FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hoyt struggled with the shopping cart as he dragged it out of the stack and realized too late that a broken, squeaking wheel was making the job that much more difficult. Behind him, his twin children watched while simultaneously not helping. Jacob was chewing on the tip of his finger with a blank look on his face while his father grunted with the broken cart. Jackelyn had her nose buried in her cell phone, held with both hands so close to her face that her eyes could barely be seen around it. As Hoyt, kicked the broken wheel back into place and rolled it forward, a loud screech of metal made the three canines flinch at the same time, their long ears twitching.

"Just get another cart, Dad," Jackelyn sighed with the weariness only a thirteen year old girl knew.

"Nah, this one's fine," Hoyt said as he wheeled it back and forth with one hand. It screeched again, but more quietly than before. "Just gotta work it out a little. Get some grease in there."

"Can I ride in it?" Jacob asked, his short tail already wagging fast enough to hit his sister in the thigh.

"You're_too big_, idiot," Jackelyn huffed.

"No I'm not, I can still ride in the big part."Jacob reached up behind her and tugged on one of her ears. "_You're_too big."

"Uh, yeah? I know? Cause I'm not five?"She hesitated before lowering her phone for the first time in an hour and glaring daggers at her brother. "Are you calling me fat?"

"_Nobody_is calling anybody fat!" Hoyt shouted, his deep voice echoing in the glass entrance of the supermarket. "Jake, sorry bud, you can't ride in the cart. We got too much stuff to pick up."

"And you're too fat to do it..." Jackelyn added under her breath.

"Jackie,"Hoyt snapped. His daughter sighed deep in the back of her throat and brought her phone back up to her face, essentially disappearing behind it. Her father rolled his eyes, wondering if he should buy some rope to tie around her waist just to make sure she didn't get left behind somewhere or wander into traffic. "C'mon guys, I need your help if we're gonna get home before nighttime."

The family of three shuffled in behind the cart, past the sliding glass doors, and into the bizarrely cold supermarket. It had only opened a week ago and was a huge step up from the run-down old Wal-Mart just up the street from Hoyt's house. It was a bit of a drive out of the way, but he knew from the moment they walked inside it was worth the trip, especially when the kids were over.

"Okay, let's split up," Hoyt said as he brought the cart to a stop. Jacob had been walking closer behind him than he realized and bumped into him as he did. "Jake, go to the snacks aisle and get some chips and snacks you might want."

"They gotta be gluten free, Dad," Jackelyn said from far behind them.

"Since when do you have celiac disease?"

"...I have what?"

"Do...Nevermind. Jake, go get a bag of chips for you and some popcorn for your sis-"

"Ugh, I hate popcorn," Jackelyn groaned.

"Who the hell hates popcorn?" Hoyt spluttered before shaking his head. "Okay, new plan. Jackie, you go get the snacks and sides. Jake, you go get the drinks and soda." He paused and glanced over his shoulder, then nudged his son with his elbow and added quietly, "Pick out some good beer and I'll let ya have one."

"I hate beer!" Jacob responded far louder thanHoyt expected, making an older woman shopping nearby stop and glance at them.

"Uhhhhhh_good_. Because. It's bad for you. And illegal to drink. Underage." Hoyt flashed a quick smile at the woman who blinked disinterestedly beforeturning away. "Just pick up some root beer or something."

"I'm gonna see if they have Mountain Dew Code Red!" Jacob cried out before skittering away down the nearest aisle while Hoyt quietly wondered if giving the kid more sugar and caffeine was such a good idea.

"Keep an eye on your brother," Hoyt muttered to Jackelyn as she passed by with her face still in her phone. "I don't want him to knock anything over."

"He probably will," was all she said before trudging off in the same direction Jacob had darted off in. Hoyt sighed once they were out of earshot, slumping over the cart and rubbing between his eyes. He was already tired from the car ride to pick them up and all three of them were hungry. Maybe the cookout he'd planned wasn't worth the effort and getting McDonald's on the way home would be easier.

Thehound sat there for a moment in silence, then shook his head and forced himself up to stand. If he was only going to see his kids half of the year, then he was determined to make sure they had a great time _every_time. If it meant pushing past his exhaustion to barbequea memorabledinner for them, he would do it and do it well. Even if it seemed like a small gesture, Hoyt knew these were the memories Jake and Jackie would look back on when they were older. It was worth making them good ones.

With barely any idea what kind of groceries the twins were going to come back with, Hoyt set out down the middle aisle with a list of essentials. He muttered under his breath, thinking out loud as he piled staples for that week along with some more specific supplies he'd need for the cookout that night. He even got marshmallows and graham crackers, just in case one of them wanted to make a bonfire. The possibilities of what his kids might want to do danced through his head, though he knew it would more than likely end up with Jacob on the Xbox and Jackelyn on her tablet. Still, a dad could dream.

The new supermarket seemed to have twice the stock as the Wal-Mart, but crammed in half the space. Even the widest aisles felt too small for the broad-shouldered Hoyt and more than once did he find himself having to pin his back to the aislewallto squeeze past other shoppers. Hoyt wasn't exactly muscular, but he'd never quite shed the broad-shouldered physique high school football had given him. More than once, he passed the old ferret woman from the front of the store, who gave him increasingly sour looks every time they locked eyes. As his cart gradually filled up with supplies around the store, he caught momentary glimpses of Jacob hurtling down the aisles with hisarms crammed full with a kaleidoscope of rainbow colored bags of snacks, his tail wagging like an industrial fan. Jackelyn, meanwhile, had parked herself on the floor of the magazine aisle and hadn't moved since getting there.

Hoyt had a tough time navigating the new and confusing layout of the store. Why were sauces and spices not on the same aisle, but on opposite ends of the store? Why were canned tomatoes separated from canned fruits and vegetables, but salsa had a section on its own? Where was the mayonnaise? He looked in every single place mayonnaise _should_have been, but could not for the life of him actually find the God damned mayonnaise.

After finding the mayonnaise, Hoyt ended up near the aisle of spices and seasonings and rememberedthe 'secret ingredient' he hadn't picked up yet. As he rounded the corner, he spotted a woman in the middle of the aisle. Even from a distance, she wasn't hard to miss: a young kangaroo woman in a black tank-top and cargo shorts, her yellow body marked from head to tail with a roadmap of black tattoos, thefur above them dyedjust as dark as her skin. Her long ears sagged on the sides of her head, weighed down from thehardwarestore's worth of piercingsthat shined chrome under the fluorescent light.

She shrugged and re-adjusted the straps on her shoulders for what Hoyt at first assumed was a backpack, but quickly realized was a baby in a holster that should have been worn across the woman's chest. Instead, the little roo was pinned back-to-back against the woman, idly wiggling their feet in the air and chewing on their fist. The woman was in the way of where Hoyt needed to go, but he wasn't about to shove his way past a young mother just to get to the seasoned salt.

He pretended not to have noticed the two roos as he quietly crept down the aisle, scanning the shelves for what he needed. The broken wheel of his cart squeaked again, drawing a disinterested glance from the woman that lingered just long enough for Hoyt to notice her lip ring. He was forced to leave the cart behind and pin himself against the far aisle to side-step past her.

"'Scuse me," he mumbled. The woman glanced at him before taking half a step out of his way, but there wasn't much she could do in the cramped aisle. Hoyt sucked in his stomach to keep from bumping into her. While the space was just barely wide enough for him to squeeze by, it put him eye-to-eye with the baby strapped to the woman's back. The roo (evidently a 'she' from the pink onesie she wore) stared wide-eyed up at Hoyt as he passed, her finger still jammed hooked around her cheek.

"S-sorry," Hoyt grimaced as he squeezed by, turning his head out of the way. Just as he wasalmostclear, a tiny, wet handreached out and grabbed the edge of his long, dangling ear. Glancing back, Hoyt watched the babywiggle her feet excitedly in the air before shamelesslytaking a bite out of his ear.

"Hnng," he winced. The baby's teeth were little, but hard enough to sting. He reached up in an attempt to pull his ear free of her mouth, but the baby just kicked her feet and bit down again. "Well, excuse you," Hoyt said with a slight smile.

"Huh?" the woman responded, thinking he was addressing her. "Sorry, d'you-" She glanced over her shoulder and flinched. "Alice!" The kangaroo fished into one of her pockets and pulled out ablue, rubber ring the size of a mini-donut.With some coaxing, she was able to convince the baby to let go ofHoyt's ear and replace it with the toy. Alice gnawed on it ferociously while still gazing up at Hoyt.

"Jesus Christ, I can't take you anywhere, can I?" the woman sighed, sliding her hand through the red shock of curly hair between her ears. "Sorry, she's real fucking grabby lately."

"I know how it is," Hoyt smirked as he wiped baby saliva off his ear. "Anything they get their hands on goes either on the floor or in their mouths."

"Ain't_that_ the truth. She's got teeth like a fucking lawnmower, too." The woman held up her free hand to show the tiny, fresh bite-mark between her thumb and pointer finger. Hoyt laughed, but quickly noticed the other, adult-_sized_bite taken out of the woman's ear that probably had a very different story behind it.

"Well, she's got her toy, at least," Hoyt said as he stepped to the side and out of Alice's reach. "She's cute."

"Oh yeah, adorable when she's not trying to fuckin' cannibalize people," the woman said as she reached over her shoulder to affectionately pinch one of her baby's ears. She glanced at Hoyt with a friendly smile that caught his eye, even behind the intimidating collection of tattoos and piercings. "I'm all up in your way, aren't I?"

"That's okay," Hoyt said as he took a knee and plucked one of the bottles of Lowry's seasoned salt from the shelf. "This is all I need."

"Hey, while you're down there," the woman said with her hands on her hips, "do you see any chili powder?Bending over's kind of a pain in my ass right now." She touched one of her hands lightly to her stomach, which Hoyt noticed had a slight bulge to it he couldn't see while standing.

"Big bottle or little one?"

"Just gimme the big one," the roo sighed as she reached out and took it from Hoyt. She did her best to help him up from the floor, but bracing against the shelf did most of the heavy lifting. "I hate this stuff, but a buddy of mine's Latino and won't eat anything I make unless it burns a hole through his mouth."

"I can't handle anything spicier than Taco Bell's mild sauce," Hoyt chuckled.

"Spicey's fine, but hewants his shit _poisonous_before he's happy with it," the woman rolled her eyes and tossed the bottle of chili powder into the green basket on the floor a few feet away. "Sorry my kid tried to chew your ear off. Thanks for being cool about it."

"I think I got off a little better than you did," Hoyt said the first words out of his mouthwithout thinking. He instantly flinched at the crack about the woman's ear and clenched his fists at his sides. However, the roo let out a sudden cackle and reached up to touch the mark.

"_HA!_You're funny!" She stooped slightly to pick up her basket and gave Hoyt a quick, two-fingered salute as she strode off in the other direction. He waved back before finding his attention drawn to the swaying ofthe woman's hips that made her thick tail wigglebehind her like a flag in the wind. She stopped in the middle of the aisle and Hoyt found her glancing back at him over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Just waving bye to Alice," he quickly sputtered.

"_Sure_you were." She grinned, then reached beneath her thick tail to squeeze her own ass before striding off with a confident strut.

"Shit," Hoyt breathed, realizing that his pulse had suddenly quickened. He took a deep breath and reached behind himself to catch his furiously wagging tail and pinnedin down before walking back to his cart.

On the way down the aisles, he spotted Jacob struggling to balance a six-pack of canned energy drinks on top of three bags of chips like a juggler, but Hoyt fought his instincts to intervene and instead made another lap around the store to make sure he didn't still have an erection. It'd been a long, long time since anyone had so openly flirted with him (any women, at any rate). The rush of it had started in his head before quickly heading south, forcing him to walk with a stiff-legged shuffle until the tightness in his jeans was gone. He quietly hoped the woman had left, however. With a baby of her own, she was obviously in some kind of relationship already, and that wasn't a situation he wanted to dip his toes in. Besides, flirting for fun was just something people did, right? It wasn't serious. It wouldn't lead to anything.

"Jacob!" he called after his son as he spotted the young dog hurling himself between the aisles. "You only need to get drinks! Your sister is getting the snacks!"

"She doesn't care!" Jacob's disembodied voice called out, getting farther away every moment.

Hoyt sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. While Jacob always tended to get the biggest, messiest bag of chips he could get his hands on, Jackelyn usually got something bizarre like kalimari straws or dried seaweed chips to ensure no one would eat them but her. As an afterthought, Hoyt grabbed a nearby bag of Doritos and set them on top of his cart.

The grocery store had its own butcher working behind a counter in the back, but the line was long enough to stretch out-of-sight around the corner, pushing Hoyt back to the regular meat section. He set the cart aside and folded his arms as he gazed down at the selection of ground beef. This was what he'd come here, for. This was the most important part. Picking the right meat was hard enough, but trying to satisfy the twins at the same time was going to make it even harder. Should he make hot dogs or burgers? Cheese or no cheese? Which condiments? Did they like steak? Would Jackelyn still eat chicken or was she completely vegan now? Did Jacob still like mixing together ketchup and mayonnaise?

"You look serious," said a low, playful voice from behind him.

Hoyt jumped and glanced over his right shoulder just as the same kangaroo woman from before crossed to his left, smirking at him. Alice was still chewing on the rubber ring as her mother bent over the meat cooler and frowned down at the prices of chicken.

"I take it seriously," Hoyt said, thankful his pounding heartbeat didn't show in his voice. He watched the woman's breasts shift with gravity as she leaned forward, but fought to tear his eyes away. He cleared his throat and said, "I've got the kids this weekend. Figure the weather's nice enough for a cookout." His deliberate mention of 'the kids' was his way of subtly pushing away the woman's advances.

"Oohhh...the kids, huh?" she said, the playful edge still in her voice as she stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I could've guessed. You have that 'dad' look." She paused, then held a hand out and quickly added, "In a good way."

"Hehe...well, glad you think so," Hoyt swallowed, feeling the fur on the back of his neck stand up. As the woman turned again to pick up two packs of chicken breasts, he caught eyes with her daughter again and felt bizarrely guilty.

"You got kids," the woman said without looking up from the chicken, "...but no ring?"

"Nah, me and their mom..." Hoyt caught himself before getting too personal and glanced up at the woman. She was still comparing the two packs of chicken, but there was a ghost of a smile on her face as she waited for him to finish. "Um...N-no, I've never been...I'm not married."

"Interesting..." the woman purred, shifting her weight to the side as she glanced at Hoyt. The white of her teeth poked between her lips, curled up into another smile. "Neither am I, it turns out. What a _coincidence_that is."

Hoyt felt his heartbeat quicken again as the woman adjusted the straps over her shoulders before putting down one of the packs of chicken. She flashed him a wink as she walked past, letting her tail brush against his thigh.

"Wait a second," Hoyt said, grabbing her gently by the upper arm. She glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, but her sly look fell away as he took the package of chicken from her hand. "Don't get this one."

"Why not?"

For an answer, Hoyt held up the package and pushed his thumb into the plastic shrink-wrap pulled tight around it.

"See how this is bloated and blown up? Like a bubble? It means it's been here too long and there's bacteria in the chicken. It might make you sick." The woman blinked, raising her eyebrows in surprise as Hoyt put the package back on the shelf, swapping it for one with a more recent date.

"You serious? Shit," she said, taking the chicken and squeezing it in her fingers. "I was just lookin' at how cheap they were."

"It's not really a problem if you cook it well enough," Hoyt shrugged, "but I don't think you'd wanna take a chance with Alice."

"You're right, I don't." The woman put the chicken in her basket and placed her free hand over her lower stomach. "'Specially not with the other one coming along, too."

"Other one?" Hoyt asked, dimly. The woman snorted and punched him in the upper arm, harder than he expected her capable of.

"I figured you knew where babies came from, man." The woman turned to the side and pulled her tank top tight across her stomach, showing in profile the sloping curve bulging slightly out above her hips. "Little fucker's only been around for six weeks, but he's in there. Or she, whatever."

"Congrats," Hoyt said, trying to calculate in his head how old Alice probably was.

"That's why I gotta wear this stupid ass thing flipped around backwards," the woman said as she hooked a finger into the strap of Alice's baby harness. "Don't wanna squish number two."

"It'll probably be fine if you did. At least until you're too big to wear it at all."

"I'm hoping Alice will be able to walk by that time." The woman snickered to herself and gestured between the baby on her back and the one in her womb. "Hey, y'know what they call it when two kids are nine months apart?"

"What?"

"Irish twins," the woman snorted as she slapped Hoyt in the shoulder again and grinned. "I mean, they aren't but it's close enough. I still think it's funny."

"No, it is, I just...didn't..."

"Dude, I am impossible to offend, believe me," the woman said, rolling her eyes. Behind her, Alice began making gurgling noises with her tongue.

"Dad!" a young voice called out across the store. Hoyt's ears perked up and he instantly jerked his head in the direction of Jacob's voice.

"Guess that's you," the woman said. "You got a name other than 'Dad?'"

"Hoyt. Name's Hoyt." He cocked his head to the side and listened for his son's voice again. Backing away, he held out a hand and said, "Listen, I don't want to..."

"Go do your dad thing," the woman said, gesturing toward the other side of the store. "Oh, thanks for telling me about the chicken!"

Hoyt waved over his shoulder before jogging off around the corner, leaving his cart behind to find Jacob. He had to dodge around other customers, muttering apologies all the way, before finding Jacob standing in the middle of the canned food section, staring helplessly at a tall pyramid of cans. A pile of chips, sodas, and other snacks was heaped on the floor behind him without a cart or a basket in sight.

"Jake, are you okay?" Hoyt said, out of breath.

"I'm fine. Dad, help me get one of these down." Jacob pointed to the stacked cans towering above him.

"Couldn't you just take one from the bottom?"

"I didn't wanna knock 'em over."

Hoyt sighed and took a moment to catch his breath before plucking one of the cans off the top of the pyramid.

"I think we've got enough stuff by now, we don't need to..." Hoyt glanced down and found that he'd picked up a can of seasoned chili sauce. "...Okay, we can do the chili, but I think it's about time for us to go."

"But I still wanted to go look at the sushi!"

"Why would be getting sushi for a barbeque?"

Jacob just shrugged while picking his nose.

"We can get sushi next time, buddy. Let's just get what we need for tonight, okay?"

"Fine," Jacob huffed like he was being forced to accept the greatest injustice of his young life. He squatted over to the snacks on the floor and began piling all of them on top of one another in his arms.

"How about I go get the cart for all that," Hoyt said as he gently pulled his son back. "Go find your sister and meet me up at the front."

"She's just been looking at magazines the whole time," Jacob huffed before running off, his arms bouncing wildly at his sides. Hoyt sighed and let his shoulders sag. For all of attitude Jackelyn's new found 'maturity' gave her, he at least appreciated that he could count on her staying in one place for a while.

Hoyt retrieved the cart and gathered up the snacks and drinks Jacob picked out (while making sure to inconspicuously leave a few where they came from). He didn't see the kangaroo woman again on the way out and a sense of lost opportunity sunk in as he trudged to the front of the store. He wasn't sure if she was exactly his type, but how often was it that a woman actually flirted with him? He'd never even gotten her name.

Jacob and Jackelyn were posted next to one of the checkout lines. Hoyt's son was shifting uncomfortably in place while pacing in a circle like he couldn't sit still while his daughter was still staring into her phone with something tucked under her arm.

"You pick anything out, Jackie?" Hoyt asked. Without a word, Jackelyn handed over a thick fashion magazine and a pack of gummi worms. Blinking down at them, he asked, "Is...is that it?"

Jackelyn looked up from her phone to stare at Hoyt for a silent moment, then trudged out of sight around the corner before returning with a sugar-free Red Bull.

"That's it."

Hoyt sighed and added them to the cart as he waited for the customer in front of him to finish. It was the same ferret woman he'd seen scowling at him from across the store. Her cart was so full, he could hardly tell how she'd managed to push it around the store. One-by-one, she carefully picked up every grocery, re-checked the prices through her circular glasses, and placed them on the conveyor belt as it slowly rumbled beneath them. This was not going to be quick.

"_There_you are!" said a gravely female voice from behind. Hoyt felt his mood lift as he turned and met eyes with the kangaroo woman. "I figured you left already."

"Same here," he said, a smile coming to his face before he realized it. Determined not to make the same mistake twice, Hoyt opened his mouth to ask for the woman's name, but she interrupted him before he could speak.

"So Hoyt, you any good on the grill?" she asked, gesturing to his cart.

"Am I any good?" he repeated. "Well...I think so."

"Yeah, whatever. That's what every guy says." Setting her basket on the ground, she folded her arms and turned her attention to Jacob. "How good of a cook is your dad on the grill?"

Jacob didn't answer. For the longest period of silence Hoyt had ever heard from him, the boy stared slack-jawed up at the woman, his eyes wide and his hands clenched at his sides.

"Jake..." Hoyt nudged him in the shoulder and he rocked like he was made of wood. "Jake, don't stare."

"He's okay," Jackelyn answered dismissively, shrugging without looking up from her phone.

"Not exactly two thumbs up," the woman chuckled. "Shit, better than I could do."

"Well,I like what I make, but I'm not all that picky," Hoyt shrugged.

"Long as you can make a burger without burning your house down," the woman joked. "You live around here?"

"Other side of the highway, but not too far. Why?"

"So listen: Alice here is about to have her first birthday. Obviously, she's not gonna remember a fucking thing about it, but I figure it's a good excuse as any to get some people together. I can't barbeque for shit and I don't trust the friends that say they can_not to give me salmonella. Think you'd be interested in coming by and doing the cooking for us? You won't need to buy anything for it. Shit, I'll pay _you if you want."

"Me?" Hoyt blinked, touching his chest. The woman snorted and gestured to the rest of the store.

"Who else am I talkin' to, dummy?"

"I-I know, I was just...uh..." Hoyt felt himself blushing and glanced down the twins. "It sort of depends on when, I guess."

"Oh, right. Shit, my bad," the woman said, raising her hands. "I didn't wanna take time away from you and your kids or anything like that."

"They're only staying with me for a couple weeks before summer camp starts," Hoyt nodded. "They're going for the full month this year."

"Thank_God_," Jackelyn mumbled under her breath.

"That can work!" the woman said as she turned and pointed to her baby. "Alice isn't gonna give a shit if it's one week or the next. How about we just get this goin' whenever's best for you?"

"That...O-Okay," Hoyt said, anxiously wagging his tail as it hit Jackelyn in the back.

"Dad," she groaned as she turned and grabbed it out of the air. "Stop."

"I gotta make time from work anyway," the woman shrugged. Suddenly, she slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh! You probably need my number."

"That'd help, yeah," Hoyt joked nervously as she wrote it on the back of an old receipt. "Your uh...your name would probably be good to have, too."

"Didn't I...Oh right, I guess I forgot." She smiled and held out her hand for Hoyt to take. "Mallory."

"Mallory." Hoyt smiled and took her hand, noting that as he shook it, she gently stroked her thumb across the back of his knuckles. His heart skipped a beat and his tail jerked out of Jackelyn's hand as it started wagging again. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here," Mallory smiled again. Then, in the silent moment that followed, the baby on her back made a gurgling little burp, followed by a light splat sound on the tile floor. Mallory's smile fell and she shut her eyes and shuddered. "Yep. I was waiting for that."

"Heh, yeah...They'll do that," Hoyt chuckled.

"Can't wait to start cleaning up puke in stereo," Mallory sighed as she patted her stomach. "Let me...take care of this. Hit me up soon, okay?"

"Will do," Hoyt said, flashing Mallory a salute as she walked toward the bathrooms with Alice squealing happily on her back, covered in peach colored spit-up.

Hoyt glanced down at Mallory's number, realizing it was written on a parking ticket, before catching Jacob's slack-jawed expression.

"Jake? You okay, kid?"

The boy tore his eyes away from the retreating woman and looked up at his father.

"She's...." He paused to close his mouth and swallow before finishing his thought. "She's...pretty..."