Say Love (Chicago PD)

What We Were Looking For

"Hailey?" Eva piped up after we had finished grocery shopping. "What are we going to do now?"

"Well, I think we should have probably put grocery shopping last on our list of things to do, but since we already did it, I was thinking we could make a quick stop at the hardware store for a night light."

"Yes!" She fidgeted in her seat with excitement. "Can I pick out my own?"

"You can."

"What exactly is a hardware store?"

"It's where you can buy things to build in your house--like wood or paint. Or if you have things you want to build for fun." We were well on down the road from the grocery store when the questions kept coming. In all honesty, I had friends who once told me I was lucky not to have a kid who asked me questions all day long. They had no idea I had one, she just wasn't with me.

"Do you ever build things for fun?" Eva's question pulled me from my thoughts as the car in front of us slowed down as a crossing guard helped a bunch of school-aged kids cross the street safely.

"Not in a long time. My brothers and I would attempt to make things but often times we didn't have the materials unless our neighbor gave us something or we found what we needed."

"So if you didn't have the stuff, what did you do for fun?"

"Back then I hung out a lot with my brothers." All the kids crossed and the light turned green as they scattered and disappeared behind us.

"No, I mean now what do you do for fun?"

"Now I like to read, watch movies, and hang out with my team."

"You mean with Jay."

"Sometimes. It depends on what we've got going on that day. Because we deal with hard things, we like to make sure our team is okay."

"Kind of like what a friend does."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." Crossing one hand over the other, I turned into the side street leading to the hardware store. "Looks like we have a little bit of walking to do. Ready?"

"Yep!" As soon as we parked, I heard metal hitting against the seat as I pulled on the handle release. When we walked through the sliding door a few minutes later, she sniffed at the air. "Hardware stores smell funny. Kind of like libraries, but a different smell."

"What exactly does a library smell like to you?"

"Like old books and dust." Skipping down the long aisle, she followed along as I scanned all the shelves.

"That's an accurate description of a library." Looking down at another shelf, I sighed when I realized we were soon approaching the end of the aisle. "And what does a hardware store smell like to you?"

"I don't know. A hardware store has all sorts of smells--like metal and wood. What do you smell?"

"I smell a little bit of paint and wood." We got to the end of the aisle and I looked up at the information on the sign. As we rounded the corner, I decided we would look down one more aisle before hunting someone down and asking them. But as we went further down the aisle, I found what we had been looking for. "Eva?"

"Coming." I heard her from the other side of the shelf as she appeared and followed my line of sight."Nightlights!"

"See any that you might like?"

"I like this one." She stated quietly, brushing her fingers over a box with a picture of a clear night light with semi-transparent flowers all over it. Her eyes were affixed on it for several seconds before she decided to look at what else they had, but her eyes didn't sparkle like they did with that one night light. "My mom always liked flowers. Are you sure it's okay if I get this?"

"Of course. I'm sure it will look beautiful in your room."

"Then I think we should get it." Eva beamed happily as she held the box close to her body as if she were cradling a doll. "

"Alright. Should we pay for this and go home and eat some lunch?"

"Yeah!" She gave a little leap of excitement as her stomach rumbled slightly. "I'm starving!"

"Me too. It's probably good we only came for the night light because our groceries are still in the car."

"Mhm. And we wouldn't want them to go bad, right?"

"Right." We got in line behind a woman in her twenties with a toddler, clinging to her leg and possibly an eight-month-old hanging out in the seat of the shopping cart. The baby was slightly fussy, throwing his head back and whimpering as he held his arms to be picked up.

"You can get out in a minute." The woman told her son shortly. The little boy threw his head back in response with a quick wail as tears filled his eyes. He sniffled a few times as he focused sadly on Eva. They stared at each other for a good long minute before she got a smile on her face.

"Hi." Eva whispered, waving her hand at the baby. At first he didn't know what was happening, or who was talking to him. His fist clenched up, then he opened his fingers back and forth slowly as he decided to stick his fingers in his mouth instead.

She moved up to unload her things from the cart. It looked as if she had some painting projects as she unloaded several pints of paint, as well as a box of nails and a few other items. She quickly paid for them and left the store; well as quickly as she could as the little boy hung to the cart.

"Hi, there. Did you find everything you needed?" The lady behind the cash register asked as she scanned the box.

"We did, thank you."

"This is a beautiful night light. Did you pick this out?" She asked Eva gently as she placed it into a bag.

"Mhm!"

"Well, it's beautiful."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome." The older lady beamed her white pearly teeth at her before turning to me. "Okay. Your total comes to twelve dollars and seventy-five cents. How would you like to pay today?"

"Cash." Grabbing my wallet out of my coat, I handed her one ten dollar bill and seventy-five cents exactly that I had dug out from the coin pocket.

"Ten seventy-five exactly." She placed the money in the cash register. "Would you like your receipt in the bag or with you?"

"With me, please."

"There you go." She handed me the very short receipt, to which I stuffed into my jean pocket. "You two have a good day."

"You too."

"Thank you." She waved her hand at the next customer in line as we made our way out the store.. "I can help whoever's next."