"Nah, I balanced him on my knees, took the back roads and drove real slow. You can hold him on the way back, we're good." No, Mick was not someone who was that child aware, he never had much to do with children and he didn't really think things through. What young man really did. "I-I ... no, I didn't get a bear." Was he supposed to get a bear? Did he need a bear? Fuck. He was already doing this so badly. He looked so stressed and freaked as he stared at them both for a moment before he took off running.

When he came back, he had an arm full of bears. Would bears make this better? He hoped so. "There. Bears. And I didn't scream at him, I yelled at the shelving. He just took it personally."