Alaya sighed as she threw a box of Kix into her shopping cart, trying to place her daughter's pacifier back into her mouth as she screamed and cried, while also trying to keep her son from running off down the store aisles.
"Nathan Minoletti, get back here right now!" she ordered as he ran through the cereal aisle, paying no attention to his mother's pleas. "You're gonna get lost, young man. Come back here!"
Alaya started to go after him, when she realized she was leaving her daughter in the cart. With a frustrated sigh, she ran back to Michaela and pushed the cart quickly down the aisle, in the direction Nate had gone off in.
"Nate," she called through the aisles, trying desperately to find him before he was stolen by some madman. She had been looking for him for the past five minutes and by now her heart had practically stopped beating and she was beginning to shake as tears grew in her eyes, fear greatly consuming her. "Nate!! Where are you???"
Suddenly someone tapped her on the shoulder. When Alaya turned around she saw her son sitting perched on a tall, young man's shoulders.
"Was this who you were looking for, ma'am?" the guy asked, gesturing to the little boy sitting on his shoulders.
"Nathan!" she grabbed Nate from the guy and placed him on the ground, her first instinct was to hug him, and she did. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she cradled her confused son in her arms. Pulling away from him, she held him by his arms, "Don't you ever, EVER do that to mommy again! Do you understand me??"
Nate nodded, "Yes, momma."
Alaya sighed, "Okay. And DON'T talk to strangers!" she told him, before looking up at the man standing next to her.
He looked back at her in shock. He'd just found her son for him, and he understood that the woman had been scared and that you can't trust people nowadays, but she could have at least said thank you.
Alaya grabbed Nate's hand, and took Michaela from the cart. Leaving the food in the cart, and the man who'd returned her son, behind, she left the store quickly and completely stressed.
