Haha! So this is my first contest entry for The Village Square forum! Katie X Joe is deffinantly one of my most favorite pairings and as soon as I found out that the theme was festivals, my brain immediately popped up with the idea for this one-shot! :D

Katie had just pulled her cake out of the oven when Joe walked into Café Callaway. She wiped her hands on her dress and pushed the cake to the side to cool. She looked up and smiled at the sight of Joe walking into the café.

"Hi, Joe! Didn't know if I was going to get to see you today with the café's hours being what they are."

"But today is a Tuesday," Joe pointed out. "Didn't you check your calendar today?"

"Oh yeah," Katie thought, "the workshop is closed on Tuesdays…"

"Of course I did!" Katie said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Good, then you will know what today is," said Joe, pulling a box wrapped in pink paper from behind his back. Joe handed the box to Katie and said, "I made you a cake. I'm thankful that you came to work at the café, Katie. By the way, it's chocolate! I hope you like it."

Katie squealed and took the box from Joe. She ripped off the colorful wrapping paper, and opened the white cake box. Inside the box was a chocolate frosted cake decorated with vibrant flowers and the most beautiful icing butterflies she had ever seen.

Joe rubbed the back of his head and explained, "Kurt helped me with the decorating. I guess all of those years of woodwork really helped us to pay attention to detail."

Katie stood there and gawked at the cake. It was so beautiful. "Th- thank you, Joe! It's beautiful! Speaking of cakes, I made you one too!" Katie said as she put down Joe's cake and held out the cake that she made for him. "Happy Thanksgiving, Joe! I'm thankful for you!" Katie said with a big smile on her face.

Joe looked at the un-frosted cake. It was sort of reddish in color. Maybe it was a velvet cake… It looked safe to eat. He sniffed the cake and caught a scent of something sweet, but slightly spicy. Joe reluctantly looked at the cake, and then at Katie's beaming face. He picked up a fork that was sitting on the counter and took a bite.

Immediately, his eyes started to water from the hot and spicy flavor of the cake. What did she put in it? Joe set down the cake as tears started to roll down his face.

"Are you okay?" Katie asked.

Joe shook his head and panted at the intensity of the hot flavor of the cake.

"Stay right here and I'll get you some water," Katie said, already at the sink with a glass. She was back in a flash, with a glass of cool water. Joe grabbed the glass and gulped it down as if he had been wandering a dessert for the past two days. As soon as he finished the water, Joe felt better.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, Joe! I ruined your Thanksgiving. I knew that I shouldn't have added that much hot sauce." Katie said, mumbling that last part to herself.

"I'm fine, but you didn't ruin my Thanksgiving! No day that I get to see you could possibly be ruined. So your cake was a little spicy, but I'm fine now, right?"

Katie nodded, tears spilling from her eyes. Joe walked closer to Katie and gave her a comforting hug. After a minute, he pulled back and pushed a piece of loose hair out of her eyes so that he could see her face.

"You are beautiful, funny, and the most adult person I know that isn't middle aged. You always brighten my day, and tell the best stories. I love you and am so thankful to have you in my life. Don't you ever forget that, okay?"

Katie sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. She looked down at her feet and asked, "Do you really mean that?"

Joe pulled her chin up so that he could look her in the eyes when he said, "I really do! You have no idea how important you are to me Katie! I really appreciate the fact that you even made me a special cake to show that you are thankful for me."

Katie blushed. She twirled her hair with her fingers and said, "Thanks, Joe. You always know just what to say." Katie sniffled a little and Joe pulled her closer into a hug.

"You're welcome. Just promise me one thing: no more hot sauce in any desserts unless the recepie calls. Okay?"

"Okay."

Joe stroked Katie's hair and kissed her forehead. He continued to stroke her hair and said, "I have to go now. I promised Kurt that I would help him make his cake for Dia after I stopped by."

"Okay. May I suggest using popcorn in the cake?"

"I'll keep that in mind," Joe laughed, already at the door.

"Bye, Joe!"

"See you later, Katie!"

As soon as Joe left, Katie jumped up and down squealing with delight. This was easily the best Thanksgiving ever!