They never knew what to expect taking John to the supermarket as the fear of being the parents of that child screaming the place down was at the forefront of their minds. Emma had tried to convince Howard that online shopping was the way to go but as always he liked doing everything for himself. The weekend was a safer option as they could go together and it was almost a guarantee that there would be other young kids conveying their lack of enthusiasm. At least with this particular child they knew if they kept him full with the correct snacks while walking round it would placate him.
Emma sat him at the end of the checkout, making less room to actually pack the shopping but giving her use of both hands. He stared at the young woman who was on the till as she started to scan the items.
"Are you saying hello?" Emma cooed, rubbing his cheek and receiving a open-mouthed smile in return.
"Did you put this in the trolley?" Howard asked his partner as he held up a small toy car which mimicked a red Ferrari.
She tried to act nonchalant and hide the laugh inside her, "He must have the dream of owning a Ferrari for longer than a week just like his daddy. Would I really do that to you?" She commented, opening the packaging and rolling it across to their son who began to fiddle with it immediately.
He raised his brows in response, "I know that you would do exactly that." Whilst his parents continued their usual playful bickering John was smiling and showing his new toy to the shop worker.
He finished putting the bags in to the trolley and laughed when their son grumbled at being taken away from a new acquaintance, "Come on, you're far too young for flirting. You may have learnt from the best but you have to hone your skills."
"He's going to be a heartbreaker when he gets older." The shop assistant said, waving goodbye to the child.
Howard nodded, "I know, I'm going to leave a trail of pining women in my wake… he might be alright too."
Emma rolled her eyes and shoved against his shoulder whilst the girl giggled at the couple. "Feel lucky you only have to put up with him for a few minutes, I have it all the time."
In the car park, as they put the bags into the boot he moved their two pairs of wellies which still resided there and caught her eye, "You would miss this Land Rover too much if I traded it for a sports car."
"Obviously, there are a lot of good memories in here." She replied with a smirk as she recalled some of the times they had been in the car. If they had been caught on some occasions they would have criminal records whereas other events such as going to prenatal scans were treasured for altogether more innocent reasons. "I wouldn't miss having to step up to get inside though."
"I can always give you a boost. And what would we have done on those afternoons the rain poured down and we chose to keep warm by using this space?"
"Played I-spy." She joked, lifting John into his car seat where the toy found its way quickly to the floor in favour of him attempting to pull off his shoes.
"As if we would be standing here five years later with a kid if we had played I-spy all that time."
She looked at him in mock astonishment, "Are you disregarding the fact we were destined to be together?"
"Course not," Kissing her softly, he squeezed her close before they went to their sides of the car. They both did believe they would have eventually tried again as a couple but whether that would have worked out or not was irrelevant now. Agreeing to continue the pregnancy had been the point where they were forced to decide what they wanted to be with each other - as much as they would have coped being single parents they had always wanted to be in the relationship. Shopping was still something they'd rather not have to do regardless of having a family now but doing it together did allow for the more enjoyable parts to calm down the supermarket stress.
