For a moment Malik disappears from my sight, and when I find him, he's sucking a Popsicle whilst holding a bucketful of vanilla ice cream and a box of popsicles at the bucket top.

"Are you having fun?" I ask laughingly.

"Totally." He beams brightly.

Seriously? I just shake my head to the sides, stunned. "Okay, I guess." I shrug.

"I love this shopping thing, it's nice." He grins.

"Oh yeah? Because of having a popsicle so early in the morning?"

"Among other things."

"You're really something." We laugh,

Malik adds a carton of beer, four bottles of wine; two whites and two reds, and I add a gallon of...