“I didn’t know you had that many siblings.” I picked up a stuffed seal. “This is cute.”
“I like that one. How about this little penguin? Oh, and the little monkey.” She ran to the monkeys. “We could just get lots of stuffed animals.”
“I like that idea. Here are little rubbery ones that squeak too.” I handed them to her and she squeaked two of them. “Maybe for the bathtub or something.”
Our pile of gifts was growing quickly. I texted the driver to pick us up at the same place in thirty minutes. Then I texted the guys to come help with the purchases. Bond stood off to the side looking around while Charlie helped Sabrina carry items to the counter. I think, at last glance, there were eight different stuffed animals and every animal in the zoo made into a rubber toy. It was nice to see her so happy and the babies didn’t really “need” anything. Knowing Mia and Poppy, they would love them.
“Hey, I just thought of something.” I took one of the bags. “Mia and Poppy are from Australia. We need to get a kangaroo and whatever else is from there.”
“A Koala, a wallaby, maybe a dingo.” Bond walked along next to us. “Not sure you’ll find most of those in the States, though.”
“The big toy store on the corner has lots of big stuffed animals. Let’s go see what they have.” I was excited now. “Actually, there’s probably a whole baby section.”
“That’s okay, we can look there too. This has been fun.” Sabrina smiled ear to ear. “I just thought of a sweet gift. What about a music box for the girl baby?”
“One with a tiny ballerina inside that dances.” Charlie smiled at Sabrina. “Did you ever have one of those, Tiny Dancer?”
“No, I did not, but it sounds lovely.”
The driver was sent back to the penthouse with the bags while we walked the block or two over to the big three-story toy store.
“Wow! Look at the size of that bear in the window.” Sabrina ran up to the glass. “Now that’s a gift for a rich baby.”
“I’ll bet no one else in the family thought of that. It has to be eight feet tall, or more.” I looked up at it. “Let’s go inside and see what other animals are that big.”
Sabrina was in awe, and who wouldn’t be? It’d been many years since I’d been in this massive toy store. I’d forgotten the wonder of it all. Charlie and Sabrina spotted the candy section and had to have several bags of it. I showed her the rock candy and that, too, she got in every flavor. I would remind her of these items when she tried to get me to drink her green stuff someday.
“What are those people jumping on?” She pointed up to the next floor. “Is it music?”
“It’s a giant floor piano. Come on, let’s go do it.” I pulled her along to the escalator. “See, you jump on the keys to make a song.”
We waited in line with other families for our turn. I stood off to the side watching as Sabrina tested out each key. Then, the music must have taken her somewhere, because she went up on her toes and began a beautiful ballet dance across the keys. It wasn’t until she noticed the crowd that had formed to watch her that she became embarrassed and walked off the pads.
“Why did you not tell me I was being watched?” she mumbled to me when we walked away.
Her cheeks were flushed and, once she stopped worrying about being embarrassed, she smiled big. She’d had a fun time on the piano. It was so nice to see her dancing. I couldn’t have stopped her anyways. I texted Bond to purchase the piano for Sabrina.
“I’m on it.”He texted back.
“There it is.” I pointed up to the third floor. “It’s a gigantic kangaroo. It’s perfect.”
“How will we get that in the car or the penthouse?” she laughed. “I kinda love it, though.”
I pointed up to the kangaroo to Bond and Charlie. They nodded back with a thumbs up and proceeded to go purchase it. Sabrina walked around, touching everything. When we got to the baby doll nursery, she stood watching in amazement. They really did an amazing job with a full newborn nursery with a human nurse and everything. We watched as little girls went into the nursery to pick a baby doll. To our amazement, the doll actually cried and looked so real.
“I had a baby doll once, before the compound. It did none of these things.” She ran a hand over the dolls. “I think mine only had one eye.”
“One eye? It was a baby pirate?” I teased.
ChapterForty-Nine
SABRINA
Ileft the massive toy store with complete joy. It had been an experience within itself. I felt like all adults should go there often. It made you feel young again. I had to laugh when the guys followed behind us carrying the gigantic bear and kangaroo. I spun around to click a quick picture. I still had no idea how they were getting to the guests of honor, but I was certain Cota would know how to do it.
“What is the music coming from?” I stopped to listen. “I think it is that truck over there.”
“Yeah, that’s an ice cream truck.” Cota looked to where I looked. “You want to get a cone?”