=::= Dad's PoV =::=

I added a scoop of home-fries onto the plate before placing it next to the others already waiting under the hot-lamps, then I took a second to double-check the order against the ticket. Steak and eggs, medium rare and sunny side up. Spinach and cheese omelette. Kid's combo, sunny side up with bacon. Kid's french toast.

Everything looked good so I tapped the little bell with the bottom of my spatula, then my focus returned to the grill and the half dozen other tickets I had open in front of me. It took less than a minute for Maureen to arrive, and without a word she started loading the four plates onto her tray.

As she did so I asked, "How's it looking out there? Any sign of letting up?"

"If you mean the weather then nope," she replied. "Snow's still coming down like gangbusters. If you mean the dining room, then also nope. Every table's full and we've got two groups waiting by the door."

Any other day and that would have been good news. But any other day I wouldn't have been short-staffed, and I wouldn't have had to ask my trans daughter to come in and face an endless stream of grumpy hungry strangers all looking for their morning coffee and an excuse to complain about something. So as much as the business relied on Sundays like this, today it was more of a mixed blessing.

There was something else I wanted to know, and I was hoping Maureen would volunteer it. Unfortunately it seemed like she wasn't going to make it easy for me. So I went ahead and asked, "How's Krissy doing?"

"She's doing alright," Maureen responded. "Bit frazzled but that's to be expected, throwing her into the deep end like this. She's managing her tables though. She's still only looking after eight of them, I'm taking care of the rest."

I finally turned around and asked, "Has anyone caused problems? Anyone given her a hard time?"

The older woman shook her head, "Not that I've noticed? Don't worry boss, I'm keeping an eye out for your little girl. I might not understand what she's going through, but I know how important she is to you and I'll be damned if I let anyone hurt her."

Hearing her say that melted my heart a little. Especially after she apologized for slipping up when Krissy first arrived.

"Anyways I ain't got time to stand around talking here, I've got work to do!" she added as she turned and hurried out with the order.

"Thanks Maureen," I said to myself after she'd gone.

Of all my staff she'd been working for me the longest. Almost ten years now, and while she could be rough around the edges at times she was a good woman at heart. She owned up to her mistakes and she was willing to learn from them, and ontop of that she was a damn good waitress. She knew the regulars and they knew her, she could be warm and tender dealing with little kids and she could be tough as nails if someone was looking for trouble.

About the only criticism I had for her was the woman desperately needed glasses but was too stubborn or proud to get them. So far that hadn't impacted her ability to do her job though, and while her eyesight wasn't great her hearing was fine and her mind was sharp as a tack. So I kept quiet about the glasses, it wasn't any of my business as long as it didn't affect her work.

In all honesty I counted myself lucky to have her. And knowing she was looking out for Krissy helped me relax a little. But only a little. I knew all too well how much it hurt my girl when people misgendered her, how some innocent little mistake could trigger her dysphoria and send her spiralling into depression.

Last time it happened was right before the winter break, and it just tore me up inside listening to her describe how it felt and how much it hurt. I could almost feel it myself when she told me about it, the stuff she was saying was that relatable it nearly got me crying along with her. Like Maureen said though, Krissy was my little girl so of course I'd share her pain. It was the sort of thing I chalked up to being a good parent.

It was the same back when she first came out to me too. The way she described her feelings and what it meant, the sorts of things she wanted and what she thought about, it was all so clear and relatable. Actually some of it was almost a little too relatable in a way. Some of those websites she linked, memes she forwarded to me, there were things that were familiar enough I got a little uncomfortable about it.

But I pushed all that aside and kept myself focused on what was important. It was about Krissy after all, not me. I made sure she knew it too, anything my little girl needed or anything I could do to help, all she had to do was ask.

By that point I had the next order ready to go, and as usual I gave it all the once-over against the ticket. It was another four-top, but just one kid this time. Eggs-benny poached soft with peameal bacon. Chocolate chip pancakes a-la carte. Kid's pancakes with banana slices. And a regular combo, three strips of bacon and three eggs sunny side up. Then I double-tapped the bell with my spatula before moving back to the grill.

The double-ding was a new idea, something I just started today for my daughter's benefit. Normally it was just one ring and whoever was available would come in and take care of the order. That was too confusing for Krissy though, being her very first time and with the place so busy. So one ding for Maureen's tables and two dings for my little girl.

By the time I turned back to the grill there were already two more tickets waiting in the printer. So I pulled them out and added them to the line-up with one hand while I reached for more eggs with the other. After a dozen years working the grill I had all the moves down pat.

A half minute later I heard the door open behind me as Krissy arrived to collect the waiting order. Before she started moving plates onto her tray I asked, "Hey hon can you do me a favour and get me some things from the fridge? I need another bin of home-fries, more bacon, and two more flats of eggs."

"Sure dad," she replied as she headed for the walk-in fridge. She sounded a little tired but otherwise ok as she asked, "Where are the home-fries again?"

I gestured with my spatula, "Right side, second shelf. The bacon will be on the shelf above that, and you can't miss the eggs."

"Got it," she replied from inside the big fridge.

While she was doing that I asked, "How's it going out there? Are you doing ok?"

Krissy shrugged as she came back out of the fridge carrying a two-gallon plastic bin full of diced half-baked potato chunks in both hands with a tray of bacon slices balanced on top, "It's busy but I guess it's ok? Nobody's complained. Yet. Mostly they're all just focused on their food and stuff."

"Good," I smiled. "I owe you for this honey. Big time."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she placed the supplies down on the counter next to my grill, "Don't worry about it dad, I'm happy just to help. And I'm glad nothing's gone horribly wrong, I just hope it stays that way."

"Fingers crossed," I smiled at her again while she went back into the fridge to get the eggs.

After placing them next to the rest of the food my girl gathered up her order and headed out to deliver it. A quick glance at the clock told me we were already more than half-way through the brunch crowd already. Five minutes past eleven, and the Sunday rush usually tapered off around two in afternoon.

We survived the eight o'clock breakfast rush just fine, now we were in the middle of the big one. We had folks who'd just got out of church and wanted a nice Sunday treat, plus folks who slept in and were looking for a relaxing brunch. This time of year we also got families who'd just finished with their kid's hockey practice and were looking for a good hearty meal.

There'd be another surge between noon and two, a combination of folks looking for a late brunch and others looking for lunch entrees instead, but that tended to be lighter than the first two. I wasn't quite ready to relax just yet, but it felt like maybe we were going to get through the day without anything going -

My train of thaught was suddenly derailed as I heard the distinctive sound of something shattering out in the dining room.

"Ah well," I winced. "Had to happen sooner or later."

It almost seemed like tradition, every waiter or waitress I'd ever worked with always seemed to drop at least one dish on their first day. Heck I even did it myself way back when I started working in the restaurant business. I knew Maureen would take care of things, I just hoped Krissy wouldn't be too upset about it. It was definitely a 'these things happen' kind of situation though.

Best case scenario it was an empty plate on its way back, or maybe a coffee cup or saucer. Worst case it was part of that order I just sent out. I sure hoped it wasn't the eggs benny, that took the most time to get right. Whatever it was, I knew either Maureen or Krissy would be back here in a few seconds to tell me if I needed to replace someone's breakfast in a big hurry. Most customers were understanding and patient whenever it happened, and we'd always give them the meal for free regardless, to make up for the inconvenience and any extra wait time.

Except it took a little longer than usual for anyone to come into the kitchen. It was well over a minute before the door swung open behind me, and when I turned I found both Maureen and Krissy coming through. My daughter headed straight past me for the office and the staff washroom, while Maureen set a tray full of empty dishes down by the washing station then grabbed the broom and dustpan.

"What happened?" I asked as I glanced after my daughter then looked to Maureen. "Is everything all right?"

The older woman scowled, "Some wise-ass made a little scene and mouthed off at Krissy."

"What?!" I almost roared as my fist tightened around the handle of my spatula. I was halfway from the grill to the dining room door before Maureen stopped me.

"Down papa-bear!" she stated as she blocked my path with the broom. "A couple of your girl's customers already chased the asshole out the front door. Now I've got some tidying up to do, and you've got a whole lotta eggs on that griddle you need to keep an eye on. Or we'll have an even bigger mess on our hands."

"I'll be back to check on your little girl in a minute," Maureen added as she moved past me and through the door to the dining room.

"Thanks Maureen," I sighed as she left.

It still took me a couple deep breaths to calm down, not to mention a whole hill of willpower to stick to my work instead of going to check on my little girl myself. Maureen was right though, the last thing we needed was for me to burn the half-dozen tickets I currently had on the grill.

By the time she got back after tidying up whatever broke out front I had two more tickets up and waiting under the hot-lamps. A pair of grand slam specials for table twelve, and a bacon-cheddar omelet and french toast for table seven.

"Can you check on Krissy please, before you take those orders out?" I asked her as she put the broom and dustpan away.

"Already on it boss," she answered smoothly as she continued on into the office.

A minute or so later they both came out together. My little girl's face was red like she'd been crying, but she'd already cleaned herself up. The only real damage was she'd had to remove some of her make-up, mostly around her eyes. Luckily her foundation and lipstick still looked good, since I knew she was sensitive about that. Especially the concealing cover-up that she used to hide evidence of her facial hair.

"Hey honey," I asked softly. "How are you doing? Maureen said someone mouthed off?"

Krissy made a face, "Some asshole made some nasty comments and used a transmisic slur while I was serving that last order. Things had been going so well up till then, it was more of a shock than anything else? Then two of the girls at that table I'd just served stood up for me and went after the guy..."

Her eyes widened slightly as she lowered her voice, "I don't know what they said or did, but from the look on that guy's face I swear he had the fear of God in him or something. It's weird because the girls don't seem the least bit scary. One's kind of tall but not even my height, but the one who really sent him packing was really petite! Anyways they chased him off then sat back down with their friends to enjoy their meal."

"They eat free," I stated without a second thought. "The whole table, on the house. Whatever they want. And please tell them I said thank you."

Then I added, "Are you going to be ok to keep working hon?"

"Yeah dad," she nodded. "I'm ok now. Honestly, knowing the other customers were on my side instead of his made a huge difference."

I gave her a quick hug as I told her, "Most of our customers are good people. If you're sure you're up for it, table seven is up. And I better get back to my cooking."

"Thanks dad," Krissy responded as she hugged me back.

Maureen gave us both a warm smile, then she and Krissy loaded up their trays and headed out into the dining room. Meanwhile I rolled up my sleeves and got back to work at my grill.

PurpleCatGirl

If you're enjoying our work and you'd like to support us, please consider joining our patreon & get early access to new chapters -- and new stories! Patrons have already seen how this story ends and started reading the next big thing, and you could too!
https://www.patreon.com/purplecatgirl