For the fall prompt of baking cookies for Shandy:
Andy woke up to a cold bed. He moved his hand around. No one, just cool sheets. After a nice and hot weather during September and October, autumn was finally really here. Trees lost their leaves, days were shorters, nights were cold. It was ok though because orange and green were definitively Sharon's colors. He loved to see her in wool skirts, boots and cashmere cardigans. He loved to read books, cuddled on the sofa with her. He loved to walk hand in hand in the crisp air, waves crashing on the deserted beach, holding her in his arms regularly to warm her up.
And he loved ginger and cinnamon, especially when that smell greeted him like that, just as he woke up. He smiled immediately, beyond happy despite the difficult last weeks. Sharon didn't cook much, except for pastries. And her lack of talents with salty food was more than compensated for in the sweet domain. She could be a chef, that's how good she was. His mouth was already watering, just imagining what she could have done that smelled so good.
What surprised him, upon opening their bedroom door, was to hear several voices. They had chosen to spend the weekend at his place to be just the two of them and gave Rusty some much needed space. Plus the doctor said making sweet, gentle love was part of his rehabilitation. Both Sharon and himself had his well being at her. But it wasn't Rusty, nor was it Emily or Ricky. No, it was young voices…
He walked quietly, intrigued. Their backs to him were his, his… well he couldn't think of her as anything else than his wife. So their backs to him were his wife and two grandkids. Both standing up on a chair to reach the counter, Sharon was standing behind them, explaining in a calm and gentle voice how to roll the paste in a snail form to do what he believed to be Cinnamon Buns. It was his favorite pastry ever. He couldn't help but to feel his heart swell with love and gratitude.
He watched her remove a baked batch from the oven, mindful of the children. He noticed then that she was wearing one of his shirts over a pair of leggings. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, something she did only when doing sports or before she showered and did her hair. How she ended up in his kitchen, attending to his grandchildren, so early in the morning, he didn't know but he was beyond thankful to have such a loving and devoted partner in his life. He was at the autumn of his life and was for the first time ever in a happy, healthy relationship with a wonderful woman and with his daughter. He couldn't ask more, just hoped to still have more time with them. And one day, soon, to get to call her his wife, for real.