"Ba-ba!"

Cherish twisted too slowly to stop the tiny boy from waddling away from her faster than she thought he could. "Chester!" she yelled as she struggled to catch up with him. Maybe it wasn't that he was fast as much as it was his tiny-ness. She was having trouble manoeuvring her way around all the people and random obstacles, like clothing racks, the bench she'd just slammed into and the garbage can beside it.

"Cheese! Come back here!"

"If you paid as much attention to your kid as you did to shopping so you could look hot for your new fuck, then you wouldn't be chasing him through a mall!"

Cherish ignored the comment she heard a lady a few years older than her make to her friend as she scrambled past.

"Yeah, if you'd just keep your legs shut, then maybe you wouldn't have a kid to chase after," the friend sneered as Cherish stopped near them. Their stupidity and unwarranted judgemental assessment by way of stereotype didn't matter though. What mattered more was where Chester was, and since she could no longer see the tiny bundle of boy, she was very near to panicking.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." She skirted around the bench the girls sat on and stepped up onto the edge of the water fountain so she could try and spot him. In theory it shouldn't have been too hard, he was small and therefore likely to scare the crap out of people as he went by. She'd at least see people avoiding stepping on him! She hoped.

"Ba-ba!" he squealed again and she jumped down from the fountain, scrambling desperately in the direction of his voice.

"Chester!" She panicked all over again when she heard him squeal as she barrelled towards a clothing store. Wheeling around, she saw someone jumping back and pointing down at the floor in the entrance of the shoe store beside it. "Chester? Bug?"

"Heya Cheese!" Cherish was more than relieved when she saw Seven bending to scoop Chester off the floor.

"Oh my God, Cheese. Don't run away like that!" she scolded the boy, sounding like she was trying to catch her breath and let it all out at once.

Seven smirked at her, "Hey. You lose something, Rish?"

"Shuttup," she snapped, though she smiled.

Chester swiveled out of the hug he was giving Seven and waved his arms at her, "Twiss!"

"I don't know if I'm talking to you right now, Chester." He looked at her in confusion, as if he couldn't fathom her not paying attention to him anymore. The sad thing is he was right; no matter how mad she was at him, she'd still be wrapped around his tiny slobbery finger.

"So what are you doing here?" Seven asked as he stepped closer to the cash register.

"Shopping," Cherish rolled her eyes, what else would she be doing in a mall? She realised when Seven raised a brow at her, that she had no bags on her. In fact, she blanched and wheeled around again, realising she had left all the things scattered around the floor of the store she'd just been in.

"Shit! Be right back!" she called over her shoulder as she jogged across the walkway back to the alternative clothing store. She didn't hesitate to leave Chester with Seven; after all, Chester had willingly run across the crowded mall to his Ba-ba. She gathered her things, made sure they were all there, and breathlessly thanked the sympathetic cashier for keeping all her things together.

"No problem!" the girl said, smiling gently at Cherish. "I know what kids are like."

Cherish handed her a student discount card and a few bills to pay for the sweater she was purchasing. The girl eyed her JCM student card with a peculiar expression, but her attention was soon pulled away by something else and she handed Cherish her change quickly. Probably someone good looking and of the male variety, Cherish assumed by the way she smiled.

"How old is he?" she cooed.  Cherish spun around to see Seven standing there, a shoe box in a bag hanging off one arm and Chester securely gripped in the other.  Cherish was struck by how even someone as "dark" looking as the cashier with her bottle black hair and heavy make-up, was reduced to silly faces at the appearance of a baby.

"Eighteen months," Seven smiled back at her.

The cashier reached out and wiggled her fingers in Chester's face, but continued to glance surreptitiously at Seven.  Or maybe it wasn't the baby, but the guy holding the baby.  Chester swerved away from her fingers when she tried to touch him, reaching wildly for Cherish, "Eeernh!"

With a soft smile at the little boy, Cherish scooped him out of Seven's grasp. "Its okay, Bug." she crooned at him as she bounced him on her hip, and clarified to the cashier, "he doesn't really like people."

Cherish wanted to laugh at the cashier's expression as Chester smiled up at Seven and poked out a finger, "Ba-ba!"

"Yeah, Ba-ba. Thanks again," Cherish said offhandedly to the cashier.  She smirked as the girl's eyes bugged out when Seven tenderly ruffled Chester's hair and followed Cherish out of the store.

"I think she had a crush on you, Sev."

He shrugged and grunted, and then eyed her shopping bags with interest. She supposed it should have been awkward considering that she'd been avoiding him all this time, but it wasn't. At least he wasn't making it awkward, so she was willing to do the same.

"Urban Outfitters? Bluenotes? West49?" his eyebrow questioned her.

"Ari. Harper. Delia. Trying to get my Christmas shopping done now."

He nodded, "I thought Ian said you weren't talking to Ari?"

She should have known that Ian would have spoken to Seven about her. "I'm not really." And the reason for that, and the fact that he knew the reason, was making things awkward. "I still have more shopping to do, so..."

"Yeah, later," he said coolly before ruffling Chester's hair again and sauntering away. Cherish frowned as she turned away; his cool attitude stung only slightly, but she supposed it was her fault. What did she expect after avoiding him so fanatically?

She decided to grab a locker at the far end of the mall, balancing Chester and the bags was beginning to turn into a problem. She supposed she could have let Chester walk, but that always led to him squirming out of her grasp and running off somewhere. After purchasing some books to occupy her free time and her train ride, she checked off items on her mental errand list. The last thing on it was underwear.

She'd known this was on her list when she'd decided to volunteer taking Chester for the day, and she wasn't planning on coming back into the mall again until after New Years. She'd have to do it now, or suffer ill fitting underwear until January. Deciding it wouldn't be too hard to do with Chester, especially since the lingerie store change rooms had full doors that he couldn't squeeze under, she ventured into La Senza.

She selected a couple of plain sets, and a pair of cute girl boxers to sleep in, but on the far wall, near the change rooms, was a really cute baby-doll. Pretty underwear always made her feel better, and this one was sure to lift her mood. She knew she couldn't afford it right now, but she could at least try it on. It was sheer black, lacy and fitting and it had garter straps that hung down from the lacy hem.

She inwardly squealed in delight as the shop clerk pulled one in her size down, grabbing a pair of thigh highs off the shelf below it. This was a quirk she had shared with Len, trying on lingerie whenever they were in bad moods. The amount of unnecessary lingerie the two had collected was unbelievable; though of course Len had a use for hers.

She squeezed herself into the change room and sat Chester in the corner wishing she had bought his stroller. "Chester, Bug, I need you to close your eyes okay?"

He nodded and she pulled his hat down over his head just in case; she didn't want to be responsible for damaging the little one. Though in a house with eight other siblings, half of them girls, it could be assumed that he'd seen more than enough already, especially with Joanne and her too large chest. Cherish quickly tried on the plain bra, satisfied with the way it fit. Next were the boxers and she grinned at how comfortable they were.

"How about we go get you an ice cream after this because you've been such a good boy?" She was so eager to try on the baby-doll she didn't realise how quiet it had gotten. Turning around she noticed Chester's jacket was on the floor, but he himself was no longer in the room with her. Dammit! How the hell was she supposed to run out after him wearing this?

"Chester?" There was no reply and Cherish flew into a panicked frenzy, "Chester?" She wrenched open the door just as she heard him scream; she couldn't be sure if it was laughter or fear. She didn't have to wait long to figure it out, Seven popped into the corridor of change rooms toting Chester under his arm.

"Look who I found trying to escape!"

"Thank God you were there to catch him!"

Seven raised his shoulders, "He was sitting under a table playing with this. He wasn't going anywhere till he saw me."

Chester giggled and stretched whatever it was he was playing with, "The-wiss!"

"My God, Chester! Never do that to me again!"

The little boy only giggled again, but had the decency to at least look like he knew he'd done something wrong. He pointed up at Seven and countered Cherish's reprimand with, "Ba-ba!"

"Yes, I know Ba-ba got you," Cherish clicked her tongue in annoyance. She was more annoyed at herself for thinking she could shop for herself while with Chester; she understood why Pam never took him anywhere. Though in Pam's case she had it hundreds of times worse, Chester never stopped screaming, or biting, or kicking when he was with Pam. "He was right here!" she said more to herself than Seven.

"Don't feel too bad about it. It happens to Pam, too. They've had to lock down the mall twice for this one."

"I really shouldn't have bothered trying things on even if there's no way for him to squeeze under the door!" And that's when both Cherish and Seven actually realised she was standing in the doorway of the change room with nothing on, but the near see-through baby-doll.

Seven cleared his throat, looked down at her and then away just as quickly. "Uh, you look nice," he offered in a strangled unsure tone.

Cherish turned a brilliant shade of red and stepped back into the room, "Wonderful. I'll just be in here now."

"Uh, you might be needing this."

Cherish glanced down at his hand and what he was offering her and saw her tank top, twisted and drool-y thanks to Chester. "Oh! Uh, thanks." She clicked the door shut behind her and felt herself hyperventilating.

"I'll be out here," Seven notified her before she heard him wandering back out into the store. She changed quickly, her nerves shaking as she did so. Grabbing the few items she had, she barged up to the checkout.

"Ready to head out?" Seven asked as he joined her, obviously trying to make small talk; ignoring what had just happened.

Cherish answered the lady behind the desk first, "I don't want this one," and then casually threw a, "yeah," sideways at him.

"Why aren't you getting that one?" Seven smirked now. "It looked nice."

She would have hit him but decided not to give him any reaction, shrugging instead. "Can't afford it after all the gifts I bought."

"Oh," Seven looked awkward now, as if realising what he'd said in teasing her. "I'll wait outside for you."

It was at this moment, as Seven stepped away from her that Chester chose to swerve wildly in Seven's arms, reaching out for Cherish. "Shit! Cheese!" Seven tightened his grip on the boy to stop him from falling, grasping his side roughly to hold him up.

"Thwiss!" Chester squealed as his eyes teared up. Cherish dropped her purse on the counter and spun around on Seven to see Chester dangling precariously over the side of his arm. He threw his arms out at her screaming, "Maaaaaaahhh! Eeernh!"

"Chester, it's okay, she's right there, we're not going anywhere," Seven said carefully, stopping near the edge of the counter. But Chester wasn't having any of it- three feet away was apparently too far when it hadn't been his own doing. He continued to screech and flail his arms in Cherish's direction, twisting and kicking in Seven's grasp.

"Bug, I'm right here," she reasoned with him. There was no one behind her in line so she reached for Chester and muttered "one second" to the cashier. Setting Chester down on the floor, she peered at him, "What's wrong, Bug?"

He glared hatefully at Seven and spat out an accusing "Ba-Ba!"

"Did Ba-Ba hurt you?" Cherish inquired and the little boy nodded enthusiastically. "Aw, Bug, he didn't mean to! You were going to fall." She smiled when the tiny boy cocked his head at her, still crying. "Let me see it," she demanded. Chester poked his side and frowned, whimpering until Cherish picked him up and kissed his side. "See all better, now!"

She turned back to the checkout and smiled at the lady, "Sorry about that. How much is it?"

"So, uh, d'you need a ride home?" Seven inquired at her side as they headed out of the mall.

She looked sideways at him; this was awkward but not unbearably so. "No, I drove," then thinking better of it, she added, "but thanks for the offer."

Seven nodded, detaching Chester's fisted fingers from his shirt; Chester's fingers immediately returned as he attempted to drag himself into Seven's arms again. Cherish sighed and stopped moving only long enough to pass the boy off yet once more. "Make up your mind, Cheese!" Seven chuckled lightly. When they reached the exits, Seven wondered aloud where all her things were.

"Oh, I got a locker, too much stuff to carry with this one," she poked Chester's side affectionately. She pried open the locker with the one free hand she had and then hung her bags from the corner of the open door. Taking out a small jacket, she held it up to Seven.

"Hey, Cheese, time for your jacket," Seven grinned, "we're going outside."
Chester squirmed a tiny bit while Seven pulled his arms through the sleeves but didn't fight too much. He did however squeal and wiggle in protest at the hat Cherish was pulling down over his head.

"If I didn't know any better, Sev, I'd say he was worried about his hair getting messed up, like you."

"Well, we have awesome hair, don't we little man?" Chester pried the hat off in response; the old ladies sitting on the bench a couple of feet away looked amused.

Cherish sighed and picked up the hat, tucking it under her arm as she did up her own jacket. "Come on, Cheese," she held the hat up and he squealed. "For me, please?"

He shook his head stubbornly, so she gave up on the hat and instead tied a tiny scarf around his neck and pulled his tiny mittens on.

"Let me try," Seven took the hat from her and pulled it lopsidedly over Chester's head. Once more Chester flung the hat off.

Cherish frowned as she gathered her bags and retrieved the hat once more. "He probably won't wear one unless you do, Sev," she mused aloud.

"Alright," Seven chuckled and pulled the hood of his sweater up over his head. "Happy, Chester?"

The little boy squealed in excitement and snatched his hat away from Cherish. Laughing as he struggled with it, Cherish pulled it over his head. Making sure, once more that she had everything, she closed the locker and reached out for Chester.

"I got him," Seven protested. "You can't carry everything."

One of the old ladies on the bench smiled.  "That's so cute!" she said- a little too loudly- to her friend. "These days too many young parents don't take responsibility. All this getting girls pregnant and then leaving them, and you hardly ever see the girls taking care of the young ones either. Just leave it to mom or grandma. There should be more couples like these two."

Cherish froze mid-step and blushed at the old lady's comment; the old lady's friend agreed wholeheartedly that they were such an adorable little family. She smiled awkwardly at the elderly ladies and chanced a glance at Seven. He too, was hesitating uneasily beside her, unsure of how to react. Cherish shrugged at him and he looked at the ladies, offering them a toothy grin and persuading Chester to wave goodbye to them.

*Title song by Reverend Horton Heat

It's not quite the liquor store, but Cherish has learned her lesson- don't take Chester shopping.

Ever had anything supremely embarrassing like that happen to you?

What about the ladies all through the chapter assuming the child was Cherish's?  What do you think of the way they judged her?  Ever happened to you?