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Chapter 4
Katie sighed as she plopped on the couch, pulled out her phone and started scrolling through social media, but quickly decided that was a bad plan. There was scary stuff happening in the world and she didn't have the emotional strength to deal with it at the moment. She opened her email and smiled instantly when she saw there was a sale on Build-a-Bears. She'd been eyeing a rainbow lion, just waiting for the right time to order.
"Now's as good a time as any," she said as she went to the website and began to shop.
"Katie, what do you want on your pizza?" Rose asked from the kitchen.
"Lotsa cheese and not lotsa sauce," she answered as she scrolled, trying to make a decision on what outfit her new lion was going to come home in.
"You got it, sweetheart," Rose answered from close behind her. "What are you up to over here?"
"Shoppin'."
"I see. And is this an approved shopping trip?"
"Yeah," Katie answered without really thinking about it. Jeff very rarely told her no when it came to buying herself stuff, but they did usually discuss it first. He was her head of household and that's how she liked it. She made a note to send him a message before she submitted the order.
"Okay." Rose kissed the top of her head. "Have fun."
Deciding her phone screen was too small to really see the outfits and accessories well, Katie grabbed her laptop and went to her room. She laid on her tummy on the bed and opened the website.
"Well, that's better," she told the empty room. "Okay, lion, what's your name going to be?" she mused, looking at the rainbow lion's sweet face. "Cubby," she decided. "Now Cubby, what do you wanna wear?"
She clicked on the outfits tab. "You'll definitely need something sparkly to accent your colors. Oh, and some pajamas so you can be comfy when you sleep." She searched for the two different outfits and added them to the cart. "What if you have to go to work, though? Do you work at the police station like Daddy? I think a lion would make a good police officer. Lions are brave."
She added that to the cart and then something else caught her eye. "Well, you can't very well not have a bathing suit. Daddy promised we would go to the beach this summer and you'll need something to swim in. Oh, and a towel."
Katie kept right along clicking and choosing outfits she thought Cubby might need and even added a suitcase for him to have a place to keep his wardrobe. He was going to be one spoiled and stylish lion.
"Lunch is ready," Rose called.
Without paying any attention Katie hit the ‘order now’ button and closed her computer. She skipped out to the kitchen feeling like a million bucks. She couldn't wait until her new stuffy got there. Cubby was going to be the perfect addition to the Summers family.
"Did you spend $300 at Build-a- Bear?"Jeff's text pinged just as Katie was finishing the yummy pizza Rose and Noah had made.
"Shit," she whispered, forgetting she was not alone.
"That's a no-no word," her little snitch of a son announced loudly, and Katie's attention snapped from her phone to Noah and then to Rose.
"It certainly is," Rose agreed.
"Sorry, I forgot to do something and was caught by surprise," Katie explained. "Still no reason to use that word," she added quickly, hoping to placate Rose. Rose wouldn't scold her in front of the kids, but she could tell by the look in her Auntie's eyes that this was not the end of the conversation.
"Is everything okay?" Rose asked, gesturing to the phone.
"Yeah, I just forgot to talk to Jeff about my shopping venture, that's all."
"Is that so?" Rose's question was ominous and Katie's full tummy rolled with nerves. "Why don't you finish up there and I'll put the kids down for a nap."
The kids were her buffer and Katie knew that Rose putting them down put her butt in the danger zone. She also knew there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
"Give Mommy a kiss, buddy, it's nap time," Rose said to Noah as she cleaned up Claire and took her out of her high chair.
"Already?" Noah whined. "We just woke up."
Rose shook her head. "No whining. You did not 'just wake up'. You’ve been awake for almost six hours. Chop chop, little boys need sleep so they can grow big and strong. You want to be big and strong, don't you?"
Katie almost rolled her eyes because she had heard that same line in some form or another aimed at her more times than she cared to admit.
