“No, it’s fine, thank you.”
“What about sugar?”
Her eyes met mine ever so briefly and flicked away. Somehow, it felt like progress.
“I don’t have sugar.”
“Great.”
“The girls can open that now, if you want.” I nodded toward the Tupperware container still sitting on the table.
“Oh!” She set down her coffee and reached for the container, “I made these for you guys.”
The moment she popped the lid, both girls gasped. Inside were half a dozen cupcakes, decorated with butterflies in pink and purple frosting, the wings carefully piped, each one different.
“Can we have one now?” Alice was already reaching.
“You have to ask your dad.” Emily glanced at me, holding my gaze for a few beats longer this time.
“Please, Daddy?” Both girls turned to me with identical pleading looks.
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
They grabbed a cupcake each and settled into chairs, Alice getting frosting on her nose within seconds. Emily sat back down with her coffee, and I claimed the seat across from her.
“These are so pretty,” Audrey said around a mouthful of cake. “How’d you make the butterflies?”
“It’s just frosting in a piping bag. You can make all kinds of designs if you practice enough.”
“Could you teach us?”
Emily hesitated, her eyes meeting mine. The uncertainty pulled at me.
“You could, if you wanted to.”
“I would love to. As long as you don’t mind me corrupting them with sugar and food coloring.”
I held her gaze over my coffee mug. “I think we’ll survive.”
She smiled. “Okay then.”
This was good. This was better than good. She was okay. Or getting there, at least.
“Daddy, did you know Emily paints?” Alice had frosting in her hair now. I had no idea how.
“I didn’t know that.”
“I don’t know any princesses that paint,” Audrey put in, as though that was a mark against Emily’s princess status.
“The Queen of Denmark does. Well, not the current one. The former one.”
Alice’s eyes went round at Emily’s revelation. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Audrey’s gaze was suspicious. “How do you know? Did you meet her?”
Emily laughed. “No, I watched a documentary about painting set designs and she was on it.”
