𝐃𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒 ━ eddie diaz

001. ━ the new firefighter

season two // episode two
[ the new firefighter ]

"𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐀, 𝐌𝐀𝐗, 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 of Dairy Queen blizzards, get your butts into the car!" Danielle called into the quiet house, standing by the front door with her car keys in her hand. "We're going to be late—again."

Layla walked out of her bedroom. "Have you seen my book?" she asked her mother, looking under the kitchen table as though it would magically appear. "Max, I swear, if you took it—"

"Why is it always me who you blame?" Max asked his sister, walking out of his bedroom that Danielle could see needed to be cleaned. "What if it was Mom who took your book?"

The older of the twins frowned before looking up in her mother's direction. "Did you steal my book?"

Their mother pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a heavy sigh. "Every morning..." she muttered to herself before setting down her keys and walking over to her bickering children. "Do we have to do this every morning? No, I did not take your book, Layla. Max, she blames you because you have a history of stealing her books—"

"And ruining the ending!"

"—but that doesn't mean that she should do it on instinct," Danielle added, giving her daughter a look that silenced her. "And we're going to be late. So, can we please get a move on?"

"Sorry," Max said quietly and Layla nodded.

"Yeah, sorry."

Danielle sighed softly and ran a hand through her blonde hair that her children had inherited from her. "I'm sorry," she told them, crouching in front of them. "It's the heat. It's messing with my brain. I love you both. So much."

"We know," Layla said and Danielle pulled her short blonde locks away from her face. "We'll try not to fight as much."

Max nodded. "Yeah." He opened his backpack and pulled out the missing book. "Here."

"So it was you!"

Danielle fluttered her lips and chuckled to herself. "Well, mystery solved. Let's get you to Aunt Sammy's. Lucky for us she's off today on the hottest day of the year."

"And you have to go to work!" Layla teased, running out of the house at her mother's playful glare. "Sucks to be you!"

After a short drive, a long goodbye—and lots of lovely LA traffic—Danielle had finally made it to work. She looked down at her watch. "Hey, would you look at that?" she said to herself, setting down her belongings on her desk. "Three minutes to spare."

"That's a new record."

Danielle looked up at the voice and smiled. "Hey, I was ready an hour ago," she defended and Athena Grant chuckled, sitting in the blonde's chair. "The twins were not. Ooh, so tell me about it. How was your date with my dad?"