Bill said, "That's out of the question, George. We're too busy with Tom." On
hearing Bill's annoyed tone, Tom leaned into him.
George said, "I'm not busy. I am old, though. If I don't have a son soon, I
won't be able to care for it until it's old enough to care for me."
Bill said, "You're thinking like Father. We're living with the soft ones now.
Orville will make sure that you and your son will be fine until he's grown."
George never won arguments with Bill. He went inside the cabin and set out
dinner.
#
Orville visited the brothers the next morning. He chucked Tom under the chin and
shook hands with Bill. Then he took George out into the woods for a walk.
"Your brother tells me you want a son of your own," he said.
George nodded, and stooped to put a small, mossy log in his basket.
"Bill doesn't want you to, huh?"
George didn't feel very comfortable discussing the family with Orville. That was
Bill's job. After some thought, he said, "Not right now."
Orville said, "I can see that that makes you unhappy. No one should be unhappy
here. I'll see what I can do. Come down to Ops tomorrow morning, we'll talk
more."
When George got back to the cabin, Bill was lying on his back on the floor,
laughing while Tom climbed all over him. Tom still babbled, but they were real
words now, though nonsensical. With his constant talking, he reminded George of
Joe, and that made him even sadder.
#
George had never been to Ops before, but he knew where it was, in a collection
of low-slung prefab buildings hidden behind the topiary sculptures near
MagicLand. He clutched his right thumb nervously as he stood and waited in the
reception area for Orville to come and get him. The secretary had taken his name
and buzzed Orville, and now kept sneaking him horrified looks. George's family
were the only of their kind to leave their homeland and join the soft ones, and
here at Ops, there were any number of low-ranking babus who'd never heard tell
of them.
Orville was all smiles and effusion as he breezed through the glass
security-door and pounded George on the back. "George! I'm so _glad_ you came
down!"
He took George by the arm and led him away, stopping to wink at the secretary,
who looked at him with a mixture of disgust and admiration.
Orville's office was buried in a twisting maze of door-lined, fluorescent-lit
corridors, where busy soft ones talked on telephones and clattered on keyboards.
He led George through his door, into an office as big as George's cabin.
Orville paced and talked. "Did I say I was glad you came? I'm glad you came.
Now, let's talk about Bill. Bill's happy. He's got what he wants. A son. He
doesn't have to take care of Joe. It's good for him."
He paused and looked at George. George nodded.
"OK. There's a problem, though. You want a son, too, only Bill won't allow it."
It didn't need any comment, so George kept quiet.
"My thinking is, Bill's so busy with Tom, he wouldn't really notice if you were
there or not. You're an adult, you can take care of yourself. Do you see where
I'm going with this?"
George assumed it was a rhetorical question.
"Right. What I'm thinking is, there's no reason that both of you shouldn't have
your own son. This is Pleasure Island, after all. No one should be sad on
Pleasure Island. You've worked hard and well for us for a long time here. We can
take care of you."
George felt an uncomfortable sensation in his stomach, a knot of guilt like
rising vomit.
"I thought about having another cabin built in the woods, but that's no good. I
think that you and Bill need your own space. So let me bounce my current thought
off you: we'll put you up in the new Monster's Arms, that's the hotel we're
building for HorrorZone. It's way ahead of schedule, almost finished now.
There's a penthouse suite that you can take for as long as you like. It's only
temporary, just until you and Bill have had some time to raise up your sons.
Then, we'll get the whole family together back at the cabin."
The guilt rose higher, choking George.
"Don't worry about eating, either. I've briefed the house chef on your tastes,
and he'll send up three squares every day; everything a growing boy needs." He
flashed a grin.
"And forget about Bill. I'll smooth things over with him. He'll see that it's
for the best."