OMG, I'm sooooo sorry! I really thought that I had updated this story already... well, anyway, here it is...
Thanks for the reviews! Please stick around, I don't leave the stories incomplete, no matter how much it takes to update it'll get finished... eventually. Thanks for all, now READ!
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As the two friends exited the Inn and were on their way to the Supermarket, some yells where heard. Claire looked at Alex with a worried and questioning gaze, meanwhile he just shook his head, sighing sadly.
"Don't worry about that; I believe that it must be Karen." He said softly, slowing down his pace.
Claire looked at him in disbelief. "How do you know that?"
"Well, I do live next door… I guess I'm used to all her yelling and arguments." He shrugged, explaining it softly so they couldn't overhear, although it was impossible with all the noise.
Claire nodded and opened the door to the supermarket carefully, hoping that they wouldn't notice their presence until they where done. She turned to Alex with a worried look and shook her head.
"Let's come back later, when everything's quieter."
Alex looked around and smiled softly. "Don't worry, this will be over soon. If you want I can show you around town for a bit, at least the church."
Claire nodded and walked out with him, relaxing slightly. He sighed as he heard more yells and continued to walk to the right of his clinic, where a man and two kids where standing by, chatting happily. He waved and smiled softly when they imitated his action.
"Good morning, doctor." The two kids: May and Stu, said in a sing-sang voice. They where both looking up at he tall man with identical smiles that where filled of innocence and cuteness all over.
"Why, good morning to you too." Alex smiled politely, and then looked up at Carter, the pastor. "And good morning to you… three, correct?"
The two little kids laughed innocently, and noticed that so did the grown ups. May managed to control herself enough to answer. "Mr. Doctor, you're supposed to say too! Not three!"
Alex bent to her size and smiled wider. "Oops? My bad! Sorry."
May placed a hand on his head and petted it cutely, her eyes shinning brightly. "Its okay, you learned something today."
Alex nodded and thanked her for teaching him, then turned to Carter with a smile. "How are you today, Carter?"
The elder man smiled softly, and replied in a calm voice. "I'm fine, how about you?"
"Good." He looked behind him and noticed that May and Stu where having quite an interesting conversation with Claire. "I wanted you to meet her, but I guess we should wait until their conversation is over."
"Yes, it would be the polite thing to do." Carter laughed slightly, watching curiously the children talk excitedly.
"…and then, we went swimming! It was fun! Then they gave us cookies and ice-cream!" Stu rambled, practically jumping at the memory.
May nodded in agreement and continued for him. "Yes! There was chocolate, and cherry, and strawberry!"
Claire laughed softly and nodded. "It sounds great! I'm already excited for beach day."
She stood up and smiled at Alex and Carter, who where watching her and the kids with interested faces. May and Stu where talking with each other about their last day of summer, which apparently was one of their most treasured memories. Random words like "waves" or "beach ball" could be heard, as if they where more important than the rest.
"They are wonderful children, aren't they?" Carter asked lovingly, as if they where his own.
Both of them nodded and chatted for a while. Around ten minutes later, a furious Karen walked beside them, running along the street toward the beach. Everyone exchanged worried glances, and Carter volunteered to go and check on her; leaving Alex and Claire to baby-sit May and Stu.
"Alright kids, get inside the church gates." Alex said, smiling slightly as if to show that they weren't in trouble. "We better keep you safe until Carter comes back."
"Okay, Mr. Doctor!" Both kids chorused, running energetically inside the gates and into a small garden.
Claire followed the kids with her view, smiling as Stu picked up a flower and gave it to May. "Those two are just adorable."
"Yes, they are." Alex agreed, nodding and walking beside her to see them better.
"Why did you send them inside?" She asked, turning her face to the right to see him.
He smiled shyly. "I've never baby-sitted anyone, and well, I wouldn't want to loose the children on my first try."
Claire laughed and shook her head. "Come on, Al. You're a natural."
"Really?" He asked, giving her a quizzical look. "You think so?"
"Yeah, you'll be a great father someday." She smiled, looking at him straight in the eye.
He didn't know why, but when she said that, a blush came instantly toward his cheeks. He hadn't thought about his future with a family, just about the future on his career. He could see himself finding the cure for many diseases, many people getting the benefits of his hard work; but he never imagined his life with a family of his own.
Suddenly, images of himself sitting on a rocking chair with two small toddlers came into his view. The slightly older version of him was reading a story, smiling as the young children laughed. He wanted to see more of his new imaginary family, perhaps the mother.
The little girl on his lap didn't give him much of a clue, since she looked like an exact replica of him, except in girl version. On the other side there was a young boy, who had his face buried on the book while laughing.
He woke from his daydream and realized that he got quiet for a little too long, and to evade any questioning about his thoughts he quickly said: "Yeah, maybe someday."
Claire raised an eyebrow, noticing how fast those words came out, but shrugged it off. She smiled again and looked behind her, where Carter returned with a teary eyed Karen. They walked passed them and straight into the supermarket, apparently they where still a few things to settle there.
"Are you sure everything will be fine there?" Claire asked Alex worriedly.
He nodded softly, and explained how it was often that they argued. It was something that the whole village got used to by now. The supermarket had been loosing clients, causing the family to stress easily.
"But… how is it that it's loosing clients? They sell the food and important things there." Claire asked after a while.
Alex thought for a while and shrugged. "I guess people seem to gain interest on going to the city, so they try to save as much money as they can, meaning they spend less, meaning-"
"Less clients." Claire finished, smiling. "Still, they sell seeds, so they have a loyal costumer here."
Alex laughed slightly, and gave the supermarket's door a quick glance. "Carter is very helpful to them. He's always trying to keep them calm."
Claire nodded and changed her view to Stu, who had a dragonfly on his hand and was placing it gently on the other side of the garden. He walked back to May with a smile. "Is that better?"
The small girl nodded with a smile. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome." He smiled, and continued to play with her.
Alex turned around just in time to see Stu put the bug away. "What where you doing, Stu?"
The young boy looked up, slightly worried. "I was just putting that bug over there, because it was scaring May, Mr. Doctor."
Alex nodded and smiled. "Make sure to wash your hands."
Claire laughed softly, as she observed Alex and the way he got along with kids. Stu and May ran into the church to wash their hands, before Alex could continue with his long speech of the dangers of bacteria and germs. He seemed to be okay with it, and turned to Claire with a smile.
"I didn't mean to scare them with the microscopic wonders." He laughed, knowing perfectly well why they ran inside. He walked toward the gate and smiled when he saw Carter, who himself had a smile too.
"I assume everything went well?" Alex asked, looking curiously at the older man.
He nodded with a smile. "Yes, they are all concerned of the emotional damage they've caused on each other and are sorry for it."
"That's good to hear." Claire interrupted from Alex side, smiling. After a while of talking about what happened, May and Stu came out of the church laughing. They looked at Carter and waved, smiling brightly.
"Well, Carter, we'd better get going." Alex smiled after a while, saying goodbye to everyone. "Come on, Claire. Let's go get those seeds."
She nodded and followed him to the store, where the atmosphere was quiet and calm. Jeff was the only one there, on the counter. He looked up from a book he was reading and smiled, welcoming them politely.
Alex walked toward Jeff and engaged a conversation while Claire picked up some seed bags. She frowned slightly and raised her eyebrow when she noticed that they didn't have any names on them, but where classified by colors.
They both seemed to notice, because Alex smiled slightly and walked beside her. "Need any help?"
She only nodded while laughing. "Yeah, I'm completely lost."
Jeff looked over his counter and checked a list. "I strongly suggest the cucumbers if you plan to keep harvesting. If you need quick cash, the turnips will be the best choice."
"Yes, sir. I understand that, but which is which?" Claire asked with a shrug, pointing to all the bags.
"White are turnips, dark green are the cucumbers girl." He smiled, and looked down at his list. "The brown are potatoes and the other green are grass seeds, perfect for fodder."
"I'll take one turnip and one cucumber bag, please." Claire smiled, picking up the bags and walking toward Jeff.
She paid and walked out with Alex, reading a piece of paper that explained how to properly plant them. When they where done reading it, they where on the farm already. Alex walked up to the forgotten tools and picked up the hoe, then found his way to a weed free patch of soil.
"How about here?" He asked, looking at Claire.
She had picked up the watering can and was walking toward the river to fill it up. "Okay, its perfect there."
And once again, the farming in team started. A doctor and a city girl, both not knowing really what they where doing, and yet learning together. A very nice way to pass the time, get their minds out of their troubles and getting to know each other. A wonderful thing for a wonderful friendship.