We went inside Duke's Cafe, where Dad called for the waitress, Tiana, who passed by. "Uh, excuse me, miss?"
"Kinda busy at the moment, sir." said Tiana.
"Oh, okay." said Dad. "Well, when you get the chance, can you give us a table for 13?"
Tiana stopped and looked at us.
"Thirteen? I only see twelve of..."
"You forgot me." sad a gloomy voice.
Tiana jumped back when she saw one of my sisters, Lucy.
"Uh, does she always..." she asked.
"She has a tendency to do that." explained Lori.
"It's what makes Lucy...Lucy." added Leni.
Tiana looked down to see Lana holding her frog, Hops.
"Oh, sorry, sweetie, but no pets are allowed inside Duke's."
"What? Even Hops?" Lana asked, holding up Hops, who croaked, making Tiana cringe.
"You heard her, Lana." said Mom. "Just put Hops outside, then come sit down."
Lana sighed. "OK."
She went outside the cafe, put her finger to her lips to Hops, then placed him on her head, putting back on her cap, then went back inside, where Lola said. "I know what you did."
"Did what?" asked Lana.
"You know what!" said Lola.
"Ah, you don't know what you're talking about." Lana said before Tiana gave them a nudge, saying. "All right, you two, go take your seats..."
"Hey, Tiana!" called a voice.
"...and I'll be with you in a bit." Tiana said as she hurried to another table, greeting. "What's up, y'all?"
"Well, we're going out dancing tonight." said Georgia. "Care to join us?"
"Yeah, come on. Live a little." said Tiana's other friends. "Come on, Tiana. You can dance with me. It's Mardi Gras."
"You know I got two left feet. Besides, I'm...you need a napkin, sweetheart?" Tiana said while giving a napkin to a baby who was playing with her food and placing a plate in another table. "I'm going to work a double shift tonight...here are your hotcakes. You know, so..."
"...you can save for your own restaurant." concluded Lisa, whom Tiana looked at, asking. "How'd you know?"
"Elementary, my dear Tiana." replied Lisa, whom Dad shooed away, chuckling nervously.
"You know, being a restaurant proprietor myself, I can help you get closer to..."
As Dad spoke to Tiana, the bell rang, followed by a loud voice. "Order up!"
"Maybe next time." Tiana said, hurrying back to the counter.
"Oh. OK, we'll talk later, then." Dad called.
Tiana watched him head back to our table when Buford, the head chef asked. "You talking about your dream restaurant again?"
"Buford, your eggs are burning." Tiana pointed out.
As Buford tended to the eggs, he said. "You're never gonna get enough for the down payment."
"I'm getting close." Tiana said as she picked out thirteen menus for our table.
Buford smirked. "Yeah? How close?"
"W...where are my flapjacks?" Tiana asked, changing the subject.
"You've got about as much chance of getting that restaurant as I do of winning the Kentucky Derby! Whoo-hoo!" Buford laughed as he handed Tiana one plate of food after another. "Saddle me up, men! It's post time! Giddy-up, giddy-up!"
Tiana frowned as she went along, serving the tables when she heard the door open.
"Morning, Mr. La Bouff." she greeted.
"Morning to you as well, Tiana." Mr. La Bouff greeted back.
"Congratulations on being voted King of the Mardi Gras parade." said Tiana.
"Caught me completely by surprise...for the 5th year in a row!" laughed Mr. La Bouff. "Now, how's about a plate of your finest..."
"Beignets?" Tiana guessed, placing a plate in front of him. "Got a fresh batch just waiting for you."
"Well, keep them coming till I pass out." called Mr. La Bouff, who took his first bite of the beignets.
As Tiana passed out our menus, the door swung open.
In stepped Mr. La Bouff's daughter, Charlotte, who called. "Oh, Tia!"
"Hey, Charlotte!" greeted Tiana.
"Tia! Tia! Tia! Oh, did you hear the news?" Charlotte asked as she skipped around Tiana, then to Mr. La Bouff's table, saying. "Tell her. Oh, tell her, Big Daddy!"
"Oh, yeah, uh, Prince Naveen..." Mr. La Bouff began before his daughter interrupted with excitement, holding up the newspaper. "Prince Naveen of Maldonia is coming to New Orleans!"
"What? An actual prince, here in New Orleans?" Lola said, hurrying to the table and looking at the paper.
Charlotte squealed with glee. "Oh, ain't he the bee's knees? Oh, tell her what you did, Big Daddy. TELL HER!"
"Well, I invited..." Mr. La Bouff began, only to be interrupted again by Charlotte, who said. "Big Daddy invited the prince to our masquerade ball tonight!"
Lola's eyes widened when she heard that, for she believed that this could be her chance to meet the prince of her dreams.
"Can we go? Can we go? Can we go?" she asked Mom and Dad, who looked at each other, then at Mr. La Bouff, whom Dad asked. "Is it all right if..."
"Oh, it's perfectly all right with me, sir." Mr. La Bouff replied.
"Tell her what else you did, Big Daddy. Go on." said Charlotte, whom Mr. La Bouff stared at for a minute, then started to say. "And he's staying..."
"And he's staying..." Charlotte repeated until Mr. La Bouff stuffed a beignet in her mouth, then went on to say. "And he's staying in our house as my personal guest."
Charlotte nodded with the beignet inside her mouth.
"What? He's staying with you?" Lola asked with disbelief. "Why can't he stay with us?!"
"You can't always get what you want, sweetie." said Mom.
"A little word of advice, Charlotte." Tiana said as she brought another plate of beignets to Mr. La Bouff's table. "My mom always said the quickest way to a man's heart...is through his stomach."
"Ah! That's it!" Charlotte gasped, taking one of the beignets from her dad's hand, then embracing Tiana.
"You're a bona fide genius!" she said. "I'm gonna need about 500 of your man-catching beignets for my ball tonight.
"Excuse me, Daddy." Charlotte said, pulling out lots of dollars from her dad's wallet. "Will this about cover it?"
Tiana's eyes widen when she saw the money that was placed in her hands.
"This should cover it just fine, Lottie. This is it! I'm getting my restaurant!"
From inside the kitchen, Buford watched in both shock and disbelief at what was happening.
"Oh, tonight, my prince is finally coming." Charlotte exclaimed as she pushed her dad out the door. "And I sure as heck ain't letting him go!"
Once the La Bouffs had left the cafe, my sisters and I stared at the beignet plate, then at each other.
"DIBS!" we all called, fighting over the beignets, not knowing that at the far side of the cafe, a dark-clothed man peeked through his menu, smiling slyly…at his shadow!