Daphne bit into hers first and sank into her chair in a dreamlike state. "Oh… my… gosh," she mumbled with her mouth full.
"Sabrina?" Uncle Jake said, offering her a donut. She reached in and took one. They were warm and sticky. She took a bite and couldn't believe how delicious they were. It was like biting into pure happiness. It was all sugar and butter and love.
"Good, huh?" Jake said with a wink.
Sabrina nodded, afraid that if she opened her mouth to talk, some of the experience might escape.
"Mom, I got to thinking. You said yesterday that you and the girls have been pretty busy since they arrived. That's a real shame. This town has a few interesting spots, and I bet the girls would love to see some of the places where their dad and I used to hang out," Uncle Jake said.
"You mean the places you two used to get into trouble?" she said knowingly.
"Exactly!" He leaned over and kissed the old woman on the cheek again. "It'll be fun."
Granny nodded reluctantly.
"Great!" Uncle Jake said. He scooped up the pink box of donuts and raced out of the room. "I'm going to make sure Mirror gets one of these."
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Who could that be this early in the morning?" Granny wondered aloud.
Sabrina shrugged and went to the door. When she opened it she was so surprised she nearly fell over. It was Mayor Charming. Snow White stepped out from behind him, followed by his personal assistant, Mr. Seven, who was wearing the biggest grin she had ever seen.
"Good morning, Sabrina. Is everyone home?" Snow White asked. "Billy has something he'd like to say to your family."
The mayor looked annoyed.
"Well, Captain, permission to come aboard?" he said sarcastically.
Sabrina scowled and prepared to slam the door in his face when Granny came up behind her and invited everyone inside.
"Relda, I know it's early but I wanted to make sure you and the kids were OK after what happened yesterday," Ms. White said.
"Oh, no harm done," Granny said, flashing the mayor a disappointed look.
"Billy also has something important he wants to say to you and your family," the pretty teacher added. "But first, he has to get ready. Mr. Seven, if you would be so kind."
The little man reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small wad of paper. He unfolded it quickly and handed it to the mayor. Charming stared down at it with a scowl. Sabrina recognized it at once. It was a paper hat with the words I AM AN IDIOT written on it in big black letters. The Mayor often forced Mr. Seven to wear it.
"Do I have to?" Charming groaned.
"Billy Charming!" Ms. White scolded. "You promised!"
The mayor scowled and set the hat squarely on his head. Sabrina couldn't help but laugh, not so much at Charming's humiliation, but at the expression of triumphant satisfaction on the face of his diminutive sidekick, Mr. Seven. The dwarf looked as if he had just won the lottery.
"I'm sorry," Charming whispered.
"I don't think they heard you," Snow White said.
"Well then they all need hearing aids!" Charming snapped.
"Billy! You said you would do the right thing and if you don't I will never speak to you again," Ms. White threatened. "And you know I mean it. We went a few hundred years without saying even a word to each other!"
Mr. Seven stood off to the side snickering until Charming shot him a nasty look. The little man straightened up but went back to giggling as soon as the mayor turned his attention to the Grimms.
Charming sighed and his broad shoulders and chest seemed to deflate right before Sabrina's eyes. "I'm sorry I turned on your family at the dedication ceremony yesterday."
Sabrina was stunned. Charming had never apologized for anything as far as she knew, and she had two hundred years of family journals to prove it. She realized just how much power Snow White had over the mayor.
"But you have to understand, this family is like a cancer that is threatening to eat me alive," Charming continued. Ms. White gasped.
"Don't sugarcoat it, mayor. Tell us how you really feel," Sabrina grumbled.
"It's the election this weekend. I didn't expect to have an opponent this year. If the queen wasn't running, the only thing your presence would have given me was indigestion. But now that I might lose my job, the last thing I need is for the voters to start thinking that I'm aligned with the Grimms. There's no time for damage control like that. I hardly have time to buy the votes I need and hire people to stuff ballot boxes…"
Ms. White's eyes flared with anger. The look was not lost on the mayor.
"I mean, get my message of hope out to the community," he finished.
"And the last thing you need is to look like you're buddy-buddy with a bunch of lowlifes like us," Sabrina replied sarcastically.