Little Red

TWENTY

It had been a few days since Dani's strange encounter with Officer Swan and her mini argument with Goldi, and she still hadn't told David about either of them. He still had his suspicions that Goldi was his attacker, but the more Dani thought about it, the more she became unsure. It was a known fact that Goldi was a pretty horrible person, but Dani was having a tough time believing that she would stoop that low and hurt David. The girl was a heartbreaker...and a robber...but she wouldn't really hurt anyone without a proper reason.

Since she was still on semi-house arrest because of her still-healing ankle, Dani had officially put on babysitting duties while her parents returned to work. With his arm still injured, David's boss had put him on paperwork until he could use both arms again.

Frankie and Dani lounged in the living room with him at his art table and her on the couch until the sound of the doorbell ringing filled the house. Frankie looked up from his coloring to his sister with concern-filled eyes, which made the girl give him a reassuring smile in return.

"It's okay, bud. It's just Mikey," Dani informed him as she got up to limp over to the front door.

It pained her to know that Frankie had taken to being afraid to be in his own home, the one place he was supposed to feel the safest, and she blamed it all on that lowlife Henry Wolff. With a sigh, Dani opened the door to reveal Mikey, who smiled at his girlfriend before his features softened as he saw the look across her face.

"Hey...what's wrong?" he questioned as Dani opened the door wider for him to come in.

She shook her head and gave him a small smile as she said, "It's nothing. Promise."

When Mikey gave her a look that told her he didn't believe her, Dani sighed again as she shut the door behind them.

"It's nothing, babe. I promise. Okay? Look, I'm happy, see?" she told him and kissed him on the cheek before leaning back to smile at him.

Mikey examined the girl's features before his lips curved into a grin, and he said, "You're adorable...and I've brought pizza,"

Dani's features brightened as he lifted the pizza box and they walked into the kitchen.

"Frankie, there's pizza!!" Dani called out, and soon enough, the sound of little running footsteps made their way from the living room into the kitchen.

"Pizza, pizza, pizza!!" Frankie sang with an excited smile.

Mikey smiled as he bent down to catch the boy in his arms. "Hey there, Frankie!!" he greeted him as they hugged each other.

"Hi, Mikey!! Where's the pizza?! Is it cheese?!" Frankie said before asking as he pulled back and looked around in excitement.

Dani snorted as Mikey placed Frankie back down to the floor with a laugh.

"Uh, excuse me," Dani then said with an eyebrow raised as she caught her brother on his step stool. "Did you wash your hands, mister?"

Frankie gave his sister a sheepish look as he pulled his hands back. "Uh, oh. Sorry, sissy. I'll go wash them!!" he said, and amusement filled Dani's features as she watched him hop off his stool to run to the bathroom.

"You're going to be such a good mother to our future children," Mikey said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Dani snorted and relaxed into his chest as she said, "Woah there, cowboy. We're only twenty!"

Mikey scoffed. "We're only twenty!" he mocked in a high-pitched voice, and Dani laughed as he placed multiple kisses to the side of her face.

"What fun do you gain from mocking me?" she asked. "Seriously! You've been doing it since we learned how to talk!"