“Thanks,” Iris said. “I made it myself.”
Once they were all eating again, Annika thought more about what the girls had explained to her about the Daddy Guard.
“So let me see if I have this straight. The guys help Littles in need?”
It was Cami who answered. “That’s right. They used to be cops. But then Stryker and Harrison—and Grant Baker—had this idea for an organization that comes to the rescue whenever Littles need them. They figured there are lots of people out there that take advantage of us. You know, they think we’re weak and stuff.”
Boy, didn’t Annika know it!
“Yeah,” Iris chimed in, “and they do it all free of charge.”
Annika pondered it all for a moment. “So they work for Harrison, Stryker, and Grant Baker?” She almost couldn’t believe it.
As big a movie star as Harrison was, Grant was even bigger! He had multiple movies in Hollywood’s prestigious “Billion-Dollar Club”.
“Yep,” Lana confirmed. “Even though they’re famous, they’re all super nice. I wish Harrison and Stryker could have stayed for dinner. But they had some studio get-together, and they had to go rub elbows with investors.”
“That sounds boring,” Cami opined.
Annika wasn’t so sure. The thought of putting on a nice dress and eating fancy food with famous people sounded kind of fun.
It would be a far cry from her usual evenings, that was for sure.
Of course, just sitting at a cozy dining room table with other people—and being stuffed with amazing food—was far from her usual evenings, too.
“Want to go see the guys’ setup? They have a command center in the den,” Iris said.
“Sure!” Annika replied as she polished off the last bit of her cake.
This night was full of surprises. She wondered what she was about to experience next.
The den looked comfortable and cozy.
There was a pool table, as well as a built-in bar. A posh leather sofa and two matching, overstuffed chairs rested in a seating area in front of a large TV.
Against one wall, though, were the items that truly made the space unique.
“Whoa! This looks like something out of the Pentagon or something!” Annika exclaimed.
Next to her, Iris nodded. “It always reminds me of the Batcave.”
Annika giggled. Her new friend was right: Batman would look right at home behind the two flat-panel TVs that hung on the wall over the half-circle desk.
Neatly arranged keyboards and other electronics were on the desktop. She realized the girls hadn’t been exaggerating when they’d referred to this as a command center.
Matteo was sitting behind the desk, pounding away on the keyboard.
“Hey, cuties. Did you all get enough cake?”
“Yes, Uncle Matteo,” Cami said.
Annika wondered what she should call Matteo. Somehow,Uncledidn’t quite feel right.
Daddy sure did.
But she was being silly, she reminded herself. It was too soon for something like that. Besides, it didn’t matter how much time passed. He’d never be her Daddy.
Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “What are you working on?”
