When they got into the store Mal just looked around in complete awe making Ava laugh a bit as she watched her sister. It was the first time she was actually spending one on one time with the toddler as Mal normally hid away from her.

      She was finding that Mal was a very curious little toddler who absolutely loved exploring and asking questions. She was also starting to learn more about Mal's personality. Mal was a bit shy, but she was also such an explorer and she was full of so much happiness and creativity.

        She was also learning about Mal's interests such as the fact that Mal loved dragons, purple, drawing, and strawberries. When they reached the baby and toddler aisle Ava immediately went to the sippy cups as she was sick of the bottle. She just picked up Mal as she pointed to the cups.

         "Okay Mal now I want you to pick out a sippy cup," Ava told the toddler who just shook her head no as she pointed to the bottles. "No wan sip cup! I wan baba!" The small toddler told Ava who just sighed. She knew Mal was too old for the bottle and Mal needed to transition into sippy cups.

             Ava just picked up a sippy cup with a dragon on it that was also purple and had a silicone spout as she showed it to Mal. "Mal what about this one? It's purple, it has a dragon, and look Mal. It still has the same feel as your bottle, but at least now you will look like a big girl," Ava told the toddler who just stared at the sippy cup as she began to examine whether she trusted it or not.

               Finally after a few minutes of the two year old examining the sippy cup she smiled as she nodded. "Otay I wan!" The small girl told Ava, making Ava sigh in relief as she grabbed more sippy cups like that along with a few with the hard spout and a few with just a straw. She also picked out just a few kiddy regular cups as she knew that it would be a transition, but she would need to transition from one to the other if she was ever going to get Mal to drink regular cups.

              She would start out with the silicone sippy cups and slowly transition into the hard tips and eventually make her way into regular cups, but she knew it would be a process and the first step would be to throw out the bottle. If she could get Mal off the bottle that would be a win.

               She then grabbed some other toddler stuff that she would need, but when Mal saw the pacifiers she began to grab them and place them in the cart making Ava sighed as she had to keep putting them back every time as she would not let Mal keep the binky and she was already planning on getting rid of Mal's binky.

                 Carlos had been a good big brother in raising their sister, but he had also messed up with some stuff and Ava was determined to fix it. Mal got upset when Ava placed the pacifiers back as she wanted them. "Pacie!" Mal told Ava as she grabbed a pack and placed it in the cart again. Ava just sighed in frustration as she picked up the pack and placed it back where it goes. "Mal please stop this. You are too old for the pacifier. I'm not buying you another one," Ava told the toddler who just nodded as she waited for Ava to focus on something else and when she did Mal quickly grabbed the pacifiers as she sneakily placed them into the cart hiding them.

                  The small toddler then put on an innocent smile as she looked at Ava who didn't notice what the toddler had done. Mal then pointed to the toys as she looked at Ava. "Aba oys!" The small girl told her sister who nodded as she picked out some toys that she thought would benefit the toddler and then she allowed Mal to pick out a few toys on her own as Ava knew that Mal had no toys except for her dragon and she knew how important toys were for young kids especially the educational ones.

                     When Mal finished picking out the toys Ava picked Mal back up as she needed to go and get stuff from a different aisle as she needed to get stuff to toddler proof her dorm if Mal was going to be staying there now.

                         Once they reached the aisle for baby and toddler proofing Mal just looked around in confusion and curiosity as she looked at Ava. "Aba wa da," the young two year old asked her sister as she pointed to the stuff that Ava had grabbed to toddler proof her dorm. "This is what I am going to use to toddler proof our dorm," Ava told the toddler with a smile, making Mal more confused.

                         "Why?" The young girl asked Ava making Ava laugh a bit. "Because I want to keep you safe," Ava told the toddler who just nodded. "Why?" The two year old asked again making Ava sigh as she looked at her sister. "Because I love you and I want to keep you safe," Ava told the toddler who just giggled.

                         "Why?" Mal asked again, making Ava sigh again as she looked at Mal. "Is that the only word you can say?" Ava playfully asked the toddler as she tickled her, making her giggle. "Hehe Aba I sa mow suff." The toddler told her sister who laughed again.

                            "I know Mal, but you just kept saying that word over and over again. I forgot for a second that you say more words," Ava playfully told the toddler as she was really enjoying this. She was actually getting to bond with her sister and it was the first time since Nolan passed away that she was feeling genuinely happy and enjoying herself.

                            Mal just giggled again. "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?" The small girl playfully told her sister, making Ava laugh again. "Okay Mal no more okay come on let's go pay and then we can leave," Ava told the toddler who smiled and nodded.

                             "Otay Aba I hunwy," the young girl told her big sister who just nodded. "Okay Mal after we finish paying I will take you to get some food, but we are doing this differently. I will take you somewhere where you can play around, but if I take you to this place for lunch then you need to promise me that you will actually eat the food. And no Mal you can't just eat strawberries or we won't go," Ava told the toddler hoping to convince Mal to eat real food as she had been slacking off, but now she was determined to start focusing again and fixing things.

                             Mal just looked at Ava trying to decide if she should take the deal. Ava noticed Mal's conflicted look as she decided to try it anyway as Mal needed to eat real food. "Okay Mal here's what we will do. We are going to try the food and if you don't like it then I will get you strawberries okay, but you have to try it," Ava told the toddler who just nodded.

                              Mal wasn't paying attention much to what her sister was saying as she was focused on the person scanning the items as she was mesmerized by the motion. Ava just laughed when she noticed that Mal was just watching the cashier scan the items. "You think that's cool don't you Mal," Ava told the toddler who just nodded her head as she continued to watch.

                         When the cashier finished scanning the items Ava looked at the price in shock as she was not expecting it to be that expensive. She just carefully handed the cashier her credit card knowing that she was going to be in so much debt, but Mal really needed this stuff.

                            When she finished paying Ava placed the bags in the car and then buckled up Mal in her seat. "Okay Mal you did such a good job in the store. I'm impressed, but um Mal what is this," Ava asked the toddler as she picked up the pack of pacifiers that Mal had managed to get away with sneaking.

                             The young two year old looked at the pacifiers in shock. "Uh oh," the small girl whispered as she then just put on an innocent smile and looked at her big sister. "Aba wew da pacies come fwom?" The small girl innocently asked Ava who just roll her eyes playfully as she knew Mal knew that she had done it.

                           "I don't know Mal? Can you tell me where the pacifiers came from?" Ava asked her sister who just pretended to look confused. "I no no wew pacies come fwom?" The small girl told Ava innocently, making Ava just sigh as she placed the pacifiers back into the bag.     

                       "Mal I will give you this win for now, but we are going to talk more about this when we get back from lunch," Ava told the toddler as she was hungry and she knew that it would be easier to lecture the toddler in her own dorm. Plus she needed to tackle one problem at a time and right now the eating thing needed to come first as it was extremely unhealthy.

                         Mal just smiled as Ava placed the pacifiers back into the bag and got into the driver's seat as Mal knew she won. Ava then drove to a fast food restaurant that she knew had a playground for young toddlers as she quickly parked the car and then looked at Mal.

                       "Okay Mal here we are. Come on let's go inside oh and Mal there's a surprise inside too," Ava told the toddler who clapped her hands excitedly as Ava unbuckled her and then placed her down.

                           When they got into the fast food restaurant Ava led Mal to the playground seating and as soon as Mal saw who was sitting at one of the booths she got so excited as she ran straight over to the booth in happiness and excitement.     

                    Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you guys thought. And let me know who you think the person is that made Mal so excited.