Once Upon a Second Chance

(23) - Can You Hear That Still Small Voice?

Uma was sitting at the counter at Granny's. Her alternate mother was still asleep. Uma didn't get a lot of sleep the other night. One couldn't blame her considering what her and the others had gone through in the course of twenty-four hours.

Jay, Carlos, Jane, and Dude walked into the diner together, the first two looking they had gotten just as little of sleep as her.

"Hey, Uma," Jay greeted.

"Morning," Uma said tiredly before taking a sip of her coffee.

Uma was momentarily surprised at how casual that was. Despite making peace with Mal and her gang, and actually becoming not only their allies, but friends, —who would've thought?—she still wasn't used to their encounters being so civilized. After all, the Queen of Mean incident that managed to bring them all together did occur only a week ago.

"I texted everyone to meet us here for breakfast. Wonder where they are," Jane said, sitting with Carlos at a table in front of the counter.

As if on cue, Evie walked in with Mal and Ben, the two latter holding hands. They probably also met together.

"Hey, guys. Anyone seen Doug?" Evie asked, taking a seat at the counter as Ben and Mal sat down at the table next to the one Carlos and Jane were sitting at.

"Yeah, came in about fifteen minutes ago with the rest of the dwarves. Damn, do they get up early," Uma chuckled, remembering the dreadful look on the son of Dopey's face.

"So, how was the night with the new parents?" Jay asked. He was the one who probably had the most objection to letting everyone go home with adults they barely even knew in a foreign territory. He felt a sense of relief when he saw his friends again.

"Great," Evie responded.

"It was okay," Mal said, rubbing her knees.

"It was... interesting," Ben said, shivering as he remembered his dream from the other day. He, much like many of the others, hadn't gotten much rest.

"Are you okay?" Mal asked suspiciously, noticing the shiver.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal the daughter of Sleeping Beauty. "Good morning," she said, as Ben internally sighed in relief at the shift in attention.

Dude got up and sniffed the air. "Well, something stinks. And it wasn't me or Ben this time!" the dog exclaimed, causing a groan to come from the king of Auradon.

"Well, what can you expect from someone who took a bath in the river this morning?" Lonnie said, walking inside with surprisingly Gil, taking a seat next to Jay on the counter.

"Hey, guys," Gil smiles brightly. "Turns out, Lonnie and her other mom's camp is surprisingly close to my other dad's cabin."

"Found him on my way coming over here. Poor guy was lost in the woods," Lonnie chuckled, rubbing her neck.

"Hey, don't listen to Dude. You smell fine," Jay assured her.

"No, it's not Lonnie," Dude said, taking another sniff until he cringed, realizing what the smell was. "Well, someone's doing a number two in the bathroom."

"Ugh, Dude, TMI! That is disgusting," Mal said, with nods of agreement from everyone else.

"Do I even want to know?" a Scottish accent came from the doorway.

"Nope," the group said simultaneously before Harry came and plopped down next to Uma.

"Ye all look dead," the son of Captain Hook commented.

"Can you blame us for not getting much sleep after yesterday's events. When I woke up this morning, I actually thought it was all a dream," Lonnie said.