Staying At A Hotel

Their shopping cart was already starting to fill up; there was almost no space left. Yet, only some items on their shopping list had been purchased. Some items on the list were out of stock, so they had to replace them by buying different brands.

They were still wandering around the vast shopping center, trying to find the items they needed for a month's supply at home. Maia still needed about twenty more items that they still needed to get.

"What time is it, dear?" Maia asked.

Hector immediately checked the blue watch on his left hand.

"It's seven in the evening now, Mom," he replied.

Time flew by quickly that day, even though they were only somewhat satisfied touring the mall.

"Mom, can we stay at a hotel tonight?" Hector asked.

"Yes, Mom, we haven't finished walking around this mall, and I still want to look for school supplies," Helena added.

Hearing her children request to stay, Maia thought hard. She was torn between her children and her husband, whose whereabouts were unclear. She worried that Sebastian might come home while the house was still locked and none of their family members were home.

On the other hand, it was already late in the evening, and they still needed to complete their shopping. The children also needed something to buy. Moreover, the journey home would take about two hours; they might end up arriving home in the middle of the night, which could be dangerous if their car broke down or got a flat tire, as the route they took was through agricultural and livestock areas that would be deserted at night.

Maia decided to stay overnight in the city and spend the night completing their shopping before staying in a hotel. Her children's happiness was hers, so Maia followed her children's wishes more. Besides, their suggestion was reasonable.

"Alright, my children, I've decided that we'll stay overnight tonight."

Upon hearing her mother's decision, they smiled and cheered with joy.

"Yay! We still have plenty of time until tomorrow here," Hector exclaimed.

Helena smiled and glanced at Hector, indicating she greatly liked her mother's plan.

Seeing the sparkle in her children's eyes, Maia felt happy, as if she could share their joy. Indeed, the situation at home felt like hell. Her children had probably been suppressing feelings of fatigue and fear from seeing their parents constantly arguing and disagreeing. That was all they saw and heard every day, which must have affected their mental condition.

They immediately went around several corridors of the shopping center to find the items they had yet to buy. After a while, they stopped because they were already tired. The place was so vast that it made them tired that night.

"What else haven't we bought, Helena?" her mother asked, checking to see what they still needed.

"Wait, Mom, let me check the list first. I've already crossed out the items we bought earlier," she said.

While counting the remaining items, she said, "So, there are five items left that we haven't found yet."

"Okay, dear, can you please mention the five items?" her mother requested.

"Or let me see the list myself," she added.

It seemed that only bathroom supplies, such as shower gel, toothpaste, shampoo, shower spoon, toothbrush, laundry soap, fabric softener, and floor cleaner, were left.

"After I counted, there are actually eight items left to buy, Mom," she said.

"Oh, right, sorry, Mom, I miscounted earlier. I forgot that I crossed out the ones we haven't bought," she replied apologetically.

"It's okay, dear, no problem, we can still buy them now," her mother replied.

While waiting for her mother and brother to check the missing items, Hector looked at the blue watch in his right hand. It now showed half past eight.

"Aw, it's already nighttime, and I still want to stroll around and buy some bubble tea," he complained.

"Time really flies, and I'm still not satisfied with exploring this mall," Hector lamented, his eyes wandering around the entire mall. He still wanted to wander and go up to higher floors.

Feeling the same way, the three still wanted to explore the mall more. They left home late, so it was already evening by the time they arrived. There needed to be more time in a day to stroll around such a large mall.

Their curiosity about the mall still needed to be satisfied. There were still many places they wanted to visit that night.

The bathroom supplies were in the adjacent corridor. They immediately headed to that corridor to find the remaining items. While pushing the shopping cart, Hector followed his mother from behind and helped pick up the items that still needed to be bought.

After a while, they were done. The items that hadn't been purchased before were now complete. The cart became heavier to push. Hector felt unable to push it alone.

He then asked Helena to help him pull the cart from the front while he pushed it from behind. Helena pulled the shopping cart slowly.

They quickly walked to the cashier and hurriedly paid for the items. Once they reached the cashier, they carefully unloaded the cart's contents.

"Good evening, you're done shopping, ma'am," greeted the cashier.

"Good evening, yes, I'm finished, I hope everything I bought is complete," she replied.

"Alright, please wait a moment, ma'am," the cashier replied.

While waiting, Hector and Helena used hand sanitizer because they had touched many items and the shopping cart. They were very keen on cleanliness as if their hands couldn't get dirty. They then took wet wipes from Maia's bag.

"Mom, may we have wet wipes, please?" Helena asked.

Maia's right hand immediately reached into her light red bag, took out the wet wipes, and handed them to Helena.