Sweet Tooth

Chapter-14

Emma's POV

"Li Li, wake up baby" I whisper into Liam's ears as I stroke his soft hair. Caitlyn's mother's condition hasn't improved. It turns out that she's got to be there for a couple of days more. Which gives me more days to spend with Liam. I am not complaining, but it doesn't matter how close I am with him, after a few days he will start missing his mom. I just don't know how to handle him if he cries in the middle of the night asking for Caty. It hasn't happened yet but it can happen soon.

"Few more minutes please" He says in his adorable little voice.

"No baby you have slept a lot. It's time for breakfast. I made your favourite panky cakes. You like them don't you?" I asked him while carrying him and adjusting him on my hip. He nuzzles his face into my neck and hugs me.

"Let's brush your teeth. Your mouth is stinky stinky." I say in a baby voice.

****

"Emma can I have one more panky please" I turn around with the spatula in my hand and narrow my eyes at him. It's something I've been noticing for the past few days but I keep forgetting to ask him about it.

"Uhm Li Li aren't I 'Aunt Emma' to you?" He abruptly stops munching on his pancake and his eyes widen. He blushes deeply and just looks so cute with all the chocolate syrup smeared on his chubby cheeks.

"No. You are Emma to me" He says in a low voice, pouting. God knows what's going on in his little brain. Anyways, I feel much younger when I'm being called Emma by a 5-year old, so let it be.

"Alright. Here's your pancake, finish it fast and we should get going. " I say as I open my hair from the messy bun and retie it into a simple ponytail. I should really get a haircut, I'm so bored of the same style. Every. Single. Day. I guess I'd totally ace a pixie haircut with shaved sides. I giggle at the very thought of me having having such a bold haircut. I guess I'll have to go with the usual layer cut. That's the only thing which suits me.

Sigh.

How I wish I had a face which could rock every haircut that was ever made.

"Where are we going?" Liam asks with a mouthful of pancakes.

"We need to go grocery shopping baby. Don't you wanna make some tasty cookies today?"

"Ohh yess." He says putting his hand over his head indicating that he actually forgot about making cookies last night. Which I'm very thankful for.

"Hmm why don't we make cranberry cookies for a change?" I mumble to myself as I examine a packet of cranberries.

"Yeah that's also nice." Liam says sitting on the trolley seat, munching on a chocolate bar. He's got chocolate smeared all over his face, again.

"Do you ever eat anything without creating a mess baby?" I coo at him whilst taking out a wet baby wipe from my bag and start cleaning his face.

"No" he says beaming at me.

"Cheeky monkey." I say while shaking my head.
My phone goes off and I take it out of my handbag while tossing the used wipe on the dustbin nearby.

"Hello?" I answer the call.

"Hey Emmy." Jon says, in his usual husky voice which I have grown to love over the days.

"Heyy. Where are you?" I ask tossing a packet of cranberries and pushing the cart to the next aisle in search of more items for the cookies.

"I was at work. Something came up and I had to keep it open on a fucking Saturday." He grunts. I can't help but laugh at his situation.
I've come to know that Jon isn't a morning person at all. And having to work on a weekend is the most extreme way of torturing him.

"Ohh come on now stop whining like a baby." I say laughing.

"Where are you now?" I can hear him starting his car in the background.

"I'm at the grocery store, Li Li and I are doing some grocery shopping, aren't we baby?" I ask Liam who is playing with the end of my scarf.

"Yes" He says curtly, his attention fully on the loose thread of my scarf.

"I'll be there in 10"

"Alright. But don't you have work?"

"I can take breaks. I've been in there since morning."

"Alright then. See you"

"Bye." I hung up the phone and toss it into my bad.

Ugh my back is killing me. I guess it's because of all the walking and shopping I've been doing whilst pushing this heavy cart which is holding Li Li. I see a bunch of boys walking past me and giving me a teasing smile.

I choose to ignore them and continue my shopping. My backache just gets worse and I can feel my lower stomach cramping. I guess I'm going to get my period. But it's way too early. I shouldn't be getting this for another two weeks. I'll just go home and have a nice warm bath to soothe the muscles. It's probably because of lifting those heavy boxes in the bakery yesterday.

I can see Jon heading towards us while on call with someone. He looks annoyed. I guess work is taking a huge toll on him. It's not easy to run a car repair shop. He hung up as soon as he reached our cart and gives me a slight peck on the cheek.

"Hey buddy" He says ruffling Liam's hair.

"Hey uncle Jon" He says while munching on the chips I just put into the cart.

"When did you open that mister?" I ask Liam with a glare. This boy is going to get a serious stomach pain.

"I'll get this for you" Jon says while taking over the cart from me.

"Thank you." I say with a grateful smile before bending over to get a carton of eggs. As soon as I straighten up holding the eggs, Jon rushes and stands right behind me. He stands so close to me that I can feel his hot breath on my neck.

"Jon what are you doing?" I ask turning around so I can face him.

He holds my shoulder from back, preventing me from turning around.

"Emma there is a huge period stain on your pants." He whispers in my ear.
I gasp, covering my mouth. That's why those boys were laughing. Oh my God! This is so bad. What is Jon going to think about me? He gently takes the carton of eggs from me and places them into the cart. I cover my face with my hands. The tears already cascading down my cheeks. This is the worst day of my life. I was flashing my period stain to the whole grocery store all this time.

"This is so bad" I say my voice filled with humiliation.

"Hey it's okay. Here take this." He removes his jacket and ties it around my waist which covers my butt. One of his hands rests on my waist while the other dives into his back pocket bringing out his car keys.

"My car is parked right outside the store in the parking lot. Wait for me in the car, I'll take care of the things." He says kissing my temple.

I instantly agree to his offer because right now, the only thing I want to do is get out of this store as soon as possible. I snatched the key from his hand and stormed out of the store. I get into the car and start sobbing. I know it's really silly to be crying over such a petty thing but I just couldn't bare the humiliation anymore. I came across many familiar people who visit Sweet Tooth quite often. They all might've seen the stain. And from the size of it, I'm pretty sure it's been there for a very long time. This is the worst day of my life. I wish the ground would swallow me up.

I just wanna go home and get under the blankets. I've had enough for today.