Hello! I'm back.

Thank you scone104 for your review.

Here's chapter 3 (since I decided to finish this story now that I've already started it)

"...which then turned into a quiet thought…"

The alarm clock rang at 5:30 in the morning and Kiara quickly jumped out of bed to switch it off. She listened for any signs of movement, and hearing none, proceeded to climb up the ladder of the bunk bed she shared with her brother.

As expected, he was still fast asleep.

She sighed, shaking her head as she shook his shoulder roughly, but he merely grunted and turned over, snoring slightly. Realizing that subtlety wasn't really going to be effective in this case, she found the end of his quilt and with one clean motion, pulled it right off his sleeping frame. Joseph woke up with a jolt as the warmth of the covers was suddenly replaced by the nightly chill.

He sat up, glaring at his sister and was about to open his mouth to give her a good telling off, when she shushed him, placing a finger on her lips. He glared at her and whisper yelled, "Did you have to wake me like that? Couldn't you just shake me awake like a normal person would?". "You think I didn't try? You were practically dead to the world! You should be thankful that I didn't resort to the cold water this time", she said, recalling the last time she had tried to wake him up early.

Needless to say, the results had been quite satisfying, at least on her end.

"Don't ever do that again", he says shuddering involuntarily at the thought of freezing water, "I can't guarantee I won't. Now come on, we only have about an hour left!".

The twins quickly climbed down from the top bunk and tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen. Kiara reached for the switch and turned on the light, leaving them momentarily blinded as their eyes adjusted. "I'll get the book, you get the other stuff", she commanded and he gave a quick nod before climbing onto the counter to reach the wall cupboards. She walked towards a bookshelf that lined the back wall and pulled out a shiny cookbook with a picture of a cake on the front. She flipped through the pages till she spotted the recipe she had selected the day before, and quickly read through it once.

It was a simple recipe for chocolate cake with vanilla icing, that according to the book would take 45 minutes to make, icing and all. She brought it over to the counter as Joseph pulled out a tin of cocoa powder. "Is that everything?", he asked her and she scanned the list of ingredients to see if anything was missing. "Yup", she said, popping the P and he jumped down from the counter.

"It says we have to measure out everything first", he said reading the instructions over her shoulder and pulled open a drawer to reveal a set of measuring cups. She smiled at him as she took the biggest one and began measuring the flour, while he busied himself with the other dry ingredients. She reached into the bag of flour and scooped out a cup-full. She poured it into a large mixing bowl and continued to add more until she had the required amount. She then turned to her brother and watched him as he finished measuring the sugar, his face scrunched up in concentration.

He turned to her as he poured the sugar into the bowl and let out a laugh at the sight of her. "What?", Kiara asked, confused and he pointed to her nightgown, which was almost completely white from the flour.

She frowned as she examined her clothing and turned to her brother, pouting as she whined, "Joe! It's not funny!". But that only made him laugh harder, pressing his hand over his mouth in a sad attempt at muffling the sound. She quickly reached into the bag and threw a handful of flour at him, getting some in his hair as well as on his clothes. He stopped laughing and looked down at his clothes before looking up to meet her now mocking gaze.

"Oh it's on!", he said as he reached for the flour but she quickly pushed it away. "As much as I would love to thulp you in a flour-fight, we really haven't got the time now", she said motioning to the clock which now read 6 AM. Joseph frowned but helped her as she mixed in the remaining ingredients.

Two shattered eggs and three spills of oil later, the batter was complete and Joseph grabbed the mixing spoon, licking it clean before saying, "Tastes great!". She pulled the spoon out of his hand, shaking her head at his goofy expression.

"Grab some of the sugar from the store room, we're gonna have to make some more icing sugar", she said as she threw the spoon into the sink and opened up the oven.

"It's not working", she said as she noticed that it was no warmer inside the oven, "Joe, the oven's broken". "What?", he asked from the other side of the kitchen and she motioned for him to take a look. "Have you turned it on?", he asked her and she almost hit herself.

"No wonder. I was supposed to switch it on while we made the batter so it would be hot enough when we finished", she said and Joseph shook his head.

"You know for a smart person, you're actually kinda dumb", he told her and she punched him in the shoulder.

"Whatever", she said feeling rather stupid for not realizing it earlier and Joseph went back to his icing sugar. As she waited for the oven to preheat, she readied the piping cone and found a stand for the cake once it was ready. Once the oven dinged to say it was hot enough, she put on her grandmother's oven mitts and slowly placed her baking dish inside.

"Joe?", she called out as she closed the oven and he grunted in response. She turned around to find the kitchen covered in a layer of icing sugar that had exploded out of the processor. "Joe you're supposed to switch it off before you take the lid off ", she said as her eyes fell on her brother who was covered from head to toe with the stuff.

"Yeah, kinda got that", he said sheepishly as he emptied the contents of the processor into another large bowl. Thankfully there was still enough left inside for icing, and she quickly mixed in all the ingredients, adding in a bit of yellow food coloring at the end. Just as they finished putting the icing in the cones, the oven timer dinged and they hurried to check on the cake. Kiara grabbed a butter knife and slid it in, and was thrilled when it came out clean.

"It's ready!", she trilled as she grabbed the oven mitts and carefully pulled the cake out. Once it had cooled down, they lifted it out and placed it on the stand. Together, they piped the words "Happy Birthday Grandma!", on the top in their best handwriting and then stepped back to admire their handiwork.

They looked at each other and smiled as a woman's voice called from upstairs, "Kia? Joseph? Are you awake?".

Their smiles turned to grins of excitement as they picked up the cake and slowly climbed up the stairs to their grandparent's room.

Grandma was sitting up in bed, squinting through the bright sunlight from the open window which her husband had just opened. They walked in and shouted, "Surprise!", holding up the cake as they sang Happy Birthday. Grandma's eyes widened at the sight of the cake and she felt tears spring to her eyes. She set the cake down on the side table and looked at her grandchildren, who were both covered in flour and icing sugar.

She laughed at their appearance and pulled them in for a hug. "When did you do this?", she asked as they pulled away. "This morning", Kiara said and Joseph added, "At 5:30!". She raised her eyebrows and ruffled his hair fondly. "I hope it tastes alright", Kiara said and Grandma smiled at her, "Honey, it's not about how it tastes, it's about the love you put into it. It's the thought that counts".

They smiled back at her as Grandpa walked into the room, cake knife in hand.

"Now I don't know about you folks, but I really can't wait to try some of that delicious looking cake", he said with a bright smile and the twins laughed as they moved over to make some room. Grandma cut into the cake and tasted a slice, and her eyebrows went up again.

To her surprise, it was actually really good job for two seven year olds who had only ever watched the baking process, and never tried anything on their own. "It's really delicious!", she exclaimed and the twins smiles grew even bigger.

They all ate a slice of cake each before Grandma said it was time to go get some real breakfast. She quickly washed up and went downstairs to her kitchen, thinking about what a wonderful surprise it had been, when the sight before her stopped her short.

The kitchen was a disaster.

She shook her head and called out for her grandchildren, who ran down the stairs and looked at her questioningly. She motioned to the messy kitchen and they both looked ashamed.

"We did think about cleaning up..", Joseph began to say, and they looked up at her, trying to look as innocent as possible as Kiara asked, "It is the thought that counts, right?".

So I hoped you liked it!

Until next time

-thesecondgarde