What Is Love?

Christofer, Jadey, and Jenny were walking together to a nearby ice cream parlor after the sun had began to go down. They had all had fun playing ball together. They quit the game after Jenny had begged them both for ice cream.

"I'm getting the biggest ice cream cone you can get!" Jenny yelled, excitedly.

"You are not, missy," Jadey said. "You would never finish it anyways."

"Please?" she begged her older sister. She began to pout and put on some ultimate puppy dog eyes that even Christofer wouldn't be able to refuse.

"No, but I tell you what," Jadey said, holding her sister's hand. "You and I can split the biggest sundae they have. Deal?"

"Deal!" Jenny squealed. "Extra whip cream?"

"You got it."

This seemed to pacify Jenny because she smiled and hummed a tune to herself.

"How did you refuse her like that?" Christofer asked. "I mean, did you see that face she gave you?"

"It used to be hard to refuse her, but I got used to it and it doesn't affect me as much anymore," Jadey said.

They reached the parlor a few moments later. Christofer held the door open for Jadey and Jenny and stepped in after them. They went to the counter and told the worker what they wanted, which was a sundae and an ice cream cone.

"With sprinkles on the sundae!" Jenny yelled. "Lot of them please. Oh, and extra whip cream, please."

The worker fixed the ice cream they wanted and Christofer payed for it, much to Jadey's protesting. They sat down in one of the booths the parlor had and Jenny began to dig into the sundae.

"Is it good?" Christofer asked her.

"Very!" she said. "Thank you, Christofer."

"Yes, thank you," Jadey said after she took a bite of the sundae. "You really didn't have to."

"Jadey, don't worry about it," he said as he took a bite of his own ice cream. "I wanted to."

"Yeah, he wanted to," Jenny said.

"See," he said. "She gets it."

Jadey rolled her eyes at them both, but couldn't hold back the smile that appeared.

"So how old are you, Jenny," Christofer asked.

"I'm 4," she said after swallowing the bite of ice cream she had. "I'll be five soon, though!"

"Wow, five?" he asked, acting surprised. "That's a pretty big age."

"Jadey said I'll be a big girl," Jenny said.

"You will," he said, agreeing. "Are your parents going to throw you a big party?"

Christofer became confused as both Jadey and Jenny stopped eating their sundae immediately. They both had looks of sadness written across their faces that made him wonder if he had said the wrong thing.

"Our parents passed away about two years ago," Jadey said, putting her arm around her sister who had bowed her head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Christofer said, feeling like an idiot. "I didn't mean-"

"No, no," Jadey said, cutting him off. "It's fine. You didn't know. It's just me and my sister. I was 18, so I was able to take guardianship of her."

"Wow," Christofer said admiring her, "You really are a good sister to do that."

"Well, Jenny and I are so close," she said. "Plus, our grandparents live across the country and I couldn't bare Jenny going to stay with them. I couldn't have her that far from me. I go to college here so I couldn't just leave with her."

"That's understandable," he said. "I'd do the same thing."

"Jenny, why don't you help me finish up the sundae Christofer bought for us," Jadey said to her. "Don't won't it to go to waste do we, sweetie? There's still lots of sprinkles on there. Look, I even see a pink one."

Jenny listened to her sister and picked up her spoon.

"You go to college?" Christofer asked trying to change the subject. "What is your major?"

"Undecided. I'm just getting my basics in right now."

"She's really smart!" Jenny said. "She got the smartest person thing in high school. She said a speech and everything."

"It's valedictorian, Jenny," Jadey said. "I'm really not that smart."

"I'm sure you are," Christofer said. "I don't think Jenny would lie."

"Jenny?" Jadey asked. "Not lie? You're kidding."

Christofer laughed at the comment as Jenny smiled innocently at them both. They continued talking for a while. They got to know each other better and learned a lot of things about one another.

"Well, it's getting late," Jadey said. "I best be getting Jenny home."

"Oh, come on," Jenny said. "I don't wanna."

"But you gotta," Jadey said back.

"Fine."

They left the parlor together and walked back to the park where their cars were. Christofer walked with them to Jadey's car and helped her get Jenny buckled up.

"I hope this doesn't sound weird or anything, but could I maybe get your number?" Christofer asked.

"Sure," Jadey said, smiling and dug out a piece of paper and pen from her car. She wrote down her number and handed it to him.

"It was really nice meeting you both," he said.

"It was nice meeting you," Jadey said.

She got into her car and started it. Jenny waved at him as they drove away and he waved back. He looked down at the piece of paper and smiled. He knew he had to see them again.