"Can I help?" Eren asked his mother, who was creaming some egg and sugar in a bowl for his and Mikasa's birthday cake. All the ingredients were on plates on the table, perfectly organised. Carla Jaeger always baked with as much precision as she could.
Since Eren and Mikasa had birthdays were so close, they decided to celebrate it together; ten days after hers, ten days before his.
"Of course you can, dear." His mother said. "You can start by washing those strawberries for me,"
"Yuck! What do we need them for?" He asked. In his opinion, fruit and cake didn't belong together.
"We're going to use them to decorate the cake." She told him. "They're Mikasa's favourite."
"Where is Mikasa anyway?" He said as he brought the plate of strawberries to the sink. He hadn't seen her since this morning.
"She's outside. I checked on her a little while ago, but I think it's best if she gets a little time to herself right now." She explained while separating the eggs. Eren could only imagine how hard it must be for her, having to celebrate her birthday without her parents for the first time, or even anytime. It probably sucks. Or at least he thinks so, but he wouldn't really know.
"But then she won't get to lick the bowl, and that's the best part!" He exclaimed.
"Tell you what, when we're finished, you can go bring some to her."
"Okay." He said, putting the strawberries back on the table. "What else can I do?"
She told him to help her sieve the flour, and soon when they added everything together, they folded it into a cake tin and put it in the oven.
Eren went straight away to find Mikasa, with the bowl as well as the two spoons his mother told him to bring. She said there was no way they could eat this with their hands. Honestly, he was surprised she was okay with them eating the batter at all. Usually she wouldn't let them, in case they got sick. He supposed this was a special occasion.
Eren found her sitting on the front door step looking down at the ground, her scarf up to her nose. She glanced up when he sat down beside her.
"Do you want some?" He asked, handing her a spoon. She took it, pulled her scarf down from her face, and began scraping the inside of the bowl for some of the batter with him.
"My Mom said we're putting strawberries on top of the cake." He said before oeating a spoonful of the batter. "And Armin should be here soon enough." She just nodded along.
"I saw the present Mom got for you. I think you'll like it." He told her. "Aren't you wondering what you got?" She shook her head.
"Not really." She said quietly. "I like surprises." He laughed.
"You kind of got the short end of the stick, didn't you?" Eren said. "Having to wait ten days after your birthday to get you presents."
"I don't mind that much." She told him, putting her spoon in the bowl as they finished. "Hmm. You've a lot more patience than me, then." He said, making a tiny smile appear on her face.
As Carla finished singing, Eren and Mikasa blew out the candles.
"Happy Birthday, kids." Carla said as she handed them a present each. Mikasa glanced at Eren as he unwrapped his and tried on his new green jumper.
"Thanks Mom!" Eren said as he hugged her. Mikasa unwrapped her present and found a pink cardigan. She put it on, and it was soft and warm.
"Thank you, Mrs. Jaeger." She said.
"You're welcome dear." She said as she wrapped her arms around the little girl.
"Do you like it?" Eren asked. She nodded, smiling at him. "I had a feeling you would. Mom was going to get you a red one to match your scarf, but I told her that that one was too itchy. And it was. I thought I was getting a rash from just looking at it." She laughed again, think that maybe if every birthday she had from now on was like this, it mightn't be so bad.
Thanks for reading, and sorry again for the delay.
