Our Boys

The Shopping Trip

The store was a large, confusing place. JJ and Simon were pretty much starting from scratch with their new little one. The closest they'd ever come to dealing with a child so young was with Joe Davis, but they'd never actually taken care of him long term or bought things for him.

With nervous hearts, the men settled the young boy into a shopping trolley, and ventured into the first department: children's clothes. Simon pushed the trolley while JJ and Harry travelled alongside. The group stopped in front of a rack of t-shirts.

Harry immediately zeroed in on a bright green one with The Hulk on it. He held it up for all to see. "How about this one?" he suggested eagerly.

Simon blinked, fearing he might go blind from the colors, then glanced down at his passenger. The look on the youngster's face said it all. Absolute horror. JJ snickered at the child's reaction.

"Um, Harry, I don't think that is exactly the little guy's taste. Maybe a little too bright," JJ told him, careful to not hurt the elder boy's feelings.

Harry blinked, looked at the shirt, at the boy in the trolley, then back to the shirt. "Really? Huh. I love it!"

"We know Harry, you have one just like it in your wardrobe," Simon reminded him.

Harry grinned as he returned the shirt to the rack. "Oh yeah! I knew I liked it for a reason."

JJ addressed the child they were shopping for, "What about you? See any shirts here you'd like?"

The boy carefully scrutinized the rack of shirts covered with cartoon and comic book characters, soon wrinkling his nose in distaste and shaking his head no.

JJ sighed, this was going to be harder than he thought. "Alright then...." he grabbed a plain white t-shirt off a nearby rack. "How about this one?"

After a moment, the small boy gave a short nod.

JJ grinned excitedly. "Good! We'll take several of these then," he proclaimed as he held the shirt up to the boy for size comparison.

After going through a majority of the department, they managed to agree on several different kinds of tops, including some hoodies, some long sleeve t-shirts, and a couple button up shirts. After rejecting several pairs of trousers, the youngster allowed them to add a couple pairs of jeans and trackies, plus some shorts. He had absolutely refused any skinny jeans. After ten minutes of arguing about how all the boys had some, JJ and Simon had little choice but to give in.

In sleepwear, the group managed to pick out several shirt and short pairs, a few longer pyjamas for when it got cooler, and two onesies for when it got really cold. They also picked up some fuzzy green frog slippers that had caused the boy's eyes to light up when he saw them.

The bath section was next so, while Harry and the timid boy picked out some bath toys, as Simon and JJ had insisted, the two men picked out the other bath time necessities. Simon made certain to find a soft tap cover, to prevent injuries, while JJ found kid shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel. Simon stocked up on bubble bath and and a set of children's combs and brushes that would be better with those baby-fine locks than anything they currently had at home.

"Ok, now what?" Simon questioned as they paused just outside of the bath section.

JJ gave him a grin and pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Made up a list of a few things I've come across that we've needed but didn't have. Harry, you're going to be our scout and help us find what we need. First off," JJ glanced at the short list, "a booster seat for the table, so the little guy doesn't have to sit on phone books anymore."

Simon definitely approved of that item. Having the boy precariously perched on those Yellow Pages always made him nervous. "Find one with straps, to make sure he doesn't fall out."