A/N: So it was apparently 3 years ago when I did my last Valentine's Day event (I literally thought it was last year, omg xD). So it's about time we do another one! So I asked for advice on what sort of event to do this year and got 2 ideas, one involving a look at past Valentine's Days growing up and one involving sweets. And I like both, so we're gonna do both! I'm going to try to do a fic a day until Valentine's Day (or possibly even for the week afterwards, we'll see), but that'll obviously depend on time constraints and work and such.


The Sweets Shop

Part 1: Valentine's Day 1996

All right, Leni was pretty sure she'd remembered everything. Ludwig had been changed and his milk was in the fridge, ready for his next meal in a couple of hours. All of the emergency numbers were written down on the chalkboard by the phone, including the number of the restaurant they'd be visiting and the hotel they'd be staying at tonight. Mike had told her not to worry about meals for Gill, since she was more than happy to take care of those. Gill was currently in the living room, finishing up her daily allotment of television time, while Ludwig was in his swing. Leni could hear the faint sounds of toys being rattled and happy coos through the baby monitor that she'd set up beside him, so there was nothing to worry about there.

And as for herself, she'd taken her shower earlier today while the two of them were down for their nap and had just finished up her make-up and hair. All she had left was the dress.

Although she'd wait to put that on until after Mike got here, which according to the clock should be any minute now.

She walked into the living room and immediately gained the attention of Gillian, who looked up from the television screen and broke into a bright smile. "Mutti!" She climbed down from the couch and hurried across the room, wrapping her arms around Leni's legs in a hug.

Another good reason to avoid putting the dress on just yet. Leni didn't want to have to avoid her baby's hugs just so she didn't ruin her outfit. She smiled and knelt down, pulling the squirming bundle of excitement into her arms. "Hi, Gilly. Are you ready to have fun with Mike tonight?"

Mike was honestly a saint for doing this. She'd asked Leni a while ago if she and Luca were planning anything for Valentine's Day, and when she'd responded with a no, Mike had practically insisted that they make plans for the night. She was more than willing to watch Gill and Ludwig so the two of them could spend time together. Which was wonderful, since Leni couldn't even remember how long it'd been since their last actual date. It was one of the things that had just kind of stopped after Ludwig was born, particularly once Leni had returned to work.

Not that she cared most of the time, since she loved spending her time with her little angels, but she had to admit that she was excited. Particularly since Luca had gone to a friends' place after work today so she could spend the afternoon primping without spoiling the surprise.

Which just made the whole evening more exciting.

Gill nodded in response to her question and then took a step back and tugged on her sleeve, motioning toward the corner of the room where her drawing station was set up. "See picture, Mutti!"

Leni nodded. "Let me get Ludwig first, so he can see the picture too." He was very calmly sitting in his swing, sucking on his fingers and watching them. Although he immediately kicked his feet and popped the fingers out of his mouth when he noticed her turn her attention on him.

"And how's my little guy doing?"

He cooed and kicked again, staring up at her as she lifted him up into her arms. "You wanna see the picture that your big sister drew?"

He laid his head against her chest, fingers immediately returning to his mouth as he nuzzled against her.

"Mutti, my picture!" Gill exclaimed impatiently. Leni laughed and turned to look at the desk, which was covered in a mess of crayons and a large sheet of paper covered in blue scribbles.

"That's a pretty drawing, Gilly. Did you make it for Mike?"

Gill nodded proudly and pointed toward the biggest mess of scribbles. "Benny!"

Well, that definitely explained the blue. She turned so Ludwig was looking at the drawing. "What do you think, Luddy? Isn't your sister a great artist?"

Gill preened at the praise and then screamed "Mike!" at the sound of the doorbell ringing, hurrying as fast as her little legs could take her toward the door. "Mike! Mike!"

"Wait up, Gilly!" Leni giggled as she followed her daughter toward the door. Ludwig looked up at her and then reached up toward her ears. "No, no, baby. Don't pull on Mutti's earrings." She'd forgotten that she'd already put the dangles in... That was one thing you definitely didn't want to wear around babies.

Gillian was waiting impatiently at the front door. "Mutti! Mike!"

"I'll get it, baby." She kept one hand wrapped around Ludwig's free fist to keep him from tugging on her earring as she opened the door with the other. "Hello, Mike. Thank you so much for this."

Mike was standing on the porch with a large wrapped package held in her arms. She immediately flashed Leni a warm smile and then laughed as Gill immediately darted past her mother and attached to her leg. "Hello there, Gilly."

Gill looked up, eyes immediately widening as she noticed the package. "Cake?"

Mike had a tendency to spoil her daughter a little bit. Leni figured that it was okay, since it wasn't like any of her actual grandparents had any desire to fill that role.

The woman chuckled and reached down to ruffle Gill's hair. "I did bring cake! A special Valentine's Day cake for you to share with your Mommy and Daddy when they get back from their date!"

Gill looked like all of her wildest dreams had just come true. "Cake!" She released Mike's leg as the woman stepped into the room and then immediately grabbed onto the bottom of her skirt as if to make sure she didn't run away with the promised cake.

Mike sent Leni a smile. "I should be thanking you, Leni. You know I love spending time with Gilly and Ludwig."

She really did, too. Leni honestly had no idea what it had been that had drawn her to the woman when they'd first met. She'd been walking through the park with Gill—she'd been a tiny baby at the time, probably around the same age that Ludwig was now—when she'd noticed a woman sitting alone. Something had immediately drawn her to her, something about her posture maybe. She'd just looked so sad and broken...

She'd just lost her son. That's what she'd found out... His name had been Scotty and he'd only been twenty-three. She couldn't even imagine, especially when she considered how she'd feel if anything happened to her own babies. And Mike had lost her husband only a few years before.

This woman was probably the strongest person that Leni had ever met. It was one of the reasons why she hadn't argued against her watching the kids tonight, though. While part of her felt like she shouldn't take advantage of Mike's generosity, most of her understood that no matter how strong you were, sometimes there were nights when you needed to avoid being alone.

"All right, so I just need to get my dress on. Luca should be here soon. The emergency numbers are all written by the phone. This little guy's been chang..." And his hand suddenly escaped from her grip and he immediately latched onto the earring. "Ow!"

Thank God for Mike's fast reflexes, as she immediately darted in and grabbed the fist before he could tug. "No, no, sweetie. Don't hurt Mommy." She gently pried his fingers away from his prize and laughed, motioning toward the cake she was still holding. "Want to swap?"

"Yeah," Leni felt a little embarrassed as Mike handed her the cake and took Ludwig into her own arms. "Sorry. I forgot I had them in."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetie. Scotty managed to almost rip out my nose ring when he was a baby. Now that hurts like hell."

Somehow Leni didn't doubt that. "All right..." What had she been talking about? "I changed Ludwig just a little while ago and he's been fed so he should be good for a few hours. His milk is in the fridge; it's all labeled. He's gotten a lot better about taking a bottle when I'm not here, so that shouldn't be a problem. Gill's already watched TV today, so I'd rather it stay off until she's in bed..."

"That won't be a problem. Go ahead and get ready."

"Mike, I drew Benny! See! See!" Gill tugged on her skirt, motioning toward her drawing table.

That was probably Leni's cue to finish getting ready. She kissed Ludwig on the head, grateful that he seemed to be content with the trade-off, and then headed into the kitchen. The cake went on the counter, far from the edge where a certain curious little toddler might grab at it. Then she headed into her bedroom.

She'd made sure to hide the dress in the very back of their closet, where Luca would be unlikely to find it. The place where they were going for dinner tonight was very formal, which she knew Luca had done more for her than himself, since he wasn't a huge fan of formal dinnerware.

Although she rather expected that this dress would change his mind. It was probably the most gorgeous dress she'd ever owned, golden sequins, with silver around the collar and down the open back. The slit went just a little past what most would consider decent. And of course she'd bought new lingerie and golden heels to complete the outfit.

She may enjoy dressing up for her husband just a bit. Especially when he had absolutely no idea what she was going to be wearing...

It didn't actually take that long to finish getting ready; she just had to take a couple minutes to touch up her make-up and hair and then admire herself in front of their full-length mirror and then she was ready to go.

"Pretty!"

And it really helped with a woman's self-confidence when that was the first word out of her baby girl's mouth when she walked into the living room. Mike had apparently been in the middle of showing her all the toys that she'd brought for her to play with, but now the girl's attention was completely captured by her mother.

Mike just laughed from her spot on the couch. "Poor Luca. That man isn't going to know what hit him."

And Leni grinned and spun around. "That's what I'm hoping for."

Even Ludwig was watching her from his walker, eyes wide as he watched the light shimmer off her dress. He cooed as she walked over and leaned down to give him a kiss on the top of his head. "You be good for Mike, baby. And you keep an eye on your sister."

"Shiny!" Gill grabbed at the fabric for a moment when Leni moved in to give her a kiss on the top of her head, but then released it so she could use the back of the couch to climb to her feet. Mike automatically moved her hands in front of her in case she fell.

"'Skimo kiss, Mutti!" She closed her eyes and waited.

Leni felt like the luckiest woman in the entire world as she smiled and then rubbed her nose against her daughter's... "Eskimo kiss for Gilly. You be a good girl for Mike. Mutti and Vati will be back tomorrow. I love you."

And there was the doorbell. Trust Luca to be punctual as ever. She caught a mischievous smirk from Mike as she stood upright and reached to check her hair before she turned to the door. "Bye bye, Gilly!"

"Bye bye, Mutti!"

And now was the moment of truth. Leni grinned to herself as she slowly pulled the door open.

Luca was standing on the porch, all dressed up in suit and tie—a tie which she could tell he'd definitely tied himself—and was holding a bouquet of roses. His mouth opened as if he were about to march his way into a rehearsed speech.

Except then he laid eyes on her and he squeaked instead, a flush immediately crossing his cheeks as he stared at her, open-mouthed.

Oh, this was going to be wonderful.


A/N: Leni, you diabolical, wonderful woman you. XD Poor Luca (except no, that's a lie).

Also! This story is actually accurate to the timeline! Like, the timeline that I've never actually followed before. HOLY SHIT, I KNOW. ME, PAYING ATTENTION TO TIMELINES?! WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO!?

Yeah, so fun fact, Ludwig was born Oct 1995 and Gill was born Jan 1994. So they're actually almost 2 years apart in age. Does this work with ANYTHING else I've written in this series? NOPE. NOT EVEN A BIT. Math and I are not friends. Orz

I feel like I should go and actually do the math to figure out exactly how far apart everyone is in age, but then I'd probably end up depressed because the accuracy is so non-existent. (I'll probably do it anyway, though, because I want to see if I can actually make this particular story timeline accurate... Schooling will probably make that not possible, since their ages don't make any sense in regards to what grades they're in, but meh.)

If there's anyone that you particularly want to see at any particular age/point in time, let me know!

Also, the dress that Leni's wearing is gorgeous. I'll post a picture of what I based it off of on my tumblr right after I post this.