Just Add Magic - DaD

Telling Mom

As soon as Darbie arrived home, Hayln ran and hugged her tightly. Darbie was more than surprised. It had been months since her daughter had hugged her. With her work, she was so busy that she grew increasingly farther from Halyn.

"What happened, Sweetie? You haven't hugged me in... such a long time."

Halyn stared up at her mother nervously. She was sure her mom would think she was crazy. Perhaps she was just having hallucinations. But regardless, she didn't want to keep it all to herself. Her mother had to know about how she was feeling.

"Mom... there's something I need to tell you."

Darbie frowned. "Go ahead, I'm listening." She prepared to pay extra attention to her daughter.
"You see... there' this cookbook with a fork, knife, and spoon logo on it. It has recipes in it with ingredients we've never head of like 'Cedronian' and 'Night Blooming' and other stuff. It's-It's been following us everywhere for some reason. We're all kind of spooked," Halyn rambled.
Darbie was silent for a few moments, causing Halyn to bite down on her lip anxiously. "Mom, please don't think I'm crazy, I-"
"Where did you see this cookbook?" Darbie asked suddenly, looking thoughtful.

Halyn was surprised at her mother's question. She'd been expecting Darbie to shake her head and pat her on the back, saying that she 'needed some meds' in a joking kind of way. But she didn't. It was weird.
"It was first in Belle's bag, then it somehow appeared in the sink when I threw it away and afterwards Anna found it in her pillow," Hayln said.

Darbie opened her mouth to speak something but no words came out. It was silent again for some time until she finally spoke.
"It'll be alright, darling, I promise. If you see the book again, either give it to me, Kelly, or Hannah. Okay?" Darbie replied in a comforting way, hugging her daughter again.
Halyn blinked, supremely confused, but she answered anyway. "Okay, mom."
After Halyn left to talk to Belle and Anna, Darbie went to her room and facetimed Hannah and Kelly

After Halyn left to talk to Belle and Anna, Darbie went to her room and facetimed Hannah and Kelly. When they picked up, they were met with a somewhat worried Darbie, frowning, looking out of the window practically lost in her own world.
Kelly snorted. "What happened, Darbie?"
She jolted out of her daze and faced the camera. "Kelly, Hannah, I think the girls are the protectors!" she blurted out.
Hannah and Kelly's eyes widened as they gaped at Darbie through the screen.
"What? Did you ask them or something?" Hannah questioned, still agitated.

"No, Hayln just came to me, hugged me, and said that there's a cookbook that keeps following her, Belle, and Anna. And I know it's not just a regular book because she also said it has a fork, knife, and spoon logo on it!"
"Then that's got to be it!" Kelly exclaimed.

"I knew Anna was hiding something from me. She looked so freaked out," Hannah said, looking down at the ground sadly.
Kelly nodded. "Belle was too."
"How did we not figure this out? With so many mysteries we solved in the past, you'd think this was expected," Darbie chimed in. The others chuckled.

Hannah took out her notepad. "Since all the girls are frightened about this, we explain tomorrow at Jake's." She jotted the title down.

"What time?" Darbie asked.

Hannah thought for a moment. "Is 3 o' clock fine?"

Kelly shook her head. "Can't. I've got an important meeting at that time."
Darbie rolled her eyes playfully, smiling. "Just how many meetings do you have in a day, Kelly?"
"4 at the very least," Kelly responded, not getting the joke.
"Touche," Darbie whispered to herself.
"Guys, stop changing the subject. What time should we plan this?" Hannah asked, getting a bit frustrated.
"3:30 is fine."
"3:30 it is then."
"I've got to go now, Belle hasn't eaten anything since morning. At least I know why now," Kelly said, clearly perturbed.

"Oh no. We really should tell them. Go feed her," Hannah said.

"I will. Now seriously, bye."

"Bye!" Hannah and Darbie said, disconnecting the call.
Now all they had to do was tell their daughters the real story behind what was going on.


The next day, as planned, Kelly, Hannah and Darbie asked their daughters to meet at Jake's Deluxe Café. They were a bit confused, especially Halyn, but they listened.

When they arrived, Kelly saw the book in Belle's hand. She'd got it there after she found out that Halyn had told her mom about it. Her hands were trembling, and she refused to look at it.

"Belle, it's okay. It's just a book." Kelly reassured her.

"Yes! in fact, we once had this book too. It was fun!" Darbie added.

                                                                                   TO BE CONTINUED