With Me By Your Side

Chapter 18

The small ice cream parlor was a Star City hidden gem and long-time safe haven for Sara. Weekday afternoons were spent tucked away in the corner booth as she went out of her way to avoid the mounting pile of homework that Laurel always seemed to breeze through with ease. With both their parents at work until the late evening most days, the parlor became a second home and the owners a second set of parents. Mama B - short for Bethany-Ann - was a southern lass through and through and still to this day at the ripe age of 85 still held her thick Texan accent. Her late husband Jimmy was a quiet man, who'd rather spend his day traveling to the hundreds of worlds that lived on his bookshelf. Sara always thought that were an odd match for each other, Mama B was loud and full of crazy, wacky ideas, she was always behind the counter and lived to make her customers laugh, whereas Jimmy preferred the isolation of the small kitchen, he'd build every sundae perfectly, taking total pride in each dish that he sent out. They were a couple that no one could see being together – even they had wondered how they made it work – but they loved each other more than anything, and that kind of love was something that Sara had held onto when she was away, and even now as she walked up the run-down side street with Ava hating her guts and unable to look in her general direction, Sara wasn't about to let up on her just yet.

***

Ava didn't like the look of this place. It was the kind of street that would be used as a backdrop in an artsy film about a kid from the 'wrong side of the tracks' who turned his life around. As judgemental as Ava knew that comparison was, she just couldn't trust anything that was recommended by Sara at this point. Her heart was still racing from their conversation at the playground, in fact, it had gotten faster the more she stole glances at the blonde, who was happily chatting with Poppy a few steps ahead of her. But she wasn't ready to even consider letting Sara back into her life again, not while she was still trying to pick up the pieces that the blonde had tossed everywhere with her exit.

"Just around here, Ava," Sara called over her shoulder as the young child got even more excited and her quick steps turned into gleeful skips. Ava didn't respond, just like all the other times Sara had offered up directions.

The shop wasn't the most appealing from the outside, but as the trio entered, a sense of homeliness washed over them. The place was spotless, not a sticky countertop in sight. The decor was dated, but it somehow made the place more appealing, like Ava was stepping back into her childhood and bringing her niece along for the ride. Not that she would ever admit, but she was impressed by Sara's choice of venue.

"Well as I live and breathe, my little miss Sara Lance is home again!" Ava jumped as a loud southern accent filled the small parlor. She watched carefully as Sara's cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink. "Get over here and give me some sugar!" An older woman bellowed as she waddled from the door to the kitchen to meet Sara at the side of the counter. The two women embraced lovingly as Ava and Poppy looked on in curiosity.

"It's good to see you too Mama B!" 'Mama?' Ava felt her entire body tense up, she couldn't be meeting Sara's Mother. They weren't at that stage, they weren't at any stage.

"Oh, how I've missed my little ray of sunshine! Time has been good to you. Hell, it feels like yesterday that you were skipping in here, all pigtails and smiles." The woman - who Ava now knew as Mama B - twirled her finger, prompting Sara to begrudgingly do a small spin. Ava couldn't help but let a small smile breakthrough, while Poppy took great pleasure in mimicking Sara's movements.

Springing back to reality, Sara remembered the two Sharpe's who were watching contently. With a wave of her hand, Poppy sprinted over to Sara's side with Ava following close behind.

"Pigtails?" Ava whispered to the blonde captain with a forced smile on her lips, the agent still unsure if she was about to be awkwardly introduced to Sara's Mother.