Sirens and Sprinkles

Deliciously Ever After

At the end of the month, Dylan and their coworkers joined the firemen and police in the park to celebrate the grand reopening of Delightful Doughnuts with a massive barbecue. Aside from former-officer Jones, who grumbled under his breath as he set up folding chairs, everyone was ready to party. Even Roy, Mr. Morison's tabby, showed up to rub against Dave's legs.

"He wanted to thank you for saving me," Mr. Morison said. His fingers twitched as he shifted the lollipop poking out of his mouth. "It's been hell trying to quit smoking, but if just about burning my office down didn't get me to stop, I don't know what would."

"Just doing my job," Dave said as he bent down to rub Roy's cheek. The cat purred and leaned into his touch. "Plus, I had help."

Said help was busy arguing over a platter full of hotdogs and hamburger patties. "Are you trying to send us all to the porta-potty?" Roger yanked a bottle of Satan's Tears hot sauce out of Walt's hands. "It's a miracle you haven't dissolved your stomach yet."

"If you can't take the heat, get away from the barbecue. I'll make sure you get a plain weenie."

"I don't particularly relish that idea. Just let me handle the meat!"

Dave shook his head. "Some things never change."

Mr. Morison laughed, which turned into a brief coughing fit. "The sky's still blue, and doughnuts are still delicious. What more could we ask for?"

"Speaking of doughnuts," Dave smiled as Dylan and Joaquin set out an assortment of doughnuts and Dunkers, "thanks for treating us!"

Dylan greeted Dave with a hug. "Good to see you," they said. "There would have been a hole in this shindig if you weren't here, and I'm not talking about the doughnuts."

"Speaking of holes," Dave said, "let's get Walt away from the barbecue before Roger puts one in his head."

All it took was a handful of peanut butter dunkers to coax Walt away from the barbeque, much to everyone's relief. Polka danced for her share and was soon joined by Jazz, Chief Nicholson's German Shepherd. "I swear she's never done that before," he said with a laugh as the massive hound tottered beside Polka. "If I knew she loved them that much, I would have started bribing her with Dunkers years ago."

It wasn't long before they were all sitting together with food in hand, laughing and telling stories about the antics they'd gotten into over the years. "I can't believe you've actually seen a toaster shoot fire before!" Dylan said.

"Yup," Dave said, "Crumbs were flying out of it like little meteors. Those conveyor belt models are nothing but trouble."

"Sounds like it." Dylan rested their hand on Dave's. "Somehow, you're even hotter tonight than you were in the middle of the fire."

Dave flushed. "Gee, I, um..." He fought against his suddenly rebellious tongue and eventually managed to squeak out, "You look great, too. You always do."

"You know what would make you look even better?"

"Mm?"

"If you got those sprinkles off your face."

Dave raised a hand, but Dylan leaned in. "I've got it." They gently kissed his cheek.

Dave could only smile like an idiot in response. Roger flashed him a thumbs-up before returning his attention to his daughter and watching her paint his nails neon pink.

Walt cleared his throat. "Everyone, Chief Nicholson and I have an announcement to make."

The crowd hushed. Even the animals stood at attention.

"We have decided that we will hold events like this once a month from now on. There has been bad blood between us for far too long, and we hope this will help us bury the hatchet and better serve our community."

Mr. Jones bolted out of his seat as the veins in his forehead bulged. "You're seriously going to play nice with those hooligans? After everything they put us through, you ought to..." His voice trailed off.

Everyone's relief at him finally shutting up was cut short when he sank to his knees and grabbed his chest.

"Call an ambulance, and tell them he's having a heart attack!" Maria said as she pointed at Roger. He immediately obliged.

Mr. Jones groaned. His bloodshot eyes darted around the crowd before his frantic search ceased and his eyelids shut.

"Is he still conscious?" Roger asked. His daughter looked up at him with a mixture of terror and admiration in her eyes as she fidgeted with her pigtails.

Maria confirmed that he wasn't. "Do any of you know how to do CPR?"

Dave and Chief Nicholson dashed next to Mr. Jones and got straight to it.

Dave grunted as he pumped his arms against the former officer's chest. The steady rhythm brought a strange sense of calm to him even as his muscles ached.

The police chief glanced up from delivering rescue breaths. "We should switch every once in a while so you can let your arms rest a little."

Dave nodded and took his place. He took one last gulp of fresh air before tilting Mr. Jones's head back, pinching his nostrils shut, and delivering a rescue breath. The man's prickly mustache scraped his lips as he came back up for air.

Breaths. Switch. Pump. Switch. Breaths. Switch. Pump. Switch...

Dave didn't notice the ambulance until a paramedic put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll take it from here," she said as she set up an AED.

Dave heaved a sigh of relief as Mr. Jones was loaded onto the ambulance. He helped himself to a raspberry Dunker to get the taste of him out of his mouth.

After the last of the paramedics finished interviewing everyone about what happened, she asked one last question. "Shouldn't y'all be on duty? It's mighty strange to see so many of you goofing around."

"Don't worry," Walt said, "We've got everything ready in case we get a call. We just wanted to celebrate the reopening of Delightful Doughnuts and both firemen and police getting weekly free doughnuts from now on."

"Why don't we get free doughnuts too?" The paramedic licked her lips, smearing a touch of bright red lipstick across her pale skin.

Dave groaned inwardly. Not again!

Mr. Morison came to the rescue. "I'd always assumed that healthcare professionals wouldn't be interested in fried food, but I'd be happy to give you guys some too if you're interested."

The paramedic laughed. "Of course we'd be interested. Everyone loves doughnuts!"

Thus, Doughnut Disaster II was averted, and everyone devoured doughnuts deliciously ever after.