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Ice cream cups are much more convenient and better to maintain than cones, I feel like. I can't tell you how many times a cup has saved me when it starts to melt faster than I can eat it. It's good that they were able to give her a cup! Did she end up getting the same flavor, too?

At times, it just slips my mind when she asks for a cone. She did! It was still what she asked for, there was really no point in changing it. How have you been,are you enjoying the start of nature week?

"That seems like the smart way to go, child led play and child led joy," Amina stated. They knew very little about children, but did their best to understand for the sake of friends, and remembered well what it was like to be a child. "Barbies are a rite of passage, right? Do you ever want to sit down and play with her? Because I'd give into it."

"I do my best to! I spend lots of time busy with work, she has more play time with her nanny. That is what makes days like today the best." Cathy was very much learning as she went, especially as she herself had not been an only child. It was much different than her own upbringing. That included the support that she received having a nanny to help out. "I loved dolls at her age. It's fun getting a chance to play with her, playing school and such."

"The smell alone," he laughed, shaking his head. He wasn't fond of cleaning up anyone's messes, let alone messy people in bars, but he also knew that it paid the bills and he was able to keep up his lifestyle without relying too much on his dad, and that would never be a bad thing. "Good to meet you, Cathy. And that might be it, I don't spend a ton of time over that way, but I do hit up the bars now and then. You're a lawyer then, I'm guessing?"

"I can imagine," she nodded. The beer garden sounded like a potential host for a plethora of nasty smells and substances. Though, a job was a job and she understood that. "Nice to meet you as well. I am, yes. A defense attorney, specifically. And this," she motioned toward her daughter, introducing her as well, "is Lulu."

"Ice cream and toys," Amina said with a smile. "It's a great little shop, I wish I had more kids to shop for. Is there something in particular your little one is looking for?" Amina asked. "At her age I was all about catching bugs and doing puzzles." @xcathypacheco

"I tend to just let her wander around, finding what catches her attention," she explained. Cathy very much took the opportunity of time off to absolutely spoil her daughter, in both quality time and material items. She smiled as Amina explained their own interests at that age. "Right now she has been very into her barbies and bringing home activities from preschool. Play-doh, chalk drawings, things of that nature."

"People are really good at spilling beer… and cheese. The amount of cheese cups that I have to clean off of tables before they get smeared everywhere," he wrinkled his nose at the thought. No, he was plenty content to deal with the occasional dropped ice cream. "I'm Ryder, by the way," he offered the woman a smile and his hand, figuring that he might as well introduce himself, now that they had the tough part of spilling desserts on each other down. "I feel like I might've seen you around, but don't think we've ever met met." @xcathypacheco

"That would prepare you well, it sounds disgusting," her nose crinkled in disgust. "You can call me Cathy," she extended her hand, shaking his hand. "If you spend time downtown, I work at Merrock Law," she added, knowing that most folks knew of her for her work around town.

Marlow smiled to Cathy. "Cotton candy is my little brother's favorite," she shared with Lulu. "But it's too sweet for me." She wrinkled her nose but still smiled through it.

"Cotton candy is delicious, but it's okay everyone has their own favorite," Cathy directed the latter half of her sentence to her daughter, motioning toward her own mango now sitting on the countertop melting as it waited for her.

If this had been a handful of years before, things might had been different -- not that he would have yelled or caused a scene. Though he probably would have been a lot more annoyed at the situation. At this point he was used to being covered in different foods from his own kids. "That's what I do, or well, I always bribe them with a sundae since they come in a dish because they're never going to finish the cone anyway." He knew his children well enough by now. Even if he did love getting to eat the leftover cones when they did insist they just had to have one. Handing them over, "Thanks." he said glancing down, "See, no harm, no foul -- not even a stain." Which he was a little grateful for.

"It completely slipped my mind," Cathy reiterated, having not even given it a second thought until the ice cream was on the floor. "Thank you!" She took the dirty napkins, tossing them in the trash. Cathy smiled as Marcus confirmed that his shoes were in perfect condition. "I am happy to see that!" she laughed quietly. She would have paid for cleaning if necessary, but could admit that she was glad it wasn't.

"So no real reason at all but time together." Amina smiled when offered their cone. They took a small taste, then smiled more broadly at the girl. "You have excellent taste, Miss Lulu, thank you for the recommendation. Are you two headed off on any adventures after this?"

There was a slight lift of the shoulder with a nod, confirming that the afternoon outing was a moment for quality time together. "Dile gracias, mami," she prompted her daughter to thank Amina, then turned back to respond to their question. "We may make a trip over to Jack in the Box while here, in the neighborhood," she thought aloud to Amina, turning to her daughter asking, "does that sound fun? we go get some toys?"

Marlow handed over the now-dirtied napkin with a grateful smile. "Thanks." Looking back the little girl, Marlow asked, "What flavor was that? I'm getting strawberry, my favorite."

As Cathy continued to wipe up the floor, she encouraged the relatively shy four year old to respond to Marlow. "Cotton candy, right Lulu?" she turned between her daughter and Marlow. Cathy collected all of the napkins used, stepping aside to toss them. "Just a treat! I don't get the chance to do this with her during the week, often. Lucky, it's a nice day too!"

"No, but it's better than beer," he replied on a half laugh, looking down at his shoes. Might not be the best situation… but there was no sense in being upset. What was the phrase, after all? No use crying over spilt milk? Dropped ice cream was right on par with that. "I do, yeah, I work over at the Garden, I'm a server," which was not something that he had ever thought he would find himself saying, but. He also wasn't going to complain about that. "No, no, I'm good. I'll throw 'em in the wash when I get home. Thanks, though. I'm just glad she got another ice cream, that could've been catastrophic, right?"

"The beer garden, yes. Oh, I can imagine how messy it can get working there." Ryder wasn't wrong, alcohol wasn't a great option to have on your clothing either. "I am happy to hear they're some of those types of shoes," she laughed quietly. "Absolutely. Not that I wouldn't have simply bought her another, but it makes everything better, easier."

"Don't worry about it," he said, putting his phone away and nodding. Bryan tossed some of the used tissues away into the nearby trash bin. "Hope the rest of your day has gone well at least?" he smiled looking from Cathy to the little girl, hoping that the replacement cone would appease her and make her smile.

"My day has gone fairly well, thank you," she nodded. "I hope yours as well!" Ice cream on your shoe after an already rough day was not something that she wanted to feel responsibility for.

“Dang it Lily, again?! “

Cathy was admittedly a little taken aback as Cass jumped to assume that her daughter was at fault. However, she figured that the other woman was probably not having a great day. That appeared to be made all that more evident by her jokes, which Cathy also nervously laughed along to. "No worries," she shook her head, squatting down to clean up the floor herself, glancing over to Cass's shoes to ensure they hand't been ruined.

Sometimes, you just really needed an ice cream. With the weather slowly warming up in Merrock, that was exactly how Marlow felt. It seemed she wasn't the only one with that idea, as the Creamery was a little crowded when she got into line. So she wasn't too surprised when there ended up being an ice cream casualty, right on her shoes. "Oh no, sweetie!" Marlow immediately cooed, getting down to the little girl's level. "It's okay, honey."

Seeing Marlow immediately turn to comfort her daughter brought a smile to Cathy's face. It was heartwarming that while she rushed to clean up, the other woman made it a point to make sure that the 4 years old was okay. Cathy took a moment to actually look at Marlow's shoes with a nod upon the blonde's clarification that they were her work shoes. Not that money was everything but she would feel much worse if they were, say, a designer pair of heels. But they weren't, and she was glad. "Thank you!" She looked between Marlow and her daughter, standing up after wiping the floor. "I could take the napkins?" she asked Marlow, offering to throw out the ones that she had used as well.

"The cookie dough is always a good choice," Amina commented, stepping up to order a cone for their self, along with a chocolate scoop. "Are you having some mother daughter bonding time today or just getting out for a break and a treat?"

"Just enjoying a treat together after school, right Lulu?" she turned to her daughter in an attempt to include her in the conversation. Turning her words back to Amina, Cathy further explained, "I don't get to do pick up often, so it was a nice opportunity to bring her."

Bryan had been not paying attention to anyone around him, looking at his phone and planning in his head when to add in the next shifts for the waitstaff. Making a pit stop at the Creamery seemed like the best course of action as he tried to figure out his schedule for the next week. The next thing he knew, someone was apologizing profusely to him and his brain didn't register it until five seconds after. "Huh? Oh," he said, realizing that there was some ice cream on his shoe. "'S'all good," he shook his head. "I've had worse things dropped on these sneakers," he chuckled, before grabbing a few more napkins to help out. "Thanks," he smiled. "I guess my shoes were hungry for some ice cream too."

Cathy couldn't help but laugh a little when Bryan stated that perhaps his shoes had been hungry for ice cream too. "Well, I suppose in that case, we were happy to help," she chuckled. "Thank you," she smiled as Bryan helped her clean up.

Sometimes, Ryder just needed a cone of ice cream. Whether it be instead of lunch, or an after work snack that made him feel better about cranky customers or long hours. And this was one of those days. He had worked the early shift and was getting ready to head home when he had passed the ice cream shop, doubling back to pull into the parking lot. And of course, just as he was about to step up to the counter... he got an ice cream. On his foot. "Oh, uh," Ryder let out a laugh, inwardly very, very grateful for the fact that he was only wearing old, worn-in work shoes, and not the usual name brand footwear he pulled on. "It happens, no harm, no foul," he took the napkins as they were offered, "thankfully when you work food service, you get the shoes that are pretty ice cream resistant."

"I can imagine! Still, sticky is never a good thing!" Cathy herself had never worked in food service, but was sure there was a vast array of opportunities for all sorts of food to end up on your clothing. "So you work in one of the restaurants around here?" she asked curiously, looking between Ryder, her daughter and the scooper behind the counter grabbing her daughter a fresh cone. She stood back up from wiping the floor off, turning back over to Ryder. "Do you need any more napkins? Are your shoes okay?"