Chapter 17
FRANKIE
Frankie stared at the space that the older lady had been standing in, holding the piece of paper with her number on.
Her mind was blank as she tried to think of something, but she was in shock.
Frankie was prepared for the older lady to give her a scolding on spilling the tea all over the table and running away.
“I,” she whispered, but stopped herself.
Frankie looked up at Daddy and held the piece of paper up.
“Do you want me to hold onto that until you are ready to call her?” he asked.
She nodded. Frankie would lose it if she kept it on her.
“We don’t care that you spilled your drink,” a different customer chimed in. “The Littles spill their drinks all the time when they come here. We are used to it.”
She looked to her right and saw an older man smiling at her.
“See?” Another younger male gained her attention.
Right as Frankie looked over, she saw him knocking over his cup, the little liquid he had in there pouring all over the table. Gasping, her hand flew up to her mouth as she watched. What were they doing?
The whole coffee shop was silent as the coffee continued to run off the table and onto the ground.
“Oops,” a young woman said as her cup fell over. She looked right at Frankie and giggled.
Frankie couldn’t help but giggle with her and gazed around the coffee shop to see two other people ‘accidentally’ spill their drinks as well.
“See, you spilling your drink earlier wasn’t a big deal. Everyone does it,” Daddy said, shaking his head.
She still couldn’t believe that those people were spilling their drinks for her. Odd, but also somewhat comforting.
“Everyone spills something in their lives, some more than others, and it doesn’t stop when we grow up,” Rainey explains. “I don’t want you to ever think that when you come here, you have to be perfect and not spill. Yesterday, we had five spillages by various people. It happens.”
“It really does. There are a lot of people who don’t pay attention when they go for their drinks and accidentally knock them over,” a barista chimed in. “We don’t punish them for that. We tell them it’s okay, clean it up, and give them a new drink.”
Frankie’s shoulders dropped as she leaned into Daddy’s embrace. They were all being really supportive of her, and they didn’t even know her. She thought everyone was going to be mad with her.
“I spill all the time,” an older gentleman had his hands on his cup.
“Don’t you even think about it.” Marco stepped into the coffee shop, holding a baby.
Frankie assumed it was baby Levi, their son. He looked so happy in his arms. Just like she wanted to be right now, snuggled up in her Daddy’s arms, where she felt safe and calm.
“Everyone here is going to help clean up the mess that has been made,” Marco declared.
“And we’ll get you a new drink as well,” Rainey added.
The coffee shop customers all nodded and stood up.
“I’ll get the clean-up cloths,” the barista said.
It didn’t take them long to get everything sorted.
“Are you sure you don’t want a new drink?” Rainey asked. “You don’t even have to pay for it.”
“You didn’t let me pay for the first one,” Frankie pointed out. “But I am fine. I want to go home and snuggle with Daddy.”
Rainey placed her hand on Frankie’s arm and gave it a little squeeze. “Okay, that sounds good. You are coming out next week for our usual hangout time. I don’t want to hear it. You are coming out, even if I have to drag you out of the house. Understand?”
“She really will drag you out of the house.” Monroe giggled. “She did it to me one time.”
“Okay,” Frankie replied and smiled. “Thank you again for everything.”
She leaned into Daddy’s embrace and looked up.
“Ready to go home?” he asked.