Some Flat Out Somewhere Else

Adam was with his father this week.

The two sat at the café-sized table beside a small window, both alternating glances at one another while alternating sips of oatmeal. Neither of them spoke, neither of them made any sort of social advance. The morning sunlight shined in on the both of them, reflecting identically off their raven-black hair. Elroy had long since outgrown the shag of his youth, and yet continued to sport it anyway. In an odd way, it rather complemented the layer of black stubble that lined his jaw and upper lip. Adam, in contrast, had his mother's wide eyes and petite, pouting lips, and his face remained as smooth as a baby's backside. He hadn't yet scratched the surface of puberty.

Gently, Adam broke this cycle of stolen looks and slurps by tinking his spoon against the ceramic edge of his bowl. Elroy's eyes shot up at him from above the rim of his coffee mug. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Adam replied, resting the boat of the spoon on the surface of the slop. "Nothing."

"Daddy?" Dianna broke the silence, smiling brightly at him. "Can you get me something? I want a pony, and Ryan says that he can't buy me a pony because my mom said no to him. So could you buy me a new pony? I know we already have Starburst and I ride him a lot, but if we got a pony I'd love it and feed it and ride it and take care of him, honest!"

"No, Dianna," answered Elroy. No, Dianna. No. He always seemed to be denying her things; although, in his defense, many of Dianna's requests were just as outlandish and impossible as this. Her favor had lessened ever since she began to go on and on about her mother's new boyfriend, as well.

Dianna's heart broke for what seemed to be the millionth time today. Didn't her dad love her? It seemed that Ryan was always buying her things, ice cream, bracelets, and other novelties. Her dad had only bought her a coffee. And the coffee was absolutely disgusting. On top of that, he didn't ever talk to her. That was all a girl really wanted from her father, after all. Just an encouraging word, or something nice about her hair.

"Daddy, why don't you talk to us? Do you even love us anymore?" She asked, out of pure frustration. "Every weekend we're with you we just sit here! I want to go home, this is dumb."

"Di..." Adam murmured.

"Of course I do." Elroy felt his stomach tense up in annoyance. "Don't be silly, sweetie."

"Yeah, whatever." Dianna mumbled to herself, taking another sip of the bitter shit in a cup.
"I'm going to Hogwarts next year." She spoke up a second time, something usually unheard of at these family meetings.

Adam didn't like the thought of that one bit. Not one OUNCE. He grimaced behind his own cup.

"Yes, I know," said Elroy. "You'll love it."

"Thanks." Dianna said.
And that was really all she said, before she spilled her coffee all over the table "unintentionally".

"Really?" thought Adam, setting down his spoon to fetch the paper towels.

Elroy leapt up from his seat with a slight gasp as to avoid any stray drips. "Di..." he sighed, trying to come up with a proper reprimand. Then, he couldn't. He simply couldn't. He just bit his tongue and asked her to go assist her brother in cleaning up -- or, better, take the used dishes to the kitchen counter.

Instead of doing what she was told, she came up to Elroy and whispered in his ear.
"Dad, can you come home and marry Mum again? I don't like her boyfriend, he just buys me things and fills the house up with flowers. They don't kiss right, and she misses you a lot. She still has your picture in her room. Please come back home."

Why was she telling him this? As if he didn't worry, as if he didn't trouble himself with his ex-wife enough as it were. "Dianna..." He gently placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders, before changing his mind and pulling her into his arms. She was so small and fragile, he felt almost as though he could snap her like a twig if he tried. "I love your mother," he whispered. "I likely always will, but... it just wasn't... You've played with magnets, right? We're both the blue ends... You get that, right? We just can't be together without... Oh, you understand. You're a big girl." He released her.

Truthfully, Dianna didn't understand. She just looked up at Elroy with those large, watery eyes- his eyes, in fact.
"But even though you fight you still love each other. And people who love each other should be married and happy, Dad. And I'm only 11. You missed my birthday."

Elroy pursed his lips. Her innocence was killing him. "Go help your brother." He was damn sure he'd sent her a card and a small pendant on a chain, as well. It wouldn't come as any surprise if Serenity had locked his letters in that drawer like he'd heard she'd done before.

Yes, Serenity had locked it away in a drawer and kept the pendant for herself. That selfish bitch. But, not even her boyfriend knew how she'd take out those letters most every night and smile at them and sometimes even cry over them.

"Alright." Dianna went and cleaned up the coffee with Adam, sniffling a little bit.

Adam relieved his sister of the stack of dishes and set to work scrubbing the chunks of oatmeal that had crusted to the blue glaze. He'd overheard most of their conversation; the walls of the flat may as well have been sheets of tissue paper. He said nothing.

Elroy was contemplating taking a day off work to stay with his children. He had retreated to his bedroom and was sifting through sheets of paper in his briefcase. Should he? Shouldn't he? He'd missed so much already... Oh, what the hell.

Dianna was silent as she helped Adam- they'd talk about it when he was asleep, hopefully. If Adam stayed up.

Of course they would. And soon enough came the night time; Elroy had, after a particularly nasty telephone call just after his initial decision, gone to work that day. Adam lie on his back on the futon laid out on the living room floor, gazing up at the single ceiling fan overhead, his eyes following the chipped blade as it circled around and around at a snail's pace.

"Adam." Dianna whispered, not wanting to completely break the silence. "Dad and me had a talk. Do you think.. Do you think he'll ever come back and live with us again?"

"I don't know," came her answer after a drawn-out pause.

"Why not?" Dianna asked, frowning. "It could happen. We could.. we could set them up! Like that old movie, with the twins."

"D'you really think that would work," he asked, the answer clear through his blunt tone of whispering.

"Yes!" Dianna insisted. "He said he still loves her. He did, he said he always will. It could totally work.

"I'd like to sleep..."

"Well.. I don't want to sleep. So, you'll just have to tolerate me staying up."

"Okay..." He sounded quite exasperated.