I've Got a Pocket Full of Sunshine {Open}

For God's sake, could she ever just enjoy going on a walk with her friends without something embarrassing happening? Meeting Leo's eyes, she prayed that her cheeks didn't become red from blushing, for she could feel the butterflies in her stomach like never before. "I'm fine," Pepper mumbled, standing up, and flicked a strand of hair off of her face. Giving Leo her usual shy smile, she nodded her head. "I think I'll be alright, thanks anyway," she replied, thankful for a friend like him, he was so caring.

Letting out a small huff, she didn't want this awkward setting to last forever and looking down the sidewalk, the sight of a certain store lifted her spirits. "Hey! How about we stop by the pet store?" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together, suddenly excited at the thought of seeing Louis. "Have they ever seen a puppy before?" Pepper asked, turning her happy gaze to Shepard. Of course there was were a few unwanted possibilities like unknown allergies, getting bit, them not liking fluffy creatures, etc, but come one, what child wouldn't have a good time going to a pet store?

Leo rose to his feet, causing a light grunt of protest from the little bundle at his chest. The father gave him a glance. He had grown quite a bit more hair since he had first had him. If he wanted to, Leo could put his hair into a ponytail at the top. Not that he would...although he was considering it. It would honestly be very cute. Leo listened to Pepper's suggestion and raised his head up to glance at Mikaela for her thoughts. There would always be the chance that either Joanna or Shepard were allergic. But then again, maybe they wouldn't be. It may be a good learning experience for Joanna. Shepard on the other hand was a bit too young to be playing or petting dogs. So if anything, the trip was for her.

Mikaela shrugged, slightly irritated that Pepper had totally ignored her. "Sure, sounds like a good idea. Joanna hasn't seen many animals in person that I know of," she said, glancing at the small child. Joanna looked back at Mikaela with curious eyes and an adorable smile and the Summer knew that Jo wanted to go. "Let's go!"

Glad that they agreed to her idea, Pepper forgot about her little incident and made her way cheerfully towards the pet store that was just a little ways ahead. She'd finally get to see Louis! It felt like ages since she'd seen her brother although it probably hadn't been that long. Reaching the store, Pepper looked at a sign that stated in big red letters with paw prints all over the poster: "Take your purrfect friend to their furrever home today!" Well, it was definitely an attention grabber. Once the others caught up, Pepper opened the door, and a little bell jingled.

"Hello?" she asked, looking around. Although small, the room was quaint and though some might dislike the smell of animal bedding, Pepper loved it. In the front of the store were some small shelves with little toys and trinkets for dogs and to the right was a counter. Through the rows of shelves, she could just barely make out the figures of fish and reptile tanks. This was the perfect place for her older brother and she understood why when the job opened he practically jumped at it. But where was he?

Slowly walking a bit farther into the store, the sound of someone shuffling around caught her attention and peaking around the corner of a shelf, was her brother stacking bags of dog food. He wore his usual skinny jeans, his blue vans, and a green t-shirt that held the companies logo on it. "Louis!" she exclaimed happily, walking up to her brother. Standing up and leaving the bags, the siblings exchanged a hug.

"Sorry I didn't hear ya. Stacking these things is a real chore," the taller boy chuckled, rotating his shoulder counterclockwise, creating a small popping sound. "It's good to see you, what's the occasion?" the soft voiced resident asked, running his hands through his long hair and pushing it out of his face. It wasn't everyday that his sister spontaneously visited the pet store and although it was unexpected, it was nice.

"Just passing by and thought we'd say hi," she replied cheerfully.

We? he wondered. Did she come with more people? Walking past her, Louis peeped around the corner of the row of shelves he was working at and waved a hand, seeing Leo's familiar face. "Hello!" he smiled, walking up to the Autumn and the other girl. He had to admit that at first, he was a bit surprised to see the child strapped to his chest and the other child in the stroller but soon remembered what had happened, for better or for worse...

"Nice to have you stop by," Louis added, smiling towards the child on his chest. He was a spitting image of Leo and was just so darn cute!

Leo followed Pepper, yet stayed by Mikaela's side. It seemed Shepard had fallen asleep in the Koala carrier, his breathing was soft and Leo was more than content to watch the little boy sleep against his chest. Rosy cheeks adorned his face, and light lashes framed his eyelids which fluttered as the infant drempt. At the same time, he'd glance up at Mikaela occasionally, his footsteps falling into place with her's.

By the time they had arrived at the new pet store, Leo was glad Mikaela had given him some sunscreen. The sun seemed incessant in its attack. Leo was particularly glad that he had dressed Shepard in long sleeves, although the baby lacked a hat. Should have thought this through. They entered soon enough, a potent smell of a mixture of dog, cat, and a hint of fish.

The father wandered the aisles, pausing to look at the toys. They held no real meaning to him, but the bright colors were sure to attract children's eyes. Even if the toys were not meant for them. Peering around the corner, spotting Louis easily as the other tall person in the room. "Hey Louis, this is a very cool store you have."

Mikaela followed Pepper into the pet store, walking side-by-side with Leo. Joanna was happily babbling in the stroller as the Summer pushed it, occasionally spouting random words that she had picked up, such as "bottle." She wandered the aisles with Leo and the kids, looking at the random pet toys and occasionally pet foods and beds. Then what looked like the store owner waved at Leo and Mikaela just smiled and waved along.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Louis gave a somewhat embarrassed smile to Leo. "Well, it's not much," he chuckled. It was definitely a quaint little shop but even so, they didn't have much business, seeing that most of the costumers were students who didn't have much time on their hands for a pet. "But it's definitely the place for me, for now at least," he added. Although the pay wasn't as high as he'd like it to be, in this stage of his life, it was good enough for him.

Looking to the girl next to Leo, the tall boy held out a hand. "I don't think we've met," Louis grinned in his usual, cheery sort of way. He hadn't recalled ever speaking with this girl before and the last thing he wanted was to be rude and ignore her presence.

~~~

Glad that Louis was so good with people, Pepper left the others to chat and made her way to the back of the store where some tanks were. Some fish were in a few tanks, one aquarium equipped with a black light that made them glow. Moving down the line she quickly shuffled past the reptiles, not at all interested in observing the creepy crawly critters and stopped and stared for a few moments at a hamster that was running on its wheel, its cheeks full of food. So cute! The squawk of a bird caught the girl's attention and turning around, there was a big cage with the door wide open and sitting on top of it was a red macaw, looking straight at her.

"Treat," it spoke and unable to control her excitement, Pepper moved a little closer. Wow! A bird that could talk? She'd never seen anything like it! Making some sounds that birds make, it tilted its head, trying oh so hard to be adorable. "Hello," Pepper replied softly, still inching closer.

"Treat!" it suddenly screeched, spreading out its wings. Practically jumping out of her skin, Pepper backed into a shelf, knocking some squeaky toys to the ground and heart beating fast, made her way back to the others. Standing next to Louis who was introducing himself to Mikaela, she caught her breath, still a little shaken from the macaw's outburst. Note to self: never get too close to birds, especially crazy ones.

The infant began to sturr, hands stretching outwards with little fingers that seemed to reach for the sky. Distractedly, Leo placed a finger in the boy's open palm--which instinctively closed around the finger. Blue eyes slowly opened, it seemed to take a lot of effort for the baby. The eyelids seemed like they weighed a metric ton for the child. Shepard would open them then close them immediately afterwards, as if deciding to want to sleep. But then finding the surrounding room interesting, he would open them again. It was a cycle for the baby.

Leo found himself absorbed by this, grinning at the child each time his eyes opened, as if encouraging the baby to wake up. "Come on, Shepard. Wakey wakey~" The father gently shook his finger, making the baby squeak a noise of disapproval. He tilted his head up to stare back at his father, who stared back giddily. The two had a staring contest, before the father cracked up. Leo's laugher seemed to resonate through Shepard, as the baby began to laugh too. It was something along the lines of a high pitched squeal--yet it was all the same to Leo.

The dad turned to look excitedly at the others. "I got him to laugh!" Babies usually did not begin to laugh until they were a bit older, but Shepard was his own person it seemed.

Mikaela shook her head. "I don't think we have," she replied to the owner of the pet shop. "I'm Mikaela, it's nice to meet you." Looking over to Leo and Shep, she smiled and giggled when Leo the baby to laugh. Leo looked like the happiest dad in the world. The laughter was infectious and soon the Summer was laughing with them. "Shepard is the cutest thing ever," she said. 'Leo in Dad Mode is a close second though,' she thought, noticing how happy he was.

Being an older brother, Louis wanted nothing more than to see his sister happy and the fact that she was hanging out with people like this and not making poor choices brought him so much relief. Well, being in a family of 13 step brothers, Pepper got more than enough attention and care but even so, he was always glad to be at her side.

Being absorbed in introducing himself to Mikaela, Louis looked to Pepper who seemed a little spooked and immediately knew what had happened. "Did you try to befriend the bird?" he asked, raising a brow. When the only reply he got was a simple nod, Louis couldn't help but laugh. "Don't mind her, he only wants attention," he chuckled, nudging his sister's shoulder with his elbow in a playful sort of way.

Turning his gaze back to Leo who was attempting to awaken the child, the student soon burst with excitement when the little boy started giggling. "Good job!" he praised with a grin, not really knowing what else to say. Oh! That's right! He'd forgotten something!

Holding out a his index finger that motioned "un momento," Louis left the group and ran to the back of the store. They're going to love this.

Within a few moments, Louis was making his way back to the group with a bundle of fluffy grey and white fur in his arms.

"Meet Macho!" the storekeeper chimed happily, reaching the others. In his arms was chubby Siberian Husky puppy that let out a yawn as he rested in Louis's arms. Only slightly smaller than Shepard, the puppy definitely weighed a bit more than puppies usually did. Just having awoken from its nap, it blinked a few times before fully realizing that it wasn't in its playpen and soon enough, its tail started furiously wagging back and forth, thumping against the blonde's side.

"The newest addition to the pet store. And by far the cutest and sweetest addition," he added, shooting the macaw a glance while gently cradling the puppy like a baby. Although Macho was practically a blessing, Louis wasn't given very much information on the pup and in some ways, not having that some of that stuff caused some minor issues. Well, what ever, he'd figure that the details later.

"Want to pet him? He's really soft," Louis asked softly, directing the question to Shepard but looked to Leo, knowing it was ultimately up to the father.

Leo's high from baby laughter was ultimately directed to the puppy that Louis had brought into the room. The father let out an obligatory 'aw' at the creature, finding the animal almost as cute as Shepard. Speaking of the baby, at such a young age, he was unable to understand what he was supposed to do with the new sight in front of him. With blue eyes in a baby-like awe, Shepard stared unblinkingly at the creature, his cheery smile from before had vanished behind a blank look. It was almost shocking how fast he went from giggling to quiet.

In an attempt to teach Shepard how to pet the fluffy cloud of puppy, Leo crouched down low and put his hand on the dog's head. Then he turned his head to watch his son react. It seemed that Shepard was having none of this, and pulled both of his hands in close to his chest.

So it was a 'no' from Shepard that day. Leo didn't mind all that much. It didn't mean that the baby didn't like puppies. Things took time to learn and adjust to things. Hell, Shepard was only a few months old. He could have felt uncomfortable touching something that he has only recently seen... A multitude of things. With a knowing smile, Leo rose back to his feet to make room for the stroller so Joanna could pet the dog if she wanted.

"Not today, Shepard?" He asked rhetorically, his voice drawing the boy's attention. Large eyes stared back up, upturning as the smile suddenly returned.