Day 9: Gingerbread Houses

Ais thought this was supposed to be easy. The cardboard box had said this was supposed to be easy. It had even given her all those little instructions on where to put the frosting so that the house would stay up. But somehow, the house had not gone up as Ais had planned. The young woman glared at the mess sitting on her table, trying to will it into a sensible building of some kind. But alas, nothing came of it. So instead, Ais just pouted and slumped forward. Her eyes drifted to the gingerbread man and woman she had decorated. At least those had turned out well, so that was something?

Ais picked up the one with red gumdrop eyes and walked it around the table. When it got to the little gingerbread woman with yellow frosting hair, she picked that one up too.

"Good evening Ais," said gingerbread man (it was really Ais with a lower voice). "Would you like to go to our nice new house that I bought for us because I'm amazing and you love you deeply?"

Ais looked over at the gingerbread woman. Slowly, she tilted it forward, trying to make it nod. She didn't make it speak, though, because that wouldn't befit its character. She looked back at the mess she had made. Bell was probably not going to be happy when he got home from work. Ais had gotten frost everywhere, and since she had botched the gingerbread house, that was a waste of money. Even if they both had some part-time jobs, it wasn't like they had money to spare. Maybe it was best if Ais just threw this all away before Bell got home…

Suddenly, there was the sound of keys going into the lock. Ais popped out of her seat, rushing to the door. Just as the lock clicked open and the knob began to turn, Ais threw body at it, slamming the door shut.

"What the…Ais? Is that you?" asked Bell from the other side.

Ais nodded against the door.

"I'm going to guess that you're nodding," said Bell. "Because I doubt there's anything that a thief would want here."

Ais nodded against the door, hoping Bell would know her responses.

"May I come in?"

Ais shook her head.

"…Why not?"

"…I messed up," mumbled Ais.

"I'm sorry, Ais, but I couldn't I hear that," replied Bell. "Could you repeat it, please?"

Ais relented, pulling back from the door a bit. She let one eye look out at Bell.

"I messed up…on the table," she said.

Bell gave her a lopsided smile. "I'm sure it can't be that bad Ais, why don't you let me in? We can clean it up together."

Ais considered for a second before relenting. Slowly, she pulled back the door. Bell took in her appearance, and Ais knew it wasn't great. She had crumbs in her hair, frosting on her shirt, and there was probably a gummy stuck somewhere.

"What were you trying to do, Ais?"

Ais looked at the floor.

"Gingerbread house," she replied. "I wanted to make a home for me and you."

When she looked back up, Bell was an adorable shade of red. It made Ais smile, forgetting all the problems she had caused.

"Well, let's just see how it went, then, huh?" asked Bell.

He stepped into their meagre apartment before his eyes landed on the mess on the table. Slowly, Bell stepped toward the chaos in front of him. He didn't say anything, just picked up some of the more significant pieces of gingerbread on the floor. Then he put them back on the table.

"You know," said Bell. "We might be able to salvage this. If I made a quick run to the store, and if you scrounged up some stuff from the kitchen, we might just be able to make a home after all."

Ais stepped up next to him.

"You really think so?"

Bell shrugged. "Sure, I mean, we won't know if we never try." He blushed as he scratched his cheek. "That is…if you want to join me?"

Ais smiled as she nodded.

"Go to the store; I'll see what I can find," she replied, walking to the kitchen.

It was 20 minutes later that Bell arrived back home. Ais had scrounged up some possible baking goods that they could use, and Bell had some more frosting in a tub. The two then jumped at the challenge in front of them. 1 hour of work, laughter, and a couple of frosting kisses later, they had a house…sort of.

"It's not very pretty," said Ais. She frowned. "It doesn't look like the one on the box."

Bell chuckled. "No, but I like our house more. I mean, this one has more character, wouldn't you say?"

Ais tilted her head as she considered the house. Something was missing from the finished product. That was when she smiled. She picked up the ginger people she had made, which were hidden under the original box's packaging. Then she used just a little more of the frosting to place them in front of the house. They fell backwards a little bit, but that just meant that they were leaning against it.

Ais sat back and nodded at her decision.

"There, they're done now," she declared.

Bell laughed. "I love it. Ok, so I guess we should clean up this now?"

Ais considered the thought before shaking her head. Instead, she picked up the tub of frosting in one hand and then took Bell's hand in the other.

"No, we'll clean up later," she said.

Bell stumbled to his feet. "Ok…so where are we going instead?"

Ais started dragging him off.

"Bedroom."

The End

Hestia placed the square with the little gingerbread people on it next to the Christmas tree one. She seemed a little jealous, but mostly she was just happy.

"Well, isn't young love the most precious thing?" she asked. "We have to do everything was can to keep it safe."

She sat back in her chair, looking into the fireplace. A little warm flame sat there, flickering in the dark. It cast an orange light around the room. Hestia stared at it for a minute.

"I'm happy that you all got to see this. I know this holiday isn't always for everybody, and that's ok. I just hope that you all find someone out there who cares for you." She smiled. "That's all for now! See you next time!"