A/N: I was letting them be incredibly awkward. So, so much.
Bonus - UDC 10 - Week 10
Gregarious
She let her son continue to laugh for a minute before clearing her throat to get his attention, and suddenly he didn't seem quite so amused. "Walt? Why don't you three go out to the parking lot and see about transferring from one vehicle to the other?"
"Good idea," Walt replied, his tone more measured than hers, because he'd also not missed the emotional awkwardness. "Let's go, Mr. Finney, Nick."
Noah moved to pick Nicky up out of the shopping cart only for Chelsea to shake her head. "What?"
"Go on," she urged and moved to quickly consolidate their carts into on and took Nicky from him. "Out. We'll talk later." She nodded to Pete. "We're in public. What did you say?" Noah stared at her, then nodded and followed Walt as he led Nick away.
"Dada silly," Nicky said suddenly and Chelsea smiled at him.
"I think we're all silly today, sweetie," she said as she turned back to look at Pete, who was frowning again.
"You didn't have to do that," Pete told her. "And I know what a time out looks like." He moved to follow them, and Helen stopped him. "What?"
"They need a minute, and well done changing the subject. Mr. Burrows was mean?"
Pete stared up at her, then looked in the direction that Noah, Nick, and Walt had gone in. "I frustrated him. A lot."
"Naval families," Chelsea put in as she put Nicky into the cart seat of Helen's shopping cart while Helen herself got the cube steak left behind from the other cart. "I know, because Dorinda gave me updates. Any number of times, there were altercations because things were said that shouldn't have been."
Mischievous
Helen turned back, only to pause at the red-headed two-year-old grinning at her. "Oh."
"Careful, he loves ball-shaped objects," Chelsea told her. "We learned quickly to keep oranges away from him."
Helen smiled and set the meat in the cart. "Looking at him now, you'd never think he had colic. What do you say, little one? Should we go find the crackers and the eggs, and maybe some olive oil?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, then." Helen glanced down at Pete again. "That's not the only thing that's bothering you, though. I know it isn't."
Pete shook his head. "No, I knew I was having the flashbacks. I didn't know what the word for it was until Mr. Jenkins told me on Friday, but I knew I was, and it used to happen more often. I thought I was over it, and then, recently, Bart sang it at me and Mrs. Tatham asked me why I sang sometimes in my sleep."
"Clothes and attempting to help you," Helen mused approvingly. "Asking the wrong way, probably, but..."
"Yeah. Like I said, I knew I was having them." Pete offered a hand to Nicky and smiled when he played with one of his fingers the way he had with Nick. "It's hard not to know I'm having something weird going on when I wake up and don't even recognize the furniture in the room and suddenly it's March 9th all over again and nothing's wrong. Usually, I'm alone for that."
"But yesterday you weren't," Helen realized.
"No," Pete agreed. "And I'm really glad I wasn't, even if Nick was sleeping on the floor."
Ostentatious
"Better the floor than an arm chair," Chelsea said, almost to herself, only to realize it had actually been out loud when they both looked at her. "Sorry. Story for another time, really."
Helen nodded. "Let's go find the things we'll need, then, and catch up to the menfolk."
"Aren't I a menfolk?"
She smiled. "Yes, but I meant them, who went out to the parking lot. Come on. Let's go find some saltines."
Pete was left to wonder just what kind of dish one made with cube steak, crackers, and eggs as he followed along. Why did they need cooking oil for it, anyway?
A/N (2): What dish, normally slathered in gravy if you order it in a restaurant, CAN you make with those ingredients? Pete would dearly love to know.