~Alyce/Faelyn~

Our shopping trip had been pretty successful. Rian had decided on a split theme, wanting the ceiling and top quarter of his walls to be the night sky and the rest of his walls to look like the forest. So we had picked up all kinds of paint, including some glow in the dark and black light reactive paint to make that happen. We had also found the perfect forest green rug to go on his floor.

We had ordered furniture made from logs of trees that had, had to come down for one reason or another and were repurposed into furniture rather than trees being harvested just for the sake of furniture. The furniture would take a couple weeks to even come in, much less be delivered, as it was all made to order and ours was a larger order, so it worked out perfectly.

His mattress was ordered and would be held and delivered with furniture. We had found some wall decor and four sets of sheets. Two in a galaxy theme and two in a forest theme so he could switch them out as he liked and still match his theme.

Mat and Will had been sure to keep an eye on Kami, Rian and I. More Will than Mat at times, as he just couldn’t help himself when Rian wanted his opinion on something, he had an idea to share, or spotted something he wanted to show Rian.

“Mommy?” Rian was looking up at me, as he held a circular shelf with images of the planets on it, and another single shelf with hooks on the mounting board under the display shelf.

Glancing down at the ones he had, I smiled and canted my head at him. “Yes my little Teine*.”

“Tei-Teine? What’s dat mean, Mama? And can I get both of dese?” Curiosity was evident by the gleam in his eyes.

“It means “fire”. You’re my little fire.” I reached down and tousled his dark strawberry blonde curls, “And yes you may. Let’s get these in the cart.” Mat lifted Rian up, before I could, and Rian put his chosen wall accessories in the cart. He was very much about doing things himself, with just a little help.

*Teine: Tie-ne - (Chen-na)

“Where to next, Aly?” Mat asked as he set a giggling Rian back down on his feet.

“Maybe some decor if we can find any in town, otherwise we can order some online.”

“Sounds like a plan. What kind of decorations do you want, little man?” Mat ruffled Rian’s hair.

“Mmmm, I want some bean bags, and a tree lamp and some space pitures!”

“We best get to work looking then. A tree lamp might be a bit hard to find around here though. We might have to order that online Teine.” I was laughing at his enthusiasm and Mat’s reactions.

“I saw some bean bags on the back wall. Come on little man!” Mat took hold of Rian’s hand and the pair made a bee-line for the area Mat had seen them in.

Kami and I followed along behind them at a more leisurely pace, Will bringing up the rear as he continued to watch all of us.

We spent about another hour in the store, making sure we had everything we needed for Rian’s room, at least everything we could get locally. Kami had made a list on her cell phone of the things we would need to get online.

“All that’s left is to pick up the make-up and supplies for our little covert action plan.” Kami grinned at me as the guys loaded our purchases into the truck. She was entirely way too excited about shopping and I found myself rolling my eyes at her while laughing.

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“I thought you had everything?” I questioned, arching a brow at her.

“I mean, yes, but no. I think the stuff I got is actually too dark for your complexion. I want to get a few things while you’re with me so that I know that it will look realistic.” She gave me an innocent shrug. I was pretty sure she was up to something.

“Some place we can walk to or do we need to load up?” I lifted Rian, settling him on my hip as I gave in and asked Kami about where we needed to go. Rian laid his head on my shoulder and gave a barely perceivable yawn. I knew he was getting tired with all the excitement and I was thankful we were about done with this trip.

“It’s just a couple blocks up. It’s probably easier to walk.” She grinned at me, her eyes twinkling.

“We’ll follow you then.”

I felt a sudden anger rage through me and realized it wasn’t mine. It was Tristans. I took advantage of our brief stop to reach out to him while the guys finished loading things into the truck. It was brief, but Kami questioned me silently when I was done and I just smiled, assuring her that everything was fine.

Kami led the way once the guys had loaded the last of our previous purchases up. She and I walked side by side, with the guys behind and slightly to either side of us. With the pair of them flanking us it was a rather intimidating site, or at least they were. Rian snuggling into my arms did not do much for my intimidation factor, but that was fine by me. I didn’t have much of one to begin with at first sight.

We were soon entering the store Kami had spoken of, as usual, the sales people knew who she was on sight and fawned over her, hoping to earn her favor and a decent commission. Kami was polite in telling them that she was fine and knew what and where the things she was looking for were.

Both the boys tagged along behind us this time as Kami drug me along with her, holding various things up against my face and arms as she matched tones to me. Occasionally she would find herself frustrated as I was paler than anything available.

“Why do I feel like you’re getting more than just the stuff for our ploy?” I arched a brow at her in suspicion.

She smiled sweetly at me. “Why Aly, dear… I would never.”

I laughed, “Liar. You know I’m no good at applying any of this right?”

“I’ll teach you, and we’ll keep it simple. I promise.” She was laughing right along with me.

“Fine, fine. I suppose there will be times it may be handy or even necessary for the basics. Only the basics though. Seriously.” I gave her a stern look, like I thought I could keep her from going overboard in any way, shape or form.

With a squeal of delight she grinned at me. Rian looked at her, scrunching his nose up at her squeal. Clearly he didn’t understand where she was coming from; frankly, that made two of us. We continued our trip through the store, Kami leading the way as she continued to check things against my skin tone before she returned them to their place or put them in the basket she was carrying.

Thankfully she was gracious enough to make it a relatively short trip. By the time we had made it to the check out line she had gotten everything she needed to fake the bruises when Lucian visited as well as eyeliner, mascara, concealer, a handful of various eyeshadow colors and a few lip glosses and lipsticks.

“That seems like more than just the basics Kami…” I gave her a side eyed look of suspicion.

“I covered the bases for all your semi-formal and formal wear that we got. That way when you absolutely must look the traditional part, we have it covered.” She insisted as she grinned at me.

“Uh-huh. Sure.” I wasn’t convinced, but I let it go as I slid Tristan’s card in the POS device. I was trying to ignore the total on the digital display that was facing us. I would never spend that kind of money on myself, but Kami had valid points as long as she didn’t get out of hand with it.

The sales clerk bagged our items and Mat took the bag from her as I put Tristan’s card back in my pocket. We thanked the sales clerks and headed out with our stuff.

“Home now, yes? I know Rian is tired, and I am so ready to be done shopping.” I was pretty sure Rian was half asleep on my shoulder at this point.

“I am not sweepy…” Rian protested, yawning again. Less discreetly this time.

“Yes, home now. Little guy is clearly tuckered.” Mat chuckled as Rian continued to fight sleep.

It didn’t take us long to reach the truck and put our newest bags with the other purchases from today. I settled Rian into his seat and secured him in it before settling in beside him. Kami climbed in on his other side and Mat took the passenger seat, letting Will drive home. We were out of town and on the way home within minutes. Rian was out cold not long after.