when in rome | ethan

twenty five

4 bottles of red wine
2 boxes of juice pouches
8 boxes of fettuccine pasta noodles
7 jars of alfredo sauce
fresh basil
3 pound of shrimp

"god damn, are we feasting tonight or something? why so much?" i question, mumbling to myself as i looked over the list of food my mom sent me through messages.

immediately, i begin looking for the ingredients in order. four bottles of red wine, huh. going to the wine section, i grab four of the cheapest bottles and set them into the cart. if my parents made sophia shop for them, she probably would've been reckless with her money, buying the most expensive.

going from the wine to the juice pouches, i'd have to walk all the way across the the store to get my items. juice pouches? hm. maybe we're having kids over?

as i strolled the cart down the long aisles i noticed how empty the market was today. gosh, when did the place become such a ghost town? i was honestly so curious. i remember mia and i coming here and we could barely even walk through the aisles without bumping into someone. now i could do a backflip and i wouldn't hurt a single soul.

i turned into the juice pouch aisles after looking at the big signs above. which flavor should i get? strawberry kiwi? fruit punch? tropical?

i strolled my cart slowly as i examined all the different types.

a girl, around the age of five sprints towards me, her brown curls bouncing up and down as she ran away laughing and holding what seemed to be a phone. i jump from the sudden noise, seeming that the store was very quiet today, and this surprised me. she hides behind me, in hopes that whoever she was running from won't find her. i was confused. like major. who was this girl?

coming around the corner, a man chases after her, stopping dead in his tracks after realizing i was standing there also. "cass?"

"hey, ethan." i had a nervous look on my face despite smiling like nothing was bothering me. why was he chasing a little girl? i look behind me at her to find her already staring at us. she holds his phone behind her back. when we make eye contact for a little while, she grins.

ethan notices our interaction and snatches the little girl, holding her hand and pulling her towards him. "what're you doing back in town?" he asks, curious.

"oh you know, just visiting." i explain, adjusting my glasses, "and uh, who's this?" i asked, a smile on my face, so curious as to their relation. grayson's kid maybe?

with a nervous chuckle, he shuffles between his two feet. an uncertain look on his face, "she's my daughter."

woah. this surprised me. my eyes slightly widen, and a smile breaks out on my face without even thinking. i don't know, the image of ethan and a kid is cute.

"you're a father.." i say, after a moment of silence. i can feel my grin on my face.

he chuckles, glancing at the floor for a quick moment before looking back up to me, "yeah." he simple replies, a smile on his face too.

she looks up at me, before looking up at her dad. tugging on his shirt, she grabs his attention too. his eyebrow raises and she signals for him to bend down so she could whisper something in his ear.

cupping her tiny hands around his ear, she whispers something to him making ethan smile and laugh slightly. he turns to whisper in her ear too, and i can't help but find the whole thing so adorable. it makes my heart ache.

"she says you're pretty." ethan says, catching me by surprise. his eyebrow cocking up, and a smirk on his face.

"awh," i chuckle, "you're very pretty too." i tell her. her smile turns into a grin. i could tell she was shy, other wise she probably would've told me straight up. but she used her dad to tell me.

"what's your name?" i ask her, leaning on the cart and tilting my head to the side.

i notice she was missing teeth. awh. "my name is andi. im this many." she tells me, holding up five fingers. three on her right and two on her left.

giggling, i give ethan that look, noting that i knew he named her after me. all he does is smile, a content look on his face. his eyes quickly dart to my neck, spotting the necklace he had given me the christmas of freshmen year. and his smile grows.

"i'm cassandra," i tell her, my hand coming up to my chest as i told her my name.

her eyebrows furrowed, looking at ethan who was still looking at me. "daddy, is cassandra your girlfriend?" she asks, slightly above a whisper.

his smile dies, looking at her wide eyed. i chuckled, shaking my head lightly.

shaking his head no, he reassures his daughter that i was definitely not his girlfriend.

"then why do you talk about her so much?" andi harshly whispers to him, her eyebrows furrowed.

"okay, we're gonna go now." ethan quickly says, nervously chuckling. "it was nice catching up."

i laughed, "see ya, ethan."

ethan and andi turn away from me, walking down the aisles and towards the front of the store. he's lecturing her, though i'm pretty sure she doesn't even understand anything.

how cute. andi knows me because of what ethan tells her. i felt a throb in my chest. my heart fluttering. ethan talked about me. to his daughter.

if andi assumed i was his girlfriend, then there must be no mother in the picture. but, i shouldn't judge anything yet not knowing the full story. but, whoever the mom was, she definitely made a beautiful kid.

andi had natural curls that ethan probably had to take care of everyday. her skin was a light brown, being mixed as her mother was probably african american.

ethan has a daughter. wow.

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

:ooooo bruh ethan is a daddy