It's been 10 years since Eddie and Dani found out they were having a baby far sooner than they'd planned or wanted. All of their plans for the future got put on hold, having to adjust to becoming parents at only twenty years old. Money's always tigh...
"I cannot believe we are doing this," giggled Dani, loading up her plate with bacon, waffles, and fresh fruit. "What if we get caught?"
"No worries, princess," Eddie assured her, grabbing some sausage, his plate so full he was struggling to stack everything but he was taking full advantage of the free breakfast. "No one will even question us. As long as we act like we belong, then we're fine."
"We're fine," Lyric agreed, nodding.
Eddie had surprised Dani this morning by telling her they were going out to breakfast. What he'd failed to tell her was they were going to the fancy hotel a couple towns over for their free, but very impressive, continental breakfast. She'd been so confused because she knew they didn't have the money to go out but she had gone along with it, always trusting him even when she didn't know what he was up to because Eddie's plans almost always meant adventure and fun.
They never went out to eat anymore. It was just not something they could justify when they were living paycheck to paycheck most of the time. So, what they lacked in money, Eddie tried to make up for with creativity. Dani had been a little hesitant at first, asking if they were stealing. Eddie assured her that more of that food got tossed in the trash than anything else so they weren't really doing anything wrong. Hell, maybe they were but they wouldn't get arrested for crashing a free breakfast. The worst that would happen is they would get kicked out and he'd been kicked out of plenty of places in his life. It wasn't so bad. Besides, they'd never be back here. They couldn't afford to stay at a place like this.
They made their way to a table, Eddie holding Lyric's hand. His daughter climbed up onto the booth seat, scooting in so he could sit down next to her. He set her plate in front of her and she immediately grabbed the syrup off the table. Dani's hand shot out, snatching it before their daughter could dump it all over the table.
"I can do it, Mommy," Lyric argued, eyes staring her mother down. She could do everything on her own these days, if you chose to believe her. His daughter did not want their help, choosing to struggle or make a giant mess that they were left to clean up instead.
"I know you can but we don't want people to notice us, remember? We have to be careful. We don't anyone to pay attention that were here," reasoned Dani. "If syrup spills everywhere, then people will come over to clean it up and then we might get kicked out before you get to eat your waffles."
"Oh no," she muttered, frowning down at her plate. "I want my waffles."
"I know you do. So, just let mommy put your syrup on this one time, okay?"
"Okay. You can do it, mommy," agreed Lyric eagerly, nodding her head.
Eddie laughed, catching Dani's eye. He had to give it to his wife. She somehow managed to work around their daughter, making her think it was her choice when it was not, keeping her from having a complete meltdown. She was an amazing mom. She always seemed to know what to do. He definitely didn't. Eddie felt like he was playing a guessing game half the time and often guessing wrong. He also had trouble telling Lyric no so she often got her way with him which annoyed Dani to no end. But he couldn't help it. He hated upsetting his little girl.
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