George's favorite flavor of ice cream was chocolate. It was just about the only thing that we had in common. And he knew it.
The creamery was a small niche, a tiny hole-in-the-wall sort of place. Need to know only. The windows were grimy, the doorknob greasy, but inside it was heavenly. The floors were always gleaming, checkerboard patterned to match the table cloths.
"Do you need any napkins?" Asked - if her tag were to be trusted - Sophia, his server for today.
"Yeah, that would be nice."
The ride over from the house was awkward. George's radio was still broken which meant there was nothing to break the unending silence from the house to here.
The kids were running around the entire place. George was blankly staring at them. It was like he couldn't understand why they were doing it.
"Did your parents ever let you play when you were little?" I asked, curious to know more about this man.
George flinched, then he smiled. "You don't need to answer if you don't want to." I said quietly, ashamed of myself for bringing up what seemed to be a sore topic.
"It's all right. My parents are high society. Playing was not considered 'proper' by their standards. Their rules would seem very draconian compared to mine." He started laughing, a quiet snigger into his hand. "Even after all they put me through, they still expected me to just hang around after high school."
"Did you?" I asked, leaning forwards subconsciously.
"Yeah, I was living off my parent's checks. There was no place for me to go. "
"So you just lived with them for nine years? When you could have just left?" It's hard for me to wrap my brain around this. Why would someone not run off when they had to power to? If it had been me, I'd have cleared off without so much as a goodbye post -it left on the fridge.
"There was no reason for me to. Everyone I knew was in that same circle. If I had left there would be no one looking out for me. It would just have been me in a very dangerous world. Alone." He sobered up, a distant look in his eyes.
"But then you found Mom, and everything was dandy." The terra incognita was over, this was my part. Mom had never really told me how she and George met. As she once said "a woman doesn't kiss and tell".
"Not yet, sport. We met at one of Mr. Wayne's infamous charity balls. She was serving food in the hallway and passed by me while I was talking to one of my old schoolmates. She tripped over his foot and got caviar all over my suit. She apologized; I said it was my fault. It was this back and forth before that butler of his - oh what-his-name...Albert, Alfred, something like that - and Alfred told us to go clean up."
"Then: you got her phone number, Penguin attacked the party, y'all got locked in the bathroom, and Batman had to rescue you." I was giggling.
"Yep, then we started dating and that's the end of that story." He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I started thinking of him as part of the family. That he wasn't some outside entity that had three kids with my mom. Mom would want me too. But what if I just don't think I need him? Would that okay?
"We need to get home now though. A nice good rest will get you ready for the big move tomorrow." he said.
We rounded up the kids and hauled them home. Jackson took Edmund to bed, and George tucked Bee into hers. I went to room and just fell on the bed, asleep seconds within my head hitting the pillow. I needed all the rest I could get.