The door bell rang and Summer jumped up from her coloring book and crayons. She was hopping up and down, waiting for her mother to answer the door.

"Calm down!" Stevie playfully scolded, kissing the top of her daughter's head. Stevie was dressed casually in a long calico skirt and white crochet crop top that would have met the waistband, save for a tiny sliver of exposed midriff. Her hair was piled up on top of her, wild and curly as she had been cleaning and preparing for Alex all afternoon into the evening. Robin left to go to the store to grab dessert and would be back soon, even if it was to take Summer upstairs if things intensified.

Stevie opened the door and Summer's mouth fell open.

"You look beautiful!" Alex praised, kissing Stevie's cheek.

"Are you kidding, I'm a mess!" she giggled.

"Mommy, that's the wrong one!" Summer finally spoke up. Alex chuckled, taking off his jacket and letting Stevie hang it up for him.

"What?" Stevie asked.

"Oh come on, you can't forget a guy like that! He's tall, dreamy...and those eyes!"

"Enough, Summer."

"Mommy, I thought the prince was coming for dinner."

"And what am I?" Alex asked, egging her on.

"The jester." Summer replied sardonically.

"Summer Ruby, I said that's enough. I did not raise you to be rude. Alex is our guest. He was kind enough to come here and talk to me about the music I'm making and wanted to include you in our dinner. This nice man even asked what you liked to eat and offered to order pizza."

"Pizza?" Summer's dark eyes lit up momentarily. "I'm sorry for being rude."

"It's quite alright." Alex said. The little girl extended her hand and he shook it.

"Truce." Alex chuckled again as Summer made herself comfy on the rug again. She resumed her coloring, ignoring the adults. There was only one man for her mother, in her eyes, and it was the prince she had seen on the porch that day. She knew in her heart they belonged together. Having an idea, she slowly got up after a few minutes. Robin had showed her how to use the telephone for emergencies, maybe she could use it for other things too, like calling the prince. Her plans were almost foiled as the jester walked into the hall to call the pizza place. Her tummy growled and she silently scolded it. "Just a couple more minutes. I have to call the man that loves mommy and make sure he gets to her first."

"Summer!" Her mother called.

"Rats!" The little girl hurried to see her mother. "Yes?"

"Are you scheming?"

"What?"

"Are you doing something naughty?"

"No, why would I ever do a thing like that? I'm a good girl." Summer told her. Stevie gave her daughter a crooked smirk and knelt down in front of her child.

"Summer, I can tell by the look on your face that you're planning something. It's just like your—" Stevie stopped herself, biting her lip.

"Just like who?"

"Nevermind." Stevie said quickly and Summer smirked. "Please be a good girl. I really want tonight to go well."

"Do you love him? Are you going to marry him?"

"Sweetie, I really don't—"

"Because I don't like him."

"You don't even know him."

"I know enough." Summer crossed her arms and Stevie chuckled. She was becoming more like her father by the day. Stubborn as the day is long.

"Give him a chance."

"But I love the other man, mommy."

"Who?"

"Your best friend. The rock star. The prince!"

"I told you—"

Summer interrupted again. "I want to call him. I want him to come to dinner too."

"Maybe some other time, Summer. For right now, we are having dinner with Alex."

Summer huffed. "Is this a date?"

"I don't know."

"If the prince was here, you'd know."

"All done! Shouldn't take long now. Are you hungry, ladies?" Alex asked, returning to the room.

"Sure." Stevie could see her daughter was not pleased, trying to push that from her mind so she could enjoy her time with Alex.

Even when the pizza arrived, Summer didn't perk up. Pizza was a rare treat and it was something her daughter usually looked forward to but not this time. Maybe Summer was right, maybe she did invite the wrong one. As Stevie ate, she only half listened to anything Alex had to say. She too wished it were Lindsey sitting at her table. He was engaging and she knew Summer would adore him. She also felt bad because Alex was spending time with Summer before Lindsey got to. She sighed, wiping her lips with a paper napkin. Stevie didn't even realize Alex was in the middle of talking when she spoke.

"I'm sorry to cut this short but I'm getting so tired."

"What, like right now?"

"Mm-hmm. I guess it's all those late night writing sessions."

Summer smiled into her plate, picking up her last tiny piece of pizza. She took a hearty bite, trying to keep her tongue in check. She was all too excited to hear her mother would be ending her date. Alex may be nice but he was boring and mostly talked to Stevie rather than trying to talk to Summer. She didn't like feeling like furniture.

"You're coming to the studio soon, right?"

"Tomorrow, or the day after."

"Alright." Alex wiped his mouth and got up. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands and Stevie walked him to the hall closet to grab his jacket.

"Thank you for all of this."

"It's my pleasure." Alex tried to plant a kiss on her mother and Summer flipped. She knew this guy was trying to get between she, her mother and the prince and she knew she had to take action. She leapt from her chair, hoping Aunt Robin wouldn't come back suddenly and ruin her plan as her mother had. She scurried to the telephone and spotted the number she needed. She placed her tiny finger in the hole and held the base to hit the stopper. She felt successful as she got all the numbers and it started to ring.

"Hello? Is someone there?" The man answers and Summer squeaked.

"Are you the prince?"

"Summer?" he replied.

"Yeah, hold on and act natural, okay?"

He chuckled. "Okay, sure."

"Mommy....there's a phone call for you! Hurry up!" Summer shouted, watching her mother pull herself from the arms of one man to speak to another, with a broad smile on her face.