WINTER AHEAD

johnny had been circling the glass counters of the hyundai department store for nearly an hour now, caught between diamond studs that felt too small and handbags that felt too obvious. nothing looked like it would say thank you for carrying our child the way he wanted it to. leaning on the display case, he rubbed the back of his neck, debating whether he should just call in a personal shopper. when a figure appeared beside him, he let out a half-laugh and said, “hey, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about picking out expensive gifts, would you?”