Morty was under his blanket watching some videos on his phone, he didn't want his family to see what he was watching as they would be utterly ashamed of him. It was late at night and he couldn't sleep so he decided to watch his forbidden videos. The video was just getting to the good part when his blanket was yanked off his bed. His grandfather snatched his phone away from him.
"Ha Morty! I busted you watching por- Morty what is this?" His grandpa looked disappointed.
"I-it's cake decorating videos, come on g-give it back, she was just about to pipe the roses on the cake and I-I really wanted to see that" Morty said.
"Ugh Morty you're so gay, just when I thought you were looking at some nice boobies, should have known" Rick tossed his phone back to him before leaving his room.
Morty fluffed his pillow and got comfortable before rewinding the video back to the piping part. The contest was coming up and he needed to decide on what kind of cake he was going to make. He had some ideas but he couldn't decide which one. Just then a green portal opened up beneath him. He screamed as he fell in it. When he came to, he was on the floor of a forest.
"I can't believe it" he heard a girl's voice next to him. He turned and saw a girl about his age, she was wearing a tattered white cloth skirt with a plain cotton shirt. But the strangest thing was she had canine-like ears on her head and she also had a tail. There was a leaf wreath wrapped around her tail. Her skin was covered in a thin layer of sable colored fur. She made a strange noise that sounded almost like a squeaky toy before tackling him into a hug.
"I can't believe it! My mate, you are finally here! My lonely days are over, Ioba be praised!" she let out a yip of excitement. Followed by more yips as she wagged her tail enthusiastically.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I'm lost, what's going on here?" Morty was shocked by her behavior, and did she just say mate.
"My parents died a few months ago, and I have been so lonely ever since, like I know I have my whole pack as family but I just couldn't shake the loneliness, so I traveled here to the statue of Ioba to pray that she would send someone who can end my loneliness, and then you appeared right next to me, Ioba answered my prayers, I would have been ok with a friend, but apparently Ioba is very pleased with me because she sent me a mate" she started yipping again as she circled him.
"I have to tell everyone! They will be so happy for me, come on" she grabbed his hand and took off running. They ran through the forest until they came upon weird den-like houses deeper in the forest, as he looked around it appeared that the whole place was just forest, nothing but forest, tall trees everywhere their leafy tops created a canopy overhead. As she entered the village other canine people let out yip howls, it seemed to be some kind of greeting. An older canine woman stopped howling and ran over to them.
"Jakolina! I mean alpha, sorry I'm still getting used to calling you that, how was your journey? Did you find what you needed?" the older woman asked, then she seemed to notice him.
"I did Eloisa, look what Ioba blessed me with, a mate just in time for mating season" Jakolina said. Mating season!? Morty's eyes grew wide. Ok he really needed to get out of here, where was Rick? Did he come here too?
"Blessed be!" Eloisa yipped. She gave Morty a good long sniff. Then she drew back and bared sharp fangs, she growled.
"He is not one of us, he's not Coyta, you know how we feel about outsiders, there is no way you can be mates with this…flesh man" Eloisa growled at Morty. Morty was really weirded out at this point.
"But Ioba sent him! After I closed my prayer, he literally appeared beside me, I know we traditionally only take other Coyta as mates, but maybe Ioba is saying it's time for change, I love him and I will take him as my mate, is that understood Eloisa?" Jakolina stared her down. Eloisa averted her eyes.
"Yes alpha" Eloisa conceded.
"Now, uhh….sorry what is your name?" Jakolina turned to him.
"I-I'm Morty" he said.
"Oh that's a nice name" she said flirtatiously as she came closer. "Your scent is so intoxicating" she said lustfully.
"Let the union ceremony commence!" she called. All the Coyta villagers gathered around, a wooden throne was sat in the middle of the village. He thought she was going to sit in it since she is the alpha, but she forced him down in it.
"Normally, the male Coyta must court the female Coyta, since you aren't from here and don't know our sacred mate union ceremony traditions, I will instead court you" Jakolina said. Gasps rang around the clearing.
"Alpha I must object" Eloisa began, but Jakolina silenced her with a commanding bark.
That bark seemed to silence all the assembled Coyta, he wondered if it was how the alpha asserted their authority. He gulped Rick could really come any minute now.
"First, a show of strength, to prove that I am always willing and able to protect you" Jakolina said.
Suddenly the throne he was on was picked up by some male Coytas, Jakolina led them through the dense brush. He wasn't sure where they were going, her eyes were scanning left and right as if she was looking for something, then suddenly she stopped waving her tail as a signal for the others to stop. She sniffed the air. Suddenly a big bear erupted from the bushes. Morty stifled a scream of terror. That bear was going to rip them all to shreds.
Jakolina let out a battle cry before charging at the bear. He couldn't watch, she was going to get torn to pieces. She wielded a wooden spear, that spear would be no match against the bear's thick pelt. It stood up on its hind legs, it towered over her it was so tall. It let out a massive roar, before swiping it's huge razor sharp claws at her. She deftly dodged to the side.
She threw her spear with great force, it stabbed into the bear's side. Morty noticed lean muscles under that layer of fur, he guessed she was used to this. Bears were probably pretty common here. She wrenched her spear out of the bear's flesh, blood flowed out. Morty swallowed hard, he hated violence, he really didn't want to watch this. She kept scoring hits with her spear. The bear tried to claw her again, he saw a feral look in her eyes. She jumped on the bear and began stabbing it repeatedly. Blood was flying everywhere, it tried to throw her off. But she held on tight, she let out a feral growl, as she stabbed it over and over again, finally she put her spear through it's throat. Morty tried not to vomit, then she stood up covered in blood and howled her triumph. He just sat there stunned into silence.
"See Morty? That's what will happen to anyone who dares to try and hurt you" Jakolina lifted her chin proudly. "Now give me a minute please this is no way to look at a mate union ceremony" Jakolina walked off while he was carried back to the village.
A while later she returned no longer covered in blood, she was wearing the same thing except her skirt was now more tattered and her shirt had a big tear across it. Was she hurt? Did the bear get her? But he noticed no signs of injury on her. Her clothes were drenched, it was obvious she had washed up. He wondered if the wet clothes bothered her but she didn't seem to mind.
"Next up, hunting, to show you I can take care of you, I will hunt and cook you something delicious, do you have a preference in meat?" Jakolina asked.
"Uhh, uhhh" Morty babbled like an idiot. He was still stunned that she had killed a bear rather effortlessly.
"No? Ok I'll choose, don't worry it will be yummy" she ran off deeper into the forest.
Morty was kind of hungry, he wondered if she was going to make him eat squirrels or something, who knows what kind of things these canine people eat. He noticed the older woman Eloisa was it? glaring at him. All the Coyta seemed rather unfriendly, Eloisa did say they don't like outsiders, even if he did want to be Jakolina's mate he would never be accepted here, or respected as the alpha male, he doubted even she could change that. Maybe he could leave right now while she was out, he looked around and wondered if the other Coyta would even let him leave, surely they wanted him gone right? He stood up from the throne.
"Sit! Until the alpha comes back" Eloisa snarled.
She already seemed as if she wanted to kill him, so he wouldn't give her a reason to. He sat back down. So much for that idea, they weren't going to just let him leave. He heard howls in the distance, he was worried it was a distress call or something, but the other Coyta seemed unfazed, maybe she was just expressing her excitement or celebrating a victory.
He wondered how big this forest was, if his grandfather was here, he could have landed on the opposite side of the world and it would take him an eternity to reach Morty. What if he was lost or hurt or…..
he didn't even want to think about that possibility. The day drug on for what seemed like a lifetime every minute seemed like an hour. And she still hadn't returned but nobody seemed concerned so it must be normal for hunts to take this long. His butt was starting to hurt from sitting for so long, he longed to stand up and stretch his legs. But the hard stares he was getting from Eloisa say that wasn't a good idea. Finally she came back into the village dragging a gazelle behind her. The Coyta broke into yip howls of greeting, did they have to do that everytime. He wanted to cover his ears; it was rather loud. There is no way he would want to hear this on a daily basis, Coyta were clearly very vocal people.
"Sorry it took so long, I wanted to find the perfect lean gazelle to make you food out of" Jakolina said.
A bonfire was built out of logs and sticks. He was relieved he was finally able to stand up, he walked around to stretch his legs. She got out a hunting knife and cut the gazelle to pieces. She roasted choice cuts of the meat over the open flame. Then she got a pot filled with water and told Coytas to bring what they would contribute to the stew. They brought baskets of vegetables and bread and one even brought beans. She put them in the pot and set it on a grate to boil, then she added the meat using a wooden spoon to stir the stew. He stood by the fire, relishing its warmth, since he lacked the fur the Coyta had, it was getting rather chilly now that the sun was going down. The stew smelled good and he was really hungry. It was done and she grabbed a ladle and poured some of the soup in a bowl, and handed it to him. He was nervous to try it. He has never had gazelle before, what if he didn't like it and they got offended and attacked him. She poured herself a bowl before sitting next to him on a log. She looked at him expectantly, gulping he ate a spoonful of the stew. It was rather good, but he appreciated the warm feeling the food left in his belly.
"Do you like it mate?" she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Y-yea, it's really good" Morty said.
"I'm glad you like it, see how I can feed you?" Jakolina's tail thumped the log as she wagged it happily. After they finished eating, she stood once more beckoning him to do the same, he stood.
"And lastly, it's marking time" a feral glint was in her eyes, the Coyta began chanting Mark! Mark! Mark! He wondered what they were talking about, marking? What did that mean?. He knew dogs often peed on stuff to mark it, but surely she wasn't going to pee on him.
"Are you ready?" she sashayed over to him. Without waiting for him to respond she jumped on him knocking him to the ground. She was on top of him looking down at him like a hunter would look at its prey. He stared up at her wide eyed. Were they supposed to…..right here in front of everyone. The assembled Coyta were howling.
"W-wait!" he squirmed.
"Hold still!" she pinned him to the ground with shocking strength. She pulled his shirt up. No no no this couldn't be happening. Then she raked her long nails down his chest and abdomen. Not hard enough to draw blood but enough to leave marks. Oohhh marking, now it made sense. She did it again. She squirmed as it tickled, he was trying not to laugh his head off.
"Oh you like that? Just wait and see what I do to you when we are alone" she growled lustfully in his ear. He gulped. She pulled his shirt down and got off of him.
"It is done!" she cheered. The Coyta yipped in excitement.
"Now, time for the most exciting time in the mate union ceremony, it's time for the newly mated pair to join together in body, soul and mind!" Eloisa said. Morty blushed; he knew what was coming next. He had been silent the whole day but now he was going to speak up.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I can't" Morty said. All the Coyta gasped.
"Did he just reject alpha?"
"Couldn't be, who would do that?"
"L-look Jakolina, I-I'm not your mate, my grandfather sent me here, I didn't end up here by chance, I-I'm sorry, I-I'm not the one that was sent to end your loneliness, I don't belong here, I have a home and a family" Morty said. She just stood there with an unreadable expression.
"Look I know you are nervous, but don't worry when I make love to you like a wild animal, you'll realize that we belong together" Jakolina stood next to him and put her tail on his back in a comforting gesture. He stepped away.
"I-I'm sorry, there will be no love making, I-I really have to find my grandfather and get home, I-I'm sure your real mate will come along shortly" Morty said. She drew her lips back in a snarl revealing her sharp pointed teeth.
"Nobody rejects me! I am alpha! You went along with the ceremony, so now we are a mated pair, now, we are going to indulge in each other's bodies for the rest of the night, so let's go" she grabbed his arm and led him to one of the den-like houses, this one was bigger than the others.
"This is the house where I grew up, and now we'll raise our family here" she embraced him. Then she took him to the master suite.
"This is the bed where I was conceived, this is the bed where my parents had their first mate bond, and now it's come full circle and we will have ours" she ran her hand down his arm. Whilst giving him bedroom eyes.
"Oh I've been waiting all day for this" she looked at him lustfully as she pulled her skirt down. He immediately covered his eyes.
"What are you doing? We are mates, it's ok if you see my naked body, come on take a look, see if you like anything" Jakolina flirted.
"Come on, take your clothes off too, I know you're unsure, but trust me once we get started you will have the best night of your life" she said as she took her shirt off. Suddenly a green portal opened under him and he fell in with a scream. But he was also relieved his grandpa had finally come to save him. He landed on his bed bouncing a couple of times. He just lay there stunned for a moment.
"Oooh, it was getting pretty hot and heavy wasn't it Morty, I should have made you stay and let that girl make you a man" Rick said. Morty just realized he was standing next to his bed with a smirk on his face.
"Wha? Grandpa! Why did you do that!? T-that was so stressful" Morty sat up. "W-what time is it!? am I-I late for school!?" he started panicking.
"It's Sunday idiot, remember?" Rick gave him an unamused look.
"Oh yea, it seems like a perfect time to nap, since I didn't get any sleep last night" he looked at Rick pointedly.
"Haha! Do you really think you are going to sleep? I need your help with something" Rick pulled out his portal gun.
"Aw come on, I just had a really long day…night… whatever, can I please get some rest" Morty looked at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Ok fine, never make that face again, honestly Morty it's no surprise you are still a virgin" Rick walked out of his room ranting.
Morty tucked into his covers and sighed in content, finally the threat of being forced to have sex with some canine girl was over. He was pretty sure he was going to get some kind of sleep disorder with how much sleep his grandpa's escapades costs him. He closed his eyes to get some much needed rest. His phone buzzed, waking him up. He felt like he had only been asleep for maybe an hour but when he picked his phone up and the screen lit up it said 1:23pm. Six hours, he had been asleep for six hours. He's surprised Rick left him alone for that long since he already wanted him to help with something else. He had gotten a text from Abigail.
Hey Morty! I hope you aren't busy but I was wondering if you could help me bake some cookies for this charity event this evening my mom has to stay extra late at the dinner and can't help so I could really use your help
He smiled before giving his reply.
Yea sounds fun I'll be there
His phone buzzed with her reply.
Great! The event starts at five so I figured we could start baking at three we can go to the chef's kitchen in my house it has two ovens and with your help we can get it done fast thanks Morty you're a life saver!
No problem! See you then
Morty got up and went downstairs to tell his parents about his afternoon plans. Of course they teased him. He was excited to be spending time with a friend after having to be amongst a bunch of howling weirdos all day or night depending on who you ask. Rick rushed into the kitchen.
"Morty, finally you are awake! Let's go! We have to get to Exerox asap!" Rick grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the garage.
"W-wait Grandpa I can't, I-I am going to make cookies with Abigail for charity" Morty said.
"Wow Morty, you think some dumb girl is more important than me? Your grandpa, wow I can't believe you" Rick let go of his hand and stormed off into the garage slamming the door behind him. Morty felt guilty. He ran into the garage after his grandfather.
"Grandpa w-wait, I-I didn't mean it like that, it's just I-I said I would help, i-it would be rude of me not to show up" Morty said.
"The mission is going to take an hour tops, we'd be back in plenty of time for you to bake cookies with your dumb girlfriend" Rick said.
"Hey Abby isn't dumb" Morty protested. Rick waved a dismissive hand.
"Are you sure it will only take an hour?" Morty asked. Because an hour in Rick's eyes was usually several hours or even a day.
"Yes Morty, it will only take an hour" Rick's voice held annoyance. His grandfather shot his portal gun and they stepped through the swirling green portal. They were in a line that seemed to stretch on for miles. Ahead there was a large building. People seemed to be waiting in line to get into that building. He figured that they too were headed to that building.
"Uh Grandpa, what's this line for?" Morty asked.
"This line is for that place up ahead, that place is Chateau de Exerox, the most sought after restaurant in the whole galaxy, they say the food here is some on the best in the whole universe, it takes years to get a reservation, in fact I got on the waiting list thirty years ago and they finally have a reservation for me" Rick explained.
"Dinner reservations!? That's what this is!? That's what the rush was about!? Grandpa I thought you really needed my help with something, not going out to dinner" Morty was annoyed with his grandfather. This is what he was in such a rush about, he thought it was something serious.
"God forbid a grandfather wants to treat his grandson to dinner, Morty this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wanted to share it with you, but fine since you'd rather be back home I'll send you back you ungrateful jerk!" Rick yelled. All the annoyance melted away as Morty realized perhaps he was being a jerk. For once his grandfather just wanted to spend time with him instead of having him do something for him.
"I-I'm sorry grandpa, you're right, I-I appreciate you wanting to share this with me" Morty said.
But Morty was still concerned, it seemed it would take them an hour or more just to get through the line. Then they still had to eat, he worried this hour long trip was turning into a couple hour long trip. In the twenty minutes they had been standing there the line hadn't moved at all. There was no way they were going to be done in an hour.
After what seemed like a lifetime they finally made it in and were standing at the host stand. He looked around, the place was definitely five star, white marble floors vaulted ceilings, marble pillars going all the way up to the tall ceiling, the ceiling was covered in a heaven themed mural. People of all different races filled the many white clothed chairs. A woman with purple skin took them to their table. They were handed fancy menus, however they were in some alien language he couldn't understand.
"G-granpa, I-I can't read the menu" Morty said.
"I heard people say that we have to try the Draconian Curry, they said it is one of the top dishes served here" Rick said. A server came and gave them some glasses of pink water. Morty took a sip of it. It was amazing. Like the best water he had ever tasted. The waitress began speaking in an alien language as she pulled out a pen and pad of paper.
"Yes we would like the Draconian Curry, extra veggies for the growing boy" Rick told the waitress as she wrote on the pad of paper. She nodded and walked away.
Morty tried to focus on spending time with his Granddad and not on how late he was going to be, and how mad Abby was going to be at him. Honestly it was way more awkward trying to have a normal conversation with Rick. The waitress came back with an ornate glass bowl of bread. Morty grabbed a piece of bread and bit into it, it was hot and fresh, very satisfying. Ok maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Rick pulled out one of his inventions and was explaining it to Morty. He supposed that was the only way to connect with Rick was over something scientific.
"So, do you really like this Abigail girl?" Rick asked.
"Um, I-I mean she's really nice and we have a lot of similar interests, b-but I'm not sure I-I like her like that" Morty scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Either way, I'm glad you have a friend" Rick said.
Morty was floored, was his grandpa actually being nice to him? He felt a pang of guilt, he had assumed Rick had some kind of ulterior motive, but it seemed like he genuinely wanted to spend time with him. He was even trying to have normal conversations. Well he was most likely already late, she was most likely really mad at him. So he may as well enjoy dinner with his grandpa.
"Grandpa, w-what was my grandma like?" Morty asked. He had never met his grandma and his mom always refused to talk about why she wasn't in the picture. Rick's demeanor changed, he saw a glint of sadness in his eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have asked about her.
"She was a beautiful kind woman, she had such a loving heart, wonderful mother" he smiled sadly as if talking about her pained him. Morty was torn on whether he should ask what happened to her or not. He knew it was probably insensitive but he was really curious.
"The funny thing is, your kind and gentle demeanor reminds me of her, she was the same way, so loving no matter how she was treated, she was definitely better than me, but don't get it twisted she had a feisty side too" Rick smiled fondly.
Morty smiled. It made him happy that he was like his grandmother, even though he never met her she obviously made an impact on Rick and Beth's lives. She must have been a wonderful woman.
"W-what happened to her?" Morty asked quietly. Unsure how his grandpa would react. Rick's eyes clouded with grief and a brief haunted look came to his face. Morty felt bad for asking, this was really hard for his grandpa.
"One night I had to stay at the lab later than usual, we were supposed to have a romantic evening, Beth was maybe sixteen, she was spending the night at a friend's house, so it was going to be just me and Diane, when I got home…" Rick had to pause to recompose himself. Morty reached across the table and grabbed his hand. He was surprised that his grandpa held it instead of slapping it away. There were these rare moments when his grandfather was vulnerable.
"As soon as I walked through the front door I knew something was wrong, I smelled something burning and my Diane was a great cook, sure enough I went into the kitchen to find an unattended pot with food burnt to a crisp in it, I called her name, but there was no answer, so I started looking, I saw things knocked over and scattered everywhere, it looked like a tornado hit the place, when I went into our bedroom I saw… I-I saw" tears welled in Rick's eyes.
"I saw her lying on the floor in a pool of blood, I ran over to her but it was too late, it appeared she had been stabbed multiple times, I figured it had to be about me, because I knew no one hated my sweet Diane enough to stab her like that, it was later discovered that it was a jealous ex girlfriend that had killed her" Rick finished his story just as their food was served.
"I-I'm sorry grandpa, that m-must have been awful" Morty felt bad for him.
"It was a long time ago, let's live in the now and try this amazing curry" Rick quickly changed the subject and Morty knew he would speak no more of it. He looked at his curry served in a red ceramic bowl. The curry was yellow in color and he could smell how spicy it was. It was served with a side of steaming white rice. He picked up his glass spoon and took a sip of it, the flavor was indescribably good, then his mouth started burning and his eyes were watering.
"W-wow that's really hot" Morty dumped his rice into his curry. By the time they finished their meal their eyes were watering and their noses were running. They had an out of this world quadruple chocolate triple fudge double cocoa caramel filled molten lava cake. It was absolutely delicious. Morty felt like he would explode he was so full.
"Well, sorry that took much longer than intended and you missed your plans with your friend" Rick said.
"I-its ok, I really enjoyed this, i-it was fun, thanks for bringing me" Morty smiled at his granddad as they stepped through the portal, unbeknownst to Morty his grandfather didn't pay the bill. As soon as they were back in a place with reception. He swallowed hard and looked at his phone, it was 5:30pm and he had some messages from Abby. hesitantly he read them.
2:50pm
Hey Morty are you still coming?
3:00pm
Are you ok? Is something wrong? Please get back to me asap I really need your help
3:20pm
Ok nevermind then
He was about to text her back, but he figured he'd see her at school tomorrow then he could apologize and hope she forgives him. As he entered the house from the garage his family was in the living room talking and his sister was crying.
"Is it true!? You were going to abort me!? The only reason you didn't is because dad's tire blew on the way to the clinic!" Summer was hysterically crying. Morty was shocked, were his parents really going to do that to her?
"Summer sweetie, we were young dumb teenagers, we weren't ready to be parents yet" Beth tried to reason with her.
"Yea, how could we have known at the time that when we spent prom night banging the night away that Beth got pregnant" Jerry said.
"So when we found out we panicked, and decided not to keep you" Beth said.
"I can't believe you guys would do that!" Summer ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door.
Morty's heart ached for his sister. He went into the kitchen to make her a sweet treat she always loved. Caramel apple tartlets. He preheated the oven to three seventy five. For the dough he put two cups of flour, three fourths cup of butter he cut the butter into cubes, three tablespoons of brown sugar, three fourths cup of salt, and three tablespoons of water in a mixer and blended them together until the dough formed into a ball.
For the filling he took five large apples and sliced them, he put two tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat, once the butter melted he added the apple slices, a half cup of white sugar, one fourth cup of brown sugar, one teaspoon of cinnamon, a half teaspoon of allspice, and one fourth teaspoon of ginger, stirring frequently so it wouldn't burn until the apples began to soften, then he added two tablespoons of flour, two tablespoons of cornstarch, and one tablespoon of lemon juice. He sat the apple mixture aside.
For the carmel he took a pan and put it on medium low heat and took a cup of sugar and put it in the pan, he would stir it roughly every twenty seconds because he knew sugar burned really quickly. Once the sugar melted completely he moved it from the heat immediately, he stirred in six tablespoons of unsalted butter, he mixed in a half cup of heavy cream and a half teaspoon of salt, he stirred it until a gooey caramel formed. He dumped the apples in the caramel and mixed them together, then he took the dough and rolled it out and cut circles into it. He took the dough circles and put them in the bottom of some tart glasses. He put the caramel apple mixture onto the dough then he folded the dough over the mixture. He repeated that six times and put them into the oven.
Approximately thirty minutes later they were done. He put one on a plate and against his better judgment went to his sister's room and knocked on the door.
"Go away Morty!" came her reply. He knew she was going to yell at him, but he really wanted to check on her after learning that awful news. He opened her door.
"Hey I-I made you a caramel apple tartlet, I-I just wanted to make sure you are ok" Morty said.
"I don't want your tartlet Morty" she had her back to him. He was surprised to hear no anger in her voice. For once she didn't say it with venom, just sadness.
"O-ok, I-I'll just set it here on your nightstand incase you change your mind" he set it on her nightstand and left her alone.
Morty was in his room getting ready for bed when he saw a bright flash followed by a boom. He looked out his window. Looks like it was going to storm tonight. He got into his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Flashes of lighting would occasionally lighten his dark room. He loved thunderstorms. They were so beautiful and peaceful. He closed his eyes and listened to the rain and thunder. A moment later he heard his door open. He saw the outline of somebody standing in his doorway but he couldn't quite tell who it was. They stepped further into his room.
"Morty" he heard his sister's voice.
"Summer?" his voice held concern. He sat up
"Can we talk?" Summer asked. Morty could hear the pain in her voice.
"O-of course, l-let me turn the lamp on" he reached over and turned the lamp next to his bed on. He squinted against the light. She sat on the foot of his bed. She turned to him with tears in her eyes and practically jumped on him and buried her face in his chest and sobbed.
"I'm a mistake! My parents tried to kill me! Why am I even here!" Summer wailed in despair.
"H-hey hey, shhh, t-that's not true Summer, nobody is a mistake, i-if you weren't meant to be here you wouldn't be, there is a reason dad's tire popped on the way to the clinic" Morty said as he wound his arms around her and rubbed her back in a soothing motion.
"Why!? I saw it with my own eyes! They would have been happier without me!" Summer sobbed.
"O-our parents were young teenagers, they w-were probably terrified of having a baby that young, I-I think they just thought they had to abort you, b-but when they didn't, I-I know they loved you a-and were glad they kept you, they love you Summer, regardless of the mistake they almost made when they were immature teenagers, I-I love you too, a-and I'm glad you are my sister" Morty said.
"How can that be? How can you love me after the way I've treated you? How can you love me after the awful and cruel things I said about and to you? Deep down you must hate me" she hung her head shamefully.
"I-I love you no matter what, and I-I could never hate you" Morty replied gently. It was true he would never hate his family even if they hated him.
"Sorry to unload on you like that, thanks Morty, thanks for being such a great brother to a less than great sister, and thanks for the caramel apple tartlet, it was really good" Summer said. He was happy his sister had tried his dessert and enjoyed it. Maybe he could finally have a member of his family that liked his baking.
"Well I suppose we have school tomorrow so we better get some sleep, goodnight Morty, and I promise I'll be a better sister" Summer said as she left his room. He was left beaming. He was happy to finally bond with his sister. Maybe his family wouldn't fall apart after all. Morty turned the lamp off and let the sound of the storm soothe him to sleep.
The next morning Morty was moving slowly. He was not looking forward to facing Abby at school today. He knew she was furious with him. He went to the dining room to eat breakfast. His sister greeted him as he sat down and got a bowl of oatmeal and some toast. And poured himself a glass of orange juice. His grandfather was not at the table, he was most likely busy in the garage. Morty ate his breakfast and went upstairs to brush his teeth. He could delay no longer as his father took him and Summer to school. For once he and Summer walked into the building together. Then they split as Summer went to her hall. He went to his locker to grab his books. He saw Abby getting her books out of her locker. He swallowed thickly.
"H-hey Abby" he said as he approached her. She just closed her locker and started walking away.
"Wait! I-I'm sorry!" Morty called after her. She turned around.
"If you didn't want to come you could have just said so" Abby had a hurt expression.
"I-I wanted to come, I-its just, my grandpa took me out to dinner with him, a-and it took way longer than intended, and where we were I-I didn't have reception to tell you that I was going to be late, I-I'm so sorry, I'll make it to you I-I promise" Morty explained. Her expression softened.
"Out to dinner with your grandpa huh? I remember those days" she said wistfully.
"If you had dinner plans with your grandpa you should have said so, then I wouldn't have asked you to come help" Abby said.
"I-It was more of a last minute thing, he has a tendency to tell me things at the last possible minute" Morty said.
"Ok, I forgive you" she hugged him. They walked to class together.
That afternoon they were eating lunch together.
"Have you thought about what kind of cake you're going to make for the contest?" Abby asked. "Or is that none of my business" she added playfully.
"I-I am torn between strawberry or lemon" Morty said.
"Oooh both those sound really good" Abby said.
"I'm most likely going for a classic chocolate cake" Abby said. They spent the rest of the day bonding over their mutual love of baking.
The next day Morty asked his mom to take him strawberry picking so he could get some fresh strawberries for his cake. He decided on the strawberry cake. When he got home from that, he got started on his cake, he would make it today and put it in the fridge for the contest tomorrow. First he preheated the oven to three fifty. Then he took two cups of his fresh strawberries, pureed them and set the puree aside.
For his cake he whisked together two and a half cups of flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, a half teaspoon of baking soda, and one teaspoon of salt as his dry ingredients. Then he mixed together three fourths cup of unsalted butter, one a three fourth cup of white sugar, five eggs, one third cup of sour cream, two teaspoons of vanilla, and a half cup of milk as his wet ingredients. Then he added his strawberry puree. He poured the pink batter into two cake pans. Then he put them in the oven.
For his frosting he pureed more of the strawberries, and whipped two cups of heavy cream, one cup of powdered sugar, and one fourth cup of vanilla to make a strawberry whipped cream. Once his cakes were done he iced one and stacked the other on top, then he iced them both using a straight blade knife to make the icing completely smooth. Then he piped a tall swirl of frosting and put a strawberry next to the swirl of frosting, he repeated that in a pattern around the cake. When he was satisfied with his work he put the cake in a carrier and put it in the fridge. He was rather proud of the cake he had made and he hoped Miss Bloomingdale was as well.
Just then his sister got home. She had been out with her friends she came into the kitchen.
"Hey Morty, I got you something" she said as she handed him a box wrapped in blue wrapping paper.
"Oh, y-you did" he took the box. He knew it was wrong to think like this but it honestly creeped him out that his sister was being so nice to him. He half expected a boxing glove to pop out of the box and punch him in his face cartoon style. He opened the box and it was the cake decorating kit he had been wanting.
"Thank you Summer!" he hugged her. He wanted to cry, he was so happy, this would really take his baking to the next level.
"You're welcome, from now on I'm going to be more supportive of your hobby" Summer said. Morty was eager to test it out. He would definitely have to bake more.
Later that night he went to bed early. So he could be ready for the contest tomorrow. The next morning he grabbed his cake and was taken to school.
"Good luck, I know you'll do great" Summer said.
"T-thank you" Morty said. He was waiting for the day that his sister told him this was all a ruse before shooting him in his face. Ok maybe he was being a little dramatic but it still was so weird for his sister to actually be nice to him.
He went to baking class and set his cake up. He saw Abigail and Stacy already there. Abigail waved at him whilst Stacy just scoffed. He thought their cakes looked really nice.
"Ew, you actually think you can win with that crap?" Stacy laughed.
"I-I hope so" Morty said.
"Dream on loser! I win every time, your cake just looks like a unicorn took a dump on it" Stacy sneered.
"Well, I-I think your cake looks really nice" Morty smiled warmly. That only seemed to make her mad. And that's the way he preferred it, kill em with kindness. Not that he'd ever want to kill someone. But if he did it would be with kindness. Before he could give it anymore thought Miss Bloomingdale came into the classroom.
"Ok class, I see some really pretty cakes here, so here's how things are going to go, I'm going to come over and you'll tell me what kind of cake you've made and then I'll try it, after I've sampled everyone's cake then a winner will be determined" Miss Bloomingdale explained. First she went to Stacy.
"Well Miss Bloomingdale, I've made a vanilla cake with a passion fruit filling and vanilla buttercream frosting decorated with edible pearls" Stacy said proudly. Morty had to admit that sounded really fancy. Miss Bloomingdale tried a piece of her cake.
"Mmm, very good Stacy" she moved on to Abigail.
"Miss Bloomingdale, I made a chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse frosting" Abigail said. Another fancy cake. He was starting to feel self conscious about the generic strawberry cake he came up with. She sampled a piece of Abigail's cake.
"Very nice Abigail" she said as she moved on to him. He pushed his nervousness away.
"I-I made strawberry cake with strawberry whipped frosting" Morty felt very lame saying that compared to what Abigail and Stacy made. She tried a piece of his cake. He wished he could read her mind and see what she was thinking.
"Ok class, I was very impressed with everyone's cake, but one stands above the rest, this cake was not only very moist and flavorful but I could tell that fresh ingredients were used, and the design was very creative" Miss Bloomingdale pulled out a blue ribbon.
"Morty's strawberry cake!" Miss Bloomingdale announced. Morty had to take a minute to process what she just said. He…won!?. Abigail cheered for him. But Stacy looked miffed. Miss Bloomingdale gave him the blue ribbon.
"What!? How!? He made the most generic cake possible! How did he win!?" Stacy was fuming mad.
"As I said before, His cake was very moist and the strawberry flavor was spot on, you were too worried about coming up with something over the top, maybe just relax and have fun" Miss Bloomingdale said. Stacy just shoved her cake onto the floor and stormed out.
"What a brat" Abigail rolled her eyes. "Well Morty, if your cake is half as good as Miss Bloomingdale says it is then I have to try it" Abigail said. He got her a piece of it.
"Wow, that is delicious, she's right it has great strawberry flavor without being too much" Abigail said. Morty was still stunned into silence.
"Morty, you are very good at what you do, your love for baking is apparent in this cake, you're going places kid" Miss Bloomingdale said. He finally managed to snap out of it. A flood of joy came over him. He actually won something. Just wait until he shows his parents that his baking won him a reward. Surely they'd be proud of him then. He couldn't wait to tell them.