Intransigent

Intransigent | 17

Chapter 17

Emma's POV

I smacked Dane over the head with the hand towel that had been resting over my shoulder. "Language!" I scolded him, looking pointedly at the two children in the room and Will burst out laughing.

"They're pancakes," my dad answered him. "The girls used to make them all the time in the kitchen. Elizabeth, our omega, taught anyone that wanted to learn."

"Are they edible?" Ashton asked, the same look on his face as Dane's. It was his turn to get hit with the towel and he gave me a disgruntled look when I did.

"Of course they're edible!" Cara retorted, upset that people were questioning the pancakes. It was obvious that she loved them. She'd made just as many as Emily had once she'd gotten the hang of it.

Aly laughed, shaking her head. "I'll show you, Ashton," she told him, grabbing a green and purple pancake with delicate swirls in the middle. He, Dane and Rick watched in equal parts disgust and fascination as she buttered and doused it in syrup before taking a bite.

"Just like regular pancakes," Aly gloated, stuffing another bite in her mouth.

"I don't think I can eat them," Dane decided, staring at the platter distrustfully again.

"Same," Ashton agreed. I glared at him. The girls had worked really hard on those pancakes and they were going to be eaten damn it.

Rick distracted me. "I'll eat them," he said, smiling over at me. He reached out and grabbed a green one shaped like a Christmas tree and poured some syrup over it. It was only two bites for him, being shaped from a cookie cutter, but he just reached for another afterwards.

"They're delicious," he declared as he buttered the second one.

Ashton and Dane both shook their heads, still refusing to try one. I went back to glaring at Ashton. "You will eat a pancake," I told him in a low, dangerous voice.

He looked up at me challengingly. "Why would I do that?" he drawled.

I put my hands on my hips, cocked a hip and said, "Because if you don't you'll hurt Cara's and Emily's feelings. And my own," I added, staring him down. He didn't seem fazed until I mentioned my own feelings. "We spent a lot of time making those pancakes for breakfast this morning and we're all proud of them."

We had a stare down for a while before he slowly reached out and grabbed an uncolored Mickey Mouse pancake. I immediately put it back on the platter and handed him a large red and blue pancake.

He pouted as he stared at it sitting on his plate and I could see my parents smirking at him, waiting to see what he would do. With a sigh, he reached out and grabbed the syrup. I grinned triumphantly and moved to sit in the chair close to his. Cindy, Cara and Emily moved to the empty chairs and sat as well.

Dane and Ashton stared at them in shock. I decided to ignore the guys. The girls should eat breakfast with us and I didn't care what they thought about it. "Cara, sweetie, what kind of pancake do you want?" I asked her.

"Swirly!" she said excitedly. I tossed her a red and green swirled pancake and it landed perfectly on her plate down the table. She grinned and I turned to Emily.

"Emily?" I asked her.

"Mickey Mouse, please," she replied politely. I threw one down the table for her and then did the same with Cindy.

When Dane opened his mouth I gave him a fierce glare that had him closing his mouth again and grabbing some sausage. Ashton wisely hadn't done anything beyond looking surprised that they were eating with us.