Little Red

FIFTY SIX

Making cupcakes with her mother and Mary Darling.

That was what Dani had been stuck doing.

And she hated it...Well, maybe not all of it...

After what happened in the bathroom, her decision to stay up had been permanent, so she had officially been running on approximately two nights of no sleep. That, combined with the pain she felt from Henry's claw mark, didn't really make a happy Dani.

At. All.

Not to mention, she had started feeling cold all of a sudden. Like freezing cold, to the point where she was wearing long-sleeved clothing in ninety-degree weather...which put the girl's already frenzied nerves on the very edge. To make matters worse, she had been forced to spend the day in the childhood home of her boyfriend after practically being dragged out of the house by her mother since the woman had noticed the girl's downcasted mood. Though the man had been taken under the "care" of his sister, Dani knew that there was still a big chance that George Darling could walk into the house at any given moment...and she had been dreading it to happen since they'd walked through the door.

"Daniella Janine! Didn't I tell you that batch wasn't for you?!"

A sheepish expression gained its way onto Dani's face as she turned her head to her mother and said, "Oops...sorry, Momma...but I ate all the other chocolate ones you gave me!!"

Michelle sighed and shook her head. "I gave you three of each!! You're lucky I let you have more than two!!"

"Eh. It's not my fault you two know how to make good cupcakes," Dani said with a shrug before taking another bite out of the mini cake in her hand.

Mary laughed at the girl's actions. "Dani sweetheart, you're going to give yourself a stomachache!!" she said with a shake of her head and turned to Michelle. "You weren't kidding when you said she gained an extra stomach overnight, huh?"

Michelle snorted and said, "Nope," as she walked over to her daughter.

"You, Miss Missy, are not here to eat all of our cupcakes!!" she then said as Dani pouted when the cupcake was taken out of her hands. "You're here to help. So get to it!!"

"But I'm too tired," Dani said as her pout deepened.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "You weren't too tired to eat all those cupcakes now, were you?"

Dani's shoulders fell in defeat as she mumbled, "No ma'am..."

"Mhm, that's what I thought," Michelle said with a nod. "Now get your little butt up and ice those cupcakes...and I better not catch one missing!!"

With a huff, Dani slowly got up from her seat at the table and walked over to the sink to wash her hands. Ignoring the shared looks of worry from the other two women in the room, she walked over to the counter and began to ice the cupcakes.

A soft sigh then left her mouth as Mary Darling's voice sounded from behind her.

"Dani sweetheart, are you feeling alright?"

The girl shrugged as she turned around to say, "It's probably just the side effects of my medicine...And no offense Momma May, but this house doesn't exactly scream Good Vibes to me anymore."

"Daniella Janine!" Michelle scolded, in which she just shrugged again.

"What? You guys wanted me to tell you the truth, right?"

Michelle clicked her tongue before sighing as she shook her head in disapproval.

"It's okay, Shellie," Mary said with a sigh. "I guess it doesn't, huh, sweetheart? Would you like me to call Mikey to come and pick you up?"