A Simple Plan For A Special Day
Luffy loves celebrating; he looks forward to any and every kind of festival, and I love watching Luffy be happy. Watching my partner be happy was what made me happy, hence here I was standing in a queue early morning in front of a bakery.
Over the years, we have celebrated Christmas with friends and family, sometimes on a boat or in a resort. More often than not, I would be drunk by the end of the night, sleeping on his lap, and he would be stuffing himself with whatever was left of dinner.
Now that we were in our late thirties, actually I was almost forty! I didn't want to deal with the aftermath of drunken night's excitement, so this year, I acted selfishly and asked my dear idiot husband if he would be willing to celebrate a quiet Christmas day and holidays with me. My suggestion was we could go for dinner and later watch a film with the pets and pop a beer can or two. And laze around the rest of the days until we returned to our jobs.
He agreed gladly and even suggested we forgo going out for dinner and just stay inside; in his logic, if I was too exhausted to deal with our rowdy families, that meant I would not like having to share my dinner time with a bunch of strangers.
I couldn't refute it.
In moments like this, Luffy proved time and again that he was always paying attention to me.
As cooking was not a skill either of us had been gifted with, we took a whole month to plan our holiday weekend meals. We were not terrible cooks; we would survive, but we wouldn't be able to pull an elaborate dinner spread from scratch like our parents, siblings, and other married friends.
Store-bought curries, pre-cooked baked pies, and a couple of bottles of wine were our choices for the holiday. And there were a few dishes our friend Sanji taught us that we couldn't go wrong with—roasted chicken and veggies made in our giant oven, grilled fish in lemon butter sauce, loaded potatoes, and bacon-wrapped veggies.
A simple plan for a special day. In my heart I was not happy because I knew how much my idiot loved meeting people and looked forward to delicacies cooked by others; I was feeling guilty for depriving him of the full Christmas experience. Especially the cakes, he looked forward to cakes baked by our friends and parents. Being with me, he wouldn't buy a cake just for himself; because damn my gluten allergy.
So when my golden retriever of a husband went for a run with the dog, I put our cat in charge of the house and stepped out to buy him the best plum cake in town from Chiffon's Bakery. A woman loved by everyone for her silky soft cakes; words said by my husband and bestfriends! And she was a professional rival of our mutual friend Sanji.
When I arrived in front of the bakery, I found myself standing far behind; the fierce housewives were here and so were the determined teenagers. My only advantage, I was towering above them all, and I am pretty sure my grumpy morning face kept them from cutting the line. On Christmas day, Chiffon opened her bakery at 6.30 am sharp and closed it at 8 am, so people were always crowded. I arrived at 6 am, yet I was going to suffer in anxiety about getting the plum cake.
"Are you here because you forgot to buy a cake for your wife?" The teen girl with pink hair standing ahead of me asked. I guess to keep the sleep away, a little chit-chat with strangers was fine. I shook my head, and she blushed. "My dad forgot to get the cinnamon rolls for the evening party, which he promised my mom. He is paying me 100 Berries to get them! So I thought…"
"No, I didn't forget. It's a little surprise for my husband; he loves food and looks forward to winter cakes. And today is the only day Chiffon bakes special plum cakes."
"You don't like cakes?
"Not exactly." I was not going to tell her that I had gluten allergies, and that the smell of bread nauseated me. "But my husband loves them. So I should not stop him from having the best cakes in town."
"You must be newly married." A woman with dark orange hair and puffy eyes remarked; that she was slightly older than me, maybe early 40s. "Enjoy the honeymoon period of showing affection." Did I want to talk to her? No. This is the reason I chose to be a surgeon so that I didn't need to consult with people all the time in my chamber. If Luffy was here, he would reply something snarkily; thank the gods, she was saved from his sharp tongue. I decided to smile and not reply. She continued, "My husband used to bring me flowers every month during our first year of marriage, and now he doesn't remember when our anniversary is."
The teen girl looked at me awkwardly; I smiled at her too. "I have a friend who has gluten allergy too." I appreciated her gesture to cut the woman from the conversation.
"You should tell her to carry her allergy card with her. Even if it's a minor issue." There goes my doctor's tendency to lecture.
"I will do." She wanted to ask me something. "Ummm."
"Yes?"
"Where did you get this hoodie from?"
"Sorry, what?"
"The hoodie you are wearing? It's a limited edition, Stealth Black Christmas special."
I looked at what I was wearing; I was in such a rush to get the cake that I didn't pay attention to what I wore. Then I looked at my reflection in the stained-glass of the bakery. This was new; automatically, my hand went to my neck. Bingo, I didn't pay attention; the tags were inside. Luffy must have kept it for me on the chair so that immediately after waking up, I wore my gift. That romantic fool.
"I didn't buy it. My husband bought it; he is a professional bodyguard, so he must have asked his contacts to get him one. I love the Sora Franchise, especially the comics."
"Wow, your husband supports your interests. Wish my husband didn't call me cringe for liking boy-bands." The feisty woman joined in the conversation. "No wonder you are buying cake for him."
"Yeah, he married me; he has to accept my cringe with my good too, right?" I was not going to tell her that Luffy knew how much of a nerd I am. We met seventeen years back when I was dressed in clothes that screamed Stealth Black, and he was the event security head. From the moment our eyes met, he knew I was a total nerd. "I think you should tell your husband this; if he finds your interests cringy, you find his lack of effort cringy too."
"I hope I find a partner like yours who buys me things that I like and doesn't send their daughter early morning to buy cinnamon rolls that he promised to buy."
Again, maybe it was the happiness of wearing my Christmas present that made me say, "Here is the secret; show your cringe side first to the person you like instead of showing your refined self."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know?" That frustrated woman again asked. "What if they find it quirky and later say you are cringy."
"Then you married the wrong person, ma'am." The girl added. "Right, Mr?"
"I can't say for others, but my husband and I have been in love for seventeen years. And he adores my nerdy self; sometimes he is jealous of my love for Stealth Black too!"
"Seventeen years?" To a teen, seventeen years is a lifetime. "I am fifteen." I wanted to laugh and tell her my relationship was eligible for a driving licence.
"Even after so many years, you want to surprise him?" The dark-haired woman asked. "You still care?"
I wanted this conversation to end, so I did what I do best, make people seek help. I fished out my wallet and found a card that was not mine. "Here, take this card. Dr. Nico Robin is a psychiatrist turned counsellor; try to visit her after the holiday season ends. You might need help."
"Why?" The woman was flabbergasted. "Why do you say so?"
"No one shares snippets of their married life with random strangers they met at a bakery; the eye bags have been caused by crying, the constant need to talk about your troubles, and this cynical attitude is a cry for help. And before you ask how I know? I am a doctor."
"But…"
"Look, look the shop is opening!" The teen took the card from my hand and shoved it into the woman's coat pocket. "Ma'am, move, move, I need to get those cinnamon rolls." I couldn't thank her enough. She waved at me and continued pushing her away.
Luck was on my side for a while for once; not only did I get hold of a large plum cake, I managed to get boxes of assorted tarts, mushroom quiche, and liquor chocolate. As my husband was born lightweight, he could only consume liquor with the help of chocolates and maybe a can of beer if he was well-fed.
I was glad, thanks to the number of people who had come to buy their cakes, that I didn't run into the orange-haired woman inside while paying for my stuff. Wasting no time, I walked back fast so that I could hide them before Luffy arrived; after all, it was a surprise.
I had no intention of getting caught.
Our home was not very far from the bakery, a fifteen-minute walk uphill, but the time spent waiting for the bakery to open and then buying the cakes took longer than I calculated.
Just when I was about to open the door, "Woof-woof," our lovely white pup jumped on my back, "Woof-woof!" And I got caught.
"Shu-shu, why are you early?"
"Shouldn't I ask, why are you out of bed and in your Christmas gift already, honey?" Luffy hugged me from behind, and his fingers pulled the neck of my hoodie. "You wore it without checking; I can see the tag. What made you rush out this early morning?" Though I call him an idiot due to habit, his intuition was sharper than a bloodhound. And with evidence of my crime poorly hidden between my hands, I couldn't even try to lie.
"I went to buy a plum cake." I turned around, and Luffy made space for me, thank god for my tall stature, his gaze upon my face made me feel like a puddle. "Plum cake."
"Why?" I handed him the paper bag. He took the bag and looked inside; he smiled and then frowned, "Honey! Why did you buy all these wheat flour things? You can't eat gluten!" My husband pouted. "Did you forget?"
"For you, Idiot!" Saying the words out loud made my belly rumble with embarrassment. Expressing my love at almost 40 like a teenager burnt my cheeks. "Because you love cakes! And I kept you home this year, so…"
"Woof-woof!" Shu-shu wanted to enter.
"Let's get inside." I opened the door. "Wait a minute, baby."
"Which baby?"
"Lu! Stop being jealous of our son. Shu-shu, don't run so fast, you will slip."
Once we opened the door, Kikoku welcomed us, by jumping on Luffy's shoulder. "Meow." Then she began purring for Luffy.
"Well, well, I will try not to be jealous."
Kikou headbutted Luffy's chin, "Meow."
Changing out of shoes, I decided to be a little dramatic, too. "Should I be jealous of my daughter?" I asked with a smirk. The cat jumped down to bother our dog. "Kikou, don't run after your brother now!" Luffy chuckled, then he sat down and dropped a paper bag in my lap. Then he began to help me untie my boots. "You bought something for me?" Luffy nodded.
"You didn't go for a run?"
"I did, but I also bought these for you from a shop that's on my route. When I returned, I found the house was empty. To be honest, I was afraid that you might have walked out in sleep, so I went out again with Shu-Shu to look for you."
"Oh…"
"So you bought a cake for me from Chiffon's?" Now it was my turn to nod. "Because you thought I would miss eating cakes?" I nod again. "So you woke up for me, queued for me?" Luffy pulled away my boots and laughed. Then he untied his sneakers and looked at me cockily, "Honey…"
"Yes, yes, yes! I know you look forward to eating cakes in our get-togethers."
"True. Then what will you do with these?"
"Eh, what?"
"I bought, fruit cake made of millet flour and not wheat flour."
"Why?"
"Because you can't cake and feel nauseated to the smell of wheat… so…"
We needed no more words, Luffy pulled me by the hand and hugged me again. "Thank you." He nuzzled his nose in my neck. "Thank you for always thinking about me." I squeezed him back. "Traffy, remember this, I am not missing out on life when you ask for time and attention, especially when you ask for my companionship."
"I know, love. I do. I just—"
"If you don't choose to express your desire with me, then who will you do it for?"
"I love you."
"I love you too!"
"So?" I bit my lips. "Ummm?"
"So, next time, let's buy cakes we both can eat together instead of trying to surprise each other?"
"Yeah."
"So, shall we have tea and the cakes we bought?" Luffy offered. "Earl Grey?"
"Yes please."
"Okay, honey!"
"The Stealth Black hoodie suits you best." And I blushed like a teenager in love again. My husband tip-toed to kiss my cheeks. "Merry Christmas Law!"
THE END
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Merry christmas to all of my moots!
I am just projecting my fluffy dreams on LawLu now