Heaven Help Us

Christmas Shopping Pt. 1

“Merry Christmas, Ohio!” I yelled into the mic at the end of the set.

The crowd whooped and cheered as we left the stage, some of them yelling for an encore.

It had been our best show in years.

Mom and Dad had left after giving Jeph a few Christmas presents and hugs to everyone.

After some signing and meeting a few fans, I went out to Death To You's tour bus to meet up with Rain.

"Jeph asleep?" I asked as she and Dante came out of the bus.

"No, he saw the end of your set, and then Matt and Damon took him back here. You ready to go shopping?"

This would be my first time Christmas shopping since Rain and I broke up and my first time shopping for Jeph.

"Yeah, I guess. But...what if he doesn't like what I get him? I don't know what he wants!" I could feel panic starting to bubble up in my chest.

Rain put a hand on my shoulder and my eyes snapped over to her.

"Calm down, Andy. Take a deep breath and just calm down." She smiled at me and Dante shifted his feet.

"Come on, guys. We've got to be back in two hours, or they're gonna leave without us. And you know they will."

Rain pulled her hand off my shoulder and turned to start walking to the car with Dante.

Dante told the driver to take us to the nearest mall.

On the ride there, Rain explained things to look for that Jeph might like.

When we got to the store, Dante went off towards the electronics section and Rain rushed to the art supplies aisles, leaving me standing there, debating which way to go.

Finally, I decided to wander the toy aisles and see if anything stood out.

As I looked at the robotic dinosaurs, toy guns, and different varieties of trinkets, it hit me that I knew so little about my own son.

My mind started flooding with thoughts about asking him his favorite colors, foods, hobbies...

What if I messed up and got him the wrong color of clothes or toys? What if he already had whatever I got him?

I jumped when someone reached over me to grab a Bigfoot robot.

It was a middle aged woman with blood red hair. She looked me over for a moment before saying, "First time Christmas shopping?"

I opened my mouth, but inside I was still panicking, so nothing came out. I nodded instead.

She smiled. "A little boy, I'm assuming?"

I nodded again, trying to will my mouth to work.

"Well, how old is he?"

I cleared my throat carefully and managed to say, "He's five."

She nodded slowly. "I've got a son around that age. Do you know what he likes?"

I thought back over the past couple months of tour, trying to pick out everything I'd observed about Jeph.

"He likes...Batman. And art; he's an amazing artist. He likes to read..." I was disappointed that I didn't know more about him. I found myself wishing that I could go back to when Rain had called me and change all of the things I'd said and done.

"He's your son, yeah?" She asked.

"Yeah, I just...I didn't know about him until a couple of days ago." I said, deciding honesty was the best policy.

Maybe it was because she seemed like an experienced parent, but I could feel the nervousness course through my body, hoping that she didn't think I was a bad parent.

Instead of saying something snide, she smiled again.

"I saw a whole aisle of Batman stuff over by the little kid's clothing, there's books near the sports section, and art supplies are just to the left of the doors."

I smiled at her, some of the nervousness and doubt washing away. "Thank you so much."

"No problem, dear. Good luck with your son!"

And I was off to shop for Jeph.

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Sorry about the wait and the quality of this chapter. I've been super busy lately, but things should settle down for a bit after tomorrow which will enable me to write more and update again quickly. <3