Her mummy had told her not to stray too far and she listened, well, mostly. Though it seemed, however hard she had tried to stay next to her parents she had managed to lose sight of them. She was sure that they had been with her when she started looking at the new dolls, but she couldn't be sure. It was busier than normal in the store and she hadn't meant to wander off. The problem had started when she had followed a lady with dark hair, jeans and a white top, just like the one her mommy had been wearing that day. The moment the woman had turned around, Heidi had quickly realised that the lady wasn't her mother and she had in fact moved further away from her parents.
Trying to keep herself calm she had weaved through the store trying to look for them, her little eyes scanning the faces of all the people who passed. They were all strangers, no one looked familiar and none of them were her mommy or daddy. She felt the panic begin to well inside her chest as the fact that she couldn't find her parents started to dawn on her. She was lost in Target and had no idea where on earth her mommy and daddy were.
She felt her bottom lip begin to wobble and tried to remember what her mummy had told her to do should she ever get lost in a store. Don't talk to strangers. Look for a person in a red top. They work there, they would help. She needed to find someone in a red top with a name badge. Red top. Name badge. She repeated it in her mind as she looked around.
A minute later she spotted a man stacking dollies onto the shelf and he was wearing a red top. Maybe he worked there, did he have a name badge? Slowly she approached him, nerves bubbling in her stomach as she tried to be brave. When she got near enough, she peered up at him and saw the name badge pinned to his shirt. Carefully she lifted her little hand to reach the hem of his shirt and tugged gently to get his attention.
The man turned to look down at her, he had dark hair and kind eyes. "Scuse me, mister," she whispered softly.
"Hello there. Are you alright?"
"I can't find my mommy," she murmured, looking down at her shoes. "I looked all over," Heidi shrugged.
"Ah, well don't you worry, we'll get you safely back to your mommy. What does mommy look like?" The man asked, crouching down so that he was more at her height, also allowing her to read his name tag. Joe.
Heidi furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. She felt even more worried the longer she was away from her mommy and daddy and her brain didn't seem to be working the way she wanted it to. "Pretty," she mumbled.
"Your mommy is pretty?"
"Very pretty."
The man smiled and nodded, "come on then. Let's go over to customer service and we'll put a call out so your mommy knows where to find you."
He stood up once again and showed her which way to go, she walked beside him as he guided her through the store towards the customer service desk. She had been there before when mommy had to return things to the shop. Mommy and daddy would be able to find her there, she was sure of it. That was a good plan.
However, she didn't quite make it to customer services before she heard her name being shouted in a very panicked tone. Her head whipped around and she spotted her mommy running down one of the aisles, looking very flustered. "Mommy!"
The moment Regina spotted her little girl she pressed a hand to her chest and hurried towards her. Stopping in front of her she bent down and scooped her into her arms, holding her close. "You scared mommy so much!" she gasped, burying her face in her daughter's hair as she hugged her child. It had been the first time Heidi had ever wandered off in a store and she had been scared to death. It was out of character for her daughter and the panic inside her had been worse than any she had ever felt.
She and Robin had split up as soon as they found Heidi was missing, hoping they would find her quicker if they went their separate ways. The relief of having her daughter in her arms was insane.
"I'm sorry mommy, it was an accident. I lost you."
"It's alright, you're safe now," Regina whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter's head. Looking up, she realised that there was a store worker standing watching them.
"Glad you two found each other."
"We were going to customer services," Heidi quipped, her arms still tightly wrapped around her mother.
"Ah. Thank you for your help."
"You are very welcome," he grinned, running a hand through his hair. "You were right, little lady, your mother is very pretty."
Regina rose an eyebrow at Heidi and then at the assistant. "Very pretty?"
"Yes. I asked your daughter what you looked like and she simply said very pretty."
Regina chuckled and shook her head as she placed Heidi back on the ground, only for her child to wrap her arms around her mother again, holding onto her body. She ran her fingers through her baby's ebony locks. "Well, I don't know about that."
"I'm sure you know how pretty you are."
"I…"
"Regina! Heidi!"
"Daddy!" Heidi squealed, running towards Robin who had emerged from down an aisle. He scooped his daughter into his arms, hugging her tightly before balancing her on his hip.
"Thank you again for helping her," Regina smiled.
"As I said, no problem, I was happy to help," the man grinned. His eyes wandered a little over her figure then returned to her face.
It was then that she felt Robin's arm wrap around her waist, pulling her towards him and Heidi. He dropped a soft kiss on her shoulder and then looked up at the man she had been talking to. "Thanks for helping my girls," he nodded. The store assistant nodded in return, offering Regina one last look before scurrying away, clearly put off his flirting by Robin's appearance.
"Your girls huh?" Regina smirked, turning a little in his embrace so that she could look at him.
"Uh-huh," he nodded, biting his bottom lip as he playfully bumped his nose against Regina's. Robin put Heidi down and she moved to hold her mother's hand as they made their way back to their shopping cart, which had just been abandoned during the panic. Robin leant in, his breath ghosting over Regina's ear, "he was flirting you know."
"Flirting?" she sniggered.
"Definitely."
"Don't be ridiculous, he was just being helpful."
"I mean, who can blame him for trying to flirt with the most beautiful woman on the planet."
"Seriously?" Regina scoffed. Though on the inside she could feel her heart warming at his words. After nearly seven years together, he still found her attractive and was still as into her as he was when they first got together.
"You always will be to me."
"God I love you," she smiled, not being able to resist stealing a quick kiss, no matter how much she disliked PDA.
"Eww mommy!" Heidi giggled, only for Robin to turn and scoop her off the ground so that both of them could plaster kisses across her face, making her squeal in delight.
