“It was wrong of Uncle Rocco.” Sofia said.
“Yeah,” Beatrice agreed. “And not nice.”
Sofia lifted her chin. “You can drive just as good as him.”
Beatrice nodded. “Most definitely.”
“Well, I’m good. But not that good.”
This brought a smile to Rocco’s lips.
She’s honest.
“Yet,” Nico added.
He sighed.
And cocky.
“Let’s see. Now, where were we?”
“The queen, Snow White’s stepmother, was misunderstood,” said Sofia.
“And maligned,” added Beatrice.
“Right. She worried about her stepdaughter and figured it was her responsibility to look after her and most importantly to raise her so that she could take care of herself when she grew up. Especially since she’d been given the name Snow White. The queen would have preferred another name like Diana Prince, Marla Drake, or Harley Quinn.”
Bouncing up and down on the sofa, the girls clapped their hands and squealed.
“Or Jessica Jones!” cried Sofia.
“Or Jessica Drew!” chimed in Beatrice.
“Exactly,” Nico sighed. “But the king preferred Snow White. And so the queen worried. She knew her stepdaughter would be an easy mark with a name like that.”
“What’s an easy mark?”
Watching Nico, Rocco had that feeling of familiarity again. There was something about those eyes.
“Someone who can be taken advantage of. Someone who’s easy to trick or fool.”
The girls looked at each other, shaking their heads. “Not good,” they said in unison.
Nico shook her head. “Most decidedly not.”
Beatrice beamed.
“The queen knew she needed to teach Snow White some important life lessons,” Nico continued, “so that when the girl finally went out into the world as an adult, she would be able to take care of herself and not have to depend on anyone else. So, one day, the queen disguised herself as a witch, in order to teach Snow White a lesson—never take apples from strangers.”
“We know that one,” Beatrice said. “Our parents taught us never to take anything from strangers.”
Nico smiled, nodding. “That’s good. You see, neither of you are an easy mark.”
Rocco blinked. Beatrice had spotted him. He put his finger to his lips.
“Uncle Rocco!” she shouted.
Both girls leapt from the sofa and came running toward him.
