[C] The Waiting Game

Cosse's Baby Essentials was a store that made it easier for a certain type of client to get what they wanted. It was a great idea in theory, but at times Spiro found it quite boring.

Especially now. It was late evening now. The store had been open since early afternoon. He'd been on shift since his daughter had gone to bed.

He always worked the night shift.

Even if it meant sprawling across a chair behind the till, with his feet kicked up onto the counter and a book in his lap. Tonight's read was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Cosse's was one of the only places open late consistently and Alexis was grateful for it.

It wasn't long ago that Tahir had up and left, chasing after his sister and leaving her and Jem alone to fend for themselves.

Alexis was bitter about it, but she had Jem, and that fact alone was something to be happy about.

On this particular night she was in urgent need of some new teething rings, Jem had almost gnawed through his last one and when it finally gave out, she would be in trouble.

With the small child on her hip she made her way into the store, quickly trying to find numbing cream and the rings.

As soon as the door opened, Spiro swung his legs off the counter and set his book down. He wanted a good presentation for his shop. Sloppy, distracted staff was not a good look.

A grin curled his lips when he caught sight of his new customers. He hadn't seen the woman too often, but the baby was a familiar customer. Usually the baby was chaperoned by his father in the late afternoons.

"Jem, my man," he called out to the baby. Spiro was good at making friends and occupying the children in the shop when the parents shopped. He'd done it a few times for Tahir.

Alexis looked up suspiciously as Jem's name was called out, eyeing the man for a moment but relaxing as Jem began to squirm excitedly.

Clearly the boy knew the man well enough if he was excited to see him.

"Hello...?"

She replied, to the random man that her son was trying to worm his way towards.

"Settle."

She cooed to the boy who outstretched his arms toward Spiro, wanting to be picked up by him.

Spiro gave a sheepish little grin as he realised that he was already approaching the woman with his arms stretched out, ready to take the boy like he always did. It must have been strange for the woman to see it and not know that it was a normal occurence.

"Ah, sorry." He had a little lilt to his accent; a heavy mix of Italian and Greek. "I'm Cosse. Spiro Cosse. It's a pleasure to meet you properly."

Spiro's sheepish grin schooled into a professional and friendly smile. "Is there anything in particular you're looking for tonight, ma'am?"

"Oh."

She replied, relaxing a little.

"You own this shop then?"

Given the name, it was obviously his.

"You're obviously familiar with Jem and his father then?"

She kept her smile in place but felt a pang of displeasure at the mention of Tahir.

"Numbing cream and as many teething rings as you have."

She added, not exactly joking.

Spiro nodded. "I have done for just over a year now." He'd opened the shop when his daughter was just a few months old. Going through how hard it is to care for a child, he wanted other parents to be able to have what they needed when they needed it. Anything to help a struggling parent.

"Yes. I see this little man and your husband here all the time." Perhaps it wasn't right to just assume they were married, but that was generally the case. Spiro grinned and held up his hand to Jem. "Do I get a high five, little man?"

His dark eyes raised to Alexis nd he gave her a sympathetic little smile. "That time, is it? You never realise just how loud your little one is until they start teething." He'd never heard Rosa cry so loudly until she'd started teething.

"Tahir isn't my husband."

She clarified, without trying to sound too defensive, but the look in her eyes clearly stated that he wouldn't be around any more as she looked down at Jem, who seemed to be all smiles and cuddles at the moment, happily slapping his little palm against Spiro's.

"Half Vampire, half lycan, he had the worse of both worlds when it comes to teeth."

She replied with a small laugh, poor Jem had it hard at the moment, those sharp little teeth weren't helping either.

"Thankfully the numbing cream seems to effect him quite strongly so he is practically living off the stuff at the moment."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologised immediately. He shouldn't assume things about people. He'd been speaking English long enough to know what assuming did.

"Aww, that's it, little man." He chucked the boy under the chin and ruffled his mop of hair.

"I feel positively lucky with Rosa then." He couldn't imagine a little baby havind to deal with the sharp Lycan teeth and practically nasty Vampire teeth. Poor soul.

"It does with Rosa, too. I swear, without that cream, I dont know where I'd be. C'mon, its all this way." He led Alexis up along aisle, gesturing towards the display of teething options.

"It's alright."

She replied with a little shrug.

Things happened sometimes, clearly it just wasn't meant to be, that sentiment at least made it a little less painful.

"You have a little one of your own?"

Lex could smell the Lycan coming off of the man so it was easy enough to know what species he was.

"I'm just happy that he is content chewing on the toys and he hasn't started biting his cousins."

That would be a lot to handle.

Alexis look relieved as they got to the teething toys, picking out a selection of which ever looked the most durable, Jem got through them quite quickly.

Jem gave a happy squeal and grabbed a toy as Alexis handed it to him, immediately shoving it in his mouth and chewing away on it.

She gave a smile down at the child and pressed a kiss to his head before picking out a large selection and a handful of cream tubes.

"This should hold us over for about a week."

"I do. A beautiful little girl. She's not too much older than this one." Rosa could only be a few months older than Jem. She was nearing her second birthday. Jem couldn't be too far behind, he was sure.

"Now that would be a nightmare." He'd had to be very careful with Rosa. He didn't know what her bite could do. If it was anything like her mother's, he didn't want anyone to suffer it.

"Here, let me take these to the counter for you." He held out his hands for Alexis to pile the teething rings and the cream tubes in. He should have offered her a basket when she first walked in. He wouldn't be forgetting that next time.

"Thank you."

She replied, placing the items carefully into his hands as Jem nestled in against her, sated now that he had something to chew on.

Alexis adjusted the boy, placing his head in against her neck to he would hopefully doze off.

"This place is wonderful, not many stores stay open this late."

Spiro placed the contents of his arms on the counter.

"I try to make things conveient to all types of people. Vampire parents need supplies too. This is more convenient than having to buy things online." He smiled. "I'm glad that I'm helping out at least one person."

He began ringing up the toys and creams. "Is this all you want, ma'am?"

"Shopping online is all well and good but it hardly helps if you're in desperate need of something."

If she needed formula or nappies, buying them online, they wouldn't arrive for days and convenience stores shut quite early.

When Spiro asked that she looked down at Jem.

"Sweety, you want to pick out a toy?"

The boy looked up at her with a new spark of energy and she placed him on the ground.

Jem was getting good at walking and immediately started waddling around looking at all the brightly coloured items before losing himself in a display of plush toys.

"Oh, I know. I live on a pretty late schedule." His lips titled upwards. "It's a pain when you need things past ten o'clock."

He bagged up everything and pushed the bag across the counter for Lex. Jem was still wandering around the store. Spiro didn't intend to let Lex pay for the toy. The woman had looked upset at thte mention of Tahir and Spiro knew that look. If there was trouble in paradise, then buying extra toys wasn't going to be helpful.

And he liked Jem. Treating him to one toy after so much loyalty to his store wouldn't be a harship on him.

"With discount, that's... €34.93."

Alexis looked at the register as he put through all the items.

"Are you sure, that's a rather big discount?"

Plus jem hadn't chosen his toy yet, she felt guilty getting everything so cheaply.

The small boy waddled around happily, his chubby little hands searching through the pile of toys before he gave a delited squeal, pulling out a plush wolf toy and hugging it to his chest before making his way back to his mother to show her what he had found.

Spiro grinned. "I opened this store as a convenience to Vampires. I can't stop other people from coming into the shop, so I have other methods in place to make sure it's a Vampire friendly store."

The squeal the boy gave drew an affectionate little tilt of his lips. That squeal was so much like Rosa's happy squeal.

"Vampires get discount when they shop here."

He dropped the woman a little wink. "And loyal kids get a free toy every now and again, but shhh, don't tell the boss."

"Oh?"

Now that was an unexpected answer for Alexis to hear.

"It seems like an odd thing for a Lycan to be so concerned with what is convenient for Vampires. Not that I'm trying to be rude or anything of the sort."

Corning an untapped market seemed more logical but she got the feeling off of him that those were not his intentions.

Many Vampires came from old money but it seemed he was more concerned about making life easier on them instead of searching for profit.

"I'm not really a big part of the Werewolf community," he admitted.

He'd tried, once, to be a part of it. Tried meeting others around the area. He hadn't liked it. They were all so damned violent and racist, neither of which he was. Spiro had always hated racism. He hadn't ever been able to stand it. So he taken a few big steps back out of the community and gone about trying to do a little bit to fix the the blunders his race had committed.

"If you know of any other Vampire parents, tip them off to here and I'll be forever grateful."

"Fair enough."

She wouldn't pry for more details on that bit of information, it took a lot to be part of a pack, it had its benefits and its issues, even one as family-orientated as the coven's pack.

"That would be why I haven't seen you around the coven at all then."

If he avoided the packs here, going to the coven wouldn't be the best option.

"It so happens that I do know one, my brother, through his little boy is a bit older than my own."

Still Darragh would still like the toys offered here.

"No, I don't frequent the coven." In fact, he'd never been there. The closest he had gotten was exploring the woods, but that was jjust one time, almost two years ago, when he'd first turned.

Spiro gave a friendly smile. "I'd very much appreciate it if you told him about this place."

Catania was a fairly big place and there were a few baby stores around. He didn't get the best business. Any help he would be thankful for.

"Do you have any promotional stuff? I'll put something up at the coven for the other vampires if you like."

She was sure Tony wouldn't mind having a business card or something on the fridge or stuck up somewhere. Not when it benefited Vampire parents.

Jem showed the toy to his mother, getting a warm smile as she hoisted him into her arms.

"You got a wolfy?"

She cooed, causing the boy to giggle as he held it up proudly.

"I have fliers and business cards. Uhm..." He ducked under the counter and returned with a few of each. "Here. Thank you."

Spiro grinned and leaned over the counter to chuck Jem under the chin. "A very good choice, little man. Wolfies are very protective and loyal. You be good to him and he'll be there to protect you always."

He ruffled the boy's thick, dark hair.

Jem made a little 'woof woof' noise as he played with the wolf, looking up at Spiro with a big smile.

"Yeah, woof woof," he hadn't quite grasped words yet but he was good at certain sounds and woof was one of his favourites.

"You going to say thank you to Mr Cosse?"

She asked the small boy, who looked up at her for a moment.

"Say ta."

"Ta!"

The boy squealed.

"Hey, Jem, try 'awoooo.' Wolfies make that noise too." What'd be more cute than watching a little kid make his new wolf howl? "Awooo," he repeated, leaning over and reaching out to tip the plushies head back so it looked like it was howling at the sky.

He'd taught Rosa that, too. It seemed appropriate to teach her all the wolf stereotypes considering who her parents were.

"You're welcome, bud. Be good to your mom, you hear?"