Chapter 4 Sugary Sweet Memories

Junior sat in front of the oven, his nose plastered to the glass. He couldn't take his eyes off of the growing cake. Even though it was mostly liquid at this point, Junior knew that it would be amazing. It would become delicious, nutritious, and bodacious! It would be the sweetest cake in the world, just like Peach was the sweetest mama in the world!

"Wow," he said while licking his lips. "This cake is going to be amazing!"

Peach chuckled and leaned down so that she was level with him. "Junior, watching a cake bake is like watching paint dry; it's as boring as heck."

"Shhhhhh!" Junior said, waving his arms and sending spit flying everywhere. "Don't ruin this for me!"

Peach chuckled and patted the Koopa Prince on the head. "Stay cute, Junior. Stay cute."

Junior made a pouty face and crossed his arms. Hey! I'm not cute! he thought to himself.

Anyway, Junior still watched as the cake rose. His lips watered like there was no tomorrow. He really had put his all into this sugary concoction. He had cracked eggs, just like he promised that he would. He had also learned how to mix, how to fold, and how to pour. All with the help of his Mama Peach.

He kept his eyes glued to the inside of the oven. While he had initially dismissed Peach's observation, believing that it would just ruin the amazing time he was trying to give himself, he couldn't deny that he was starting to experience the typical symptoms of boredom. He tapped his leg against the floor and put on a pouty face. Every time he looked up at the clock, he would let out a long, drawn out groan.

"Ugh. How much more time do we have?"

Peach giggled from behind him. "We still have twenty minutes."

Junior groaned. "Twenty minutes!" Each minute that had passed felt like a century so far. He got up off the floor. "I am not waiting twenty flipping minutes until this cake is ready!" He turned toward the Princess. "Mama Peach, can you make time go faster?"

Peach burst into laughter, although Junior had no idea why. He thought that had been a reasonable enough suggestion. He raised an eyebrow as the Princess stopped laughing, holding onto her sides to prevent herself from collapsing to the ground.

"Oh, Junior." She smiled. "I don't think I have the ability to literally make time go faster. However, I can make it feel that way by giving the two of us something to do."

Junior nodded. "Okay. What do you want to do?"

Peach put her hand to her chin. "Hmm…." Her eyes stared at nothing as she considered the options. Although, what those options were, Junior didn't have the slightest clue. He shook his head, for he hated being in the dark. If only Mama Peach would actually speak up!

"Hmmm…." Peach continued to muse. Junior was just about to let out a groan when, suddenly, Peach's eyes lit up. "I've got it! Have you ever heard of scrapbooking?"

Junior blinked. "Scrap….booking?"

"Yeah, that's right; scrapbooking."

Junior hesitated. "Uh….is that where you put food scraps inside a book? Because if so, then that sounds like a lot of fun!"

Peach snickered. "No, that's not what it is. Scrapbooking….actually, why don't I just show you?" She gestured for Junior to follow her out of the kitchen.

Junior, curious, did exactly that. Peach led him through winding corridor after winding corridor. It felt to Junior like they were just walking in circles, as all the corridors looked nearly exactly the flipping same. Peach seemed to know where to go though, so he held back his complaints. However, if they were to get lost, he wouldn't hold back from saying I told you so (to...himself. Alright, maybe he would hold off if it meant he wouldn't look stupid).

Finally, after a bajillion years, Peach opened up a door. On the other side was her bedroom, complete with a luscious pink carpet and a bed that looked like it was made from the clouds themselves. Junior was just starting to question why his own bed couldn't be made from the same material when the Princess went over to a chest on the other side of the room. Out of it, she pulled out a very big book with a pink cover.

"Here we go." She took a seat on the bed and signaled for Junior to do the same. Once he did, she showed him the book. "This is a scrapbook." She opened it up. "It's supposed to be a fun way of capturing memories."

Junior looked at the pages. One thing he noticed was that they were decorated with lace, buttons, and other trash. However, that wasn't what made him excited (he never got excited over trash). What made him excited were the pictures. One of them showed a little baby girl with golden hair.

"Is that you?" he asked.

"Mmhm." Peach turned the page and pointed toward the pictures. "This one was taken when I was two. My parents paid for a professional photographer, if I recall correctly."

Junior looked at the photo. It did indeed look like it was taken by a professional. The lighting was so good that it actually looked more realistic than real life. Peach herself was wearing a little white dress and beaming at the camera, looking like she was right in the middle of doing a curtsey.

Peach turned the page. "And here was when I was eight." She pointed to her eight year old self, wearing a soccer uniform and holding a soccer ball under her arm. She sighed with a nostalgic air to her. "I actually remember the day that this photo was taken." She laughed. "I practically had to twist my parents' arms in order for them to allow me to play sports. Figuratively, of course."

Junior laughed. "Well, I hope you were able to pay for their figurative hospital bills."

Peach laughed. Junior took note of how sweet her laughter was, how infectious and lively it was. It made him feel good, especially since he knew that he was the one responsible for it.

"That was funny, Junior," she said. She turned back to the scrapbook and turned the page backwards. "Ahh! Here was where Daisy was born!" She showed the picture, which had five year old Peach leaning over a bassinet that contained the sleeping Baby Daisy. "She was quite cute, she was."

Junior looked at the picture. "Ehh." He shrugged. "She would be much cuter if she was a koopa."

Peach nodded, her mouth in a line. "If you say so." She closed the book. "Well, I think the cake might be ready now."

Junior beamed. "Oh, finally!"

With that, the duo made their way back to the kitchen. When they got there, Peach proceeded to take the cake out of the oven. It was golden in color, a beautiful golden that would make the sun look blue in comparison. The smell was also alluring. Junior had never smelt this much vanilla in his life. He didn't even know vanilla could have a smell, but he was glad it did.

They waited about ten minutes before Peach started decorating the cake. Junior watched her do this, completely intrigued. She did it with expert craftsmanship, like she had been decorating cakes since the day she was born. Well, considering that she reportedly made a cake for Mario every time he rescued her from a kidnapping, it would only make sense that she'd be good at it.

"Annd...done," Peach said once she put the last strawberry in place. She smiled over at Junior, displaying her pink frosted cake like it was a trophy she won in the Olympics. "I'll cut you the first piece, alright?"

"Alright." Junior didn't even know if he could wait that long for Peach to cut him his piece, as his stomach rumbled like an earthquake.

Peach took a knife and allowed it to sink into the cake. She pulled out Junior's piece, all while the Koopa prince was drooling torrents. "Here you go."

Junior didn't bother to wait any longer. He sunk his fingers into the rich, buttery cake and shoved pieces into his mouth. It tasted heavenly. It was like Junior had discovered the pot at the end of the rainbow, and inside it had been this amazingly decadent and delectable cake.

Surprisingly, Peach didn't reprimand him for doing this, even as frosting got smeared all over his face. She just quietly cut her own piece and took dainty bites of it with a fork. Of course, Junior finished much faster than she did.

"Can I have another piece?" Junior asked after swallowing. Peach cut him another one, and he ate that up within no time at cast his Mama Peach a sweet, happy smile. "Another?"

"I think that's enough for right now," said Peach, who hadn't even finished her first.

"Awww," Junior said as his shoulders slumped. So, he had to watch as Peach slowly ate her own piece, bemoaning the fact that life was so unfair. Seriously, it was like she was purposely trying to go as slwoly as possible.

When Peach finally finished, she set her plate to the side and cast Junior a smile. "What did you think?"

Junior perked right back up. "I loved it! Whoever made you a princess was an idiot, as you would be an amazing baker!"

Peach blushed. "Thanks." She paused for a moment and then cleared her throat. "What did you think of the scrapbook?"

"The scrapbook?" Junior shrugged. "It was cool."

Peach smiled. "I'm glad you liked it. My parents scrapbooked all the time when me and my sisters were younger. I plan on doing it when I have children of my own."

Junior smiled too, although there was a little bit of unease sprinkled in with it. "You know, Koopas don't scrapbook."

"You don't?"

"No. We just don't have time for it as a culture. We're too busy with other things."

"Mmm," Peach said with a nod, her face in a grim expression.

Junior nodded back. "I wish that we did though. I want a way to keep track of all the memories that my family has. I think that would be cool."

Peach smiled. "Cool, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, why don't you do something like this? When you get back home, you ask your family about what their past was like. They can tell you about any events they have experienced; happy or sad. You can then write down what they tell you in a notebook. If they just so happen to have any photos, you can glue them in there too."

Junior thought about that. That….that sounded interesting. Of course, with the exception of his father, he didn't interact with his family very often. He didn't even know if they would want to interact with him, nor he them. He didn't want to be reprimanded and yelled at for asking them stupid and/or childish questions. However, it did sound like it would be fun, what Mama Peach was suggesting.

"Hmmm." Junior looked Peach in the eye. "Would that make you proud of me?"

Peach nodded and smiled. "Oh, yes. Very much so."

Junior grinned and bounced up and down. "Do you think it'll make it so that Mario won't be such a jerk anymore?"

Peach's face faltered a little. "Well, I don't know about that. However, I am sure that he will think the information you uncover is interesting."

"Yeah! And maybe it will change his mind, if he sees that we Koopas have lives too!" Junior beamed. "You know what? I'll do it!"