October 23, 2006
Los Angeles, CA

"You wanna go shopping?" Joey asked Shelby who was sitting there staring off into space.

"Sure. It beats just sitting here." Shelby nodded.

"Let's go then." Joey said standing up.

They headed out for the mall to walk around and hopefully relieve their ever so exciting boredom.

The recording was going well for Broken Angel. They were used to the recording process as they'd already recorded their EP. The record company was impressed with the quality of their EP so a few of the songs such as Daddy's Little Defect, Me Against the World and Welcome to My Life were going to be used from that recording. They were going to re-record a few songs and lay down some new tracks.

They had decided to use Daddy's Little Defect as their first single as that was the most requested song they played live. It was an upbeat with lots of funky guitar rifts. It was also a song in which Ryan sang lead. They had scheduled a photo shoot for the next afternoon in which they were going to take pictures for the single. Out of the shots, several will be chosen for the single and also they were going to re-release the EP into stores. They wouldn't be done with the full album for a while, so they were going to whet peoples' appetites with the single and EP.

"What are the others doing?" Shelby asked Joey who had just flipped his phone shut.

"Chris is going to meet us there and Lance is with JC. You know Aimee is with her friends and the girls are with Lynn right?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, she knows about Danielle and wanted to spend time with her. She swore not to say anything and I trust her. She knows I'll tell him when I can. We had a good talk the night of the concert." Shelby explained.

"Awesome. Not to change the subject or anything, but I really hope the mall is slow. It's early in the day, but we don't have security with us and if something happens we don't want to be S.O.L."

"Then why did we come? You're making me nervous now."

"Sorry, didn't mean to. I'm just saying that we need to be careful. Nsync may not be around any more, but people do still know who we are plus you are getting even more popular. When your single releases I think you guys are going to blow up. You've earned it that's for sure. You guys have worked hard to get where you are. You're not like the million and one other bands who just create a myspace and creep around out there for a while. There are so many bands these days that form, make a myspace and expect to get a record deal. It worked for Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco, but they actually have talent."

"Thank you Joey. It means a lot to me that you believe in us that much. Say, where are we supposed to meet Chris?"

"The east entrance." Joey answered turning into the mall parking lot.

"I see him, looks like he beat us here." Shelby spotted Chris standing on the outside looking around apparently waiting for them.

They parked the rental car and walked the distance to the entrance and purposely passed Chris checking to see if he'd notice them.

Chris wasn't to be fooled, he saw them walk right on by totally blowing him off. He trailed them into the mall and let hem have it.

"Did you not see me there?" he asked standing between the two.

"We saw you just fine, we were just making sure you were paying attention." Shelby smiled at him.

"I get no love. I would like to say that I was paying attention. I am totally wired. I drank three Red Bulls and a Starbucks Doubleshot this morning. I'm jittery to the extreme." Chris added.

"That's not at all healthy for you Chris, it could give you a heart attack. That's like the affect ephedrine has. Why would you drink so much?" Shelby asked.

"I got an hour of sleep last night and I needed to wake up." Chris shrugged.

"One drink is all you need, good grief. You are going to crash like nothing else." Shelby said shaking her head.

"Yeah well." Chris said shrugging.

"Any stores you want to go to right away?" Joey asked them.

"Not really no." Shelby shook her head in response.

"I need to buy a birthday present for a friend, but I have no idea what to get her, so I'll just window shop for now." Chris answered.

"It's a lady friend? Chris, really, I didn't know you were dating anyone." Shelby smiled looping her arm through his.

"Well we're not dating. I am interested in her, but let's keep that little tid bit to ourselves shall we." Chris said nudging her.

"Well, why don't you ask her out?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, I don't want anything to happen to our friendship if it doesn't work out."

"That's understandable, but maybe you could use this as an opportunity to show her how you feel. What kind of things does she like?" Shelby asked.

"I don't know, girly things." Chris shrugged.

"You're horrible. You like this girl, but you don't know what she likes?" Shelby said slapping him.

"Well I guess I do know what she likes. She likes fairies, candles, monkeys, you know girly stuff like that."

"That's something. We'll figure it out, don't worry." Shelby assured him.

At that they set out to get her some things for Chris's special friend. Shelby was determined to find simple, but elegant gifts that would earn him bonus points with Charley.

First thing they found was a light brown plush monkey that held a little white heart. Chris personally thought it was ugly, but Shelby assured him it would be a hit with her. Next Shelby picked out a pretty candle set with a strawberries n cream scent. The pink and white candles were square and sat on three black metal stands that can be rearranged with just a touch. Around each individual candle was a cute little white ribbon tied with a bow in front.

"Aside from these two gifts, send her a bouquet of pink and white daisies with a cute mushy card. Ask her out for a picnic or something simple and romantic like that. I think you can handle that yourself." Shelby told him.

"Daisies? Why not roses?" Chris asked.

"You don't want to freak her out, besides, daisies are more personal. Everyone sends roses, but who sends daisies. You want to make a statement don't you?"

"I guess."

"Trust me Chris, you'll have her eating out your palm after this."

"This better be worth it." Chris whined followed by a dramatic sigh.

"Buck up man, do0n't be an ass. If you're going to whine about it then you don't deserve her." Joey said leaning over Shelby to slap him.

"Now where?" Shelby asked.

"Let's go check out Scheel's." Joey suggested.

"Yeah, I need some new Jersey's." Chris nodded.

"I am NOT going to Scheel's with you guys. I'll go somewhere else around there." Shelby answered wrinkling her nose.

"Oh come on." Joey laughed.

"No way. I refuse to go in there with you. You'll take forever and I'll feel like an idiot." Shelby answered.

"Okay, fine. Should we meet back here in, say, an hour?" Joey asked as they stopped at the entrance.

"An hour? Are you serious?" Shelby asked.

"Realistically." Chris nodded.

"You know we'll take a long time." Joey added.

"Oh, fine. We'll meet back here at noon thirty then. You better not take longer than an hour." Shelby warned them.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Chris saluted.

Shelby just rolled her eyes and turned around. She surveyed the stores around her and frowned. None of them were very interesting so she walked back the way they came. She remembered seeing a Hot Topic a ways back. She found it and went inside, coughing when the stench of plastic and t-shirt hit her nose. Hot Topic always had a foul odor, but today it seemed to be enhanced.

The man that was working greeted in a timely manner and of course asked if he could help her with anything. She politely declined stating she was merely browsing for now, but if she needed help, she'd ask.

She made her way to the back perusing all of the band t-shirts on her way. There was an entire wall full of t-shirts. Most of them were black with an array of colors from bright pinks to whites to reds. They had a lot of Shelby's favorite bands--The Used, AFI, Relient K.

She found a shirt she liked especially and found her size. She held it out in front of her to look at it better. It was an AFI shirt in black with a bunch of tree limbs flowing across it and blue flakes resembling snow. AFI was written in bold letters and below that in smaller letters it said 'decemberunderground' the name of their latest CD.

She did a little more browsing but didn't see anything else she liked so she checked out. She talked to the clerk for a few minutes then left the store dismayed to see she'd only burned up fifteen minutes. She wandered down the mall aimlessly watching for a store that would catch her attention.

She walked for a little bit longer when she came upon a store called The Baby Boutique. It had clothing for all ages of children. From newborn to toddler to pre-teens, they had it all. She went inside to browse she hoped maybe she could find something for the girls while she was here.

Winter was nearing and they'd be traveling all around the U.S. until at least Thanksgiving then they got the holiday off and the week of touring off, but they would be in New York in the studio laying down tracks for their album. Starting December first they would finish up the US/Canada leg of the tour and then they would have the next two weeks until the first of the year off. Again the band would be in New York recording for their album.

She went back to the little girl section and started perusing the isles of clothing. She knew she really should have the girls along before buying them anything so they could try everything on, but that always took forever. She knew their sizes well enough to know what they'd fit and what they wouldn't. They needed at least a few long sleeve shirts and some tights for the skirts they were fond of wearing. If one thing was said about Shelby's girls, it would be that they were girly princess type girls all around. They like pink, glitter, bows, lace, all of it.

For Gracie Shelby found a cute hand loomed pink sweater with a pair of ballet slippers on the front along with a pair of pink and white polka dot leggings that with it. She also found another pink long sleeve sweater with three small little purses on the front and a pair of black velour pants with velvet pink and leopard print fringe. Finally she picked out a green and white striped maddy dress made of ribbed knit cotton with a pleated skirt and an adjustable rope belt at the waist. She picked out a pair of white and green tights for that outfit and also got a few solid pair such as brown, black, white, and of course pink.

Next Shelby went looking for things for her youngest daughter. She shared similar taste as Gracie, but she really loved animals more than accessories such as purses. First Shelby found a pink velour dress with an empire waist and pockets shaped like cute little gray kitten faces, this came with a pair of matching white tights adorned with kitten faces. Next she purchased a brown floral screened shirt that looked like two layers, the sleeves were a light pink. To go with it she got a pair of dark brown canvas pants with light stitching. Lastly she found a pretty red pinwale cotton corduroy trimmed with a teddy bear soft white around the neck, sleeves, and the hem. She found a cute pair of white and red striped tights to go with it and like Gracie, she secured more than one pair of tights to go with the skirts she already had.

Shelby turned around and for a moment saw an infant rack right behind her. She pushed her small cart toward it and stopped short. She picked up a cute little blue short sleeve onsie and held it up. It looked so tiny, if you could see the look on Shelby's face you would have stopped short. It was a look of longing and of joy, and of fear. She put a trembling hand on her now flat tummy and inhaled deeply. Was she ready for another child?

She had mixed feelings about life that now developed inside of her. She had always wanted a big family with lots of children running around, but she'd always dreamed she'd have a husband first. She was dating one man, her child's father while she was in love with another man--her other child's father. She knew she was going to eventually have to tell Brad that she was pregnant, but for now she wanted to keep it to herself as long as she could. She tried to be ecstatic and excited about having another child, but for some reason it felt more like a burden on her shoulders than an excitement.

She would not resent this baby in any way, but it was a total kink in her plans. The bands' career was taking off and it was hard enough taking care of two children on her own while playing shows every night, but it would be damn near impossible to do so with two small children and an infant all on her own.

She put the little outfit down and went to the register to check out. She inwardly grimaced when the total bill was over two hundred dollars. She hadn't spent that kind of money in a long time. She had a lot saved up, but it still hurt to spend a lot. She glanced at her watched and saw she only had ten more minutes left so she decided to head back down to Scheel's to wait for the guys.

Walking back down toward Scheel's Shelby was deep in thought. A deep frown etched on her face as she stared down blankly at the black and white tiles on the floor. She nearly missed Joey and Chris standing at the entrance to the sports store waiting for her at the entrance.

"Shelby?" Joey asked stopping her.

Shelby's head snapped up at the sound of her name and realized she had already passed them. She looked a little sheepish as she headed back toward them.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked noting her withdrawn attitude.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." Shelby nodded trying to appear nonchalant.

"You don't gotta lie to kick it." Chris added.

"Okay, so I'm a little bummed, but I'll be fine okay? I just have a lot on my mind." Shelby shrugged.

"Fair enough." Joey said with a smile.

Shelby did have a lot on her mind. Seeing the little infant outfit only triggered all her thoughts. She was trying her hardest to ignore everything and not take her thoughts out and dwell on them. It wasn't a healthy situation either way--to keep it bottled in hidden away or to sit in her mind and worry about it all day.

"Y'all want to eat? I'm starving." Shelby asked rubbing her now growling stomach. She needed to eat before her blood sugar plummeted and a headache kicked in.

They made their way down to the food court for some chow then ended up going back to the hotel.