As they go down another aisle, Tina sets her plan in motion. She digs around in her purse and pulls out a pacifier.
“Tonya, could you give this to Aspen, please? It’s his naptime, but he can’t sleep in public unless he’s got his binky.”
“No problem!” Tonya chirps. She takes the pacifier and pops it into Leah’s mouth. “Want me to close the hood of the stroller?”
“That would be great.” They continue shopping for a bit, but Tonya quickly notices something.
“I don’t know if he’s actually sucking on his binky. It’s too quiet,” Tonya says. Tina raises the hood of the stroller. Leah quickly begins to loudly suckle on the pacifier. Tina smiles.
“Looks like he just needed to be reminded what his binky is for.”
“It’s a bit chilly. Do you think that he’s cold?” Tonya asks.
“He might be. Here.” Tina hands Tonya a baby blanket. “Go ahead and warm him up.” Tonya gently tucks the baby blanket around Leah. “There. Now, I’m sure he’ll fall asleep in no time.” Tina lowers the hood of the stroller.
In the dark, sucking on a pacifier, and covered with a blanket, Leah can feel her eyelids begin to droop shut. She snaps her eyes open, desperate to avoid falling asleep in a stroller while dressed as a baby boy. But the tiredness begins to creep in again.