Little Red

NINETEEN

The next morning, Dani had taken Frankie along with her to the bakery to give their parents some much-needed rest. Even if the woman had refused to show it, Dani could tell the recent events had stressed her mother out to the max, so she had decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Are those pancakes good, Frankiebear?" Greta asked the boy with a smile as both she and Dani watched him devour the chocolate chip pancakes Mr.B had fixed up for him.

"Mhm!!" Frankie said as he looked up at them with a mouth covered in chocolate and nodded.

Dani snorted and picked up a napkin to wipe her brother's mouth as she said, "Bud, how do you always manage to get more chocolate around your mouth than inside?"

"Because I like chocolate," Frankie simply answered with a shrug and stuffed another piece of pancake into his mouth.

Dani raised an eyebrow as Greta laughed.

"Yeah, 'cause that answered my question," she mumbled with a smile while shaking her head.

"You mind telling me how in the world you managed to drive not only yourself but your brother as well to the bakery?" Greta asked while wiping down the counter.

"Easy. My left foot is the one that's injured...all I had to do was position it so that it wasn't in the way," Dani told her with a smirk. "We all know I'm practically the best driver in all of StoryBrooke."

She then huffed as she was sent a raised eyebrow in response and said, "Okay fine, we took a cab! Happy now?"

"Mhm, that's what I thought," Greta said with a laugh.

Dani rolled her eyes playfully.

"Ellie?" Frankie questioned, which caused the girl to turn to him. "Can we go to the park?"

A small pout formed on Dani's lips as she said, "But I can't slide down the slide, bud. That wouldn't be fair."

Greta snorted.

"But you can watch me slide down the slide!" Frankie said with a wide smile.

Dani's eyes narrowed as she tilted her head and asked, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Oh wow. He's like a mini-Mikey!" Greta exclaimed with a laugh. "You remember in 4th grade when you sprained your wrist and couldn't get on the monkey bars?"

Dani rolled her eyes again with a nod. "Yeah, and Mikey told me since I couldn't climb them myself, I could just watch him climb them and imagine the fun...he was so stupid," she said and shook her head.

Greta burst into laughter just as the bell above the door rang from behind them. They turned their heads towards the sound and groaned at who walked into the bakery.

"Hello, girls...Little dude," Goldi said with a smirk as she walked up to the counter.

She then pouted at Dani and said, "Aww, Dani, I heard about your little accident. I do hope you get better soon."

Dani sent the girl a nasty look as her pout turned into a smirk.

"What do you want, Goldi?" Greta asked through gritted teeth.

A pat on Dani's shoulder caused her to turn her head to see her brother looking up at her with puppy dog eyes.

Dani raised a playful eyebrow at him as she asked, "Yes?"

"Can I have more pancakes, sissy?... Pretty please," he asked.

"Oh no, no, no," she said while shaking her head. "You are not getting me. Sorry bud, but the answer is no. You've already eaten three!"