Happy Memorial Day Everybody!

I have been doing better in my physical therapy and I started taking swim therapy classes.

A New Friend

Leo was in bed clutching his stuffed lion and Sofia came in with a cup on a small plate.

"Are you okay baby?" Sofia asked softly.

"That was really scary," Leo whispers.

Sofia touched her son's cheek and said, "Oh I know, but you were really brave, and this is the way we're going to win. Here, I made you some hot milk." Sofia then gives him the cup.

Leo takes a sip before saying, "Mama, this feels wrong, all of it. Maybe we don't need to be here. Maybe we can go home with Grandpa. Maybe you don't have to do this."

"Of course I do," Sofia replies, "I told you that we need to win back this kingdom."

"By working with that policeman?" Leo frowns, "But why? He hurt Uncle Mario, he's the reason he's not here, and it's his fault. And what if he hurts you too Mommy?"

Sofia smiles and says, "Oh sweetie, Mommy will be fine but you're right he's not going to get away it. He is going to pay, I promise."

Leo nods then asks, "Mama is something going to happen?"

Sofia stroked Leo's face, "Oh for you, everything is going to be fine." They both hug and Sofia smiles. "Now finish your milk."

After Leo finished drinking his hot milk, Sofia smiled at him and kissed him. "Now Leo try to go to sleep."

Leo nodded and was slowly lulled to sleep by his mom stroking his hair.

A couple of hours later, Jim Gordon came by to talk to Sofia. She invited him in and began talking about one of her memories as a child.

"I must've been seven or eight, a little older than what Leo is now," Sofia recalled, "It was late. I snuck downstairs to find my father with a man before him on his knees, begging for forgiveness. My father stabbed him in his neck. The next morning there wasn't a trace of blood, and we had breakfast at that table. Now, you'd think I'd want to stay far away from Gotham and keep my son away from this city, but this house, this city, is in my veins as well as my son's. I'm home, Jim."

Jim changed the subject, "The word on the street is three Falcone capos have gone missing."

"Hmm. They were in hiding. Penguin used me and Leo as bait to draw them out," Sofia explained.

"And kill them," Jim stated, and after a look between them Jim replied, "And you let him?"

"Don't act the innocent, Jim," Sofia told him, You came to Carmine Falcone for help. It was never gonna be bloodless. Besides I had to think of my son's safety, Leo is just a child."

"So is that your plan?" Jim questioned, "Get close to Penguin. Gain his confidence. What then? I need to know what you're going to do."

But Sofia refused, "No. You don't," Sofia replied in a firm tone, "You want the city back from Penguin. I'll give that to you. But you have to trust me."

Sofia tried to stroke Jim's face, but Jim grabbed it and then they started kissing.

A couple of days later, Leo was out with Sofia at an old building. While Sofia was busy, Leo was walking down the stairs when he met a boy with curly brown hair with a notepad over his neck, he looked like he was Leo's age.

Leo smiled, "Hello."

When the boy saw him he wrote, "Hi I'm Martin. Nice to meet you," on his notepad and showed it to Leo.

Leo said, "It's nice to meet you too. I'm Leo."

Martin wrote on his notepad, "Are you Sofia's son?"

Leo nods, "That's me, and you must be from the orphanage school that my mom is building." Martin nods.

Then Leo and Martin walked down the stairs together and they sat down at the bottom. Then Martin on the notepad wrote, "So what school do you go to?"

"Actually I get taught at home by a tutor," Leo answers, "Even back home in Miami I had a tutor." Martin draws a beach on the notepad and shows it to Leo.

Leo nods and replies, "Yep, I lived closed to this cool beach. My mom and I would go there all the time. We would also go horse-back riding, not on the beach but around the estate or close to it."

Martin wrote on the notepad, "What about your dad?"

Leo shrugs, "I don't know, I never met my dad. Mama told me that when she met him, he was going into law school and that he had hopes becoming a district attorney. But he left before my mom knew that she was pregnant with me and he never wrote and never called her."

Martin wrote, "I'm sorry," on the notepad.

"That's okay," Leo said, "I have my mom and my grandpa, I also had two uncles, but Uncle Mario, who was also my godfather was killed by a policeman just because he was sick and I don't know where Uncle Alberto is, I haven't seen him since Uncle Mario's wedding, I hope he's okay. I'm sorry about your parents too. What happened to them? If you don't mind me asking."

Martin wrote in the notebook, "They were killed in a shooting."

Leo frowned sadly, "I'm sorry."

Then Martin wrote on the notepad, "Thank you. Can we be friends?"

Leo nods, "Yes, I would really like that."

Sofia then saw the two boys both smiling and laughing together, she was frowning. She was with a man who was hiding, and he said, "I take it that wasn't part of your plan."

Sofia answers, "No. Those two being friends will be a problem, Leo can be quite emotional."

"Well if that's true you might want to pull your son away," the man told her.

Sofia gave an annoyed look, "I can control my son, trust me he will listen to me. Now go do your job." The man nods and walks away.

Sofia walked over to them and said, "Martin you should be heading back."

When Sofia notices one of the teachers, she gestures her to take Martin. The teacher came up and took Martin's hand and walked away with him. Martin and Leo waved goodbye to each other.

"Come on Leo, let's go." Sofia grabs her son's hand and they leave.

Sofia walked into a restaurant holding Leo's hand and a man said, "We're closed."

"Janos." Sofia said. Then the man turned and saw Sofia.

Sofia said to her son, "Leo, this is Janos, the last time I saw him it was at my tenth birthday party." Sofia looked at Janos and said, "You bought me ruby earrings. You said it would be a fitting gift for the daughter of the king of Gotham."

Then Janos said with realization, "Sofia Falcone. I heard you had returned to Gotham."

When he saw Leo he bent down and said, "And you must be her son, Leo." Leo smiled shyly and waved at the man.

"What can I do for you?" Janos asked.

"I was wondering how you were faring under Penguin's rule," Sofia responds.

Janos answers, "The Szabo family is quite content under Oswald Cobblepot's licensing system. But even if we were not, we would be wise enough not to say anything."

"Good. Because I've invited him to your restaurant for lunch, and I want it to be a lunch he'll never forget," Sofia tells him.

I was disappointed that Martin wasn't in the show for too long, I liked him, so there's going to be more of him in my story. I'm also going to have Leo's father in the story too.