The mall is a mess, the group of them walking through in a chain. Carmella has ahold of Lilly and James has Marina, the two of them holding each other's hands just to keep from getting dislodged in the crowd. "This is a mess," Carmella says woefully, only just avoiding getting elbowed in the jaw by someone rushing by to get into a clothing shop to the side of where Carmella's standing.
"It is," James agrees. "We can give up and just give out gift cards."
Carmella stares at him, aghast, and Marina tugs on his arm. "Don't be silly, daddy," she says, speaking for her stepmother as much as anything.
James laughs at the horror on both of their faces and shifts Marina, brushing some of the hair out of her eyes. "Oh, does that embarrass you, Mar-Mar?" he teases his daughter. "Daddy just wants to be lazy with the gift giving this year, is that a bad thing?"
"Yes!" she squeals, trying to get away from his tickling fingers. "It is, Daddy, it is!"
He chuckles. Hugs her close and turns to Carmella. "Alright, Princess. You know the mall better than I do. Where are we going?"
It's a maze, a literal maze, he thinks. They finally make it to the first store on Carmella's list, and James stands patiently, sometimes shuffling around so Marina can see things without worrying about getting underfoot of the other people crowded around, exploring the racks. Marina likes the sequinned dresses, eyes wide, lips parted, and James makes note that when she's older, he's going to have an interesting time keeping her to whatever restrictions her future school will probably have on clothing.
The second store isn't much better than the first and after about twenty minutes of standing around, waiting for Carmella and Lilly to reappear, James is feeling restless and a little sore from constantly getting nudged around by other shoppers who appear out of nowhere from behind and want to get past right now.
By the third store, and more people nudging and elbowing and sometimes outside ordering him to move, he's about had it, his frustration and anger at how rude everyone is being growing until someone slaps him on the back and he spins around. "What!"
His jaw drops when he finds himself face to face with Carmella and Lilly, who blink at him, in awe of his volume. "I guess you're not having a great time, huh?" Carmella asks, quirking an eyebrow at him as he flushes and stammers, trying to find a decent explanation.
"I'm really- I'm sorry-"
"It's fine," Carmella says, shifting Lilly gently. "Isn't it, Lills? I felt like yelling at some people too, they're being absolutely insane right now." She does raise her voice at a particular pushy woman who had just about sent her flying forward when trying to push past her a few moments earlier. The woman barely reacts and Carmella rolls her eyes. "C'mon, Jimmy, ready to get out of here? I've got everything I need."
"Really? We can leave?" He looks so hopefully that Carmella has to giggle, leaning up to kiss him.
"Yes, of course. Lead the way." She kisses him again and whispers, "Soon as we've all ate and the kids are in bed, I'm going to be doing the leading though."
James flushes, hot and eager at the thoughts her words are bringing to mind. "Yes, ma'am," he says, relieved to once more link their fingers together and move to leave the mall and all of its wild holiday shoppers behind.