Page 38 of Deciding for Little Dallas
“Teefs wants chocolate chip pancakes too, Daddy.”
“They do sound delicious,” Pike agreed.
“Good morning, my name is Julie and I will be taking your orders today. What can I get you to drink?”
“Good morning, Julie. Thank you for waiting on us today,” Dallas said.
Pike’s Daddy heart swelled with pride. He was so damn lucky someone as sweet as Dallas was his.
“You’re welcome,” Julie answered, her smile brighter.
“My name is Pike and my little girl’s name is Dallas. The green zombie baby is Teefs. Dallas will have almond milk and I will have coffee with dairy-free creamer if you have any.”
“Yes, Sir. We do,” she said, scribbling on a pad.
“Excellent. We will both have the chocolate chip pancakes and could we get a small plate for Teefs? She will share with us.”
Dallas giggled and Julie smiled. “Yes, Sir. Anything else?”
“No, I think that’s all for now. Thank you.”
Once Julie walked away, Dallas pulled her list from her dress pocket—a dress that was orange and had a jack-o’-lantern face on it. She wore black and orange knee socks over warm black leggings because of the cool temperatures.
“Do you fink we can find everything in the Ranch store, Daddy?”? Dallas’ forehead was wrinkled in concern.
“I do think so, Bitty Baby, but there is a town close by called Porter’s Corner. They have a grocery store from whatI remember seeing online. We can go there if we need to,” he promised. “Daddy won’t let you be a bad hostie for your ghosties.”
She giggled at his words and her face softened. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“Oh, you know what? We need to look for your mermaid costume too. Can you write that on the list?” He pulled a pack of crayons from her diaper bag and he handed them to her.
“Yas, huh, Daddy.” She pulled a blue crayon out of the bag before writingA mermaid costume.
Pike smiled, looking over at her list. It had been perfectly Halloween themed until she’d written with the blue crayon. She pulled out a purple and green crayon and started coloring a mermaid beside her neatly written words.
“One of those things does not go with the others,” he teased her about the jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkins, and spiders mixed in with the brightly colored mermaid she was drawing.
She looked at him like he’d grown three heads. “Mermaids go with everything, Daddy. It’s the first rule of Little girling. Mermaids. Go. With. Everything.”?
Well, he stood corrected.
“He’s wearing a birdie, Daddy!” Dallas squealed and clapped.
The older man smiled at the couple as they stood in Reese’s Imperfectly Perfect Petting Zoo.
“Howdy. My name is Master Arlo,” the man said, approaching. “This is my friend Bossy P. He’s an African Gray Parrot.”
“Hello, Bossy P!” Dallas greeted. “Hello, Master Arlo. I’m Dallas and this is my Daddy, Pike.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Arlo said, tipping his hat to them.
“I’m the boss!” Bossy P squawked.
Dallas giggled.
“He is not the boss,” Arlo corrected, chuckling himself.
“Daddy is a brat,” the bird said.
