, I had reached into his bowl, intent on having just a taste before I met my friends for dinner. Of course, since the chicken was steaming hot I dropped it, and it had handed right on my left thigh, leaving a big, blotchy grease stain. Which then meant that I had to change out of my jeans, resulting in me being just a tiny bit late for pizza night.
I grabbed a bag and used it as a glove as I took the chilled chicken breast out of the freezer. I had taken the package underneath the one with the note on it, because I refused to touch raw meat; it just disgusted me. I ripped the note off the food as I tied the bag shut and added it to the growing pile in my basket. I was beginning to think that I should have taken a shopping cart instead, but it would have much slower to have to push one of those around.
By the time I found the snow peas and chicken broth, I was half an hour into this game and growing more excited by the minute. The latest note that Chad had left for me read:
Go to the freezer to find a big tub,
It is easily recognizable by a white cub
I knew exactly what this was before I had even finished reading and took off, the basket bumping against my leg as I raced through the aisles. I finally came to a stop in front of the ice cream, and I immediately found the giant carton of vanilla ice cream, a polar bear cub adorning the lid. I gingerly lifted it out of the freezer and placed it in my basket, making sure to rip off the note before straightening up. Excitement rippling through me, I opened up the note and eagerly read the words, anxious to get to the next clue.
Head to the fruits to find the next treat,
Monkeys love to eat it, especially with their feet
The word monkey was what sold me, and I made a beeline for the bananas. Sure enough, there was a note taped to the ripest looking bunch, and I smiled, feeling proud of myself. But as I bagged the bunch of bananas and laid them between the ice cream and the peppers, I couldn't help but wonder what all of these random food items were for. I shook the thought out of my head and unfolded the paper, ready for whatever came next.
This dairy product is creamy and light
You love to eat it when you just had a fight
Obviously it wasn't ice cream, since that treat was already melting away in my basket. When I had a fight? Whenever I was sad, I liked to have a big bowl of ice cream drenched in chocolate syrup. But chocolate syrup wasn't a dairy product, and it was neither creamy nor light. I got a sudden brainwave and held up one finger excitedly. Whipped cream! I always cover my ice cream in a mound of whipped cream whenever I'm sad, and that must be what Chad was talking about here!
The diary section was a long way away from the fruits and veggies, and my basket was really weighing me down now. I kicked it along the floor, not having the energy to pick it up, and leaned against a nearby wall, resting my shoulders and legs. This exercise was as tiring as it was fun…which was to say very. After a few minutes I pushed off of the wall and made my way over to the refrigerated section, rhythmically pushing my basket across the tiles in front of me.
In one fluid motion I plucked the can of whipped cream from the rack in front of me and dropped it into the basket, detaching the note as I did so. When I saw what the last clue said, I groaned and face palmed myself, mentally cursing Chad.
The next item will be the last stop,
Go find a red fruit that will be placed on top
PS – Sonny, Frank wants to know if you'll take me for your lawfully wedded husband. He says if yes, bring him back a nice Lindt chocolate bar, orange flavoured if they have.
Of course Chad would send me all the way back from where I came from just go get the last item. Or actually, the second to last item, because I still needed to get Frank's chocolate. Luckily, I knew that I could pick those up on my way to cashier, which wasn't too difficult. But first, I had to go and find a cherry, which was obviously the answer to the last clue.
I trudged back to the fruits and took bagged one pound of cherries, since I couldn't exactly just buy a single one. Then, swinging the bag in my hand, I made my way to the cashier and grabbed a huge chocolate bar for Frank, orange just like he requested. The same clerk who had given me the first clue rang me through, amusement dancing in his eyes as he looked at my array of food items.
"Interesting," he commented, motioning for me to swipe my credit card.
I did so and punched in my number, trying to fight a smile. "I know. Thank you so much for all of your help!"
He raised his eyebrows at me but didn't say anything, instead stepping out from behind the counter and holding the bags in his hands. "Let me help you carry all of this back to your car."
I smiled gratefully at him and led the way to where I had parked. He packed the bags in my trunk and waved as I drove out of the parking lot, heading straight for home. When I arrived, I saw that Chad's car was right where it was supposed to be and I felt a huge surge of adrenaline. With some difficulty I managed to wrestle the bags into the foyer, but that was as far as my newfound strength could take me.
"Chad? Frank?"
They both appeared by the doorway, smiles intact, and took the bags from me. I followed them into the kitchen and fell into Chad's arms after he put his bag down, my head resting comfortably against his chest. He brushed the hair away from my face and pressed a kiss against my forehead. "Were the clues easy enough?"
I turned around in his arms. "Yup. Piece of cake. But what's the last surprise?"
He pointed over to Frank, who was busy munching on his gift. Even though he was stuffing his face, I could still see his Bible on the counter next to him, open to a page. When he saw that I was looking at him, he nervously ran a hand over his balding head and grinned sheepishly at me, his mouth full of chocolate. "Thanks for the chocolate Sonny. And since this is your yes, I now pronounce you man and wife. Chad, you may kiss the bride."
After we broke apart, I gazed at Chad questioningly, trying to ignore Frank's munching in the background. "That was the surprise? I thought that that was a given."
He shook his head and led me into the dining room without a word. There on the table was a full meal, cooked and dished out already. Upon further inspection, I saw that it was my favourite meal: Chicken Stir-Frye. I realized that all of the items that I had had to buy while at the grocery were the ingredients to cook this meal, and I beamed. "Thank you!"
He chuckled and pulled me over to the table. I took my seat next to him and dug into my dinner, feeling starved. The chicken was flavourful and the perfect temperature, the sauce just the right thickness. I stuck a forkful into my mouth and chewed, feeling as if my taste buds were having a little party in my mouth.
"This is really good," I said, pointing at my food with my fork. "Really really good."
Chad brought a mini cooler closer to him and lifted the lid. He took out two banana splits from inside and showed me, mischief gleaming in his sapphire eyes. "And for dessert, your favourite: Banana Splits!"
I actually squealed and clapped my hands together excitedly. This could not get any better; my favourite meal and favourite dessert? Then, all at once I remembered why I had been looking for Chad in the first place, and my smile grew. I fixed my eyes on Chad and brought my hands up in front of my chest, waiting for just the right moment to tell him.
He cocked his head to the side and his eyes clouded, worry clear across his face. "Sonny? Is something wrong? Are you ok? Why are you looking at me like that?"
I took a deep breath and held his hand across the table. His eyes flickered down to our joined hands for a second, and when he looked at me again, his eyes had darkened until they were almost navy. "Sonny, what's wrong?" he asked again.
"Chad," I began, my smile fighting to take over. "Chad, I'm pregnant."
So you guys, guess what?
I think that it would be really amazing if I could get 85 reviews :) Not that I wouldn't post the next Chapter [which I am working on as you read this] if I don't get that many, it's just that that is my goal for this Chapter. To get 85 reviews by the time that I reach Chapter 9. I know that it's a tall order, but I believe in you guys! :) It would be swell if you guys could do your part to help...*hopeful smile*
Anyways, H-I-J are all taken care of in the way of ideas. So is M, but I still need some help with K! So keep on sending your ideas in, people! It'll be of great benefit haha.
And remember, 85! It'll be great, that's all I'm saying ;)
