Icing on the Cake - (a birthday fanfiction for Spunky0ne's puppy, Maccachin, who is having his first birthday today)
Happy birthday to my friend, Spunky's cute puppy, Maccachin and thank you to Spunky for helping me write my first fanfiction. I make a lot of mistakes and she is very patient with me. Have fun with Maccachin on his special day!
Victor sneaked out of bed early, leaving Maccachin alone in bed with Yuri. The poodle didn't seem to mind. He lifted up his head and thumped his tail on the bed.
"Shh, go back to sleep for a little while longer," Victor whispered, petting him lightly, "You can get up with Yuuri later as always."
He left the room and walked out to the kitchen, where he found the recipe on the counter and the ingredients laid out with a note from his sleeping beauty.
"Dear Victor," he read out loud, "here is the recipe I found that is safe for dogs. We have all of the ingredients and I put them out after you and Maccachin went to bed. You can start the cake and then take Macca with you and I will finish the cake and prepare the house."
Victor looked at the ingredients his husband had carefully measured out, then he turned the oven on to preheat and he took a bowl from the cupboard and mixed everything into a thick batter.
"That smells good enough for me to eat," he chuckled, stealing a little of the peanut butter while he whipped the ingredients and put them in a cake pan.
He set the cake in the oven and walked back to the bedroom, where Yuri was beginning to stir.
"Good morning," Yuri yawned, sitting up in the bed to kiss him and the two laughed as Maccachin took turns licking each of their faces.
"Good morning," Victor laughed, rubbing his old dog on the top of his furry head, "I started the…"
"SHH!" Yuri shushed him, "Remember, don't tell."
"I didn't forget," Victor said with a wink, "I did the thing you asked me to, and now it's time for someone to have his morning walk to the ice rink with me. I'll go and get ready."
Maccachin hopped off the bed, looking like he couldn't possible be so old at all. But even being young for his age, Victor and Yuri knew it wouldn't last forever. Victor tried not to be sad as he shaved and brushed his teeth and put on his practice clothes. He smiled just like usual as he walked out and called the poodle to his side.
"I'll see you in a bit," he told his husband, putting on his coat and scarf, and kissing him goodbye, "Thank you for helping me with this."
"It's no trouble," Yuri laughed, "I love him so much, just like you do."
"I know you do. He's good at getting people to like him."
Yuri giggled.
"That makes two of you. Go on now before Yurio misses you at the bridge and reports you missing."
"All right," Victor agreed, giving him a final smooch.
He left the house with Maccachin bouncing along behind him, just as he had, ever since he was a puppy.
"You look good for how old you are," Victor smirked, reaching up to where he could tell that his own hair was thinning a little, "I hope I hold up that well, you know?"
He stopped to sit down on a bench by the road and Maccachin sat in front of him and laid his head in Victor's lap, looking up at him through large brown, friendly eyes.
"Are you okay?" they seemed to say to him, and Victor felt a little surprised he seemed to know.
"But then you always know, don't you?" Victor said, cupping Macca's cute face in his hands, "You always have known when I was feeling sad or worried or scared. Macca, I'm kind of feeling all of that, today. It should be a happy day, but…"
Macca gave a little whine and licked his face, making Victor laugh and stroke him on the head and back.
"Look at you, cheering me up like that!" he laughed, "You can't let anyone be sad, can you? You made Yuri and me so happy by being our boy."
Victor looked up as he heard a shout and Yurio walked down from the bridge ahead of them.
"Hey Victor, are you going to come to practice, old man or are you going to finally admit it's time for you to retire?"
"Very funny," Victor said, smirking and climbing to his feet, "I was just giving Maccachin a little rest stop, that's all."
Yurio met the poodle's brown eyes and laughed.
"I think it's not the dog who needs the extra rest, is it?" he joked.
The three headed across the bridge and down the busy street to the Saint Petersburg ice rink where Victor and the two Yuris practiced. Yakov yelled at them from the moment they entered through the front doors.
"You're late again!" he snapped, but he reached down and petted Maccachin on the head, "You would probably forget to come if you didn't have your dog to get you here."
Victor's eyes got softer as he looked from Maccachin to the old man.
"It was the best gift ever when you gave him to me," Victor said, surprising his sputtering coach with a long hug, "I am glad every day that he is here."
Then, he whispered into the old man's ear, "Don't forget to come by to wish him a happy birthday later."
"Go on," Yakov sighed, pretending to push Victor away, "You're being silly again."
"No, really," Victor told him, "You and Maccachin are amazing. Thank you both for taking care of me."
Yakov's eyes got a little sad as he watched the legend take off his blade covers and move onto the ice to practice. He looked down at Maccachin and patted him on the head.
"Stupid boy," he laughed gently, "He doesn't need to thank me or you, does he? He's been good to us too."
Macca wagged his tail and barked.
At home, Yuri finished the cake and took his time decorating the kitchen with streamers and balloons. He looked at the finished room and smiled, running a hand over his face.
"Okay, that's everything."
He followed the path to the ice rink that Victor and the poodle had taken and arrived just a little before Victor's practice session would end. Maccachin came running and jumped up on him, making Yuri laugh as the dog licked his cheek in greeting.
"Silly dog, you just saw me at home a little while ago. It hasn't been that long."
"He acts just like his stupid owner," Yurio snarked, waiting until the Japanese skater wasn't looking, then he winked at Macca, "He's always taking every opportunity to jump on you even in public."
Mila and Georgi, who were skating nearby both laughed and the Japanese Yuri blushed.
Victor finished his practice and skated to where Yuri sat down to put on his skates.
"Hello, honey," the Russian purred, giving him an inappropriately long kiss for being in public, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," Yuri laughed, hugging him and kissing him back while Yurio gave them an angry look and made a gagging noise, "Your routine looks really good."
"Well, thank you," Victor answered, "I still have to work out the step sequence and the last bit, but it's coming along."
They turned their attention to Yuri's skating and Victor watched while the Japanese skater practiced his latest short program.
"It looks really great," he praised his student, but are you sure you want the to add the quad lutz? You're still missing on the landing sometimes, maybe a lot of times. But, I guess there's time before the new season starts."
The afternoon seemed to race by, and before long, the two champion skaters were walking back home with Maccachin a little behind them. Yuri held the dog back slightly as Victor opened the door, and then he let the dog run in as the lights in the house came on, and a group of their friends who had gone ahead of them in cars, jumped out with Yurio holding the freshly made cake with sixteen candles burning.
"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Maccachin! Happy birthday to you!" they sang together.
Maccachin jumped up and ran from person to person, barking and licking everyone. So many hands reached from everywhere to pet him, he couldn't keep up and lick them all at once, and when the petting ended, there were lots of presents to sniff. Victor opened each one and presented them to the old poodle, who sniffed them politely and thumped his tail. After the gifts, Yuri set out sweeter cake for the humans and a slice of the dog cake for Macca. Victor laughed as Yurio sneaked a little of the dog cake and tilted his head.
"This isn't bad. I think we could all eat this too."
"Of course," the Japanese Yuri agreed, "It's just made with a little bit of honey instead of regular sugar, but it's pretty good, if I do say so. I just thought that the humans might think it was a little weird."
He was surprised when the other guests laughed and got pieces of the dog cake too. As they got ready to eat, Victor called Macca to him and sat down on a chair, holding the old dog's face in his hands.
"Happy birthday, Maccachin," he said warmly, "and thank you for being my friend."
He looked up at the others with misting blue eyes and went on.
"No, thank you for being our angel. May we have many more years together."
He hugged the old poodle tight as everyone cheered and applauded. Macca just looked like he didn't know what all of the fuss was about, but it was always good to be with these humans. They made him the happiest dog on the earth, and whatever they wanted to do was fine with him, especially if it included cake. He laid down on Victor's feet as the happy people around him kept talking and laughing and telling their stories about him. With all of the attention he'd got, he was tired, but all of that love sank deep into his sleeping body, keeping him feeling younger and stronger than he should so that he could stay with Victor and Yuri for many years to come.