Ryan and I were eating when Julia and Patricia arrived. My dad came into the kitchen while the women were all gathered and having coffee. Ryan flipped page after page, looking and commenting on things.
“Oh! Look!” Ryan enthusiastically turned an ad around to face me. His finger pointed to a deal on batteries at a local home improvement store. “Look, you can get thirty double-A batteries for $9.99! This is a deal you could get excited for,” Ryan joked.
“Really?” Dad spoke up and came over to look. “That is a good deal. Damn remotes suck the life out of batteries. Russell, would you pick me up one of these if they still have them?”
“If we end up at that store, yes.”
Ryan pointed to my dad. “I got your back, Stanley. We’ll get the batteries.”
“Thank you, Ryan.”
Ryan continued to pore over the ads while I finished my oatmeal and coffee.
“Oh, can we go to that fancy coffee place while we’re in Indianapolis?” Julia asked.
“Starbucks?” I asked. I was almost certain that was what she was speaking of. There wasn’t a Starbucks in either of the closest towns, so whenever any of them ventured to Indianapolis, they always wanted Starbucks.
“Yes!” Julia exclaimed.
“Yes, we’ll stop there first,” I promised. I took the bowls to the dishwasher as the ladies went to get their coats and purses.
“I’m thrilled you’re here to take them this year,” Dad said and smiled broadly. “I’m going to enjoy some football today.”
“That sounds like a good plan, Dad.”
“Psst, Russell.” Ryan grabbed my attention. He pointed to a remote control droid in one of the ads. “If I get the twenty-dollar coupon, I’m buying this.”
“You can buy that even without the coupon, Ryan.”
“What? No! Where’s your Black Friday spirit? It wouldn’t be as exciting to just buy it. I have to feel like I’m getting a bad-ass deal.”
I smiled at him and nodded. I was glad he was in the spirit to make the most out of our shopping day. Ryan carried the ad as we walked into the entryway to get our coats. Amid all the chatter about the day going on around me, I used the app on my phone to turn the SUV on along with all the seat warmers.
“Look at that shirt,” Julia commented as soon as she saw Ryan’s Stormtrooper t-shirt.
“I know, isn’t it adorable?” Mom asked.
“Where is your holiday shirt, Russell?” Patricia asked. All the ladies had some sort of holiday sweater or sweatshirt on. It was part of their tradition.
“Russell’s wearing his signature outfit,” Ryan spoke up.
“His signature outfit?” Patricia inquired.
“He’s full of energy this morning, and sugar, thanks to Mom,” I commented and handed Ryan his coat.
“Russell likes to wear dark sweaters. It’s in case I get lost in the store today,” Ryan said dryly. “See, when everyone has bright holiday stuff on in the store, all I have to do is look around for the drab sweater, then, boom! I found Russell.” Ryan laughed at his own explanation, as the ladies did.
“You’re going to have a wonderful time,” Dad said. “Watch the ice on the roads.”
I made sure Ryan had his gloves and beanie. I didn’t want him to catch cold, and since it was a whole fifteen degrees out, I was mainly concerned with keeping him warm.
Once we were outside in the frigid air, Ryan jogged around the ladies on the walkway and opened the front passenger door.
“Lily, you can sit up here where it’s warm and comfortable.”
“Well, thank you, Ryan,” Mom said as she held on to the armrest on the door to help get inside. “Where are you going to sit?”
“There’s a third row in the back. We don’t always have it up, but I’ll sit back there.”
