He smiled simply. "Yes, but you also need enough money to pay for food. You can always buy things in increments, you know."

'Oh, I take that into account,' Erika said. 'Every month, I take into account how much I've been paid, how much I need in rent, taxes and bills, and about how much I need in food, then figure out how much I can afford to spend on other things.'

"Well aren't you a person who thinks well in advance?" He gave a light chuckle as he thought on it. "Well, that's always a good thing with such things, I think. I'm not the best with that myself, but I've gotten better I guess... I still have a ways to go before I'm actually able to be considered decent with finances, though."

Erika gave a wan smile. 'It's what happens when you go a month with a grand total of fifteen dollars to live on.'

"I don't know how you managed that one," He said quite bluntly. "But... Clearly you managed well, so that's a good thing, right?"

'I nearly didn't,' Erika admitted. 'I'd sometimes go weeks without eating.'

"I'm glad you survived though," Joseph replied. "Though I'm not necessarily happy you went through that at all, at least you survived, right? Going weeks without eating is very bad for you, but... You got through it, even if it was extremely hard, so that's a relief."

Somehow, the small smile Erika gave managed to convey how happy his concern had made her. She folded a sleeper and put it in a basket, then picked up another.

He couldn't help but smile back. Though he didn't have any particular reason, even Joe could admit that he quite enjoyed spending time with Erika. Somehow, it was just easy for him- and, all points considered, it was inevitable likely that he'd want to see her again.

Erika put several more sleepers in her basket before sighing a bit. 'That's fifteen...that'll do for now. Might as well get a few other things, right?'

"Probably a good idea," Joseph replied swiftly in response. He took a look around, trying to figure out what would be the next best goal to get, but then realized he had no idea at all. "But what?"

'Probably some soothers,' Erika said, looking at an entire rack of them. 'Maybe green or yellow...'

"Soothers... Just remind me what those are, please?" He looked at the rack, slightly confused.

(These ^^ http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=h...1t:429,r:0,s:0)

Erika went over to the rack, gesturing to them. 'They calm babies down when they're fussy,' she explained. 'Hm...Glow-in-the-dark? I'll always be able to find them during power-outs.' She picked up a pack with two, one light green, one light blue. She smiled. 'Pretty good price, too.' She looked at him. 'What do you think? Would two be enough, or should I get one more, just in case?'

((Oh. I thought they were called Binkies or something xD Oops o_o))

"Hm... I think two should be fine. If you're concerned, you can always come back another time to get an, right?"

(XD It's all right. Everybody's got cutsie names for them.)

Erika smiled a bit. 'Right.' She dropped it into the basket. 'That's it for this month.'

He smiled simply as he watched her. "I just hope my idea isn't horrible..." He laughed a bit. "Again, I was never the best with this stuff. I'm basically mimicking what my sister used to tell her friend, which she for some reason felt a need to tell me afterwards..."

Erika smiled at him. 'No, it's fine. Any advice is useful at this point.'

"Uh...I'm sorta just mimicking my sister though, so in reality I don't know anything about what I'm saying." He laughed. "Unfortunately, I basically am just telling you what people tell me, even though some of it I don't even understand. But... Oh well. If it at all helps, then I'm thankful to be able to do even that much."

Erika giggled slightly. 'Well, you'll learn as you go along, I guess,' she said. 'In a few years, you'll be able to hand out real advice.'

"How's that?" He looked at her blankly. "I don't recall males having the ability to get pregnant, or anything else that would lead to that from what I can tell..." He was rather lost by the comment, trying to think it over. Was he missing something?

Erika laughed. 'As you know more women who get pregnant, you'll learn what to do,' she explained.

"I guess so. Likelihood is I won't meet that many. Though, if and when my sister get's pregnant I guess I will... But that happening is quite unlikely." He didn't feel like getting into the details of the fact that his sister wasn't exactly interested in guys. So, he didn't bother. "Oh well. Either way I get to learn... And it's fun for me, mostly because I get to spend time with you, and believe it or not, I find that rather fun so far."

Erika smiled. 'Well, then, let's spend more time together. It'll give you a social life.'

"Oh really? Only me?" He smirked lightly and laughed soon after, patting her head playfully. "Though I'd rather you enjoyed it too, you know."