The past two weeks had flown by, and Franky and Bridget had spent as much time together as they possibly could. Franky had probably only spent one night at her own place, and that was only because she thought she was coming down with something and didn't want to pass it along to Bridget or Emily.
Franky was currently preparing for her cooking class. She enjoyed all of her classes, but the children's class had a special place in her heart. She loved sharing her passion with students who were so eager to learn, and who soaked up everything she had to teach them.
"Okay, I want everyone to look at the ingredients in front of them." Franky directed the class after everyone had settled in. "Who can guess what we're making today?"
"Cake!" The kids all yelled.
"Close," the brunette said, "we're making cupcakes!"
She demonstrated how to measure and mix everything together then walked between the stations, talking with the kids and offering extra help to those who needed it. When she got to Emily's station, the girl tugged on her sleeve and motioned for her to come closer.
Franky leaned forward, resting her arms against the counter. "What's up, bub?"
"Are we going to learn how to make regular cake?" Emily whispered to the tall brunette.
"Regular cake? You mean like a big round one instead of cupcakes?" Franky had never heard a cake being referred to as 'regular' before.
Emily nodded her head.
"No, we're just doing cupcakes in this class."
"Oh." the girl lowered her head looking disappointed.
"Why do you want to make a regular cake?" Franky's curiosity was piqued.
"For Auntie Bridge's birthday next week." Emily said quietly.
Franky wondered if Bridget was going to let on that her birthday was coming up, or if she would have let it pass without saying anything. What did she normally do for birthdays? Franky guessed that she probably celebrated with her friends, maybe Vera usually planned something for her. The brunette made a mental note to call Vera later.
"Well, why don't you and I make one for her at your house?" Franky was already planning the party in her head as Emily's face lit up.
That evening while Bridget was in the shower, Franky looked through her phone for Vera's number. Thankfully the blonde was trusting enough that she didn't have a passcode programmed in, and Franky easily found what she was looking for. She dialed the number on her own mobile and hoped that Vera would answer an unknown number.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line sounded small and unsure.
"Hey, Vera? It's Franky."
"Franky?" there was a short pause, "Oh, yes, Franky. Uh, what can I...How can I...help, you?" Vera stumbled over her words.
"I've just found out from a fairly reliable source that Bridget's birthday is this Saturday." Franky continued, "So I need your help with two things."
"Okay..."
The brunette could practically feel the other woman's apprehension through the phone.
"Don't worry, it's nothing illegal." Franky chuckled and heard Vera do the same on the other end of the line.
"What do you need?"
"I want to have a party here for her and Emily wants to make her a cake. Can you keep her out of the house for the day?"
"Um, sure. I could take her out. We could have lunch and do some shopping." Vera suggested.
"Yeah, excellent. And thanks, I owe ya." Franky hung up. Step one of her plan was complete.
"Hey, Vera." Bridget sat down opposite her friend during their morning coffee break.
"Oh, hello. Um, Bridget," Vera was never very good at deceiving people, even if it was for a good cause, but she really wanted to help make her friend's birthday special. "I was thinking that maybe on Saturday we could have a bit of a girl's day for your birthday. We could grab lunch; do some shopping maybe?" When Bridget hesitated for a few seconds, she thought maybe the blonde had already made plans with someone else.
"That sounds lovely actually." Bridget was genuinely touched by the offer, and was excited to spend the day with her friend.
She normally kept her birthdays quiet. It wasn't that she didn't like to celebrate them, and on birthdays when she was with a partner, they usually had a small party or dinner, but left on her own, she preferred just to spend the day relaxing. She hadn't mentioned anything to Franky, thinking that she'd just get a sitter for Em that night, and they could go out for dinner or to a movie. She didn't want her girlfriend to feel like she had to make a big deal out of it, so she had decided she wouldn't give her enough time to plan anything.
"I'll take Emily to my place for the night as well, so you and Franky can have a quiet evening." Vera offered.
"Aw, that's sweet of you. Are you sure though? The whole night?" Bridget thought it was like Vera could read her mind. While her and Franky both loved having Emily around, they hadn't had a full night with just the two of them in the house since they'd started dating.
"Yeah, of course. Apparently that movie we watched the last time I looked after her has a 'must see' sequel." Vera said, using air quotes to indicate that the sequel would most likely be forgettable.
They both chuckled and Bridget thanked her again.
It was the morning of Bridget's birthday, and Vera had just arrived to pick up her friend for their day out. Bridget had told Franky the night before that her and her friend were spending the day out, and that Vera had offered to take her niece for the night. She still hadn't mentioned however that all of this was happening because it was her birthday.
"Don't have too much fun without me, yeah?" Franky called from the kitchen as the two women were leaving.
"Wouldn't dream of it, baby." Bridget called over her shoulder.
They walked out to the street where Vera had parked her car and got in, fastening their seat belts.
"So, anywhere in particular you'd like to go?" Vera asked, starting the car.
"How about one of the dress shops downtown? I want to get something to wear tonight when I'm out with Franky." Bridget smiled thinking about the evening she had planned for them in her mind.
Vera nodded and pulled out onto the street, heading for the downtown shopping area.
"So, how are things going with you two?" She asked after they had been driving for a couple of minutes.
"They're good," Bridget paused for a moment, looking off into the distance, remembering all of the good times her and Franky had together over the past month. A smile broke out across her face, "They're really good."
Vera looked over quickly at her friend, "You're in love with her." It wasn't a question.
"What?" Bridget would be lying if she said those words hadn't floated through her mind at least a couple of times lately. She didn't think she was being so transparent though. "Love is a big word."
"Are you saying you're not?"
"No..." The blonde trailed off, "I haven't told her yet."
"Why not?" While Vera wasn't one who easily admitted her feelings, she knew that Bridget was much more open. She'd seen how her friend and Franky looked at each other, and Franky had been the cause of many smiles and giggles at the lunch table these past few weeks, so she was a bit surprised to hear that Bridget hadn't told Franky how she really felt yet.
"I don't know. I should. Maybe I'm afraid it's too soon and saying it will ruin this happy bubble that we're in right now." the blonde sighed.
"For what it's worth, I think it's obvious that she loves you as well and you don't have anything to worry about." Even though Vera had only met Franky a couple of times, and they'd only had a few phone calls planning out the party details, she could tell that the brunette cared a lot for her friend.
"Thanks, I appreciate that." Bridget smiled at her friend. She knew these types of conversations weren't easy for her, so that made it all the more meaningful when they did happen.
They spent the morning looking at dresses in various shops and Bridget finally settled on a dark purple, one shoulder dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. It stopped just above her knees and she decided she'd pair it with some silver heels that she already had at home.
As soon as Bridget and Vera had left for the day, Franky and Emily got to work on the cake. Franky had bought, and hidden, a bunch of different types of sprinkles and decorating supplies a couple of days earlier, and she started setting them out on the counter so they could get to work.
"What kind of cake is Auntie's favorite?" Franky asked the girl.
"Chocolate!" Emily said without hesitation.
"Okay, you have the cupcake recipe from class the other day?" Emily nodded that she did, "So we're going to make that recipe again but this time we're going to add some cocoa to make it taste chocolatey. So I'm going to let you do this and I'm just here if you have questions, and I'll help with the oven, okay?"
The girl nodded and set to work following Franky's recipe, carefully measuring out every ingredient into a big bowl. The brunette turned on the oven to preheat and prepared the baking pan. Once the batter was ready and poured into the pan, they placed it in the oven to bake.
While it was baking, Franky helped Emily pack a bag to take with her to Vera's for the night. That was the only part of the birthday plans that both her and Bridget knew about. She was impressed that Emily had managed to keep the party a secret.
"Is that everything?" Franky asked as Emily put the last items of clothing into her backpack.
"Yeah, I guess." she answered quietly.
The brunette sat down on the bed beside her. "What's wrong? Aren't you excited to have a sleepover at Vera's?"
The girl was quiet for a minute. "Yeah, but I'll miss you and Auntie Bridge."
Franky thought for a moment and realized this would be the first night that one or both of them wasn't with her, and she wasn't sure if she'd ever stayed the night with Vera before.
"I have an idea. I'll be back."
She walked over to the main bedroom and grabbed the toy penguin that she had won for Bridget at the park and headed back to Emily's room.
"Why don't you borrow this from Auntie Bridge and take the bear I gave you with you too? Then you'll have something from each of us to keep you company tonight." Franky placed both toys into the backpack. The small blonde seemed to cheer up a bit.
Just then, the timer on the oven beeped, signalling that the cake was ready. Franky showed her how to test it to make sure it was fully cooked, and they placed it on a rack to cool.
"What color do you want the frosting to be?" Franky sat all of the food coloring options out so Emily could choose what she wanted.
"Pink!" She pointed to a bottle of neon pink coloring.
Franky showed her how to mix the frosting and add just the right amount of food coloring. Once it was spread over the cake, she brought out the containers of decorations. Emily chose multi-color sprinkles in the shape of tiny stars and Franky thought that it was fitting considering the gift she had bought for Bridget.
When Emily declared that the cake was perfect, Franky sent her to wash up and get changed into the outfit she had picked out to wear for the surprise party. She set about cleaning up the kitchen, placing the cake to the side on the counter and putting the extra frosting in a container. She'd told Emily they could use it on some cookies they'd make when she got back.
Bridget and Vera were winding down their day of lunch and shopping when they came to one last store that Bridget wanted to visit.
"Let's go in here, yeah?" she said, pointing to the shop they were approaching.
Vera looked up at the sign, "Uh, maybe I'll just meet you back out here in a bit. I'll check out something next door."
"Vera, come on, it'll be fine." Bridget had stopped in front of the store and was waiting for her fleeing friend to come back.
"Fine, but let's be quick, okay?" she let out a sigh and reluctantly followed Bridget inside.
Bridget knew exactly what she was looking for so she had no problem fulfilling Vera's request to make it a quick stop. Once they were back out in the street, she checked in with her friend.
"That wasn't so bad, right?"
Vera just shot her a look and Bridget laughed, putting her arm around her shoulders as they walked back to their car.
The guests had started to arrive at Bridget's house. It was going to be a small group, just a few of her colleagues from work and a couple of close friends. Vera had made sure that everyone knew what they were supposed to bring and that they were to park far enough away that Bridget wouldn't notice their cars when they returned home. The food was set out on the table, along with an assortment of wines, and the cake was placed on the kitchen island and now topped with the candles that Franky had picked out. She'd also bought a bottle of tequila for doing a round of birthday shots.
When she heard the car pull up in front of the house, she told everyone to be quiet and turned off most of the lights.
"Franky?" Bridget walked in through the door, turning on the light in the entryway. "Franky, baby, you home?" She turned on the light in the kitchen.
"Surprise!"
Bridget stood there not knowing what to say. No one had ever thrown her a surprise party before. Franky walked up to her and pulled her into her arms with a quick kiss.
"Happy birthday, babe."
"Franky, how did you...?" She turned back to Vera, "Did you tell her?"
Vera shook her head.
When she turned back, Emily was there holding out a card she had made for her.
"She was my partner in crime." Franky whispered into Bridget's ear.
Bridget crouched down and pulled her niece in for a hug, taking the card from her. "Thank you, love. You helped Franky with this?"
"Yeah."
"You guys did good! I had no idea." She gave the girl a kiss on the head and stood up.
"Bridget," Vera said, walking up beside her, "Why don't you go put your dress on?"
"Right, yes, okay I'll be right back!"
Bridget turned and headed towards the bedroom, carrying all of her purchases from the day.
