A Mom in Middle School

The Pink Dress

Most days, when I thought about putting Opal up for adoption, I felt upset. Today I was feeling giddy and jumpy as I walked into the Kmart with Janet. Josie was there with us too. Even back then, the lights were flickering, some parts of the floor were cracked, and it was looking like it needed a lot of help to get back on its feet.

"I'm gonna go look at the Littlest Pet Shop stuff!" Josie said, running towards the pink and purple toy aisle.

After the place went under in 2012, a local tycoon bought it and turned it into our only local nightclub. That toy aisle was right where the main dance floor was, and where drunkenly stumbled into Abbie, causing us both to fall and her arm to break. It was a great night up until the ambulance came.

Anyway, Josie ran off to the toy section to look at her plastic bobblehead animal things, while Janet and I took our shopping cart towards the baby section. We went over to the girls side, where everything was filled with glitter and ruffles.

"How about this one?" I said, pulling a purple dress off the nearest rack.

Janet giggled. "That's for a two-year-old. Do you want her to have it when she's older?"

"Nah," I said, putting the dress back.

"Come on, let's go this way," Janet said.

There was a circular rack with sets of outfits. They were the kind with no legs and the diaper snaps at the bottom.

"I don't think I really want these. I want to get her something nice," I said.

"But onesies are really practical. She'll get a lot of use out of these, and they come in four packs so there's different options!" Janet said, holding up a set of pink and white ones with cats and flowers on them.

"I just want her to have something really special. How about...this?" I said, finding an adorable pink dress with ribbons on it. "I think we're done. This is it. This is the one!"

"Aww, that's so cute!" Janet said, holding the bottom of the dress. "But this is a newborn size, Ros."

"Huh? What does that mean?" I asked.

She giggled. "Babies grow, you know."

I looked at her, totally embarrassed. I didn't realize there were all these different sizes. I just kinda thought there was, you know, the "baby size" and that was it.

"How about this one, three to six months? Newborns grow out of their clothes so fast. If you get this size, she'll be able to get more use out of it."

"Sure," I said. I was about to toss it into the cart when I saw the price tag and stopped myself.

"What's wrong?" Janet asked.

"Twenty bucks for one little dress?" I asked.

"Certain clothes are pricey. It's a nice dress."

"But I only brought fifteen bucks with me—"

"Okay, and? I'll cover the extra five dollars. Don't worry about it. Just toss it in the cart."

I smiled and placed the dress gently in the cart. I didn't want it to get wrinkled.

We finished getting the rest of our household items, like the toilet paper, paper towels, and every other boring thing I didn't care about. We had a full cart of stuff, and when we went back over to the toy aisle, Josie was still staring at the colorful boxes with the bobblehead animals. She was holding two of them, her head going back and forth, back and forth between each one.

She looked up when she saw us and said, "Sorry! I can't figure out which one I want!"

I looked over at the two boxes. One was a boston terrier that was labeled "special edition," and the other was a blue fish with a surfboard.

"Oh, you should definitely get the fish! You don't have any at all that are fish," Janet said.

Josie groaned. "But this one is a special edition though."

"It's a plastic dog," I said.

"A special edition plastic dog...but I'd really like to add some variety to my sets," she said, holding up the fish box.

"Josie, I swear, Opal is pressing on my bladder and I don't want to use the nasty bathrooms here. Pick the damn fish and let's go!" I said.

"Ros, keep up with that attitude and you'll be staying home while we all go out for ice cream after dinner," Janet said, her voice stern.

I huffed, Josie threw the fish box into the cart, and we went up to the checkout line. Janet paid for our household stuff, and I chipped in for Opal's dress. The cashier could see me eyeing it, so she put it in its own separate bag for me to hold.

We walked out to the car, and I couldn't stop looking at the dress as I held it close to me. I was so glad I picked out something to give my baby girl. I hoped she'd cherish that dress as much as I did.