When Liona offered to take him shopping, he did not expect her to extend that offer to his sisters after he had to break the news to her that Nikki had sold all the clothes that she had given her. Apparently, the clothes that Liona had given were all high end designer labels or something and that meant they could be pawned for a bit of money at a second hand clothing shop that bought such things. Liona had just shrugged it off and told him that if that was what Nikki wanted to do with them, then that was fine. They were hers to do with as she pleased once she had accepted them.
After that when Liona ran into his sisters again at the park they seemed to always run into each other at, she had extended the same offer to buy all his sisters some clothes too since she was going to buy him a new set of clothes that he could wear to her party. What he didn't expect was that Nikki accepted and even agreed to come with. So that was how he found himself lagging behind the group of girls as they took in the sights of this opulent shopping center. It was so clean and pristine inside and the decor looked modern rather than seriously outdated like some kind of trashy time capsule that the malls they were used to frequenting had. There wasn't a worn or unpolished item to be seen anywhere, and the mall was so brightly lit with clean skylights that the sky could be seen through them.
When they approached what Erik presumed was the center of the mall, he saw a young children's playground and immediately felt a bit wary about it, especially when there seemed to be a ton of rich people with their kids playing in it. He was getting flashbacks to when Heather was younger, and he had taken her and the other girls to a similar one at a mall in one of the cities they had lived in. Heather had been completely oblivious to the glares of the parents as she played so happily and then the incident happened.
One of the kids fell down and blamed Heather for pushing them down. The kid had cried to their parent and the parent had been so menacing to his little sister and just tore into her for daring to put her hands on her kid. This was regardless of the fact that she had been nowhere near the kid, but that didn't seem to matter as soon all the other parents had turned on him and Heather and drove them away from the playground. They never went back to one again after that, no matter where they lived.
Thankfully Liona seemed to move on from the play area after Heather said she didn't want to play there. Soon enough they were shopping in a large department store that was really too expensive. He headed for the men's department and stuck to looking in the beta area for clothes since nothing in the alpha section fit him.
He was short for an alpha and was only around 5 foot 10 inches. Most alphas were above 6 feet and the average alpha was around 6 and a half feet tall. His mom said that his growth had been affected by their lack of food growing up, but he knew she had done her best to make sure all his sisters and him were fed. He tried not to let his height bother him, but it was hard sometimes, especially when it made it hard to find second-hand clothes that fit. They were either too big, or too small, nothing had ever fit right in his entire life.
After selecting an outfit, he thought was universal enough to wear to Liona's birthday and for other things, like job interviews or whatever, he headed back to find his sisters completely absorbed in shopping and having fun. They all looked so happy and even Tyler was content to sit in the cart and be absorbed by all the activity around him. Emily the youngest was holding Liona's hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn't know what to make of the scene, until he looked at the prices of the clothes that were already in the cart.
When he spoke up about it, Liona kept reassuring them that this was considered reasonably priced, but if it made them feel better, she would stick to the discount racks for his sisters. He had no choice but to let her do as she wished. She was paying for everything and so generously at that. However, he couldn't help but still feel a little wary of this generosity she was showing his family. It was one thing to be generous to him, but entirely another to be this generous to all his sisters as if they were an extension of himself. He was really trying to accept this and not look for the other shoe to drop, but it was hard.
His whole life, generosity came with a catch, and that was what he kept looking for, but it never came with Liona. She seemed to be a very genuine person. If she said she was going to do something, she did it. She always followed through on everything she said, and the strange thing was, she never said it was a promise either, she just kept her word regardless of that fact or not. Part of him was really starting to admire her and a tiny part of him was hoping and dreaming that what she said about being interested in him was also true.
If he was being honest with himself, he was starting to become comfortable with her, but he would never let himself admit that comfortableness was also seamlessly starting to blend into an easy and slippery slope of attraction that was more than on a surface level. He liked her. He just couldn't ever admit it. He would be forced to move eventually, when his dad or the authorities came sniffing around and that thought scared him. For the first time, he wanted to tell someone everything about himself and just be honest. He was also scared that as soon as he opened up to Liona that she would look at him with such disgust and would want nothing more to do with him.
"Earth to Erik!" Nikki called to him.
"Huh? What is it?"
"You were being a total space case, we're ready to go! Come on!"
"Oh, okay." He followed his sister who seemed to be happier than he had seen her in a long time. She was also getting along really well with Liona, which seemed strange to him. Wasn't she guarded and still a little wary around her just this morning?
When they got to the register, Liona and Nikki worked with his younger sisters to put their clothes on the counter. He found it a little sweet the way Liona always included his little sisters in things she did. Whether it was playing in the park, or just reading a book, or now with the clothes, she found ways of including them and making them not only feel welcome with her but gave them the attention they craved without making a big deal about it. She seemed like a natural with the littlest ones and the way she adored Emily and interacted with her, made him smile. He had noticed that Emily liked her right away, and even though Emily was outgoing, she didn't exactly latch onto strangers like she had done to Liona.
Then there was Kirsten. Kirsten had just turned five before they moved. Kirsten was at the age where she was challenging everything and always asking why. Liona seemed to be able to easily and without any frustration guide her through to an answer that she not only accepted but turned it into a fun lesson. Kirsten was their little reader if only barely reading. The other day when he had heard from Nikki how Liona had read to her, she had given Kirsten the opportunity and helped her to read on her own. That took a lot of patience to let a five-year old read to you. It seemed to him that each of his sisters were enamored with Liona in their own way.
When the total was given for all the clothes, Erik nearly choked. There was over two-hundred dollars worth of clothes for his sisters and Liona just smiled that pretty smile of hers and was already tapping a shiny credit card to the reader and paying for everything without a second thought. This was just clothes and not even the shoes she had said she would also buy him. He wanted to protest it was too much, but he knew if he said something again, Liona might just get mad that he was whining too much. He just swallowed the protest and followed her and his sisters out of this store. What he didn't expect was the next store that Liona headed for…