As James walked out of the store, he saw in the not-so-far off distance the family of the baby who just gave him $10. Not really having any objective in mind, James sped walked his way over to the family to see if he could get some use out of the notebook with them.
The closer James got, the more he could hear the conversation ensuing, which seemed to still focus on the fact that their baby took their first steps. “It’s like I’ve been saying, you just needed to not obsess over it and he would do it on his own.”
The father seemed a lot less shocked by the whole ordeal, while James could only assume the mother was not as ready to drop the subject. “Well still, Mark, first steps are first steps! I’ve been trying to get Eli to take them for two weeks now.”
Now that he got a closer look on the situation, he could see a bit more about this family. The father, Mark, was an average height with an athletic build, who had on a t-shirt and sweatpants as he carried some shopping bags. The mother was on the shorter side, with a cardigan and jeans combo while pushing a stroller. Inside the stroller sat Eli, or at least James assumed he was in there, as he couldn’t see from behind.
“Well, I guess I was walking and talking a lot earlier on than him, so I’m not that taken aback by it.”
“Oh really? You were just that much of an overachiever as a baby?”
“Of course I was, Kelsey! Don’t make me remind you that it took until you were five to…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. My mom reminds me often enough when she changes Eli.”
The more James listened, the more he could gauge the dynamic of the situation and the easier he could decide what he wanted to do with the notebook and pen. Now that he knew their names, he began to write down in the book.