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She knew this was a bad idea. Norman had been in a bad mood all morning, sitting in his high chair with his chubby little arms crossed over his chest, flinging food off his spoon and making a mess. Dylan’s breakfast hadn’t been much cleaner; he’d ended up with pancake syrup all over the front of his shirt and Norma had had to fix him while simultaneously keeping Norman still. Needless to say, her boys would be a hassle today, but what else could she do? There were things that had to be done, so here she was in the middle of a packed grocery store, with Norman sitting in the cart batting at her hands and kicking his legs while Dylan was a little ball of energy beside her.
“Can we get ice cream, mom? Can we? Can we?”
Norma dropped her eyes to her older son. His fifth birthday was in a mere two days and Norma realized in that moment that she hadn’t even begun to prepare for it. She gives him a quaint smile and reaches down to grab his hand. It doesn’t help to quell the energy bubbling out of him, but she doesn’t mind.
“Sure, honey.”
He lights up and goes running down the aisle at top speed, leaving Norma behind in a cloud of dust. She feels Norman’s big blue eyes on her.
“Dylan!” She calls. He disappears around the corner and Norma shakes her head. “Damn.”
Norman goes back to batting at her hands. She grins as she presses her lips to the top of his head. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
They turn the corner and find Dylan in the middle of the freezer section, mesmerized by the selection.
Norma pulls up a foot or so away and watches him retrieve a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream. She can see him struggling with the weight of it and lets out a laugh.
“What?” Her almost five year old looks at her incredulously.
“Nothing, honey. Is that the one you want?”
He nods his head rapidly.
“Okay. Okay.”
She runs her hand down the back of his hair. “Whatever the birthday boy wants.”
Dylan goes back to jumping up and down. Warmth swells in her chest.
“Let’s go.”