Chapter Four “The Grocery Store Incident”
870 Words
By some miracle, Daniel managed to finish work early.
Mostly because he scared everyone in the office by yelling, “If anybody schedules another meeting today, I will personally disappear.”
Now exhausted, he stood in the daycare center watching tiny sleeping Lucy in the nanny’s arms.
“She was good today,” the nanny whispered.
Daniel looked suspicious. “Are you sure this is the same baby?”
The nanny laughed softly while handing Lucy over.
The second Lucy rested against his chest, she snuggled deeper into him peacefully.
Daniel froze for half a second.
“…Okay, that was kinda cute.”
Next stop: school.
Big mistake.
The moment Lois and Lorraine climbed into the car, Daniel immediately knew something was wrong.
They were vibrating.
“DADDY!” Lorraine screamed.
“WE HAD THE BEST LUNCH EVER!” Lois shouted.
“Oh no.”
The girls were practically bouncing off the seats.
“ICE CREAM IS AMAZING!”
Daniel slowly remembered what he packed them.
“…I may have created a problem.”
By the time they got home, the sugar rush had evolved into pure madness.
Pillows were flying.
Lorraine was singing at full volume.
Lois attempted a cartwheel and crashed into the couch.
Daniel stood in the middle of the living room holding sleeping Lucy while staring at the disaster around him.
The house looked like a cyclone had signed a lease there.
He inhaled slowly.
“Okay,” he said firmly. “Everybody clean.”
The girls blinked at him.
“No.”
Daniel pointed toward the backyard dramatically. “Fine. Go play in the garden before I lose consciousness.”
The girls ran outside immediately.
Meanwhile, Daniel carefully placed Lucy into the tiny crib near the living room couch.
She stayed asleep.
“Thank you, tiny human.”
For the next thirty minutes, Daniel cleaned like a man fighting for survival.
Toys.
Blankets.
Tiny shoes.
A spoon in the flower vase for some reason.
Finally finished, he wiped sweat from his forehead and opened the fridge proudly.
Empty.
Absolutely empty.
Daniel stared inside like food might magically appear.
“Girls!” he yelled.
Lois and Lorraine came running in.
“We need groceries.”
Immediately:
“NOOOO!”
“We don’t wanna go!”
Daniel narrowed his eyes.
“Okay then. I’ll just leave you both alone with Lucy.”
The girls gasped.
“…We’ll go.”
Ten minutes later, Daniel had changed clothes.
Gone was the expensive CEO suit.
Now he wore a fitted deep-blue T-shirt, black denim pants, sneakers, and the exhausted expression of a father hanging onto life by a thread.
Lucy was strapped safely against his chest in a baby carrier, sleeping peacefully.
Lois held one hand.
Lorraine held the other dramatically like she was being kidnapped.
At the grocery store, people kept staring.
One woman whispered to her husband while smiling.
“Look at him. He’s taking care of all his kids.”
Her husband scoffed quietly. “I could do better.”
“No way,” the woman argued. “Look at him carrying the baby in front like that. It’s adorable.”
Daniel overheard them while grabbing cereal.
“You don’t know HALF of what I’m going through,” he muttered while walking past.
The woman burst out laughing.
At first, things went surprisingly well.
The girls grabbed snacks.
Daniel picked vegetables nobody would eat.
Lucy stayed asleep.
For one beautiful moment, peace existed.
Then Lois looked around.
“…Daddy?”
Daniel was distracted comparing pasta brands. “Yeah?”
“Where’s Lorraine?”
Silence.
Daniel slowly turned.
“What?”
Lois blinked innocently. “Lorraine’s missing.”
Daniel’s soul left his body.
“WAIT, LORRAINE IS MISSING?!”
Instant panic.
Daniel rushed aisle after aisle carrying Lucy while Lois struggled to keep up.
“Lorraine!” he whisper-yelled aggressively.
Nothing.
Then Lois gasped dramatically.
“She’s probably in the toy section.”
Daniel shook his head immediately. “No. No, she wouldn’t—”
They turned the corner.
There she was.
Standing proudly in the toy aisle holding the biggest doll in the entire store.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Of course.”
“Daddy,” Lorraine said sweetly, “I want her.”
“No.”
“But Daddy—”
“No.”
“I LOVE HER!”
“No.”
And just like that…
The tantrum began.
Lorraine dropped to the floor screaming like she had been denied oxygen itself.
Customers turned immediately.
Lucy woke up.
And started crying.
Lois covered her ears dramatically.
“DADDY, YOU’RE NOT COOL ANYMORE!”
“OH MY GOD,” Daniel whispered to the ceiling.
Lorraine rolled on the floor.
Lucy screamed louder.
Lois started yelling because “the baby is too loud.”
Daniel looked seconds away from evaporating.
“Okay!” he shouted finally. “I’LL BUY THE STUPID DOLL!”
Instant silence.
Lorraine stood up immediately. “Okay 😊”
Daniel stared at her in betrayal.
Lucy was still crying.
Lois was still yelling.
The cashier looked terrified.
And somewhere deep in Daniel’s imagination…
The heavens opened.
A voice echoed from above:
“I hate you, Daniel.”
Daniel looked upward slowly.
“…Fair.”
- Writer
