"Mommy, Daddy needs a cake for his birthday!"
"I know, Chirsty. That's why we're going to the bakery."
Christy glanced up at her mother with a raised eyebrow. "But the bakery's where you get cookies from."
"Yes, it is," Hilary giggled just once. "But you get cake there, too!"
"Can I get cake?" Tyler asked.
"You'll get cake on Daddy's birthday," Hilary promised. "Just like the rest of us!"
Soon enough, Hilary and the three children were walking into the bakery located in downtown. Hilary had been going there since she was young, and knew the owner very well. The older two children were acquainted with him as well, and were used to receiving free cookies as a gift.
"Ah, Hilary! What a nice surprise!"
"Good afternoon, Lewis!" Hilary greeted with a smile.
"It's a beautiful day outside," Lewis commented, taking a look outside the window. "Were you taking the little ones for a walk?"
"Partly," Hilary giggled. "We actually came here with a purpose!"
"A goal in mind, eh?" Lewis chuckled. "That's just like you! Never very spontaneous, are we?"
"It's not in my nature," Hilary admitted. "But you've known that for quite a while."
"Yes, ever since you were little!" Lewis laughed. "So, what brings you by, then?"
"We need a cake for Daddy's birthday!" Tyler blurted, running up to the counter.
"Well, look at you!" Lewis whistled. "Have you gotten taller since the last time I saw you, little guy?"
"Probably," Tyler replied easily. "I'm gonna be as big as Daddy soon."
"Yes, in his dreams he is," Hilary sighed, shaking her head.
"Mommy, I'm tall!" Tyler argued, holding his arm up in the air. "Look! Look how high up I am!"
"You sure are, little guy," Hilary humored the boy, looking up to catch Lewis's eye. "Three feet off the ground."
Lewis snickered at this. "Ah, he's just looking forward to growing up is all! So, little buddy, do you know how old your Daddy is gonna be?"
"I think like fifty," Tyler answered, holding up all five fingers on his right hand.
"No, he is not turning fifty!" Hilary gasped, her eyes widening. "Tyler, don't tell people that!"
"But I told everyone that," Tyler murmured, looking over his shoulder at his mother. "He's older than me!"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean he's turning fifty," Hilary laughed.
"You've been awfully quiet over there, little girl," Lewis commented, peering over the counter at Christy, who was halfway hiding behind Hilary's legs. "You're still shy?"
"I dunno," Christy mumbled, burying her face in the back of Hilary's knee.
"Yeah, she's still a little timid," Hilary chuckled. "Come on, Christy, you know Lewis! Quit hiding and say hi!"
Christy looked up at Lewis and slowly waved her tiny hand at the baker.
"At least she's nice and quiet," Lewis hummed.
"Not at home she isn't," Hilary breathed. "Everyone else sees her quiet side. But at home? She's just as loud as her brother and sister!"
Lewis grinned and turned his attention onto the stroller in Hilary's grasp. "Not the baby! I've hardly ever heard a peep out of her!"
In her stroller, Haley gurgled and waved her arms in the air, trying to glance back at her mother.
"No, only when she wants something," Hilary confirmed.
"Mommy, come on!" Tyler whined. "We gotta pick out Daddy's cake!"
"Well, for once, he's trying to keep me on track instead of the other way around," Hilary murmured. "You're right, Tyler. I'm sorry. Let's pick the cake!"
"What cake are we gonna get, Mommy?" Christy asked.
Before Hilary could respond, Lewis crowed, "we've got every flavor of cake you could possibly imagine! Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, red velvet, angel food, devil's food, carrot, marble, spice...and that's just the start!"
At this, Christy's eyes widened. "Whoa…that's a lot of cake!"
"Mommy, let's get chocolate!" Tyler suggested.
"No, I don't like chocolate," Christy whined. "Vanilla!"
"Christy, it's not your cake," Hilary reminded the little girl. "We have to get what Daddy likes!"
"I dunno what Daddy likes," Christy murmured.
"Not fruit!" Tyler squeaked, leading Haley to giggle.
"Well, Daddy's favorite is actually the same as Christy's," Hilary commented, smiling at Tyler's last comment. "Vanilla."
"Yay, vanilla!" Christy giggled.
"Nooo," Tyler whined. "Vanilla is icky and boring!"
"I think I could solve this problem," Lewis piped up, beaming at a conflicted looking Hilary. "What if I make you a two tier cake? The lower tier, which is the bigger one, can be made of vanilla cake, and the smaller, top layer will be chocolate! That way, there will be more vanilla than chocolate, but Tyler can still have the flavor he likes!"
"Yeah, do that!" Tyler cheered.
"It is a pretty good idea," Hilary admitted. "Alright, we'll do that."
"Excellent!" Lewis nearly sang. "And what about the inside?"
Tyler's jaw dropped at this. "There's an inside, too?!"
Hilary smirked and shook her head. "You're making his day right now, Lewis. That boy would eat cake all day if I let him."
"Well of course, cake is delicious!" Lewis chuckled.
"What kind of fillings do you got?" Tyler gasped.
"Even more than the kinds of cake I have!" Lewis guffawed. "Chocolate mousse, chocolate fudge, chocolate pudding, buttercream, cannoli cream, cherries, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, hazelnut cream, lemon-"
"I want all of it!" Tyler chirped, interrupting Lewis's long winded list.
"Tyler, sweetie, you can't just stuff all of that into one cake," Hilary giggled.
"So get more cakes," Tyler suggested.
"I don't wanna spend a whole day at the pediatrician after you get a stomach ache, young man," Hilary hummed amusedly. "Nice try, though."
"Well, what're we gonna put inside?" Tyler demanded.
"If the cake has two layers, that means we can pick two different fillings," Hilary explained. "And like you said before, Daddy isn't the biggest fan of fruit. Not when it's being mixed with sugar, anyway. Once I let him eat junk food, you can't put the healthy stuff anywhere near him."
"I think it should have chocolate!" Christy giggled.
"That would probably taste good in the vanilla cake," Hilary agreed. "What kind of chocolate, Christy?"
"Uh…"
"What about chocolate pudding?" Lewis suggested. "Everyone loves that one!"
"You can put pudding in cake?" Tyler marveled.
"You sure can," Lewis confirmed.
"Do that one, Mommy!" Tyler pleaded.
"Alright, that sounds good," Hilary giggled. "Chocolate pudding in the vanilla cake! And for the chocolate…hmm…"
"I think the buttercream tastes the best in chocolate cake," Lewis suggested. "That or the chocolate mousse, but you've already got chocolate pudding in the lower tier."
"That's a good point," Hilary mused. "Alright! Buttercream with the chocolate cake. Easy!"
"And what is the cake going to look like?" Lewis prodded.
"It's gotta have a Beyblade on it!" Tyler cried.
"Of course!" Lewis agreed. "How can I make a cake for the Beyblade that doesn't feature his prized obsession?"
"And make it red, cause that's his favorite color!" Tyler added.
"Nuh uh, Daddy's favorite color is blue!" Christy argued.
"No, it's red," Tyler bit.
"It's blue!" Christy yelled.
"Red!"
"Blue!"
"RED!"
"BLUE!"
Haley let out a loud, indiscernible shriek of her own, leading Tyler and Christy to both cover their ears.
"Well, at least you broke them up," Hilary sighed, patting the now smiling infant's head.
"I see what you mean about Christy's other side," Lewis chuckled nervously.
"Yes, her wily side," Hilary muttered, rubbing her temples.
"Mommy, what's Daddy's favorite color?" Christy demanded.
"He seems to like red and blue about equally," Hilary replied. "Every time I ask him, he seems to switch. So maybe we can make the top cake red, and the bottom cake blue?"
"That is an excellent idea!" Lewis crowed. "I was just about to suggest it myself."
Hilary smirked knowingly at the baker, who snickered in response.
"And it has to have baseball on it!" Tyler continued rattling on.
"Baseball?" Hilary repeated.
"Baseball is me and Daddy's favorite thing," Tyler informed his mother with a smile. "We play it together, and watch it together, and Daddy watches me play it!"
"What about me?" Christy tried with a pout. "I don't like baseball."
"Well, what do you and Daddy like to do together?" Hilary prodded the young girl.
"Daddy takes me to get ice cream!" Christy giggled. "And he gets it all over his face like Haley!"
The baby squeaked upon hearing her name, looking up at Christy with wide, curious eyes.
"Ah, and the baby," Lewis cooed, glancing down at the infant. "What does Tyson do with little Haley?"
"He doesn't change her," Tyler answered, shaking his head.
"Oh, Tyler," Hilary sighed, covering her eyes.
"He plays toys with her!" Christy piped up. "Like rattles and a xylophone!"
"Perfect!" Lewis breathed. "And you, Hilary? What do you two do?"
"They kiss a lot," Tyler complained, sticking his tongue out in obvious disgust.
"Alright, little man, that's enough out of you," Hilary groaned, her entire face turning bright red. "Tyson and I like to just love to watch the sunsets together. And sometimes, he'll just sit by the pond with me and watch the swans.''
"I know exactly what I want to do with this cake!" Lewis exclaimed, pumping his fist. "Yes, I can see it in my head now! It will be very unique and perfectly tailored to him. Your husband will love it!"
"My husband loves anything made out of sugar…or anything edible, really," Hilary laughed nervously. "But I believe you, Lewis. You've never let me down!"
Lewis grinned and nodded. "I will get to work on this right away. When you see it, your eyes are going to shine like all of the stars in the sky!"
"Or we can just eat it!" Tyler suggested excitedly.
"You are just full of answers today, aren't you?" Hilary sighed.
XXX
"Whoa, check it out!"
Tyson's whole face lit up as soon as his birthday cake was placed in front of him. It was a two tier cake, with the larger base cake covered in blue fondant and the top one covered in red. Sitting atop the red cake was a fondant rabbit, smiling and surrounded by little toys that Tyson typically used when playing with Haley: a rattle, a xylophone, a doll, and a tiny replica of Teddy. Surrounding that red layer, all around its circumference, were baseballs. That same action was repeated around the surface of the blue tier, but with ice cream cones instead of baseballs. Sticking out of the top of the blue layer were fondant swans, pressed into sticks that went in alternating heights all the way around. In front of the swan sticks, three baseballs made entirely out of fondant sat on the top of the blue tier, looking exactly like the real things.
"Isn't it amazing?" Hilary giggled. "Lewis worked really hard on it!"
"It's got a bunch of my favorite things on it!" Tyson chuckled. "And you've got a bunch of Haley's toys around. See? There's Teddy! And the baseballs must be for Tyler…and the ice cream cones are for Christy! Aww, and the swans! Those are obviously for my Hilary."
"Don't the baseballs look real, Daddy?" Tyler chirped, pointing at the sugary spheres.
"They do!" Tyson agreed. "They barely look edible! That's so cool!"
"And this one is vanilla with chocolate pudding in it!" Christy giggled, pointing at the blue tier. "And then this one's got chocolate cake with butter inside!"
"Uh, butter?" Tyson murmured, glancing up at Hilary with a worried look.
"She meant to say buttercream," Hilary assured her husband. "I didn't stuff your cake with butter, Mr. Champion."
"Oh, good," Tyson sighed, holding a hand over his heart.
"Come on, Daddy!" Tyler urged, tugging at his father's shirt. "I wanna eat the cake!"
"I do too," Tyson agreed with a chuckle. "Come on, let's cut it!"
"I'll take care of it," Hilary giggled, picking up the knife. "I'll take a piece from the back so the front can stay intact for a bit longer."
As soon as Hilary moved to the back of the cake, however, her eyes widened and her face paled.
"Hil, is something wrong?" Tyson asked.
"Uh…" Hilary stammered, pointing downwards.
Tyler, Christy, and Tyson all peered around the cake, and when they saw what Hilary was so stunned about, they all gasped and turned just as pale as the woman prepared to cut into the cake.
The bottom layer was completely torn into, opened up wide to reveal the cake and filling in one crumbled mess. Clumps of fondant surrounded the gaping hole and were littered on the table beneath the cake. Sitting several feet away was none other than baby Haley, her face and hands turned totally blue from the fondant and covered in cake and pudding.
"Haley!" Hilary shrieked, putting down the knife and reaching for a napkin. "You're supposed to wait until your own birthday to do that!"
"I guess Haley wanted more for her on the cake than just her toys…" Christy murmured, tilting her head to the side.
"Or maybe she just wanted the attention for herself," Tyson chuckled, reaching over and ruffling the baby's hair. "Can't even have my birthday to myself, huh, pumpkin?"
Haley looked up at her father and grinned, revealing her tiny baby teeth to be just as blue as the rest of her face.
"You're lucky you're so cute, Haley," Hilary sighed, throwing the sullied napkin to the side. "Otherwise I don't know what we'd have to do with you."