My mate ended up finding some hoodies he liked. They would be good for the cold days, but there weren’t that many of them this time of year.
We wove through the store and he managed to find a few shirts, and a sweater. I tried to encourage him to get some pants too,but he said he didn’t want any of that “weird elastic around his belly”, and he was just gonna stick with his rubber band button trick.
We paid for our purchases and I had Heston wait for me as I tossed the clothes in the car. No need for him to waddle around more than necessary.
We had looked online to see what we wanted for the nursery and checked out a couple of box stores, but this one next to the paternity store was a mom-and-pop place and both of us were excited to see what they had. The second we walked in, I could see how different it was. It had sweet music playing, everything out on display instead of floor to ceiling boxes, and was organized beautifully.
“It looks like they have some great stuff here,” I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers.
“Maybe we can find what we need.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “I have a good feeling about this place.
I did too.
We walked around, looking at all the furniture first. They had dressers and changing tables and rocking chairs. But what intrigued me the most was the array of cribs they stocked. They had wooden ones, metal ones, and a bunch that changed into more practical furniture as the kids got older. They even had a round one, but I didn’t see the use of that.
“Oh, I see you have good taste.” A salesman walked up to us. I had a feeling no matter what we were looking at, it showed we had good taste. Anything to make a sale.
“That collection is made by a local craftsman, each one done by hand.” He reached over, pulled up a flier and handed it to us. “And depending upon the timing, he can also do some custom work. All of the information is there, and in stock, we have these three wood choices.” He tapped on the paper, “The rest would need to be custom ordered. He’s quite popular.”
We thanked him, and after we strongly hinted, he went away.
“It looks like the crib turns into a bed,” I noted. “Do you like it?”
Heston walked around it in a circle. “Yeah, I really do. It’s got personality.”
“Then we should get it. Do you think it limits our themes?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It should be fine for either.”
We’d decided we were going to do a wolves or an artist theme for the nursery. Both were a bit on the nose, but we still loved them and depending on what we found, we might be able to combine them.
We wrote down the numbers of the different pieces that we wanted to give to the salesperson, and then wandered around the rest of the store, Heston still holding my hand as we moved from section to section.
I could see his excitement increase the more we explored. The initial hesitation he had about paternity clothes was fading away, replaced by a growing joy at picking out things for the nursery we were planning. It was infectious.
“Look at this,” I said, pulling a tiny onesie from the rack. “It has little wolf paw prints all over it. Perfect for our theme.”
Heston chuckled, “That’s adorable. I think they’ll love it.”
From there we went to the linens where we found sheets that had a beautiful forest pattern, some hooded towels with little wolf ears, and a rug, which was designed to look like an enchanted forest.
Next was the fun section: toys. Stopping at the stuffed animals, we found some wolves.
Our last stop was the area with the curtains and wall decals.
“We could piece something together to make a mural,” Heston leaned against my side. “Or we could hire an artist.” He side-eyed me. “You’re an artist.” He walked around to face me. “What about that?”
“Yes, you could hire me.”
“Oh, and what are your rates?” He looked up at me and licked his lips.
“Oh, you know, the normal: lots and lots of money or a sweet kiss.” I winked.
“Never mind,” He kissed my cheek then whispered in my ear, “I was offering to pay with things that are not what anybody would call sweet.” He nibbled on my ear lobe. “I was thinking of a more naughty payment.”
“I think an agreement could be made.” I rubbed my cheek against his.
Chapter 37
