How are we even possibly this close to the premiere? I feel almost like I'm in denial that a new episode is almost here, and man are we going to thrive in season nine!

I'm glad you're all enjoying the daily updates! Just a couple shorts left in this mini-series! Enjoy!

Fridays were for baking, and she knew chocolate was his favorite.

Or was it raspberry? Vanilla?

Honestly, Elizabeth was having the hardest time remembering which flavor Lucas preferred, and she felt terrible for it. Although, to be fair, she'd never asked, and she certainly couldn't ask now. With his birthday only a day away, asking at this point would spoil the surprise of her throwing him a birthday dinner. It was just their closest friends, but everyone would gather at her home for a simple meal and, of course, birthday cake.

Or at least, they would have a birthday cake if she could pick a flavor.

"Maybe you should just make a marble cake?" Rosemary suggested. She'd been sitting at Elizabeth's kitchen table for hours as they planned the dinner, and this was the final piece of the puzzle. "That way you'd have two chances at it being his favorite!"

Pacing her kitchen, Elizabeth shook her head. "No, because then what happens if he doesn't like chocolate or vanilla?"

Her friend gave her a pointed look, "Have you considered the possibility that Lucas won't actually care which flavor cake you bake him for his birthday?"

"I know," Elizabeth responded in a huff, collapsing in the chair opposite her. And she did know. Lucas truly wouldn't hesitate to say in the slightest that the cake she'd made him was the best he'd ever had. There were a few moments when he'd reminded her so much of Jack, with the way he'd always take the darkest piece of toast or the most-burnt piece of bacon at breakfast, just so she and Little Jack wouldn't have to.

That didn't mean, however, that she didn't want to make his birthday special for him. Lucas did so much for them, was always so attentive and loving, and making his favorite birthday cake was the least she could do.

"Maybe I could call Helen," Elizabeth suggested suddenly, sitting straighter, but her shoulders quickly sagged. "Nevermind. I forgot that she's in Europe right now."

"Europe?" Rosemary questioned, picking up her cup to take a sip of her tea. "What in the world is she doing in Europe?"

"I believe she's there with Thomas. Something about a second honeymoon, according to what Lucas told me." Frowning, Elizabeth slumped back in the chair. "Maybe I should just ask him."

"It wouldn't hurt. Honestly, he's probably already suspicious."

Rosemary was right again. He'd already caught her planning a couple of times. The first time, in the mercantile, she'd been halfway through placing a special order with Ned when she realized he'd been in the room the whole time, quietly hiding in the shelves. She'd used her best teacher's voice to scold him about eavesdropping, but he insisted he hadn't heard anything.

Then, when she'd gone to the petroleum office to invite Henry, he'd been there when she'd assumed he'd be at the saloon, and she had to make up a reason to explain the invitation she handed to the older man. She'd told him it was a letter from Abigail, but Elizabeth was fairly certain that Lucas hadn't bought it, and she'd slightly disappointed Henry in the process.

Still, Elizabeth was determined for at least something to be a surprise.

"I've got it," she finally exclaimed, jumping out of her chair.

Rosemary looked surprised, but waited for her friend to explain herself. When she only rushed to get her coat without a further statement, she intervened. "What are you going to do?"

"Ask Gustave."

And with a flourish, Elizabeth left Rosemary to her tea.

~ E & L ~

Gustave was insistent that Lucas preferred chocolate, which meant she would've been right all along, and after a quick trip to see Ned, she was on her way home with the last of the ingredients she needed to bake the cake. As the final preparation for the following day's birthday dinner, she just had to get it made and keep it hidden from her suitor.

A task that was, apparently, going to be more difficult than expected.

"You're…here." Elizabeth said, rather awkwardly, when she arrived home to find Lucas and Jack sitting on the floor, a pile of blocks in front of them.

Lucas cocked his head to the side, "Yes?"

Shaking her head, Elizabeth attempted to avoid suspicion, "I mean, I just expected you two would be home later, that's all."

Lucas grinned, "We left the office early today. Henry said he had everything in control and that I should, and I quote, 'celebrate my birthday a bit early.'"

"Good advice," she returned, smiling as she set down her basket on the table and pulled off her coat. With her back turned to him momentarily, she glanced at the clock on the table. It was nearly two in the afternoon, and she had figured she'd have until at least five before Lucas and Jack walked through the door, which would have given her plenty of time to finish baking the cake.

Now she would have to come up with an alternate solution, the most likely being that she'd stay up late to make it instead. Lucas rarely left her house before ten, always remaining for an hour or two after Jack went to bed so he could enjoy some time alone with Elizabeth. That meant she'd be up well past midnight finishing it, and she had already promised to meet Minnie and Angela bright and early the next morning to squeeze in an extra summer lesson.

"You're quiet tonight," Lucas commented, snaking his arms around her waist from behind. She hadn't heard him approach, so she tensed slightly before relaxing into his embrace. "Are you alright?"

Turning quickly, she stood on her tip-toes to peck him on the lips, "Just tired, that's all." She pulled away from him, quickly arranging the items from her basket into their correct locations in the kitchen. "Speaking of birthdays, do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

He gave her a quizzical look, "I assumed I'd be spending it with you and Jack. Am I not? Should I have other plans?" he teased.

She stopped her motion to look at him, hands situated on her hips, "No, I was just curious if you have any traditions that I don't know about."

"Oh, well, not anything out of the ordinary I suppose. Like Christmas, my birthday was one of the few times each year where we were all guaranteed to be together. I think there was only one year my father missed my birthday, and that wasn't his fault. A broken wheel on the stage will do that to you when you're simply trying to rush back home from Germany."

"My father missed one of my birthdays too," Elizabeth reminisced, finishing her task and sitting in the chair next to him. "That was because he was stuck on a boat in the Atlantic though."

Lucas' eyes fell to Little Jack, still playing on the living room floor. He paused for a moment before speaking. "I don't want to miss any of his. Not if I can help it."

Elizabeth's eyes followed his gaze to land on her son as well, "I couldn't agree more." She reached out across the table to take his hand in hers, "he's lucky to have you. We both are."

Turning back to face her, he smiled warmly, bringing her hand to his lips the way he did so frequently. It was his little personal 'I love you,' that sent a shiver down her spine no matter how many times he did it. "And I'm lucky to have you. Especially since I know you asked Gustave about my favorite kind of cake."

Shock was quickly written on Elizabeth's face. "What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to cover her tracks.

"I saw you walking out the back door of the saloon earlier and, based on the cocoa powder you just put into the cabinet and the fact that it's my birthday tomorrow, I put the pieces together."

Elizabeth grimaced, "you weren't supposed to find out about that."

"Perhaps not, but at least this way I can help."

"You will do no such thing, Lucas Bouchard," she insisted sternly. "It's your birthday, and you are not baking your own birthday cake.

"You're right, it is my birthday" he pointed out, standing and pulling her up with him, hand still firmly grasped in his as he led them further into the kitchen, "but getting to spend extra time with my two favorite people means far more to me than the fact that I'd be making my own cake. Plus," Lucas continued, pulling her in against him so he could whisper into her ear, "I'm better at baking than you might think."

At the mention of cake, Jack rushed into the room, throwing his weight against their legs as he hugged them, asking about cake the whole way.

"Just promise me you'll act surprised tomorrow when we bring it out?" Elizabeth asked as the trio began to measure the ingredients.

Lucas stopped helping Jack with the flour to lean in and kiss her on the cheek. "As you wish, my love."

And the next day, when they sang Happy Birthday and she set the chocolate cake in front of him, candles lit on top, he did just that.