The Art of Discipline: Running Toward Trouble (The Mockingbird Chronicles) (22 page)

“I don’t believe it. If what you say is true, how does she stay so fit?”

“That,
Zia
Toni, is the eighth wonder of the world. She runs, that helps. She also fasts and then binges, so it’s not like she’s eating constantly all day. Little things like adopting diet soda over regular, I imagine also helps.”

“So, you think you’re benefiting her by giving her what she wants?” Toni frowned. “Just because she looks healthy on the outside, doesn’t mean she’s not having problems inside.”

“Oh, I couldn’t agree with you more. I love her, and I want her to live a long and healthy life. That’s why she has limits now. She has rules, and boundaries, and will even eat a vegetable now and again,” Emma smiled. “There are also consequences if she breaks them.”

“Consequences? Ah, perhaps that is why she is always squirming at my dinner table.” Toni’s eyes sparkled.

Emma’s face remained stoic. “That’s between me and her, and I hope you can respect us enough to leave it that way.”

Toni nodded. “Of course,
piccolina.
I understand. There is balance to every relationship. Dani says that you love her, and she loves you. This is enough for me. But if you ever hurt her…” Toni’s tone was clear, and Emma held up her hands defensively.

“Never. I swear.” Getting an affirming nod from the older woman, Emma returned to the original topic. “I want to apologize for hiding the food and soda from you,
Zia
Toni. I know it looks like we were trying to circumvent your rules, but really, it’s for Dani’s own good. All I ask is for you to let me continue to handle Dani and her food issues, because if you force this, you’ll be doing more damage than good.”

Toni was quiet for a moment, seemingly considering Emma’s words. “I think we can compromise on this, yes? Here in your space, I will not interfere. I will buy what you want on your lists. In my home, however, you will both eat and drink what I serve to you.”

Emma smiled. “I think that’s more than fair. Thank you,
Zia
Toni.” Emma then stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to talk to Dani.”

Toni also stood. “Let me speak with her, please?”

Emma debated for a moment, but nodded. This news might actually be better coming from Toni than herself. She was then suddenly pulled from her thoughts by Toni, who embraced her in a bone-crunching hug.

“Thank you, Emma, for sharing this with me. I think now I understand why my Dani loves you so much.”

Emma smiled as Toni released her and then watched as she headed up the stairs.

* * *

Knocking softly on the door, Toni waited a moment before opening it. She frowned when she saw Dani curled up on the bed. Taking a step into the room, her frown deepened as she heard a sniffle and realized Dani had been crying.

“Dani?” she tried.

Suddenly looking up, Dani saw her and narrowed her eyes. “What, come to search our bedroom too?”

“Danielle,” Toni’s voice lowered into a motherly tone. Watching as Dani ignored her and turned away, she approached the bed, sitting on the edge of it. “Emma and I had a talk about you.”

Dani grunted, hoping that if she didn’t engage, Toni would give up and leave.

“Dani, at least look at me when I’m talking to you.” Toni put her hand on Dani’s arm, trying to encourage her to roll over, but Dani yanked her arm out of Toni’s grip. “I just thought you’d like to know that whatever you want, I’ll buy. I overstepped my place, and have no right to interfere with the way that you and Emma do things.”

Dani rolled halfway over, her blue eyes searching for the sincerity in Toni’s brown. “You’ll let me have my junk food and soda?”

Toni couldn’t help but chuckle. “I said I’d buy what you asked for. I don’t think it’s up to me to ‘let you have’ anything. More of your little redheaded dynamo’s department, am I right?”

Dani couldn’t help but blush, as she shifted until she was sitting crisscross on the bed. “You don’t have to worry about me,
Zia
Toni. Emma takes good care of me.”

“I have no doubt of that,
piccolina
,” Toni smiled and, reaching over, she gently hugged her goddaughter. “You know, I think I have an idea. Why don’t I call Nicky and see if he can deliver one of his chocolate cakes for dessert.”

Dani’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Laying a hand on each side of Dani’s face, Toni kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you at dinner?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Dani smiled.

* * *

Dani grinned; with her daily spankings a thing of the past, she had managed to actually be able to sit without squirming for several days in a row now. She’d also managed to get Giuliana to loan her the use of her bike in exchange for help with her math.

Waving to Emma, Dani made another circle in the driveway before pulling to a stop. “Are you sure we can’t get you a bike and go riding?”

Emma shook her head. “You heard Frankie; we can’t even go all the way to the gate, let alone outside it yet. Maybe next week.” Emma added, “Besides, another week will give you a little more time to heal.”

Dani balked at Emma. “I am just fine, thank you, not even tender anymore.” She grinned as she made yet another circle around the fountain.

Stopping, Dani slid off the bike before addressing Emma again. “I don’t know if I can wait a week to ride farther. I need to go for a run, or a ride, or something.”

Emma raised her eyebrow and whispered in Dani’s ear.

“Well, that’s another type of physical activity that I enjoy,” Dani smirked before she chased Emma into the carriage house.

A short time later, Dani found herself completely naked and panting, happily lying next to her equally naked girlfriend. “I think you wore me out, Emma.”

“I didn’t think that was possible,” Emma giggled as she leaned over and began to trace patterns on Dani’s already sensitive skin. Emma slowly began to follow her touches with light kisses and well placed nips.

“Are you sure you don’t have energy left?”

Dani groaned and rolled over so that she could look down into green eyes. “Well, maybe enough for one more time,” she smiled as she and Emma once again worked on expending their energy.

* * *

Yawning, Dani held Emma’s hand as they crossed the yard toward the main house. They were very close to being late for dinner and could only imagine what Toni would do if that were to happen again.

Entering the kitchen, they stopped short, seeing Toni waiting for them, spoon in hand and foot tapping. “You’re late,” she announced, pointing to the table. “Sit down and let’s eat.”

Sitting down quietly, Emma looked at Giuliana, who was smirking, and then Frankie, who couldn’t hide a small grin of his own. “We’re sorry,
Zia
Toni, the time got away from us,” Emma tried.

Toni looked at Emma sternly before breaking into a wide smile. “Don’t let it happen again, but you two are on cleanup detail tonight again.”

“Yes,” Giuliana muttered. “I love it when people are late, gets me out of my chores.Dani turned to Emma and tapped her on the knee. “Think we could be late more often?” she asked with a wink.

Emma rolled her eyes as she unsuccessfully tried to hide the blush. The gesture made Giuliana giggle.

“Giuliana, stop teasing your cousins,” Toni barked, seeing the blush and the mischievous glimmer in Dani’s eyes. “Now, everyone eat. I didn’t make these ravioli so we could look at them.”

Picking up her fork, Dani looked down at her plate and smiled. Cutting into the pillowy filled square, however, she stopped and inspected the contents. There, among the cheeses and meat, was something green. “Um,
Zia
Toni?”

“Yes, Dani?” Toni asked, watching her with amusement.

“What are these?” she asked, carefully stabbing the piece she had cut, but not yet bringing it to her mouth.

“Spinach, meat, and cheese ravioli.”

She looked at Emma, who nodded slightly. “Go on, try it.”

“They’re really good, Dani,” Giuliana broke in, “one of Ma’s specialties.”

“Nicky even has a version of them on his menu,” Frankie added proudly.

Gulping, Dani looked at Emma, who smiled at her encouragingly. Bringing the piece to her mouth, she chewed and then slowly swallowed before taking a big gulp of water. Coughing slightly, she tried avoided the stares and picked up a piece of bread, nibbling on it instead.

“Dani?” Emma asked, breaking the silence.

“Excuse me,” Dani said, still not meeting any eyes. “I need to use the restroom,” she supplied before quickly leaving the table and disappearing down the hall.

“What was that about?” Toni asked.

“I have a feeling that she doesn’t care for the ravioli, and she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Emma explained. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll check on her.”

Following her partner’s trail, Emma soon found herself knocking on the bathroom door. “Dani? Are you okay?”

“Can’t I even have two minutes alone?” Dani moaned from the other side of the door.

Emma was about to answer when the door suddenly opened and Dani yanked Emma inside, quickly closing the door once more. Emma found herself being crushed in a tight hug, only to discover tears on Dani’s face when she was released.

“It’s okay if you don’t like dinner, Dani. No one is going to fault you for it,” Emma tried.

Dani sat down on the closed toilet. “What’s wrong with me? Everyone else loves them.”

“Nothing is wrong with you, honey,” Emma reassured her, squatting down next to Dani. “It’s okay. No one is going to force you to eat anything you don’t want.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You like everything.”

“That’s not true. I don’t like Brussels sprouts. I don’t care for cranberries, or mangos, and I abhor black licorice.”

“I love black licorice.” Dani gave Emma a half-smile.

“I know,” Emma smiled back. “Come on, come back to the table with me. You don’t have to eat anything you don’t want to.”

Dani frowned. “Can’t I just go back to our place?”

“No. Besides, we have to do the dishes, remember?”

Dani moaned, but allowed Emma to help her to her feet. By the time they made it back to the table, Dani seemed to be in better spirits. Stopping short at her place, she looked up at her godmother. “Spaghetti?”

Toni only winked at her. “It’s alright,
piccolina
. You don’t have to pretend to spare my feelings,” Toni reassured her.

“Thank you,
Zia
,” Dani smiled before sitting and digging into the spaghetti. “I swear,
Zia
Toni, you make the best spaghetti sauce on the planet.”

Toni beamed before looking poignantly at her family. “You all should be taking notes. This girl knows how to give a compliment!”

Laughter broke the tension and the usual banter resumed easily. Dani settled down and Emma couldn’t remember the last time she saw Dani so at ease. She watched Dani for a moment before commenting, “You know it’s funny, as I was telling Dani, we all have our tastes. Like she loves black licorice and I hate it.”

“Oh, I love it too,” Giuliana spoke up. “Especially when it’s fresh and still soft.”

“You’re making me hungry for it,” Frankie mockingly scolded his daughter.

“You both like it? Isn’t that a bit odd?” Dani remarked.

“Not at all. We probably like it for the same reason you do,” Frankie remarked. Seeing a slightly confused look, Frankie turned to his wife. “Antonia, do we have any anise toast in the house?”

Toni frowned for a moment before nodding. “Actually I think we do.” Moving to a cupboard, she pulled out a package of strange-looking, crescent-shaped cookies. Opening the package, she pulled one out and handed it to Dani.

Dani examined it before sniffing it. “It smells just like black licorice,” she smiled.

“Tastes like it too,” Frankie encouraged. “When the cookie is stale, it makes a great teething ring for small children. We used it with Nick, and your parents gave it a try with you too. It’s an Italian tradition.”

Taking a bite, Dani smiled. “Wow, I never knew cookies could taste like this. You should try it,” she said, breaking off a piece for Emma.

Emma wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think so, Dani.”

“Oh, come on, Emma, just one little bite. How do you know you don’t like it if you never try it?”

“Dani,” Emma warned, before rolling her eyes and taking the small piece. She sniffed it again, and then quickly popped it in her mouth, only to cough and then grab for her water as Dani and the rest of the family seemed amused by her reaction.

“You are so cute,” Dani managed to purr at Emma once she had regained her composure.

“And you are so lucky I love you,” Emma half-scolded. “Not to mention, you are so gonna brush your teeth before you try to kiss me,” she winked.

* * *

“Hey, earth to Dani, you ready to help me clean up?” Emma’s hand brought Dani from her thoughts and she nodded, noticing the kitchen was now empty except for her girlfriend.

“Where did everybody go?”

Emma laughed as they moved to clear the table. “Giuliana is upstairs doing whatever teenage girls do, Toni went to watch her show, and Frankie is running an errand.”

“I guess I missed the conversation.”

“I guess you did.” Emma paused as Dani began to rinse the plates before handing them to Emma to put in the dishwasher. “So where were you?”

Dani shrugged. “Just thinking about how different my life would have been if I’d grown up here with Frankie and Toni as my parents.” She looked down at the plate in front of her. “I still wish I knew why my grandparents wanted me so much. From what Toni has told me, I barely knew them when they took me away.”

Emma put her arm around Dani’s waist and looked up at her, “Maybe they were scared because of how your parents died, sweetie. I know they weren’t the best grandparents, but maybe they were doing what they thought was safest for you.”

Dani leaned down to kiss Emma. “Maybe,” she agreed. “Let’s get busy with these dishes, I’m sure Toni will be back to check on us and I noticed a plastic spatula in her drawer the other day,” Dani teased.