Nineteen | Sam
Nineteen
Sam
“D on’t you think you’re going a little overboard on stuff for Cassidy?” I said, frowning as Avery added another set of scented candles to the shopping cart.
“She’s my best friend, and she’s been doing a lot for me lately by helping out with Kennedy.”
Avery had been acting weird ever since she hung up with my sister. Not only did she get two packs of tape and seven rolls of wrapping paper, she was adding an endless amount of crap to the shopping cart that Cassidy definitely didn’t need.
She took off down the next aisle, scanning the scarf and glove sets before I stepped in and blocked her.
“Avery, stop.”
She looked surprised as her eyes struggled to focus on me and not the display behind me.
“I need to finish my shopping,” she insisted. “It was your idea that we did this, remember?”
“Yes. I suggested going shopping and getting stuff for Kennedy while you were able to without having to worry about hiding anything from her. What you’re doing is guilt buying a ton of random shit for my sister, who doesn’t need any of it.”
She opened her mouth to speak but then stopped.
“Does Cassidy know about us?” I asked, stepping closer to her.
She nodded and then began chewing her lower lip.
“Okay.” I stepped to the side and began grabbing stuff from the cart to put back.
“Sam! Don’t! I need that stuff,” she insisted, trying to block me.
“No, baby. You don’t.” I gently pinched her chin between my fingers to force her to look at me. “I don’t care about what Cassidy thinks, and you shouldn’t either. There’s also no need to get her all of this stuff just because you’re hooking up with her brother.”
“What if she’s mad at me for it?”
“Did she sound mad?”
“I don’t know. Kennedy came into the room right as she said it, so she said she had to go. What if she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore because of this?”
“Then she’s stupid, and you deserve better friends.”
“Sam, she’s your sister!”
“I know. And out of everyone, I have the right to call her stupid. It’s a brotherly privilege.”
“That’s not helping anything.”
“And neither is this,” I said, pointing to the shopping cart full of stuff. “Avery, if she can’t be happy for you, then that’s her problem. If she doesn’t want to be your friend because we hooked up, that’s also her problem. But there is absolutely no reason for you to spend this kind of money on trying to suck up to her. Spend it on Kennedy, and whatever you have leftover, spend that on yourself.”
“I don’t like people to be mad at me,” she said sadly. “Especially Cassidy. She’s my best friend.”
“I know. And if I know my sister, she was more surprised by the news than mad. Give her some time; then you guys can talk about it.”
“I’m supposed to go shopping with her this weekend at the Frosty Fest. I’m hoping we have a chance to talk before then because I don’t want it to ruin the day. Do you want to come with us?”
“I wish I could, but I’ll be running the Sugarplum Lattes booth there. But I’m glad you guys are going. It’s really fun, and Kennedy will love the reindeer. They always have them in a pen after the parade so the kids can go feed them. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there too, so you can take Kennedy to see them.”
She nodded, but I could still see the wheels in her mind going a mile a minute. I took the opportunity while she was distracted and started putting most of the stuff she’d picked for Cassidy back.
“What else did you want to look for in here?” I asked, taking over steering the shopping cart.
“Cassidy sent me a list with a few things she said Kennedy wanted. I guess she’s been making notes of the stuff Kennedy sees on TV and wants, which is better than anything I’ve got. She finished her shopping, so she said these items were good to buy.”
“Can I see the list?” I asked, pulling to the side of the aisle so we were out of the way.
“Sure.” She handed her phone to me, and I cringed when I saw the list.
“What?” she demanded, her shoulders slumping and disappointment heavy in her voice. “You already bought these for her, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged and offered her a smile, hoping she still found it somewhat cute.
“I am never going to get my shopping for her done,” she groaned, closing her eyes.
“I’m so sorry. I honestly didn’t even think about it. I just noticed she seemed so excited when she saw them, so I had to grab them.”
“It’s okay.” She sighed heavily and looked into the shopping cart that was now almost empty. “Maybe I should just give up for tonight and try again this weekend. This isn’t going quite as I had hoped.”
“That’s not a terrible idea,” I said, keeping my tone gentle. “Maybe tomorrow night we can sit down and help her write her list to Santa. Unless she’s already done that?”
“Oh my God,” Avery groaned, putting her hand to her head. “I completely forgot about the damn list until now. I’m a terrible mother.”
“You’re not a terrible mother. You’re an overwhelmed human who has a lot on her plate right now. But we can handle this, okay? Let’s go pay for what we have, and then we’ll work on getting a list out of her tomorrow. We can go from there, and I can even send you to run errands while I watch Kennedy so you can sneak out and buy stuff.”
She took a deep breath in and slowly released it.
“Okay. We can make that work.”
I smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as we walked to the front registers to pay for what we had.
“You’re really good at this,” she commented vaguely.
“Shopping?”
“No. Parenting. You’re going to make a wonderful husband and father someday.”