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Feeling quite pleased with the acquisition -- and at such a price! -- Quinn loaded Moss and Belen into her new-to-her double stroller and prepared to take the boys out for a walk and a bit of shopping. Belen hardly filled out the safety strap, even on its tightest setting, so she cautioned him to be careful and set out at a leisurely pace; Belen occupied with Skipperdee and Moss keeping himself busy sucking on Freyr's tail.

It was a lovely summer morning; the weather had calmed from it's 90 degree heat wave of the past few weeks to a wonderful 75. It was her favorite kind of day -- sunny with a breeze to take off the heat. Her flip flops thwacked against the pavement as she strolled down the sidewalk on her way to the Barton shopping district, complimented quite nicely by the giggles of her sons.

She had had them both for such a short time and yet, she already could not picture her life without them. Reaching down a hand to stroke their heads, one slick and cool, the other warm and shaggy, she smiled a contented smile and settled into an afternoon of shopping. She sidled up to a table full of fresh produce, plopping a cantaloupe and some peaches into her canvas bag before paying the owner and moving on to the next table.

It was going quite well, with little to no outburst from the boys, and she had picked up much of the groceries they would require for the next week, when a piercing puppy wail broke her good mood. Looking down at Moss, frantic and a little embarrassed, Quinn found him in a tug-o-war struggle with a shop keep and a t-shirt. He simply would not let go.

Reassuring the shop keep that the boy was only a baby and didn't know any better and no they weren't trying to steal his goods, she knelt to try and unstick Moss's fingers from the wad of shirt in his grasp. Belen watched, a small smile gracing his smooth face, intrigued at how this would turn out. Moss let out his loudest, most piercing howl, not wanting to let go of the shirt. "Momma want! Momma want!" He cried out the words over and over, Quinn's face turning a red to match her ears and tail.

By now, quite the crowd was gathering and Quinn's ears were quivering with embarrassment and frustruation. Running a hand over her face, she shot a strained smile to the shop keep and offered him the price of the shirt plus a bit extra for the trouble. As soon as the transaction had taken place, Moss quieted down and waved the shirt happily at his mother. "Momma wear!" He giggled and tried to put the shirt on himself, but failing as it got stuck on his ears.

Knealing down again, Quinn froze as she heard a woman in the crowd whisper disdainfully, "She'll spoil him," but sighed and put the shirt on her son. He had never behaved like this before, in public or otherwise. Reminding herself to try and explain to him why his behavior was wrong when they got home, she looked down at the shirt and started.

It was a plain shirt, nothing remarkable about it, except for the phrase that adorned the front: "Lock up your daughters." Quinn still had no idea what kind of fey Moss was, but there was something forboding about that shirt. How the boy had gravitated to that particular article of clothing, Quinn would never know, but she did have to admit that it suited him somehow.

"Come on, boys. We're going home to have a long talk about how to behave in public." She turned the stroller around, quickly exiting the shopping district and made haste to home, Belen complaining the whole way about how he was always good.