[Kallile]

Obi-----------------Nakira


Tobias------------Jocelyn

This was going to be a disaster. They had really been blown away when Madeline had showed up with a couple kids...and that wasn't all too unexpected. She'd always been the wild one and quite frankly Obi had been shocked that she'd only shown up with two in tow. But this was something entirely different.

These were Xander's kids.

Xander. The 'I can barely talk to a girl and have no idea where babies come from' little boy they had raised. The most put together and stable right after Kyrie. And yet he had shown up with kids by some woman neither of them had ever met.

Despite that revelation that their precious baby boy was now a father himself there was one more thing that was going to make this day a disaster. The kids were now old enough they wanted to stay with grandma and grandpa. Those words tasted like poison in Nakira's mouth and she nearly gagged every time someone said them when speaking to her.

"What is Xander thinking? We haven't had kids in the house since he and his sisters! I don't know what kids eat anymore...or if they eat. Do you eat?" She looked beside her to the two young tikes who both smiled and nodded their heads. "Ok, well at least you eat."

"This will all be fine. We just need to get in and get out, buy like we used to. It'll...be like riding a bike. Probably." Obi frowned at his own words before immediately flashing his wife a smile. "Come on little extended family...let's go and get this trip over with!"

Jocelyn tugged on Obi's hand to go faster and Tobias took off in a beeline for the carts yelling "I can push it!' The pair looked at each other and gulped as they entered the mouth of the beast: the entrance to the local Mego-Mart.

[21][21][1][1]

[Kallile]

"I want strawberries!"

"Ew, gross Jocelyn! Watermelon!"

"Shut up Tobias, strawberries!"

"Hey! Whoa there sluggers. How about some mac n' cheese and PB&J's first, hmm?" Obi finally said as the dueling siblings shoved each other as they fought for dominance over pushing the cart. Nakira reached forward just in time to narrowly avoid playing bumper carts with an old lady. The duo of youngsters looked at each other and cast their grandfather a grin and a nod. Obi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright then. Let's go grab the macaroni first, then some cheese and milk, and then we'll swing by the bread and everything else. Sound good?"

"Yes Grandad!" The two answered in unison as Nakira had a barely hidden convulsion over hearing one of the grandparent terms spoken towards her husband. Obi shook his head with that same old charming crooked smile on his face as he did his best to stay ahead of the cart and steer it clear of certain catastrophe.

[Kallile]

So far so good. The kids were (mostly) cooperating on the quest to get macaroni noodles. Nakira breathed a sigh of relief as she kept one hand in between the grandkids on the cart to keep it steady. This might be alright. They were unified, on a mission. And for a few precious moments there was peace in the little family as both youngsters looked around in awe. That peace was quickly broken by one simple question.

"Alright you two, what kind of noodles?"

As those words left Obi's mouth and the peacefulness of the moment began to unravel instantly, Nakira's word seemed to go in slow motion. Her eye twitched involuntarily as the kids left the cart's side and raced towards the shelves of boxes upon boxes to each grab an armful and begin yelling at each other loudly.

"Colored!" "Shaped!" "Colored!" "Shaped!" "Colored!"

"ENOUGH!" Nakira finally snapped, snatching one box from each child before depositing them roughly into the cart. "We will get both, but only this once. If you two can't get along and work together then there will be no more choices. Your...dad's dad and I will make all the choices and we will have cabbage...and...and...whatever else sounds gross to you! Got it?

Everyone, Obi included, shrunk away nodding.

[Kallile]

Heaving a sigh, the woman gave a sharp nod. "Good, then. Alright, if you two aren't going to get along then we are going to divide and conquer. Tobias, you go with Obi and take the cart. It's both of your jobs to pick out the cheese sauce and some bread. Jocelyn, you're coming with me. We will get the peanut butter and the jelly." She paused and looked as thought she might crack her knuckles just to get her point across to the two children barely school-age. Obi stepped forward again and cleared his throat.

"Well, we do need some breakfast things. Why don't you two pick out some eggs...and Tobias and I will get some syrup and pancake mix?" He offered with a cheesy and hopeful smile to his wife. "And then maybe, if everyone is good, we can all pick out our own special snack. Sound good?"

The children, who had both cowered away from their grandmother, cheered back up and went quickly to their assigned grandparent. Tobias went straight to the cart while Jocelyn ran to take Nakira's hand.

"Alright Paps! Let's go! I bet we find the best food ever to have!"

Looking on as brother and grandfather continues down the isle, Jocelyn looked up hopefully to the woman who was still mid-breakdown. "Um...grand---"se cut herself off at the glare Nakira offered her instantly. "Nakira? May we get a basket? I like carrying the baskets."

[Kallile]

The older woman tried hard to soften her features. It wasn't the kids faults that she wasn't ready to be a grandmother (twice) after all. She nodded softly and offered the best smile she could muster at the moment as she squeezed the little girl's hand slightly. "Yes, Jocelyn, we may go and get a basket. That's very helpful of you."

The child beamed and began skipping as the two backtracked to the nearest checkout and grabbed an abandoned basket near one. Jocelyn did her best to carry the large, empty thing without getting winded and Nakira did her best to walk slowly so her shorter legs could keep up.

"So, peanut butter and jelly. What should we get?"

"Oh! Crunchy...with strawberry jam!" Nakira frowned at this answer, remembering the earlier fight.

"I don't think your brother likes strawberry," she began and continued quickly when disappointment shown on the little girl's face. "But I will make you a deal. If you choose a jelly that your brother would like too, I will let you get strawberries to cut up on your pancakes. Deal?"

With a moment to ponder, Jocelyn slowly nodded her head and returned to her smiling self. "Tobias likes cinnamon apple...and I do too. But only on toast. ...Does that mean I can have toast while he has a sandwich?" Nakira nodded in return this time.

----

"Alright buddy, cheese sauce. Now your...Nakira anad I like things a little spicy, but what do you and your sister like?"

"Extra cheesy!" Tobias answered. Obi raised an eyebrow but didn't question the answer, instead sweeping up a few cans of cheese sauce and placing them in the cart.

"And bread?" he asked as they wheeled the cart to the next row. Tobias scrunched his face.

"Jocelyn likes gross wheat...I like white." Obi nodded slowly and thoughtfully, finally picking out a loaf and holding it before Tobias for inspecting.

"This one is white wheat--it has everything Jocelyn loves but it tastes like white. DO you think we can all agree on that?"

Tobias frowned and crossed his arms, though his eyes stayed focused on the bread. He hated wheat...but Jocelyn did like it a lot.

"I suppose so."

[Kallile]

That settled, Nakira continued on towards the eggs. Jocelyn trotted along with the peanut butter and jelly rolling around awkwardly in her basket. Once they got to the eggs Nakira spotted a rarity that she was sure would be a hit with both kids.

"Jocelyn, have you ever seen real easter eggs?" The child shook her head, but promptly put the basket down so she could stand on tip-toe to try and see what Nakira was talking about. "You mean the painted eggs? Yeah, I've seen those."

Nakira opened a carton to reveal softly colored green, pink, and yellow eggs to earn a squeal from Jocelyn.

"Wow! Why did someone put those in there?"

"Special Roosken's lay them. You don't have to dye them or anything. Would you like to have them for our breakfast one day?" Another squeal of glee answered her question and Nakira tucked them under her arm carefully. "I'll keep them, why don't we go and get your strawberries now?"

----

The pancake run was going much more smoothly than the bread for there was one thing all the Moonbane-Starkiller clan loved: chocolate. Two boxes of pancake mix and a bag of miniature chocolate chips later, Obi and Tobias were now staring down the massive wall of syrup selections.

"So...what now?"

"Ah...well...there's butter flavor. And extra buttery. And strawberry, blueberry, raspberry..."

"Do you think they'd notice if we just didn't get one?" Obi snorted out a laugh.

"Oh yeah. Never keep a girl and her sweets apart. Learn that now for a happy life."

[Kallile]

As Jocelyn heaved and wheezed to carry her basket, she kept an eye on Nakira...which was completely unnerving to the older woman. Finally Nakira stopped and turned around to look at her. "Can I help you with something?"

Jocelyn straightened suddenly, looking a bit bewildered, but she relaxed and answered carefully. "Well...it's just...we get to call Grandpa Obi Paps. Is...why can't we cal you something too?" Nakira was instantly taken aback by the question. Of course the child didn't understand--that thought process was beyond her years and age was little more than an exciting number right now.

"It...makes me feel too old to hear names like that. I don't like it," Nakira answered as carefully as she could. Jocelyn furrowed her little eyebrows.

"Well, then can I make you a name to use? If you don't like the old sounding ones?"

Nakira rolled her eyes a little but smiled despite herself. "I suppose if you found something good enough, then yeah." Jocelyn smiled and continued walking.

"Good, I'll let you know when I have one," she said as she toddled past her grandmother. Nakira simply watched the girl for a moment before following after her, curious.

---

The cart was now looking a little bit...sad. A bottle of each sat in the child's seat as Obi knelt in the aisle-way and Tobias leaned against him. Both looked perplexed, tilting their heads to and fro to try and see things from any different angle that might help.

"Ok, you said you don't like strawberry, so that's gone." Back one bottle went. "And blueberry doesn't go well with chocolate, so that one can go back." Two bottles back, too many more to go.

"Dad likes raspberries...maybe that would taste good?" Tobias offered and Obi shrugged.

"Never have liked berry seeds much myself. Let's put that back too."

[Kallile]

"I've got it!" Jocelyn declared as Nakira tried to select proper strawberries. The berries found themselves in the air in a brief moment of unplanned juggling and Nakira gave her granddaughter a look.

"Do tell," she said as she steadied herself and placed a pack of strawberries in the basket that was now on the floor.

"I'm going to call you N.G.!"

"...N.G.?" Jocelyn beamed and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! It stands for Not Grandma! Or Nakira Grandma...since they both start with the 'n' sound!" She was obviously very proud of her phonics skills and 'brilliant idea. Nakira hated to admit that it...wasn't horrible. N.G. NGee....she could stand that. It was unique and very much not old sounding.

"Alright Jocelyn, I'll accept your terms. N.G. it is."

----

"You know, let's just get buttery. Everyone likes butter, right? I mean sure we're going to put butter on the pancakes but that's why we're not getting extra buttery..." Obi looked beyond frazzled--his hair pulled into spikes in places where he had been pulling as he thought. It seemed little Tobias had been mimicking him, for the boy's hair stood in many of the same ways. Both sighed at once.

"My head hurts Paps...let's just get this one," he said as he stood and plucked the buttery flavored bottle and dropped it into the cart. "I've been good enough to pick out a treat now, haven't I?"

The sound of defeat in both their voices was obvious on a painful level. Obi stood slowly with the help of the cart and leaned forward onto it.

"You've got it buddy. Lead the way to whatever you want."

[Kallile]

"Alright, let's go get you your treat and find your brother and Obi," Nakira paused and glanced down at Jocelyn before mustering up the mental strength to utter the hated nickname. "I mean, your Paps."

Jocelyn had finally relented the basket, now quite heavy, to Nakira's care and held her grandmother's free hand as she skipped along. "Can I get Oreo cookies? And milk? I know that's two things..."

"We need milk at the house anyway, you may get Oreos and we will get milk for home."

---

"Oreos, please." Tobias had seemingly lost all pep to his childish step and slugged along the floor much like Obi; completely drained of all deep thought capabilities for the moment. Obi just nodded and strong-armed the cart towards the cookie aisle.

---

When both parties laid eyes on each other at the cookie section, Obi had never been quite so happy to see his wife before and picked up the pace a little to reach them faster. Both children, likewise, ran to each other and hugged.

"I'm sorry I argued with you Jocelyn!"

"Me too Tobias! But I got to name Nakira! We get to call her N.G.!"

"N.G.?" Obi questioned breathlessly.

"Not Grandma."

"Oooor Nakira Grandma!"

"Let's just get some milk and get the heck outta here."

[Kallile]

With a cart filled with more junk food than they had ever wanted, and two kids finally seeming to enjoy each other's company again, Nakira and Obi exited hand in hand. The kids ran ahead, telling each other all about the rest of their store trips apart from one another. Obi turned to his wife with a sleepy smile.

"So N.G....wasn't having kids in the first place worth this? Granted I don't remember it being that hard with our kids...but you gotta admit it's nice to have some little ones with us again." Nakira rolled her eyes over to her husband but smiled in return.

"Alright, it's not all bad. I'm just not ready for this whole 'spoiling' job a grandparent is supposed to do."

"We spoiled our kids just enough, I think we're allowed to treat their kids just the same. Maybe just a little extra spoiling."

From up ahead a heated argument began and Nakira heaved a sigh.

"You said strawberries were gross! N.G. got them for my pancakes because I got you apple cinnamon jelly!"

"Well I changed my mind! I want to try some of your strawberries!"

Nakira leaned over and gently tapped her forehead against Obi's shoulder.

"...Xander is getting them early tomorrow, right?"

"I truly hope so. I'm getting too old for this."