"You have to go down to the den," Sorbet crossed his arms in the doorway of their room. Sorbet didn't trust leaving Gelato alone after the other night. He had to be watched at all times.
"No," Gelato sat down on the bed and crossed his leg over the other.
"Gelato, you're not staying up here alone." Sorbet was not going to give Gelato the chance to try again. He'd already hidden the switchblade with Prosciutto since it would be the last place Gelato would think to look for it.
"Watch me," Gelato countered sassily.
"Alright, fine," Sorbet walked over to the bed towards Gelato. If he was going to be pissy about it, then he'd just force him.
"Bet, what are you doing?" Gelato said as Sorbet picked him up off the bed and swung him over his shoulder. "Bet! Put me down!"
Sorbet walked out the door and down the hall while Gelato fought the whole way. Melone and Ghiaccio were in the hallway. Ghiaccio smirked at the display while Melone clapped his hands.
"Di molto! You're back!" Melone waved, grinning broadly.
"Fuck you, Mel! And wipe that smirk off your face, Ghiaccio, or I'll wipe it off for you!" Gelato flipped them both off.
"Keep flailing and you're gonna fall down the stairs, dumbass," Ghiaccio laughed.
"I love you, Lati!" Melone laughed. Gelato screamed and kicked more as they carefully descended the staircase.
"Gelato! Knock it off!" Sorbet said, bouncing him once on his shoulder. "I'm not leaving you unattended. You're going to stay in the den where Illuso and Risotto can keep an eye on you." Sorbet shifted Gelato on his shoulder as Formaggio watched snickering from the downstairs hall.
"Sorbet, I swear to god I will cut your balls off and feed them to you if you don't put me down!"
"I think you'd regret that later, my love," Sorbet said as he walked past Formaggio.
"At least I'd have fun doing it!"
"I know you would, baby," Sorbet opened the door to the den and walked them inside. He walked over to the couch and dropped Gelato like a bag of potatoes onto it. He immediately jumped up and tried to push past Sorbet but his lover pushed him roughly back onto the couch.
"Gelly—!"
"Bet!"
"Stop fighting me! You're staying in here," Sorbet put his hands on Gelato's shoulders holding him in place.
"I'm not staying with him!" Gelato snapped as he looked over at Risotto who was sitting quietly at his desk watching the drama unfold. Illuso sat enraptured by their spectacle at a desk nearby with several monitors. Melone, Ghiaccio, and Formaggio entered the den to watch.
"Well, figure it out cause you're here for the next several hours," Sorbet said and summoned his stand Blue Foundation and stared into his squirming lover's eyes. He burrowed deep inside his mind and began to pull at different emotions inside him. Gelato was never good at fighting against his manipulation. He didn't have great mental defenses despite Sorbet's attempts to teach him. He wanted to protect him from stand attacks but he was glad now that he didn't have a defense against it. He created a calm inside Gelato and he physically relaxed.
"Fuck you, Sorbet," Gelato said calmly.
"You already did, my love," Sorbet smiled but continued to stare him down. Breaking eye contact would release his hold over him.
"Let me go," Gelato raised a brow but otherwise showed no other emotion.
"Do you promise to behave?"
"I promise to find my blade and cut all of you with it," he said.
"Try it, smartass, I'll freeze your balls off," Ghiaccio said but he could see in his peripheral that he was smirking.
"Not helping, Ghi," Sorbet said. "I'm going to let you go now." He let go of Gelato and closed his eyes, releasing the stand. Gelato lunged at Sorbet.
"Give me back my switchblade, dammit!" Gelato yelled as Sorbet struggled to hold his arms.
"That's it. I didn't want to do this but you give me no choice. Formaggio," Sorbet looked at the door and Formaggio summoned Little Feet. Sorbet let go of Gelato as Little Feet cut him with its sharp finger. Gelato shrunk just a bit.
"What the fuck?! You're gonna shrink me?" Gelato yelled.
"Sorry, man," Formaggio said and shrugged. "Sorbet insisted."
"It'll take about five minutes but then you're going in the bottle." Sorbet held up an empty beer bottle.
"You are not putting me in that!" He pointed at the bottle and shrunk a bit more.
"It's the only way I'll know you aren't going to do something stupid."
"Bet, I'm going to be in there for hours!" Gelato argued.
"I made you a pack. So you don't lose your mind. It's Sorbet approved." Formaggio opened his hand to reveal a tiny backpack. "There's food in there too."
"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" Gelato growled.
"Shoulda thought about that before you threw a tantrum, huh?" Illuso laughed. Gelato glared at him and then back to Sorbet.
"You have four more minutes," Sorbet said looking at his watch. Gelato's eyes went wide and he ran to the bathroom in the den as Illuso and Formaggio laughed.
"Are we leaving?" Prosciutto poked his head in behind Ghiaccio and Melone. Pesci stood waiting in the hall.
"Yeah, we had an incident but we have it under control," Risotto answered.
"Sorbet, you're in our car. Melone, you riding with Ghi?"
"No, Junior and I are riding separately."
"That means more room for me," Formaggio grinned.
"Don't mess up my backseat," Ghiaccio said as he turned and walked out of the den. Formaggio followed him out and began arguing.
"Alright, Pesci and I will be in the car. Phones are on and silenced," Prosciutto nodded to Risotto who nodded back.
Gelato came back out but he wasn't much higher than the doorknob now.
"Di molto! You're so little and cute!" Melone scooped up Gelato into his arms and held him on his hip like a child.
"Put me the fuck down, Mel!" Gelato beat his small fists against Melone's chest.
"But you're so precious, Lati!" Melone poked Gelato's nose. Sorbet imagined how embarrassed Gelato must have been, but he was really cute.
"Melone, hand him here." Sorbet gestured with open arms and Melone transferred the small Gelato into his lover's arms as he got even smaller.
"I hate you," Gelato said as he pouted.
"I love you too, Gelly," Sorbet said. When Gelato was small enough to sit in the palm of his hand, he took the bag and put it in the bottle and then slid Gelato inside. He carefully carried the bottle over to Risotto and sat it on his desk.
"If anything happens, just give me a call. He shouldn't cause any problems for you guys." They looked down at the bottle and Gelato flipped off Risotto from inside.
"Be careful out there. We'll be hacking into the cameras through Melone to monitor your progress. Prosciutto has guns in the car. Don't take any chances. Let Ghiaccio and Pesci do the fighting."
"Yessir," Sorbet said and nodded. He gave his love one final look before leaving for the car.
Glacé sat bouncing on the bed in anticipation. Daddy was awake now and a few feet from the door. He wanted more than anything to open the door and fly into his arms, but Mommy said no. Mommy said Glacé couldn't go near Daddy. It frustrated him, he just didn't understand why he couldn't meet Daddy. But they were all going on the mission today, so there was no way he wasn't going to meet Daddy later! He swung his feet back and forth over the edge of the bed.
The day was beautiful and full of hope. Glacé was ready for anything. He was going to step foot outside that door! All his studying on the computer had been leading up to this! He was ready to make his parents proud and kill every target given to him. None would live after crossing paths with Glacé!
He heard Mommy's voice at the door and the doorknob turned.
"Mommy!" Glacé chirped.
"Hi, Glacé. Sorry I wasn't here this morning. I spent the night with Daddy."
"Because you have romantic love!" Glacé smiled wide. Mommy smiled.
"I do," Mommy said. "Now, are you ready to go?"
"Yes!" Glacé jumped up from the bed.
"Good, we are going to be leaving soon. You and I will ride the motorcycle and meet everyone there."
"What's a motorcycle?" Glacé asked.
"You'll see," Mommy said and got dressed. Glacé watched in fascination as Mommy combed his hair and carefully put his mask on in the mirror. "Why do you put that over your eye? Isn't it hard to see?"
"I can't see out of this eye so it doesn't matter," Mommy said as he adjusted the mask.
"Oh no! Did you get hurt?" Glacé covered his mouth.
"No, I was born too early. It's called retinopathy of prematurity. Anyways, I've always been blind in this eye." Glacé felt sad, he didn't know Mommy couldn't see. Maybe that was why Mommy always slightly leaned to the left a bit. Mommy looked over at him and had a sort of sad smile on his face. "Glacé, I'm okay, really. It doesn't hurt or anything. Don't be sad."
"Okay…" Glacé said.
"Hey, you're fighting today, remember? I thought you were excited? Where's that smile?" Mommy smiled and sat on the bed next to him. Mommy poked his sides and he laughed. "There it is! Who's gonna kill everyone in the warehouse?"
"I am!" Glacé laughed as Mommy continued to tickle him.
"That's right. So I want to see that smile on your face!" Mommy said and then stood up again. "I'll be right back and then we're going to get going." Mommy left the room again and Glacé ran to the window. He saw a dark car peel out from behind the house. He knew that must be some of his family already heading out. Mommy returned after ten minutes with two helmets in hand.
"You have to wear this. You're probably strong enough even if you did fall off, but...I'd feel better." He handed Glacé a blue helmet. "It's Daddy's. He's driving his car so you can wear his." Glacé held it reverently in his hands as he looked at it. Daddy's helmet. He heard the sound of another car. Glacé ran to the window and pressed his face to it just in time to see the red convertible pulling out. It was him. It was Daddy. Not just a picture but for real. He was riding with Uncle Formaggio in the backseat. There was someone he didn't recognize next to Daddy.
"Mommy, who's in the car next to Daddy?" he asked but never looked away from the window. They were stopped at a light. Mommy looked out the window as well.
"Oh, that's Fugo. He's also a friend, so if you see if in the warehouse, don't kill him. He's Daddy's best friend." Now Glacé wanted to meet Fugo too since he was Daddy's best friend.
"Let's go, Glacé." Glacé ran out the door into the hallway and gawked at the house. He leaned over the railing to see the downstairs. He turned back to Mommy.
"Can I see Daddy's room?" Glacé asked. Mommy looked at him and bit his upper lip in contemplation.
"Fine. We gotta be quick though," Mommy said and led the way to the first door on the other side of the stairs. He opened the door to a blue room. It was cooler than their room and it was very clean. There were books and notebooks on the shelf. One sat on his desk and Glacé opened it and paged through it.
Melone came to my room again and I found him just sleeping here. I don't know why I'm writing about it since I was actually angry about it but it was weird. I don't know how it makes me feel. I just know it's not normal.
He flipped through more pages.
So Melone likes guys.
I don't know why I feel relieved. I hate that Fugo might be right. That's what he told Formaggio in the car. It also pissed me off that Melone kept going on about all the things he's done. No one wanted to know all that. I certainly didn't.
It makes me sick to my stomach. He's done so much…
There were words scratched out on the next line. To Glacé it looked like "How can I compare?" but he wasn't sure.
"Glacé, what are you looking at?"
"Do you make Daddy mad?" Glacé asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. Why?"
"He wrote a lot about it."
"Are you reading his journal?"
"I don't know." He paged through earlier in the journal.
Melone was picking on me about Fugo. He kept implying we might be together and I got pissed off and snapped at him. Why the fuck can't he ever serious? Fugo and I talked for a while and I told him I'm gay. He said he didn't care and that he's actually asexual. I still don't want the squad to know. I guess I'm mad because I don't want Melone thinking I'm in a relationship.
"Mommy, isn't gay when there are two daddies?" Glacé asked.
"What are you talking about?" Mommy walked over and took the journal from him and read the page he'd been looking at.
"Ghiaccio's gay?" Mommy said quietly. "Why would he care if I thought he was in a relationship or not?" He paged through some other pages skimming while Glacé walked over and flopped onto the bed. He put his face into the pillow and inhaled.
"Is this what Daddy smells like?" he smothered the pillow to his face again. He really wanted to meet Daddy.
"Okay, Glacé, they're going to wonder where we are. We have to go now." Glacé hopped up off the bed and Mommy smoothed out the sheets afterwards. They left the room and went downstairs. Mommy helped him get his helmet on and then they hopped onto the motorcycle.
"It's going to be loud and you need to hold onto me the whole time we're driving. Okay?" Mommy put his helmet on and Glacé wrapped his arms around him.
"Okay!" The engine roared to life and Mommy kicked up the stand and revved the engine. They took off out of the alley and down the road. Glacé wondered how Mommy could drive with only one eye but quickly forgot the thought as they sped up and weaved in and out of traffic. It was spectacular. The wind blowing around his body and so many sights and sounds and smells passing him by as they went. He felt like he was flying, they were going so fast and Mommy weaved effortlessly between cars. Glacé didn't have time or the education to worry about how dangerous the speed and weaving were, he merely enjoyed the feeling, clung tight and smiled.
He found the purr of the engine rumbling through his body comforting. He rested his head on Mommy's back while they drove. They had been driving for some time when they approached the docks and Glacé had a clear view of the glittering water. The sun sparkled on each wave and the smell of salt was strong even through the helmet.
"Mommy! Is that the ocean?" Glacé yelled over the engine.
"Yes, we're heading to the docks. That's where the warehouse is. Uh-oh, someone's calling my phone. They're probably wondering where the hell we are." Mommy pulled over to the side of the road and answered it. He lifted his visor and put it on speaker.
"Oi! MELONE! Where the hell are you?" A voice yelled over the speaker.
"Hi, Ghia, we're almost there. We hit some traffic."
"DADDY!?" Glacé leaned forward trying to hear the voice clearly.
"The fuck did you just call me?!" Daddy yelled.
"Nothing, it was a kid nearby. I had to pull over to answer the phone. Unless you want me to call you Daddy," Mommy giggled.
"Shut the fuck up, Melone, and just get here already!"
"Roger that, Ghia. Bye," Mommy said and hung up the phone. He turned to look at Glacé. "You almost got me in trouble. You gotta be quiet when I'm on the phone." Mommy put his visor back down and started the engine again.
They drove a bit longer until they came close to the area when Glacé informed Mommy that they were close now. They pulled off into an alley and parked nearby but still far enough out. Mommy pulled off his helmet and got off the bike and then helped Glacé do the same.
"We need to find a good vantage point. That building over there looks good." Mommy led Glacé to an abandoned building that had a fire escape on it and had Glacé hoist him up and then pulled Glacé up. Once they climbed up to the top they had a better view of the whole complex and Glacé could see Daddy with the rest of the family. Mommy got out his cellphone and put it on speaker but put a finger to his lips as he looked at Glacé.
"Hey, we're here. We're on the abandoned building to the south of you." He saw Daddy spin around and shield his eyes from the sun. Glacé jumped up flailing his arms around. He saw Uncle Pesci wave back at him.
"Yeah, I see you guys." He saw me! "'Bout fucking time."
"Send Formaggio our way. I'm about to hack the cameras for Risotto now."
"Good, Pro's been on me about that. He's got Riz on the phone, and he's being a real bitch. Mr. Ass-kisser just has to be perfect," Daddy growled.
"How's Gelato?" Mommy summoned Babyface and began typing.
"Just as pissy," Daddy said.
"Yeah, Sorbet's gonna have hell to pay when he gets back."
"That's gonna be the best part of my day," Daddy laughed.
"Ho! How the hell did you guys get up there?" He heard a voice call. Glacé looked over the side of the building to see Uncle Formaggio there.
"Glacé, can you help him?" Mommy whispered covering the phone. Glacé nodded and sprung to action. Finally, something he could do. He climbed back down and peered down at his Uncle.
"Hi! I'm Glacé!"
"Uh, hi...you're one of Melone's babies right?"
"Yeah, Mommy told me to come help you."
"Mommy? That's fucking weird," Formaggio laughed but extended his hand and Glacé pulled him up. Once he was standing, Glacé wrapped his arms around Formaggio's waist. "Whoa! What the fuck is happening...dude?"
"I'm so glad I get to finally meet you guys! Come on, Mommy's waiting for us." Glacé climbed back up and Formaggio followed. When they got to the top they approached and Glacé sat down next to Mommy who was typing away intently.
"Hey, Mel. Why is your stand calling you Mommy?"
"Because I'm the mother," Mommy said without looking up.
"Hold the fuck up, how is that—"
"I've been practicing and I learned, in a pinch, I can fulfill the mother role without dying. I've got the cameras up now." Mommy clicked a button on the phone. "Ghia, we've got eyes now."
"Good. That'll get that prick off my back." A voice yelled something in the background. "Well, you are! You never stop bitching, christ!"
"I'll keep you guys posted if I see anything up here."
"Alright. See ya on the other side."
"I hope not. I didn't see you there last time." There was silence on the other end.
"Mel…" Daddy sounded sad. Glacé didn't want Daddy to be sad again. "Nevermind." He hung up.
"So you're the mother and you've been practicing? What else can it do?"
"Maggi, we'll talk about this later. Glacé—"
"And you named it? Have you ever named any of the others?" Mommy glared at Uncle Maggi.
"Glacé, there are two levels to this building. I want you to clear out the bottom level while the rest go to the main level. Kill anyone that isn't Fugo or the rest of the family. Got it?"
"Got it!"
"Oh, and Glacé, remember. If Da—I mean, Ghia needs help, go to him. You'll know." Mommy sighed and looked into his eyes. "I'll keep watch over you from here. We can talk the whole time. If you have any questions or need help, let me know. You won't be alone. Okay?"
"Got it, Mommy!" Glacé hugged Mommy who hugged him back. Glacé stood up and ran over to the fire escape. He turned back and waved at his family. "Bye! I'm going to kill everyone in there!"