In the woods Tag: Eva

"Okay, then, I will," Eva said with a smile. She led them over to the cribs and strollers, taking Lila's free hand in hers, and gave Ariel the information on all the good items. Once she was done, she added, "So I think that now it's just a matter of what you like best and what Lila likes best."

Ariel walked around with Eva, listening to what she said and looking at the strollers and cribs that had been pointed out. Lila had smiled at Eva when she grabbed her hand. She didn't necessarilly say anything, though, was just looking around at everything. After things had been shown and talked about, Ariel said, "Yes, of course. It'd make sense to have Lila help pick out her own crib and stroller."

Ariel walked around a little more, thinking about which stroller to get first. She saw a couple that she liked, one that had flowers and one that didn't but was still pretty. Ariel looked at Lila and said, "Which stroller do you like, Lila, honey? Do you like the one with flowers or the one without?"

Lila was silent for a little while as she looked at those two strollers as well as the others that she could see and decided that the flowery stroller was the one she wanted. She said, "Like flowers."

Ariel smiled at Lila and said, "Ok. Now let's go and pick out a crib for you. Just let me know which one you want." Ariel walked around and showed Lila the cribs she had to choose from. After walking for a little while Lila saw a red and blue crib that she liked and pointed it out, while saying, "Like red one."

Ariel laughed a little and said, "well, you certainly know what you want don't you." She looked at Eva and said, "That was easier than I thought."

Eva let out a loud laugh as she watched Lila picking out her stuff, so decisively and so adorably, and she had clap a hand over her mouth to keep herself from drawing too much attention to them.

"Yeah, it was," she commented. "Hang on a second while I find the sale's lady." The sale's lady had already found her way over to them, however, and Eva decided that that was another luck sign.

"We'll take this crib and that stroller, Ma'am," she said with a grin. "Lila has them all picked out."

The sale's lady beamed at Lila and said, "You made two very good choices." Then, to Eva, she added, "She's adorable."

"I know, thanks," Eva said with a modest grin. "Can we pay now though? We all have a lot to buy today."

"Of course, dear," the woman said, waving them all over to the register. A few minutes later, everything was paid, and the deliveries were scheduled to their house for that very night.

"Well, that all worked out really nicely," Eva commented as they left the store. "Now...for some clothes."

Ariel had listened to what Eva was saying and watched and listened as she talked to the saleslady, as well as walked up to the counter so things could be paid for.

She had gotten the impression at one point that the saleslady thought that Lila was Eva's daughter. It would make sense, though, especially since eva was the one who had asked about the strollers and cribs. Ariel didn't mind, though. Lila knew who her mommy was and that wouldn't change. Besides, it drew attention away from her.

She was glad that the stroller and crib would be delivered that night. That meant that it wouldn't be a really long time before Lila had a crib to sleep in and a stroller that she could be pushed in.

Ariel smiled and said, "Yes, of course. Let's go buy some clothes. That may take a little while, though."

"Probably," Eva said, giving her a teasing smile, "but nobody said that that was a bad thing. God, you wouldn't believe how long it took me when I was shopping for new clothes yesterday. I really needed them. I didn't have much at all before I got here."

Ariel laughed a little then said, "I never said it was a bad thing. I was just mentioning that it'd probably take awhile to buy clothes. Especially if you're not sure what you want and have to try things on."

She paused then said, "Anyway, let's continue our shopping and buy some clothes. Lead the way, Eva."

Eva grinned and said, "Sure thing, Ariel. The women's clothes are up a floor, and the children's clothes are on the same level, so that'll make it a little easier." Really, she thought, it was a convenient design.

"Do you know if you want to start with your clothes or Lila's clothes?" she asked.

Arile was silent for a little while as she listened to what Eva said and as she thought about how to answer her. She was glad that the women's clothes and the children's clothes were on the same level. It made things easier and she wouldn't have to go around to a lot of different floors or anything trying to find stuff.

After Ariel had been silent for awhile, she eventually said, "I want to get my clothes first. Then we can get Lila's. You'll have to hold Lila while I try on things, though."

Eva nodded. She decided that it made more sense that way. She certainly didn't mind holding Lila either. The little girl was such a sweetheart.

"Sure, I can do that for you, hon," she said, bending down to take Lila's hand again.

Ariel smiled when she heard what Eva said. "Thanks. I appreciate it," Ariel said. Once Ariel was on the level with the women's clothes, she started to look around and it wasn't too long before there were some things she wanted to try on. Ariel looked at Lila and said, "Lila, I'm going to give you to Eva now. I'm going to try some things on. Don't worry. I won't be far away."

After she said that, she gave Lila a hug then handed her over to Eva so she could hold her. After that, Ariel went and got the many jeans, shirts, skirts and dresses that she had seen that she wanted to try on and went and found a dressing room. It took a little while for her to try on everything.

After trying on everything, she found out that some of the things she tried on she either didn't like how they looked on her or she liked how they looked but they didn't fit her. So she brought everything with her and put back everything except for four pairs of the jeans, two of the shirts, three of the skirts, and two of the dresses. She then found the right sizes, for the things that she needed a different size for.

Ariel then started to look around a bit more and then said to Eva, "Ok, I need some suggestions. What do you think would look good on me? I have a some things but I really don't think it's enough. Besides, I could use some help here."

Eva looked over the clothes that Ariel had already bought, and she had to agree with her. While she'd certainly brought enough of a wardrobe to be a foundation, she definitely needed a few more shirts and probably another pair of pants that weren't jeans too.

And then there are the shoes, she thought, looking down at Ariel's worn out sneakers.

"Sure thing," Eva said, looking over the two shirts that Ariel had already decided on. One was long-sleeved and warm while the other was better for the warmer spring weather. The thought of the winter weather reminded Eva that Ariel probably needed a jacket and a coat too.

But we can get those later if we have to, she thought as she walked over to the shirts. She picked out a pretty dark blue blouse with three-quarter sleeves; a short-sleeved gray sweater; and two simple long-sleeved, v-neck shirts, one black and the other white. Then she found a purple peasant blouse, with full, billowing sleeves, and a black turtle-neck, both of which would probably look pretty with Ariel's dark, curly hair and olive skin.

"Here, try these on," she said. "You definitely need some more shirts. Just see what looks good on you."

Ariel gladly took all the different shirts that had been handed to her and went and tried them on. After trying on all the shirts she had been given, she found that she looked good in all of them. Her favorites were the purple peasant blouse and the black v-neck.

She knew she wouldn't be putting any of them back. So, she added those shirts to the other shirts, jeans, skirts and dresses she had found before and went and, now that she had finished trying everything on, went back to where Eva was. She then said, "I liked everything you gave me to try on. All the shirts looked good on me."

She paused then said, "Ok, so, do you think I need anything else? Actually, yeah, I do. I could use some new shoes. Oh, and of course, some stuff that goes underneath clothes. Oh, and probably a coat so I don't get cold." She paused then said, "We should probably find a shopping cart. Especially since I'm not even done shopping yet and we haven't even looked for anything for Lila yet."

Eva had to laugh at Ariel's increased enthusiasm. She looked like she was actually sort of enjoying herself shopping, and that made Eva very, very happy. She wanted Ariel and Lila to get enjoyment out of something.

"Yes, we'd better," she said, standing on tiptoe and craning her neck as she looked around for a cart. "Oh, there's one over there. I'll go get it."

A minute later, she had the cart and everything else loaded into it, and they were ready to start looking for more things.

"You definitely need all those things," Eva added as she steered the cart toward another section so that they could find shoes, "and we could get Lila some shoes while we get your shoes."

Ariel had listened to what Eva was saying and waited as Eva had gone to get a cart. She was glad when Eva was back with the cart and the clothes she was going to buy were in it and Lila was sitting in the front of the cart. Now that that was taken care of, they could do more shopping.

Ariel smiled when she heard what Eva said and then said, "Yes, definately. Lila needs some new shoes too. The only things is I'm not really sure what size shoes to get her. The first and only time I got her shoes, I kind of guessed. It's ok, though, I'll just have to try shoes on her and see what fits best. As for me, I wear a size 7 shoe. Well, sneaker actually."

"Well, Lila's so young, her feet are probably growing really fast, so I doubt that your not knowing her exact size will cause too many problems," Eva said with a smile. "Now, let's go get you both some shoes."

"Yes, of course," Ariel said as she walked. After walking for a little while, and reaching the shoes, Ariel went and looked around for the section that had her size. After that, she went and looked at the different sneakers and found a few pairs she liked.

After trying on a purple and blue pair, a pink pair, a black pair, a white and black pair, and a blue pair with silver laces she found out that the three pairs were the ones that fit her the best. She decided that the liked the blue pair with the silver laces and the black and white pair of shoes the most.

She looked at Eva and said, as she held up both pairs of shoes, "Which pair do you think I should get? Or do you think I should just get both pairs?"

Eva looked over the shoes and glanced quickly at the price so that Ariel couldn't see. Luckily, they were both very decently priced.

"You can actually get both," she said with a smile. "You need more than two pairs of shoes after all."

She looked around the children's shoes a little and added, "What kind of shoes do you want for Lila?"

Ariel was glad when Eva said she could get both pairs of sneakers. She had to agree with Eva. She needed more than two pairs. The sneakers she was currently wearing could definately stand to be washed.

Ariel went and put the two pairs of sneakers in the shopping cart then looked at the children's shoes. After looking around for a short time, she saw some that she liked that had flowers and butterflies and were sparkly. "I like these shoes here," Ariel said. "I'm sure Lila will too."

Once Ariel picked a few sizes in the different shoes she liked, she brought them over to Lila and tried them on her feet. She had to go back and get a couple more sizes for the sneakers, but eventually found the right size for Lila. Now that she had the right sizes, for the three pairs of shoes she had, she held the shoes up to Lila and said, "Which two pairs of sneakers do you want?"

Lila was silent for a short time, before saying, "Want all three."

Ariel looked over at Eva and said, "I should've known this was going to happen. She wants all three pairs of sneakers. I'm so glad I didn't bring over any other shoes. She'd probably want those too." She paused then said, "So, can she have all three pairs or do you want me to talk to her and get her to pick only two?"

Eva didn't have to take time to answer that question. Lila had had such a difficult short life, through not fault of Ariel's, and she deserved a little bit of spoiling now.

"She can have all three," Eva told Ariel. "She deserves them, and she needs shoes, especially since she'll be walking more very, very soon."

Ariel laughed a little then said, "Don't remind me. When that happens, she'll probably want to get into everything." She paused then said, "But thanks for letting Lila have all three pairs of shoes. She'll be happy."

Ariel went and put the three pairs of shoes into the cart then said to Eva, "Ok, so, I think we should go and find Lila some clothes now. Then we can look for the other things I need."

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan," Eva said with a wide smile. "Coats are in a different section anyway, and I know that you'll want one of those for her and one of those for you."

She took the shoes from Ariel and dropped them into the cart to add to the stuff they were going to check-out.

"Of course. We'll both need coats," Ariel said, smiling. "It'll be nice to have a coat." She paused then said, "First, though, we get Lila some clothes. Oh and of course something to sleep in. I'll need something to sleep in too, but that's probably in the same section as the underwear. Or close to it anyway." She paused then said, "In anycase, lead the way to the children's clothes."

Eva smiled and turned the cart. She got up on tiptoe to peer over the clothes racks and looked around for the sign to show them exactly where the children's section was. She'd read on the directory downstairs that they were on this floor.

"Okay, it's over there!" she exclaimed, pointing when she saw it. "So...follow me then?" She threw a smile their way and then walked toward the other side of the store.

Ariel was glad when Eva had pointed out where the children's clothes were. After Eva had pointed that out, and before they started moving, Ariel went and picked Lila up from the front part of the shopping cart. She figured it'd be easier to show Lila the different clothes that way. Besides, at some point Ariel would've picked up Lila. So, she figured now was as good a time as any. Ariel smiled then said, "Yes, of course," before she followed Eva to where the children's clothes were.

Once there, she started to look around to see what was there. There were a lot of dresses that she thought Lila would look cute in. Ariel walked around and asked Lila which dresses she liked and Lila went and let her know which ones.

Ariel went and found the right sizes, that were for her age group, and then went to find some sleeping clothes for Lila. After those were done and the right sizes were found, and everything had found it's way into the shopping cart, Ariel said to Lila, "So, I think it's time we got you some toys now. We can get you a new dolly."

Lila giggled when she heard that. "Yay. Want dolly with green dress and yellow hair."

Ariel laughed then said, "Of course, Lila. I'm sure they have a doll like that." She paused then looked around then asked Eva, "So, where are the toys? Do you know or do we need to walk around a little and find out?"

Eva watched Lila and Ariel shop, and it made her giggle every time the two-year old picked out something. She looked so decisive and sure of herself in that respect, and it was great to see. It was amazing too, given what she had been through.

I think that Lila might just turn out to be all right, she thought with a happy smile.

"Hm," she said, chewing her lip. "Well...they're not on this floor, but we can still pay for everything that we have hear and probably leave it all behind the counter to pick up later so that we don't have to cart it around while we look for toys, lingerie, and coats."