Dark quickly set off, knowing there was much to examine. With one hand, he guided Daizi, like he always did through the crowded store full of breakable items, but soon she encountered a problem. With Ivy in one arm and her cane in the other, actually being able to pick up anything was impossible, and since so much was breakable, the likelihood of accidentally knocking something over and shattering it seemed too high to risk. And she had no interest in setting Ivy down. Of course, Dark offered her every solution he could think of, but Daizi requested to be led to the little bench underneath the stairs so she could wait there.
A year ago, almost exactly a year ago, they had come here, and they had to end their trip early, because she physically could not do it. Her entire body ached, she was exhausted, and the act of walking around a large farm all day was too much for her. And she was scared, because at the time, she believed she had six more weeks of it, and she had no idea how she was going to survive it because she was only going to get bigger, somehow, even though she felt like her skin was liable to tear open more than it already had. Last year, Daizi had sat at the Pumpkin Patch with her hands on her swollen belly feeling little else but pain, exhaustion, fear, and guilt--for "ruining" the trip for everyone else. Now she knew, as she sat on the same bench with her baby sleeping soundly in her arms her body had already been giving out then, only three days later she went into labour. Of course she felt like that, but now it was different.
Now she was sitting out not because she had to, but because she wanted to. She could have put Ivy back in her stroller, or handed her to Dark or to Alec, so she could navigate the store, examine what they were selling, just like everyone else, but she wanted to cradle her baby. Because she had said her name for the very first time, and she was certain she'd never set her down again until Ivy repeated it. For nearly a decade and a half, she had been waiting for someone so little to call her that word. Now that it had happened, because she was certain it had, she'd wait until the little girl who had won a race to get to her would say it again. As much as she might want to, it was hard to deny she had been feeling fried and about ready to break down, but that little word, as those little hands held to tightly to her, had made a lot worthwhile.
As Dark went around the store, he kept taking quick glances back at the pair of them, ready to swoop in if for even a moment Daizi looked worn out or lonely, but anyone could see how at peace she was. So, as a little idea wormed his way into his mind, and he went back to exploring every square inch of the downstairs. When he found something he liked, or thought Daizi would like, he walked it over to her, which she appreciated, but they both knew it wasn't necessary.
