Six year old Maya Hart sat at the table closest to the kitchen at Nighthawks diner. She was given a stack of paper placemats and a cup of crayons to color with. Her mom has started working an extra shift. Elementary school isn't as cheap as kindergarten was. The red cushioned diner seats weren't very comfortable on Maya and she kept jumping up from the seat and walking around the diner.

"Maya please sit back down." Katy pleaded from behind the register. Maya sighed and sat back down on the hard leather seats. She was still dressed as a reindeer from when she did her school play earlier that day. Even though Katy knew Maya understood why she couldn't make her performance it still broke her heart knowing she was probably the only kid who's parent's weren't there to support them.

The golden bells sewn onto the reindeer antlers jingled as they Maya shook her head from side to side. Riley loaned her a black tutu to wear, Riley wore a pink one. It surprised Katy how her daughter had managed to find a great best friend at the tender age of 3.

Kids like Riley Matthews don't just appear out of thin air and Katy was glad that a kid like Riley Matthews was friends with hers. "Hart order for table 7." Harvey the chef called at her. Katy walked into the kitchen

Maya flipped the sheet of paper over to the white side and began to draw a painting as best as a six year old could. She bopped her head side to side making her ears jingle. Unbeknownst to her or her unexpected mother it was going through a certain Tony Hardman.

"Would'ja shut up kid!" He growled turned around in his seat. Maya gasped and jumped surprised at the sudden outburst. Tony wasn't a regular to the nighthawk diner like most the customers who were used to Maya's antics so this aggression towards Maya was a surprise.

"I wasn't talking!" Maya shot back angrily. She crawled on top of the table in order to seem taller. She was always a pretty small kid. The antler jingled as she crawled onto the table.

"Gimme those!" he said roughly and pulled the antler from Maya's head. Pulling at her hair since her mother pinned them in.

Maya squealed in pain. He tore of one antler but the rest of them remained on her head. "Mommy!" Maya yelled. She jumped down from the table and into the kitchen.

"Maya what wrong?" Katy asked nervously. Typically her daughter liked to handle situations by herself but here she was clinging to her legs with tiny beads of tears running down her face.

"A man broke my antlers." She sniffed. Not letting go of her moms legs to look up. Katy looked down at Maya and sighed. She remembered how excited Maya was when she came home with the antlers for her. Katy typically couldn't afford the things for Maya that all her classmates had so when Maya requested the ears for her performance Katy didn't want Maya to not have a parents and the antlers.

Maya assumed that her mother wouldn't be able to get the antlers for her and was busy making make shift ones out of wire coat hangers and toilet paper rolls. When her mom walked in the door with the brown antlers with tiny golden bells sewn on Maya felt like the happiest kid alive. She put them on and didn't take them off, even to go to sleep. Maya even sang all three of her songs for Katy since she wouldn't get to see her preform.

But now some man had tarnished that memory for both Maya and Katy.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." Katy said and bent down to Maya's level. She wiped away her tears and sighed. "I guess sometimes when your feeling happy life goes and breaks your antlers."

"That doesn't make any sense." Maya mumbled and started down at her feet.

"I know sweetie." Katy said and pulled Maya into a hug. Maya rested her little face on her moms shoulder like she always did when she was upset. "That's just what I hear good parents say sometimes."

By good parents she meant Cory and Topanga.

She heard Maya giggle lightly.

"Do you want me to go give out to him?" Katy asked.

She felt Maya nod.

"Words Maya."

"Yep."

Her thumb was in her mouth.

She carried her daughter out of the kitchen and into the diner.

She heard a man snap his fingers. "Oi Blondie, it's been 30 minutes wears my food?" He asked angrily.

Katy's obvious name tag seemed to have no impact on that man.

"That's him. The guys who broke my antler!" Maya announced loudly so the whole diner could here.

"What's your problem sicko? Why'd you go break her antler?" Katy asked incredibly.

"Look, I didn't know you were her mom. I'm sorry won't happen again." The man said unbelievably.

"It can't happen again because you broke them!" Maya cried angrily.

"Well maybe if you kept your kid under control I wouldn't have to!" He said angrily.

"Is there a problem here?" Katy's manager Burt asked intervening the pair.

"That man broke Maya's antlers." Katy explained.

"Is that true sir?" Burt asked the man.

"Well yeah but the kid-" Tony began attempting to explain himself.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Burt concluded.

"Whatever this place is a dump anyway." Tony said picking up his coat and leaving. Maya stuck her tongue out at him as he left.

"Katy I've told you before to keep that daughter of yours under control." Burt snarled once Tony had left.

"I'm sorry, I won't let it happen again." Katy apologized on behalf of Maya.

"I might not let that happen again! Now get back to work and keep her out of trouble." He ordered before walking back into his small office type room behind the kitchen.

Katy sighed.

"I was being good I swear!" Maya promised. Katy scooped her down off her hip and sat her on the red cushioned diner seats.

"I know sweetie but some people can't see that in us." Katy told her. "Now you are going to sit her quietly and color until I finish my shift."

"Okay." Maya sighed. Katie tighter the not on her apron and went back to wiping down tables.

Maya grabbed her broken antler and traced it on the back of her paper. She colored it the same as the real one. She took her piece of paper and jumped off the seat. She walked over to her mother who was taking some couples order. She tugged on the skirt of her uniform.

"I'm busy, Maya." Katy told her. Maya scoffed and tapped her foot impatiently for her mother to finish.

"Now what do you want?" Katy asked Maya. The pair walked to the kitchen together so that Katy could hand up the order.

"Do you have a scissors?" Maya asked her mother.

"I don't think so, go ask Lucìa." Katy suggested as she started to clear off a table.

Maya walked over to the counters and dinged the bell repeatedly until it caught Lucìa's attention. Lucìa was the oldest waitress in the diner at 57.

"Ci, what can I do for you Maya?" She asked turning around to the little vixen sitting on top of the counters.

"Do you guys have scissors?" Maya asked.

"Ci. I'll go get them now." Lucia said. She disappeared off for a moment before returning with the scissors.

"Gracias." Maya thanked and walked back over to her table. She cut out the reindeer antler she drew. It was sloppily cut out but she was six. She went to the front window and pulled down a flyer and stole the tape from it.

She attempted to use the worn out tape to stick the new antler to were her old one used to be. It worked but the new one kept falling over on itself. Maya didn't seem to care.

"Mom! Look I fixed them!" Maya announced to her mother. Katy turned around and smirked. Maya's grin was identical to the one she had when Katy had brought home the antlers.

"Rudolph the Red nose reindeer, had a very shiny nose!" Maya sang happily.

Katy saw Burt in the corner of her eye glaring at little Maya for singing a song and Katy didn't know how to protect her.