After having spent the morning in the park where Alexis had rode her new bike for a couple of hours, they decided to go to a restaurant for lunch. Alexis talked about her new bike all the way over there.
"It's so great daddy, I have a real bike now, not the ones for the small kids. And the helmet Kate got me is just so beautiful. I didn't know they made Cinderella helmets. And there is a bell on the bike and it's pink too, it's so beautiful ..."
Kate and Rick smiled and let her talk, apparently, she really did not expect to have a "big girl's bike" for her birthday. When she saw that they had stop in front of Serendipity, she squealed and jumped up in her car seat.
"Are we eating here daddy? This is so cool. I love it here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is the best birthday ever!"Alexis yelled in the car.
"Ok, Alexis. Now calm down and let's go eat, I'm starving." Rick said, the girl instantly stopping.
They went inside, Alexis between Kate and Rick, holding the hand of each of them.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Once they were done eating, the two girls went their way for their shopping expedition.
"So," Kate started as the got to the mall, "What do you want to look at?"
"I … uh … I don't know. I've never been here before." Alexis said quite shyly.
"It's ok. You need a first time for everything right? What do you like the most?"
"Dolls and books." Alexis answered excitedly.
"Ok then, let's go look at dolls and books."Kate said, taking Alexis by the hand and leading her through the several shops.
Alexis seemed lost at first. There were so many things to look at, and everything was glittering and asking for attention. When they entered the book shop though, she was much more at ease and even asked the clerk where the books for little children were. The clerk smiled at her and led her to the section she wanted. She immediately starting perusing the shelves, looking at everything at the same time.
"Do you know what you are looking for Sweetie?" Kate asked
"The ones like Daddy writes."
"Detective stories then. I think they're over there." Kate said, pointing to a shelf behind her.
"How do I find one that I like?" Alexis asked, looking at all the books in the shelf.
"Didn't your dad tell you that?"
"No. He buys them for me when he thinks I will like them."
"Ok, so to choose a book, you take one with a title you like and you read the summary on the back cover. Ans then if you like the summary, there is a good chance you'll like the book too."
"Ok, I want to try … that one." Alexis said, pointing at a particular book.
Alexis could read but she was not a fast reader yet, so she asked Kate if she could read the summaries out loud so she could pick one more quickly. They spent about twenty minutes reading back covers and Alexis finally decided to pick a book. She had trouble choosing though.
"Can I take two? I don't know which one I prefer ..."
"I don't know. How much money did your father give you?" Kate asked.
"Uh … 50 dollars." Alexis said, looking in her small pink purse.
"Then yes, you have enough to take two. Which ones do you want?"
Once she had chosen, they went to the cash register where Alexis was proud to buy her first books by herself, with her own money while Kate waited from afar, smiling when she hear the little girl bid the clerk good afternoon. She was only 6 and she was already a small woman.
After the book shop, the two of them continued their exploration of the mall, looking at almost every window. They went into several clothing stores, music stores and ended their afternoon at the Disney Store. Before they left the mall to go back to the loft, they stopped at a coffee shop. They ordered hot cocoa and sat down at a table. Alexis was happy and talking about her books when all of a sudden she stopped talking. Kate looked up from her cup and saw that she looked sad.
"Hey, what's wrong Sweetie?" Kate asked, concerned by this sudden change of mood.
"Is shopping a thing that you do with your mother?" Alexis finally asked.
"Yes, sometimes." Kate answered, not really understanding what was happening. "Or you can go shopping with your friends. Or even by yourself if you want to, why?"
"I never went shopping with my Mommy." Alexis said sadly.
Uh-oh. Dangerous topic
"Can you be my Mommy?" she asked.
"Well, I can't be your Mommy because I didn't make you but I can do all the things you usually do with a mommy if you want." Kate tried to explain
"My Mommy doesn't like me."
"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. Come on, who couldn't like such a perfect little girl as you?" Kate asked, starting to tickle her.
"She doesn't come to see me. It's always me and Daddy and sometimes Gram. But now there's you and I like you and you do all the things like the mommies."
"Well, I love you as if you were my daughter Alexis and if you want to do mommy-daughter things, you can ask me ok?"
"I love you more than my mommy, because you're nicer, and prettier, and Daddy loves you and … what?" Alexis asked, noticing Kate's wide eyes.
"Did he tell you that?" she asked.
"Yes. The other day he said you were going to come over for dinner and I said I was happy and I loved you and he said he loved you too. And he had a funny look on his face when he said it." Alexis giggled. "Is it bad that I told you?"
"Oh no, it's not bad at all Sweetie. But it's time to go now. Do you want to get face-painting. I say someone who does it near the entrance."
"Yeah! I love face painting! Can I be a butterfly?" Alexis asked excitedly, jumping down from her chair."
"Sure, let's make you a butterfly." Kate said, gathering their things and following her outside the coffee shop.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
On the way back to the loft, Alexis fell asleep in the car, never letting go of the books she bought. She had seemed so proud doing all of that by herself, Kate couldn't help but smile at the memory. She woke the girl up and they went up to the loft hand in hand. When they opened the front door, Alexis went running to her father, talking really quickly about everything she and Kate had seen and done during the afternoon, showing her books to her father before he had time to say anything. As Kate was going to talk, she heard someone clear their throat and both she and Alexis looked in the kitchen where the sound came from. There was Meredith, and she was not looking happy.
Any thoughts on this one?