Mathew rolled up his sleeves before washing his hands in the warm water. Ludwig's plane would be landing in a few hours and he hadn't even started his Christmas baking. He was just about to start mixing the dough for sugar cookies when he heard his front door open.
"You home, bro?" Al called from the door.
"In the kitchen." Mathew called to his twin.
"Baking?" Al smiled leaning over the counter.
"Yeah, I want to finish my sugar cookies before Ludwig gets here-"
"Why is he coming?"
"Business, I figured I should have something to offer him though. What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to make sure you got an invitation to my Christmas party."
"I did, but if that's all then you could have called or even texted me."
"I could have, but I also wanted to give you an early gift."
"And what would that be?"
"Help with your Christmas baking." Al said rolling up his own sleeves and washing his hands.
"So what you mean is you want me to give you an early gift, my cookies."
Al hummed and glanced at the recipe. "If you say so, now where do we begin?"

Baking with Alfred was always an adventure, after Mathew cleaned up the flour off the floor they sat at the table together drinking hot chocolate waiting for the cookies to finish in the oven.
"Are they ready yet?"
"They've only been in there for five minutes." Mathew laughed.
"What time is Ludwig landing?" Alfred asked, trying to stop thinking about the cookies in the oven.
"Two-"
"Why did you say he was coming again?" Al asked, sipping his hot chocolate.
"Just some business-"
"In December?"
"The world doesn't stop for the holidays." Mathew shrugged.
"What business is it?"
"None of yours." Mathew responded shortly. The oven beeped and Mathew grabbed his oven mitts.
"They smell good." Al remarked.
Mathew pulled the cookies from the oven and let them sit for a while before grabbing one for him and his brother so they could each have one to try.
Both twin's faces twisted up as they tasted the cookies.
"Is the recipe you usually use?" Al asked.
"Yeah, I've never had a problem before."
Mathew scrunched up his face and went back into the kitchen to examine the bag of sugar. It was still unopened.
"You forgot to put the sugar in the sugar cookies." Mathew laughed.
"I thought you did it."
"I was cleaning up the vanilla you spilled on the counter." Mathew was still laughing. He tossed the cookies into the green bin and shrugged.
"I'll make more and bring you some on the weekend." Mathew offered. "I need to go pick up Ludwig from the airport." Mathew sighed.
"Alright, I'll see you this weekend." Al smiled.
Mathew followed his twin from the house, heading to the airport.