Part 27 ***************** Liz threw her bag over her shoulder, throwing a kiss on Noah’s cheek as she grabbed her keys. “Are you sure that you’re going to be fine?” Max rolled his eyes playfully, cradling Leah in his arms, a towel draped over his shoulder. “Yes. The kids and I will be fine. Won’t we kids?” Noah nodded, wiping the milk off of his lips with the back of his hand. “We’ll be fine, momma. We’ll be here when ya get back,” he smiled. Liz let out a sigh, gathering herself before leaving. “Alright. You guys be good.” She walked towards Max, giving Leah a kiss on her head, standing on her tip toes to kiss Max goodbye. “The grocery list is on the fridge, if you could get that done, that would be great. I need you to stop by the dry cleaners and pick up my blouse, too.” Max just grinned, his hand resting on the small of Liz’s back as he pushed her towards the door. “Go already. I can handle this.” Liz clutched her keys in her hand, smiling. “Of course you can. I’ll see the three of you later. Kisses!” She placed a kiss to her hand, throwing it into the direction of her family as she trotted down the driveway, hearing a chorus of goodbyes from her family. Max stood by the door, holding Leah in one arm, his other hand flat on Noah’s shoulder as they waved goodbye to Liz’s retreating form. He grinned, walking back inside the house. “Well, it looks like it’s just the three of us, kiddos.” ************ The drive to the grocery store had been uneventful. Leah was taking a nap in her car seat, while Noah rambled on about how he planned on spending his summer vacation. “......and then, Jade, Dexter, and Damian could come over, and we could all build a fort.” Max pulled up into a parking spot, nodding his head. “Sounds like a plan, little man.” He jumped out of the jeep, grabbing a cart with a built-in baby seat. After securely placing Leah in it, he grabbed Noah’s hand, looking both ways before they crossed towards the store. He dug into his pocket, scanning over the grocery list. “Bread, peanut butter, milk, eggs,........” he continued to read the list to himself, his eyes flying up to the signs hanging in the aisles. “Not so bad.” He steered the cart into an aisle, looking for the peanut butter. “Peanut butter.......peanut butter...” His eyes widened, his lips curling into a smile when he caught sight of it. “Aha! There it is!” He went to grab a bottle, when his eyes widened even more, as he caught the different types of peanut butter they had available. He twisted the one in his hand, reading the label. “Chunky.......Chunky? What the heck does that mean?” He put it back down, walking down the aisle reading the different variations and brands. He swallowed thickly as he continued walking, finding some bottles with peanut butter and jelly all in one. He took out his list again, scratching the side of his head. “Peanut butter.” He flipped the list over, hoping for some kind of clue as to which one to pick, but there was none. “How am I supposed to know which one to get?” He muttered to himself. Grabbing the handle of the cart, he walked down the aisle again, reading each label. “I don’t get it. How can you have an aisle full of peanut butter?” For a second, he was tempted to call Liz and ask for a little help, when he decided against it. He had told her that he could handle things while she was gone. If he couldn’t even get the first item on her list, then she’d never go back to work. Feeling a little defeated, Max looked down at Noah. “So little man. Do you know which kind your momma gets?” *************** Pam took her nail file out, shaping her nails with an air of boredom. “This place sucks.” Angie leaned against the counter next to her. “Tell me about it.” Max steered his cart into aisle seven, grabbing the last item on his list. He pushed the cart to the side, bending over as he eyed the different loaves of bread. Pam dropped her nail file, her jaw hanging open. She slapped Angie on the shoulder, practically drooling. “Break me off a piece of that!” Angie bent her head to the side, studying the Adonis with the butt. “Nice, although that butt does look familiar.” Pam’s eyes widened. “You too? It’s like I know I’ve seen that butt before, but I can’t quite put my finger......” Her voice trailed off, when Max stood up, holding two loaves of bread, studying it closely. “Omigod! That’s Mr. Evans! I shoulda known that that was him. I used to only stare at that butt all through the first semester.” Pam rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever, little girl. I don’t even know why you were looking in the first place. Max ain’t gonna give you the time of day.” “Tell me about. He’s always fawning over that wife of his. You’d think that after all this time being together he would’ve gotten sick of her and moved on already.” Pam pushed Angie out of the way, pulling her low cut shirt even lower as Max pushed his cart in their direction. “Max, hi! I can’t believe it’s you.” Max pushed Noah closer to him, his eyebrows rising cautiously as he looked at Pam. “Do I know you?” She held out her hand, flipping her hair behind her back. “It’s Pam. Pam Troy.” When Max just stared at her, giving no indication as to knowing who she was, she let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s me, Pam. We went to high school together.” The words high school rolled around in Max’s head, recognition dawning on him. His eyes narrowed, his jaw tense. “Now I remember. Well isn’t it unfortunate to see you here?” Pam held a hand to her chest, surprised to hear the coldness in his voice, the steely look in his eyes. Who knew that someone would could hold a grudge for that long? Angie snickered behind Pam, enjoying the scene in front of her. It was nice to see someone else being shot down by Mr. Evans this time. She had learned her lesson, keeping as far away from Max as she could. Apparently, Pam had yet to learn that. She wondered briefly if Pam knew Liz. Seeing Liz chew out Pam would be a sight that she would pay to see. She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of the short balding man clapping his hands together. “Pam! Angie! Get back to work, the two of you! I am not paying the two of you to dilly dally on company time. Buy n’ Bag is a fine establishment, and I don’t want the two of you running this place amuck!” He clapped his hands together, shooing them away with his hands. Max had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting out laughing. Pam Troy and Angie Taylor working at the Buy n’ Bag. Together. He held onto his stomach, trying to keep himself from dying with laughter. He wiped away at his tears, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. “Working at the Buy n’ Bag,” he laughed to himself. ***************** Liz tried to maneuver the steering wheel, while holding her cell phone to her ear. “Are you sure that you can go with me? I mean, if you’re busy...” Maria laughed into the phone. “Busy? Liz please. This will be the most fun I’ll have all week. Besides, maybe I can pick up something for me and Michael, you know....” she let her voice trail off, oozing with suggestion. Liz blushed a deep crimson even though she was alone in the car. She cleared her throat a few times, turning into the driveway. “Right, yeah well, I gotta go Maria. But remember- “I know, I know. I have to swear not to tell a living soul.” Liz could her Maria’s voice dripping with sarcasm. She could almost see Maria rolling her eyes at her. “Maria, say it. I am not getting off the phone with you until you say it!” “Fine. Fine. I cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye....There, you happy chica?” Liz heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I love you, ‘Ria.” “Love you too, babe.” Liz hung up her cell phone, heading inside the house. “I’m home!” She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Max sprawled on his back on the floor, Leah sleeping soundly on his chest, while Noah was curled up at his side, the sounds of their snoring filling the room. She tiptoed inside, careful not to make any noise. She sat on her knees, giving each one of them a kiss, her hand brushing the locks of hair out of Max’s face. She could even see crumbs from his lunch stuck to his cheek as he continued to sleep. She laughed softly, loving how beautiful and innocent the three of them looked together. Max’s eyes fluttered open, smiling lazily when he saw Liz. He reached out to stroke her leg, his eyes closing again. “When’d you get home?” “Just now.” She kissed him lovingly, laughing when he pulled her down next to him. “This is nice. The three of you look beat.” Max just moaned, pulling his family closer to him. “Grocery shopping took us forever. Who’da thought that it would take a half hour to choose which peanut butter to buy?” Liz laughed, burying her face in Max’s broad shoulder. “You’re kidding me, right?” He shook his head. “I wish I was. I didn’t even have time to pick up your dry cleaning. We got there and the doors were closed. I even knocked on the door, and had Noah do his puppy face, but they still wouldn’t let us in.” Liz just laughed harder. “Oh no! I can’t believe you guys did that.” Max just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “The lady said, ‘I’m sorry sir, but I can’t just let you in, even if I want to. Because if I do that, then I’d have to do it for everyone.’” He mocked in a woman’s voice. Liz was nothing but a mass of giggles. “At least I tried. That’ll be our goal tomorrow. We’ll pick up your dry cleaning. I just hope it won’t take us three hours to do it.” Liz hit him with her hand. “Max, stop making me laugh!” “I’m not even trying. I’m being serious here.” His eyes opened, a devilish grin passing his lips. “If you wanna hear something funny, let me tell you about who I saw working at the Buy n’ Bag.......”