[Kitsumi]

Rebecka & Annabelle

It was a good thing that the grocery store wasn't too far from their home. After a long day in the bakery, both women had been eager to get out in the fresh air, even if only for the short duration of the fifteen minute walk. Although they both knew that it was going to make things just a tad more difficult on the way home, since they would be carrying groceries, they were confidant that they could accomplish the task with the three pairs of hands they had.

"Oh look, Sam!" Rebecka held up a flyer for the grocery store as they walked through the parking lot. "Your favorite shaving cream is on sale. We should stock up. I think I have a coupon, too!"

[1]

[Jedi]

Samuel Michaelis

Sam looked at the flier as it was still in Rebecca's hand. "That's great! And the can I have now it running low." He felt around his chin and lower face. The scruffy hair had been growing faster over the years. "Although I'm thinking maybe I should just let it grow out. Would you like that?" Seeing that it was only fifty cents cheaper, he thought it might get cheaper if he waited. "But what was it we needed to get again?" He tried to think of their reason for coming here. Was it for baking needs, or groceries for home? Samuel held the door for his wife and daughter as they approached the entrance.

[Kitsumi]

"Thank you, dear," Rebecka murmured in response to her husband's chivalry before responding to his question. "If you want to grow out your facial hair, I'll support you. But I don't know if I can get used to your scruffy kisses." She laughed, kissing his cheek. "I wanted to get a few baking supplies to try out some recipes at home before implementing them into the shop."

Annabelle walked backwards in front of her parents so that she could face them while speaking. "And don't forget my school supplies! I have a list right here," she held up the bright pink sheet of paper. "Could I maybe get a new backpack this year too? Please, daddy?"

[2]

[Jedi]

Samuel smiled as his wife kissed him. He didn't think he'd like a beard either, so he decided he'd continue shaving. His face gave away his surprise at forgetting what they'd come for. In his head, Sam was thanking her for reminding him. "That's what I'd forgotten." As she held up the sheet, he reached to take it. Scanning the list, he found everything in order. Again, he smiled and said to her, "That sounds perfectly fine, Annie." A cart was pulling out behind her, so he quickly tried to warn her. "Look where you're going, honey."

[Kitsumi]

Of course, Annabelle wasn't paying any attention. By the time her father warned her, it was too late. She backed into the cart, causing it to roll backwards over someone's foot. "Hey, watch where you're going!" The woman whose foot had been run over scowled. Annabelle nearly offered her a sheepish smile and an apology. "Oops, sorry about that! Maybe you should take better care of your cart, though."

"Annabelle!" Her mother scolded her. The woman simply muttered under her breath and stalked away angrily. Rebecka sighed. "You need to be more polite. And no more walking backwards, understand?" She turned to Sam. "Could you get us a cart please?"

[3]

[Jedi]

"Certainly," he said, walking away from the two. Only a few meters away, he stood in front of the long lines of carts ready to be used. They were the type of cart you needed a quarter in order to use. Reaching around in his pocket, he pulled out an old quarter and used it to free the cart from it's locked chain. Returning to his family, he continued to smile, hoping it would diffuse the mild frustration. "Alright Annabelle, just make sure you meet us near the checkout counters. Okay?"

[Kitsumi]

"Okay, dad!" Annabelle waved to her parents, and then darted through the doors leading into the store. It was obvious that she didn't care how reckless her speed was.

Rebecka chuckled as she watched her daughter go. "I don't know where she gets all the energy. I'm exhausted after running the bakery." She linked her arm through her husband's. "Let's check out the spices first. I'd like to get some Cinnamon, among other things."

[4]

[Jedi]

Nodding was all he needed to do to confirm their destination. They traveled past three rows before going down  one of them. Sam and Rebecca found themselves standing before twelve shelves of spices, name and store brand. Holding a different brand of nutmeg in each hand, he contemplated between them aloud. Luckily, he was speaking quiet enough that only his wife could hear him. "This brand is cheaper, but doesn't usually have as good quality as this one. They have the same amount, so that doesn't really matter. What do you think, dear?"

[Kitsumi]

Although she had been distracted by the cinnamon, Rebecka turned towards her husband when he held up the different brands of nutmeg. "Honey, you should know by now that I like quality ingredients." She reached out to take the more expensive nutmeg and placed it in the cart. "Besides, with all the money that's been coming in, we can afford to splurge on better ingredients. I doubt people would keep paying as much for my baked goods if the ingredients were only of moderate quality." As she spoke, she grabbed a container of cinnamon sticks and added it to the cart.

[5]

[Jedi]

Samuel had to remember that they weren't living off of his inheritance anymore. They were actually making money, and plenty of it now. The money they had been using from it was put into the bakery during the early years of Annabelle's life, but the past decade they had managed to live solely off the profit of their small pastry shop.

When they had all the spices they needed, Samuel recommended various other ingredients they were running low on in their own home. "Alright, I think that's all we need here. I believe we're running low on eggs, and we're out of milk and butter. That's in the last aisle, in the dairy section." He pushed the cart with one hand, locking arms with her once again.

[Kitsumi]

The cart wasn't quite filling up, since the bottles of spices were small, but they already had almost all of the items on their list. Luckily, Sam had a good memory and helped fill in the blanks that Rebecka had forgotten. "Ah, thank you for the reminder," she said. She leaned in to press a light kiss to his cheek. "Let's go ahead and get those now. Hopefully Annie is nearly done getting everything she needs for school." The likelihood was that their daughter was still shopping. She had a nearly endless source of energy, and shopping was something she enjoyed perhaps a bit too much.

[6]

[Jedi]

Samuel led his wife and their cart to the last aisle. Once there, he pulled a gallon of Grade-A Milk from the fridge. He also pulled a few dozen eggs from the refrigerated shelves next to the milk, making sure he was grabbing the large sized cartons. Along with the butter, he added some graded cheese, croutons and frozen vegetables to the cart. "I'm thinking we should add a salad to dinner tonight," he said as he placed them in the cart. "Alright. Should we head up to the checkout, or am I missing anything?"

[Kitsumi]

"That sounds nice," Rebecka replied absentmindedly. She was looking at the yogurt section, suddenly having a strong craving for strawberry yogurt. She grabbed a large tub of it and added that to the cart. "I've been wanting some of that," she said, before Sam could ask about it. "Oh, if we're doing salad we should get some dressing. Which reminds me, I wanted to get some marinade for tomorrow's dinner. After we get those, I should be about done."

[7]

[Jedi]

In agreement, Samuel walked the meter and a half towards the dressing. In one hand, he grabbed two dressings for the salad. He placed the Ranch and Italian dressings in the cart, knowing that was what suited the three of them as far a dressings. In his other hands, he had grabbed two different kinds of marinates. "Which do you think you'd like to try?" He moved the brown sugar bourbon to his left, while keeping the lemon pepper in his right. Samuel displayed them at eye level for her to choose between them.

[Kitsumi]

Rebecka was glad to see that Samuel had been paying attention to the small things, like the types of salad dressings she usually picked up. When he held up two different marinades, she pointed to the one held in his left hand. "Brown sugar bourbon is probably the best thing I've ever tasted. It's the one I used for pork chops a couple of weeks ago when Annie had a friend over. Remember? Everyone seemed to really like it." She took it from him and placed it in the cart. "Do you think that Annie is done?"

[8]