It had been a couple of days since Dani's visit with Henry, and things had seemed to have only grown worse around town. Of course, word had spread like fire about the girl's recent actions, and to make it simple...a lot of people were not too happy to find out. People had come to Dani's mother in a complete fit of rage to tell her how irresponsible of a parent they'd thought she was for allowing her daughter to visit him, and you could bet that Dani had some words to say to them about that.
No one talked bad about her mother and got away with it.
Since Greta and Dani both had the day off due to Mr.B going out of town with his brothers, the latter had decided to use her off day to help out her mom at her clothing shop while the former used hers to spend the day with Hans.
"Ugh, you don't know how grateful I am for you right now, Dani baby!" Michelle said to her daughter as they each carried off a box of cloth from the back room.
Dani smiled in response while walking beside her.
What was first started by Dani's grandmother Janine, Michelle had decided to take over the woman's shop after her death in her honor since she had learned to sew through the woman's teachings. It was a difficult task at first, but over time, the two had warmed up to the idea of Michelle taking over as they both thought it was a nice way to keep Janine's memory alive.
"No problem, Mom! Though I do have a slight feeling that even if I hadn't volunteered to help you out today, I still would've ended up spending my day here with you somehow," Dani said with a playful eyebrow raised.
"Ah, you know me so well!" Michelle said with a laugh.
Dani shook her head with a smile as she placed her box on the counter.
The sound of a bell ringing alerted the two of a customer, but Dani's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as it sounded as if someone had bumped into something on their way in.
Michelle sent her daughter a worried look before she called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Oh yes, sweetheart, I'm here. I'm fine!" a male voice called out to them, followed by another...and another.
"As am I!"
"And I as well!"
The duo's looks of confusion and concern quickly turned into looks of amusement once they realized just who the voices had belonged to.
"I do believe that it was only I who had bumped into the lamp."
"Well, you can never be too sure, brother."
"Yes, but-"
"Good morning, Mr.Philip! Mr.Jeffrey, Mr.Gordon! How are you all today?" Michelle asked as she and Dani made their way to the front.
The three tan male mice stopped their bickering and turned their heads at the sound of Michelle's voice with a smile.
"Hello, Mrs.Richards!!" they all called out at once.
"Good Morning, sirs!!" Dani greeted them as she found them to be very adorable despite them being quite older than both she and her mother.
"Oh, goodness me! Is that you, dear Daniella?!" Mr. Gordon asked.
Dani nodded before catching herself and clearing her throat as she said, "Yes, it is Mr.Gordon. How do you do?"
"Oh, good heavens! Look how tall you've gotten!" Mr.Gordon exclaimed, and Dani's eyebrow raised in slight confusion at his words.
"But I thought- ow!" she began to say before feeling a hard knock on her shoulder, which caused her to rub it as she gave her mother, who gave her a pointed look, a pout.
"Daniella, don't you start!" Michelle scolded in a whisper.
"Don't tell me you've gained your sight back, brother!" Mr.Jeffrey exclaimed.
Mr.Gordon gasped and said, "Who told you?!"
"Enough, you two! Um, excuse us, Mrs.Richards, but my brothers and I have come here in need of our suits we had tailored," Mr.Philip scolded his brothers before informing Dani's mother.
"Oh, right! Dani, could you be a sweetheart and go get them for me, please?" Michelle asked as she gave her daughter a look that said, go get them or else.
Dani nodded and headed to the back to retrieve their order. As she searched for the mini suits, the girl could overhear the three mice as they talked to her mother...and her jaw clenched as she realized just exactly what they were saying.
"Mrs. Richards, I've heard through the grapevine that you allowed young Daniella to go visit that dastardly wolf fellow that killed your former mother-in-law. Now is that true?" Mr.Jeffrey asked, which made Dani scoff in annoyance.
Seriously?! Someone told them?! she thought to herself with a roll of her eyes.
"Please tell me that isn't true!" Mr.Philip exclaimed in horror.
"Well, I-"
"Oh goodness me, it is!!" Mr.Gordon exclaimed. "Oh, I knew her father was a fool to-"
"Here you are, men! Three freshly tailored suits ready to be worn!!" Dani called out in a fake happy tone as she came out from the back.
The three tiny animals turned their heads towards her voice before Mr.Philip cleared his throat and pulled his lips up into a smile.
"Oh, yes, why thank you, dear Daniella!" he said to her as she bent down to give them their suits.
"No problem, Mr.Philip!" the girl said with a smile.
And just as soon as all three of them turned around, Dani smashed her hand on their tails, which caused them to yelp out in pain.
"Daniella Janine!!" Michelle scolded, but Dani ignored her for the time being as she lowered her head towards the mice.
"And just so you know, If I ever hear you talking to my mother like that again? Puss will be the last person you three have to worry about. Understood?" she threatened in a low tone, and a smirk made its way onto her features as she watched all three of them nod their heads quickly.
"Great!! You gentlemen have a nice day!!" Dani then exclaimed with a smile as she let go of their tails and watched in amusement as they bumped into each other before scurrying off.
She then turned around and sighed at the look on her mother's face. "Mom-"
"Daniella. Janine. Richards. I did not raise you to behave that way!!" Michelle scolded, which made her sigh again.
"But Mom-"
"I don't want to hear it, Daniella!" Michelle cut her off in a slightly raised voice before sighing. "Look, I know these last couple of days have been kind of hard on you, but that is no excuse to go and threaten everyone who says something to me that you don't like!!"
Dani shook her head and said, "But Mom, you don't understand!! Ever since I got that stupid letter in the mail saying that Henry wanted to see me, everyone has been treating me like I'm some baby that can't take care of myself!! No one seems to understand that I've grown up now and can make my own decisions! And now they're claiming that you're a bad mother because of something that I chose to do! It's not fair to you!!"
Michelle looked at her daughter with saddened eyes before she walked over and placed her hands on the girl's arms. "I know you are, sweetie, and you're right...it isn't fair...but just like you said you could handle yourself, I can handle myself, which means I don't need my daughter going around threatening the townsfolk," she told her with a playful smile.
She then pulled her into a hug and said, "But, I appreciate you sticking up for me, Dani baby."
"I love you, Momma," Dani mumbled.
"I love you too, sweetie," she said and kissed her on the cheek.
Michelle then pulled back with a mischievous glint in her eyes and said, "Now. Care to explain to me why I heard a certain Darling child in your room last night?"
Dani's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "You were up?!"
Michelle shrugged. "Eh. David and I were watching a movie," she told the girl with a smirk.
Dani sighed and folded her arms. "He got into an argument with his dad," she softly said, which caused her mother to frown as her playful mood was quickly turned into a worried one.
"And you let him go back home?!" she asked, and Dani frowned. "Was he okay?! Did he need to stay with us?! Why did he go back home?!"
"Mom...Mom! Mom, he's fine!!" Dani said while holding onto her mother's arms to calm her down. "He's fine. They're fine."
Michelle sighed in relief as she nodded her head.
"He just needed to see me so he could calm himself down...You know he's always had a knack for that," Dani then mumbled.
Michelle sighed as she instantly caught on to the bitterness in her daughter's tone, and grabbed the girl's hands as she said, "Don't be like that, babydoll. You know he wasn't really in the right mindset back then...you both weren't."
Dani shrugged and looked down to the floor as she mumbled, "Doesn't mean it still didn't hurt...I was better off locking myself in my room all day."
"Where is this coming from, sweetheart?" Michelle questioned as she tilted Dani's chin up to meet her worried stare. "What happened last night?"
Tears formed in Dani's eyes as her mind went back to a particular moment from the night before, and she sighed as she blinked them away and said, "We almost kissed.."
"No," Michelle said with a gasp as her eyes lit up in excitement.
Dani frowned at her reaction. "Mom-"
"Oh, I knew this was going to happen soon!!" Michelle exclaimed in excitement, which caused Dani to sigh.
Her mother, Greta, and Mary Darling were practically the co-captains of the Dikey ship.
"Mom, you really need to listen-"
"I could see it in your eyes every time you two would look at each other!! You're practically meant to be!!" Michelle further exclaimed while ignoring her daughter completely.
Dani sighed in frustration and shouted, "Mom!!"
Michelle blinked and looked at her daughter in confusion. "What?" she asked, which caused Dani to sigh again.
"Oh, Mom," she mumbled with a shake of her head. "I said we almost kissed...not that we did."
"Almost?" Michelle questioned.
Dani raised an eyebrow at the tone of disappointment in her mother's voice. "Yes. Almost," she confirmed before looking down to the floor. "I stopped it before we could actually do it...because I just couldn't do it..."
"Oh, Dani," Michelle murmured as she brought the girl into her arms. "What stopped you, honey? I thought you told me you were ready to try again."
"I was, Momma," Dani mumbled. "Or at least I thought I was...but every time we get close to each other, I just...freeze up."
Michelle sighed as she squeezed her daughter in her arms. "You know, you did the exact same thing when you first realized that you wanted to be something more with him," she reminded her softly. "You started pushing him away instead of going for it because you were too afraid then."
"I want to be with him, Momma," Dani said as a lone tear fell down her cheek. "I want to with all of my heart, but...but I'm scared."
"Oh, Dani baby," Michelle said and kissed the girl's head. "I know you are, sweetheart. But you've got to stop allowing your fears to make your decisions for you. Otherwise, you'll never allow yourself to be happy again, and that is one thing I would never want for you."
Dani's eyes closed as she felt another tear fall down her cheek.
"Believe it or not, sweetie, but I believe that you two have grown a lot stronger during the years that you've been apart...You're even starting to go out more!"
Dani smiled slightly at the happiness in her mother's tone before frowning again as she asked, "But what if I mess it up? With Henry back in my life again, what if something happens and I-"
"No, no, no, Dani baby look at me," Michelle quickly interrupted as she gently pulled her daughter back to face her. "You will not allow that low down, no good wolf bastard to get to you the way he's trying to do now. Do you understand me?!"
Dani nodded as another tear fell down her cheek.
"He has been in the way of your happiness for far too long, and I refuse to see him do it again...I know you're scared, honey, but you and Mikey have been in each other's lives long before Henry even thought about stepping into it...Do you remember what you said to me when you first realized you loved him?"
Dani let out a tearful laugh and nodded as she said, "I said that it was the most exciting yet scariest thing of my life...because while my mind was telling me to run away from it, my heart was screaming at me that it'd be the best decision I'd ever make if I were to allow myself to feel that way about him."
"And have you regretted it since?" Michelle questioned with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Not for a second," Dani said while shaking her head.
Michelle smiled and said, "See, baby doll," as she pulled her back into her arms, "You just keep reminding yourself that, and when the time is right, you'll know exactly what you want."
Dani smiled and hugged her mother tightly as she mumbled, "I love you, Momma."
"Oh, how I love you too, my sweet Dani baby," Michelle murmured back.
The sound of a bell ringing caused them to pull apart before Dani tensed up as Michelle squeezed her hip for support at the sight of who had walked in.
A smile was on his face as he said, "Hi Momma M. Hi, Dans."
"Mikey! What a surprise! How are you, sweetie?" Michelle greeted him as she walked over to hug him.
"I'm fine! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, though," Mikey said as he hugged her back. "Mom would've come to pick them up herself, but she insisted I go instead for some odd reason...Now that I'm in here, I think I have a slight feeling as to why."
Dani's cheeks heated up with a small smile on her lips as Mikey moved his gaze over to her.
Michelle laughed and shook her head. "That little sneak," she said. "I told her Dani was helping me out today. Of course, she'd try to use that to her advantage. Let me go get those clothes for her."
"Be good," she then whispered in her daughter's ear before walking off to the back.
Dani sighed as she watched her mother walk off before she frowned at the question that came from behind her.
"About last night...You're not mad at me for it...Are you?"
"What?" she asked as she turned around to face him. "Of course not. Why would I be?"
"I shouldn't have done it," Mikey said and shook his head. "It was way out of line. I'm sorry."
Dani frowned. "Mikey-"
"You told me you wanted to remain friends for a while...That you didn't want to start anything again because of-" he shook his head again, "I'm sorry, Dans."
"Mikey," Dani said as she walked over to him. "You're okay...We're okay. Nothing's changed, I promise."
"You don't even know what you do to me," he whispered.
Dani's heartbeat quickened at both his words and the intense stare he had on her as she stood in front of him.
"I miss you...I miss us, and I know it's not fair for me to say this because I'm the one who broke things off between us, but I swear you're all I think about, Dans."
"Mikey," was all she could say as they continued to stare at each other.
Mikey nodded. "I know," he said. "I know, but like I said last night, you take all the time you need, and I'll be right here waiting for you."
"I'm sorry," Dani said with a frown.
Mikey shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I have everything to be sorry for," Dani mumbled. "You've been nothing but sweet and patient this entire time. The least I could give you is an explanation of my own feelings."
Mikey shook his head again with a frown and said, "Don't do that. Don't feel like you have to do anything that you're not ready to do, Dans. That's the last thing I would ever want you to do."
"And that's what I'm talking about," the girl said with a small smile. "You're way too good for me."
"You're way too good for everyone," Mikey countered back with a smile of his own, which caused hers to grow.
"Okay, Mikey!"
The former couple jumped at the sudden sound of Dani's mother's voice and pulled away from each other.
"Here are your father and uncle's dress shirts and your mother and aunt's dresses all ready to go!" Michelle said as she walked back over to them with a smile.
Mikey moved his gaze to his best friend's mother as he smiled and took the clothes from her arms. "Thanks, Momma M. I swear you're like a clothes magician or something."
Dani snorted as her mother raised an eyebrow in amusement. "A clothes magician?" she asked.
Mikey furrowed his brows. "Do those not exist?"
"I'm afraid not, sweetheart," Michelle said with a laugh.
"Oh," he said with his cheeks visibly reddened in color. "Well, you're still the best seamstress in town."
Dani scoffed. "The best seamstress in town? Try the whole world! I'm talking the entire Universe-"
"Thank you, Mikey. That's very sweet," Michelle said while her daughter huffed at the interruption, and Mikey laughed.
"I'm only speaking the truth, Momma M...And Dani's right. You are the best seamstress in the Universe," he said and gave the girl a wink.
Dani rolled her eyes as butterflies erupted at the small action alone.
He really was cute when he wanted to be.
"Oh boy," Michelle suddenly said as she checked the clock. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for class soon? It's almost three."
Mikey frowned as he looked down at his phone and widened his eyes once he saw the time. "Oh, wow, I completely forgot! Thanks for reminding me, Momma M," he said and kissed her on the cheek. "See you later!"
"And I'll see you later too, Dans," Mikey then said as Dani's own eyes widened at the feeling of him kissing her on the cheek. "Love you both!!"
Michelle shook her head with a small laugh as she watched him rush out of the store. "Such a forgetful little thing he is."
"Mhm," Dani mumbled as she stared at the empty spot he once stood in.
Michelle raised an eyebrow as she turned her head to her daughter. "Dani baby, are you alright?"
"Mhm," Dani mumbled again with a nod. "Never been better."
She then blinked and turned her head at the sound of laughter. "What?"
"If you aren't the most stubborn little girl this world has ever seen," Michelle said with another shake of her head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you! You're lucky that boy is as patient as he is!"
"I'm not even that bad," Dani mumbled.
"You're right," Michelle said with a nod. "You're worse!!"
Dani's jaw dropped in disbelief as her mother laughed at her own joke.
"Mom!!"