Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: HAPPY (almost) BIRTHDAY VELVEEEEEEEETA. So I have this super duper super aversion to "Text Speak" it irritates me to death. Lanie and Kate have inherited this trait. They text in full sentences, without abbreviations, and with some semblance of grammar. So I nearly wrote this out to be the scene from Waitress where Keri teaches Nathan how to make a pie, except with cupcakes. It's gonna be a little similar at one point, but then I make no promises for anything else. So the Chinese that you suddenly find yourself reading is most likely a phonetic spelling, and not a proper way of putting that on paper. It says, though, "Oh, this is a happy development..." It's one of Captain Mal's lines in "Train Job." So, if any of you know Mandarin, and would like to tell me how to properly insert that in here, please drop me a PM or send it in a review. :)
Kate carefully pulled at the paper wrapper on the chocolate cupcake, whoever had made these cupcakes did a horrible job. They were dry, and crumbling. Not her idea of a tasty treat. Giving up on trying to salvage any of the sweet she dumped it in the nearby trash bin.
"What are you putting in the circular file?"
"One of the cupcakes Lanie brought over."
"Oh... cupcakes?" he edged closer to the box ready to grab one.
"You don't want one. Trust me," she picked at the little crumbs of cake lodged under her nail.
"No good?" he pouted.
"Horrible. I don't know where she got them, but she needs to not do that again."
"Maybe she made them and you just insulted your best friend's baking abilities," he pinned her to the counter.
"Lanie could be a pastry chef if she didn't like dead guys so much," she gave him a cross look.
"Right," he backed off, "Lanie made a bad purchase. Got it. What are they for?"
"Dunno," she opened the fridge.
"What are you looking for?" he peered in over her shoulder.
"I want a cupcake. Making sure we had everything," she checked in the cabinet and then turned to him, "I need you to go to the store."
"But... you're making cupcakes..."
"I can't make them until you get back from the store."
"What do you need?"
"Cake flour," she waited while he tapped it out on the note app on his phone, "chocolate bar... get dark if you can," she waited again, "buttermilk," another pause, "Got it?"
"It's so hot that you don't need a box of cake mix," he kissed her and ran for his shoes.
"Hey, get a thing of cream cheese frosting, and a thing of chocolate frosting."
He added them to his list, "I will be back soon."
"Counting on it," she grabbed the large cardboard box and dumped the remaining cupcakes into the trash. She collapsed the box and stuck it in the recycling. After he left she got out the bowls, the other dry ingredients, and the other utensils she'd need. She then got a pan out, filled it with water and set it on the stove. As an afterthought she pulled out the butter to soften. Satisfied with the prep stage she picked her phone and texted Lanie.
Thanks for the bricks.
A few minutes later she heard the ping.
Huh?
It was getting harder to distinguish Lanie from Esposito.
The did they come from?
She chuckled when she got the reply.
Javi's mom dropped them off. I'm still trying to get back into shape (totally hate you, girl) so I just brought 'em straight to you. That bad?
She tapped out a quick response.
They could suck up the Hudson and still be dry.
She turned her head to the stairs at the sound of a cry.
Gotta go Lanie, I've been summoned.
Kate sat her phone down, and it immediately beeped.
Since when does Writer-Boy summon you?
Kate couldn't let this one go.
Writer-Man. He went to the store. :p
With one last chuckle she sat the phone down.
Tell Emmy her favorite Aunt Lanie says hi!
Kate scurried up the stairs, and picked her baby girl up, "Hey, pretty girl." She hummed a song as she went over to the rocker and sat in it. "Your Aunt Lanie said to tell you hello," she grinned at the baby and tickled her stomach.
Emily giggled and blinked. She started cooing at Kate.
"I know, I know, you don't care what anyone has to say. You only care that they say it to you," she smoothed Emily's curls back. She continued her humming and started to rock. Emily was asleep again in no time, but Kate continued rocking. She lost track of time.
"Way better than cupcakes."
Kate's head snapped up, "Didn't you... How long have I been up here?"
He shrugged, "I've been watching you for a few minutes. I was gone for maybe thirty? So... Wherever the math works in there."
She nodded, "Are you ready for your cupcakes?"
"Hey, I already told you this was way better than cupcakes," he walked from where he was leaning on the doorway over to her, "But... if you are offering..."
"I am," she handed Emily over and stood up, "Don't wake her up."
"Why would I do such a thing?" He followed her out of the nursery and down the stairs.
She finally answered at the bottom, "Why do you do a lot of things?"
"Point," he stood back and watched her work.
She turned the stove on under the pot and waited for the water to boil, once it was rolling she set up the rest of her double boiler. She smashed up the chocolate bar and then dumped the crumbled pieces from the wrapper and into the heated glass bowl, "Can you get the buttermilk out? It needs to be room temperature."
He pulled the jug out of the fridge and placed it on the counter, "Did your mom teach you this recipe?"
"No... I taught it to her," Kate's smile was bittersweet, "She could do anything in the kitchen except bake." She stirred the chocolate pieces and watched them melt down into a thick syrup.
"Where'd you learn it then?"
"My grandmother," she pulled the bowl from the stove with the potholders and killed the heat. She sat the bowl aside to cool, and moved on to her dry ingredients, "Go lay her down."
"Why?" he moved back toward the stairs.
"So I can teach you how to make them," she smiled warmly.
"You should teach Alexis," he responded from the top of the stairs.
"I already did," she turned to watch him disappear into Emily's room. He was back a few minutes later.
He quickly washed his hands, "What first?"
"One cup of the granulated sugar, and one cup of the brown," she waited until he dumped them in, "Whisk them together, until they are blended good."
He mixed the sugar up, "How's that?"
She leaned in. "Looks good, now..." she picked up the pastry blender, "two sticks of the butter," she stood to one side and watched him carefully unwrap the butter.
"In the bowl?" At he nod he dumped them in.
She pulled the bowl over and began the rather tedious process of creaming the butter and sugar, "We could use the mixer for this part, but I don't like to."
He wrapped his arms around and rested his chin on her shoulder, "Again, with the hot thing."
"Give me your hand," she stopped and waited for him to comply. Once it was there she placed the blender in his hand. Then wrapped hers around it, "It's a pretty easy motion, but your arm gets tired fast," she started moving their hands.
"I bet," he allowed her to lead his hand. He stopped when she let go.
"Try on your own," she leaned back into him and watched as he worked, "Look at you, you're a natural."
"I have a good teacher," he kissed the side of her head.
"Let me see how soft it is," she took the blender back from him and tested the mixture. "Okay, time for the eggs and the chocolate," she traded the blender for the whisk, "When I tell you to add one egg at a time."
"Got it, he picked an egg up and waited for his command.
"Okay," she started stirring as soon as the gooey mess hit the mixture, once it was stirred in well she asked for the next egg. She repeated this process until all four eggs had been added.
"Now what?"
"I need you to mix two cups of the cake flower with one teaspoon of baking soda. In another bowl I need you to mix one cup of the buttermilk with one teaspoon of vanilla," she started stirring the melted chocolate into the bowl.
"Just leave them sitting?" He started measuring and mixing his ingredients.
"Yeah, preheat the oven for me? 350 degrees," She scraped the sides of the chocolate bowl to get it all into the batter.
"Done," he wrapped his arms around her again.
"I need one third of the flour mixture," she waited while he slowly dumped the mix out, "Okay, that's good." She stirred the flour until it was all blended in.
"More?" he picked the bowl up again.
"No, buttermilk this time, add half of it."
He sat the bowl back down and grabbed the buttermilk mixture, he poured half into the bowl, and watched her stir it in, "Now more flour?"
"Now," she moved the whisk to the other side so he could pour, and then she blended. He poured in the rest of the liquid ingredients after she stopped.
"I'm catching on," he grinned.
"You are," she stopped and waited for the last of the flour. Once it was all blended together she stuck her finger in the bowl.
"I think you're supposed to eat the leftover batter, not the batter itself."
She pulled it out, "Geez, just a taste test," she offered him her finger.
He gladly accepted the offering and cleaned the batter off of her finger, slowly, "That's really good."
"Good," she grabbed her own bite with another finger, "I need to get the pans ready. I can't do that with you stuck to me."
He reluctantly let her go, "I love you."
She smiled as she pulled out the cupcake trays, "I love you too."
"Here," he pulled the cup liners out of the cabinet behind him and handed them over.
"Thanks," she quickly dropped each silicone liner in and turned back to him, "Each cup gets one leveled off ice cream scoop. She demonstrated one for him, "Got it?"
"Yes," he slowly but surely got the other 23 cupcakes measured out, "How long in the oven?"
"I'll check them in twenty minutes," she pulled a jar of peanut butter from the cabinet and scooped some out into the tub of cream cheese frosting.
"You can do that?" He placed each tray in the oven.
"Yes," she blended the icing and peanut butter together and offered him the fork, "You can do just about anything to cream cheese icing."
He cleaned it off, "You are so cool."
Kate laughed and sat the tub aside, "Now we clean the bowl."
They made quick work of what was left in the bowl, and then started washing everything. They got done just in time to check the cupcakes. Kate grabbed a toothpick, opened the oven and stabbed the cupcake with the highest peak.
"Murderer!" he joked.
She rolled her eyes and pulled out the toothpick, it was still a bit gooey, "Not done yet." She closed the oven and dumped the toothpick in the trash, "Close though."
"I can't wait to eat these."
"Sometimes I forget you're just an overgrown child," she chided.
"You love me that way."
"Yes, I do," she smiled and sat two cooling racks up on the counter.
"Go ahead and pull them out?"
"Yeah," she waited for him sit the pans on the racks, "Will you survive for another twenty minutes without cupcakes?"
"It's possible, why?"
"They have to cool before you can frost them," she lifted an eyebrow at him.
"I'm not that impatient," he sat at the counter.
"You are too," she sat beside him.
"Not," he quickly tickled her side.
She yelped and jumped off the stool, "That was uncalled for." She put distance between them and watched him warily.
"I'm sorry," he slid of his stool and walked toward her with his arms outstretched.
She smiled and hugged him, "Just don't do it again. I'd hate to have to get rid of these cupcakes before you can even get one.
"I will be on my best behavior."
"I'll remember that," she went and checked the cupcakes, "Get your finger out of that frosting Richard Castle."
He pulled the digit back, "Sorry."
She stood guard over the cupcakes and frosting. He eventually went to his office and moped the remainder of his twenty minutes away with a quick authoring of some Nikki and Rook fan fiction. He got so engrossed in his story, that she brought the cupcake to him.
"Here's your mountain, Mohammed," she placed the cupcake next to his laptop, "What are you writing?"
"Nothing," he grabbed the cupcake and peeled the paper away.
"You were writing, what was it again? Nooki smut? Weren't you?"
"It wasn't smut this time. Nikki was teaching Rook how to make homemade bread."
"Seriously? How... domestic."
"Says the woman who just made cupcakes... from scratch."
"Yeah, but bread is way more involved. A lot more time, and you need to knead, and then letting it rise..."
"Wait, wait, wait. How am I just finding out these things about you? We've known each other for how long? And we've been married for four years, what's going on here?"
"A girl has to keep some secrets," she came around to his side of the desk, "Otherwise Nikki is just a boring girl."
"You are far from boring, Kate. I bet if I looked up interesting, fascinating, riveting, captivating, enthralling, appealing, attractive, amusing, entertaining, intriguing, or any other number of synonyms for 'interesting' up in the dictionary I'd see your face."
"I hate it when you do that," she rubbed at her eyes to will the tears not to fall. With shiny eyes she sat down on the edge of the desk.
"You love it when I do that," he took a bite of the cupcake, "Oh, juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan..."
"I don't speak, Chinese."
"This is the best cupcake I have ever had," he tugged her off the desk and into his lap, "There isn't an ounce of that statement that was hyperbolic or even slightly exaggerated."
"I'm glad you like it," she smiled and leaned into him.
"You're extraordinary, Kate," he kissed her forehead and let her pick at the rest of his cupcake, "You know that you're gonna have to do a lot of baking now right?"
She rolled her eyes, grabbed the cupcake, and smeared the icing down his nose, "Watch it."