Page 36 of Margo

“Margo did not get out of anything. She helped. She cracked eggs and grated cheese and grated a bit of her finger as well. After that she got put on the bench cause I figured we didn’t want any blood or body parts in our omelets.”

“Omelets,” Ellie whined. “What is it with bossy types and always trying to sneak vegetables into every meal?”

The other girls chorused their agreement, and Knox laughed. “It’s ham and cheese. No veggies. So grab a plate and head to the table and eat up. The sooner you finish breakfast the sooner you can get started cleaning up the mess you made yesterday.”

As expected, his reminder was met with a chorus of moans and groans as they headed into the abandoned restaurant to eat their breakfast. Knox wasn’t dissuaded by their grumbling. Until every last toy and game piece was picked up and the play area was spotless, this was their life now. He only hoped they could get it done by tomorrow night. New Year’s Eve. He’d been planning something fun for the new year, and he wouldn’t feel right about rewarding them if the playroom was still a mess. If they used teamwork and focused, they might just pull it off.

Chapter Thirteen

December 31st

Margo

“So… how is it having a Daddy of your own?” Jilly asked after breakfast the next day as they sat on the floor trying to sort game pieces. The art supplies and doll house had been organized and sorted the day before, and today they had moved on to the games and puzzles. There were three empty boxes in front of them and they were separating pieces from Trouble, Clue and Sorry.

Margo rolled her eyes. “It’s been like… two days. And it’s temporary,” she reminded her friend.

“Temporary shremporary.” Jilly did not look convinced. “How is it?”

“It’s okay.” She blushed as she thought about their activities their first night together. Those had been way more than just okay. But that was not a conversation she wanted to have with her friends. She pushed the memories aside to revisit later and took her answer in a different direction. “He’s stricter than Baze.”

“How?” Jilly asked.

“He doesn’t think Little girls should cook or chop for one thing. He only let me grate and crack.”

“But that’s good! You hate cooking!”

“I do. And yeah, it’s not a bad thing exactly, just kinda weird.” She crinkled her nose. “The next thing is bad though. Really bad.”

“It is?” Jilly whispered, her voice full of awe and curiosity. “What is it?”

“He’s really particular about what language I use.” Margo was choosing her words carefully so she wouldn’t say the forbidden words while trying to explain that she wasn’t allowed to say them.

“Language? What language does he want you to speak? Do you even know another language? Does he?”

Jilly’s obvious confusion made Margo laugh. “Not a language like Spanish or French!” she exclaimed. “I mean like… he thinks certain words are unladylike and doesn’t want me to say them. He says if I do, he’ll spank my bottom and wash my mouth out with soap!”

“Soap?” Jilly echoed, her eyes wide. “Oh no! What words are they?”

“I can’t say them cause I’d have to say them to tell you what they are, and there’s a lot of them. Let’s just say, I won’t be able to use my catch phrase anymore.”

“Your catch phrase?” Jilly leaned in to whisper in Margo’s ear. “You mean crap on a cracker?”

Margo pulled away to look at her friend and nodded. “Exactly.”

Jilly stared at her with her mouth open and her eyes wide. “Oh no… you’re so screwed!”

“Tell me about it,” Margo lamented. “I’ve already almost messed up so many times!”

“Crap on a cracker!” Jilly responded.

Margo

“Catfish on a cracker!”

“Cake on a cracker!”

“Cauliflower on a cracker!”