RDD 170
"This place is amazing..."
Penelope muttered weakly as she looked at the wide grocery goods before her.
She was standing in amazement as this was her first time entering a huge grocery store like this.
Penelope was not new to grocery stores, she even worked as a cashier when Roman was still young. She also experienced going to malls in Manila and she couldn't deny that the experience was very noble for a cheap woman like her.
However, she rarely went to Malls' supermarkets. Because she knew that their products were usually expensive compared to local grocery stores.
However, now, Penelope had the chance to experience shopping in a supermarket. In fact, she was currently pushing a cart into the beverage section of the supermarket.
"Honey, are you sure it's okay for us to buy in this place?"
"Hm? Penelope, you don't have to worry." Keith chuckled and decided to put Sophia on the baby seat in the pushcart. The little girl was actually excited sitting in a push cart for obvious reasons, looking at the products that she had never seen nor did she have any idea of their purposes. It just feels satisfying at the products perfectly lined up on the shelves.
Keith and Penelope decided to take the kids to the newly built Mall in Dasmariñas. In fact, they also checked the unit where they would set up a new branch of their burger store, Castle Burger.
The Mall was still not officially open. However, people were allowed to use the grocery store/supermarket on the ground floor.
After Keith checked the place and the ongoing renovation, he decided to take his family to the supermarket to buy some groceries.
And now, Penelope fell in love with the atmosphere of the supermarket. Like there was a calming vibe compared to the usual grocery stores she visited... She felt rich for some reason.
She glanced at her husband. Keith assured him that buying in this place wouldn't affect their financial situation.
"Wife, you don't have to worry." He said and kissed her forehead.
Penelope sighed and decided to buy 3 boxes/liters of milk and 2 liters of chocolate milk.
Being a money-conscious person, Penelope checked the prices of the products.
"... A liter of milk is worth 82 pesos and 12 cents. The milk here is 29 cents higher. That's too much!"
"What?" Keith was surprised. He was surprised that Penelope actually remembered the usual price of milk.
"Babe it's just 29 cents. It's not that bad."
"But if we are going to buy 3 liters it means that we are going to spend 1 peso more."
Penelope suddenly wanted to return 1 box of milk because she felt like she couldn't afford it.
"... It's fine." Keith grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Look, Penelope, you don't have to worry about the money. You know that our business is doing."
"Still..."
Perhaps Penelope was still affected by what happened a few days ago. She heard a group of maids talking bad about her, saying that she was a golddigger...
Her mentality was affecting her decision and she subconsciously wanted to prove that she was not a golddigger by being a cheap woman.
She bit her lip.
"Mommy, I'll be sad if you weturn that box of milk. I want to dwink a lot of milk for me to gwow up!"
"... Okay." Penelope smiled and pinched Sophia's nose, the baby girl giggled.
Penelope would never hesitate to spend money on her kids. They were her priceless treasure. Since Sophia wanted a lot of milk, then money didn't matter.
Keith sighed before taking a glance at Sophia who easily convinced the stubborn Penelope.
"Dad, I want this."
Roman pulled Keith's hand and gave him something. The little guy was like a ninja, silently moving.
"You want this?"
Keith was surprised that Roman consulted him first before his mother.
"Yeah."
Keith looked at the item that Roman gave to him. It was a game cartridge/disc of Final Fantasy VII, a game that could be played by using Playstation 1. Keith flipped the game to see its price and realized why Roman talked to him instead.
"... 3000 pesos."
PHP 3000, definitely a huge amount of money for their family to spend on a day.
'Where did he find this?'
Keith looked at Roman for a few seconds. Penelope and Sophia were already in the bread section of the supermarket, not caring about the two males.
"... Okay."
Keith couldn't say no. Roman rarely asked him for something and he didn't want to disappoint his son. Roman was sensible for his age and Keith was proud of him. Buying him some games didn't matter.
"Just don't tell this to your Mom."
"We have enough time to buy it while Mom and Sophia are busy looking around."
"Alright, let's do it."
He brushed his son's hair and this time Roman didn't show any discomfort.
Keith chuckled, it seemed that Roman was still a child after all.
Keith and Roman successfully met Penelope and Sophia in the free taste section. The mother and daughter were having a blast by taking samples of many food products.
The disc was in Keith's T-shirt so that Penelope wouldn't see it... Both Roman and Keith knew that Penelope would be mad if she found that they spent PHP 3000 on a game. She might use her slippers on both of them.
"Let's go, I heard they are showing some new type of blender," Penelope said to them. Perhaps she didn't know that the two boys were gone for a while.
"Yes, Mommy!" Sophia enthusiastically replied.
Penelope already forgot about being cheap. She just wanted to explore this wonderful supermarket. She might return to this place once in a while.
[Author's Note: You can considered this as the end of the novel.]