Chapter 160
Cakes, Candles, and Cheers

It wasn't as though he wouldn't expect her to do anything like this. His birthday was right around the corner, and she was a baker. The month of May had become one of her busiest once she'd found herself making birthday cakes for one husband and two sons in the span of those few weeks. Of course, she was going to bake Lucas a cake for his twenty-sixth birthday. She was still going to make sure it was a surprise, not one bit of it spied before the day came. That was fine… Sneaky surprises were part of how the two of them had operated for as long as they'd been a couple.

She had her whole plan figured out. It helped that she had a good chunk of her days spent at home. Sure, she was looking after one baby boy and one arm-impaired toddler, and looking after any number of house chores, but she thrived as a multitasker, always had, so she could be changing a diaper, loading the washing machine, or dealing with some unfortunate canine incident, and in the back of her mind she would be figuring out her plans for Lucas' birthday. Designing his cake and figuring out how she'd go about it, that was a breeze. All she had to do was put a call out to her mother-in-law, and Melinda Friar would make sure that Lucas wouldn't be anywhere near the house for several hours. And when the cake was done, she would have a very willing pair of grandparents one quick walk away, ready to hide everything in their fridge. Best of all… she had assistants.

"Jamie can't do anything, he's too little," Noah commented. He stood in front of the seat where his baby brother had been parked, toys on hand to keep him entertained. The eight-month-old looked like he had everything he needed. He'd get that look in his eyes like he was definitely thinking and imagining in his head, and his parents would just wish they could know what was going through his mind.

"Well, he can't do all the things you guys can do," Maya agreed. "Here, Sprout, can you grab those bowls for me?" she pointed into the open cabinet, and Elliott bent in to get them. Once he had the small stack out, he lifted them up and set them on the counter. "Thanks," Maya smiled before turning back to his little brother. "You know what he can do though… He can taste." Noah looked glad for this, and it made Maya chuckled. He just wanted to include his baby brother. "Come on, we need to get started so we can do everything before your dad comes home."

That got them focused in on the task at hand. Elliott and Noah both had their aprons, and Maya helped them put those on. They had their footstools, where they knew to stand, not jump. And they had skills. They were still small, but they had cooking and baking with their parents for about as long as they'd been able to stand up on those stools, baking most of all. Whether they realized it or not, they were not just doing anymore, they were learning, and they remembered. It made days like these, where they'd get to make things together, better than ever.

"Mommy, can Jamie have some?" was the question of the hour, coming out of Noah as much as Elliott, whenever something would get sliced, or chopped, or mixed together. If Maya told them no, they'd ask why, and she'd tell them, and that'd be the end of it. If she told them yes, they would climb down from their footstools and bring the approved item over to their brother. After the first one of those 'samples,' Jamie had a new look in his eyes. This one knew that he'd received a treat, and he wanted more, so he kept watch of the activity up at the counter, and if either of his brothers ever came toward him, he would squeal, hands reaching already.

The cake came together beautifully, and as happy as she was with the results, Maya's favorite part was how happy the boys were. They had done a lot, they had helped, and they knew they had done a great job. They couldn't wait for their father to see, but first they had to hide their creation until the next day. This involved the boys running off to get their great grandmother, so she could come and grab Jamie while Maya carried the cake to the little house.

"Happy birthday…" she whispered, the next morning, as Lucas opened his eyes. He smiled back at her, pulled her near, and she responded to this with a kiss. They both knew better than to expect any extended amount of privacy on a morning like this, so they were going to enjoy this bit of one-on-one time while they had it. "Did you hear…"

"Footsteps," Lucas nodded, listening along with her.

"Laughing…" Maya stated as they heard it. They both winced, looked at each other.

"Lou…" they both spoke at once. The dog would spend her nights in the boys' room, her and Trix both, but this also led to the occasional near miss, someone almost stepping on the smaller dog, sending her yelping away. To no surprise, the noise resonated enough that Jamie woke up, not crying outright but fussing enough that Maya moved to rise and pick him up.

"Hey, Tadpole, it's all good, come here," she whispered, holding him secure as she brought him over to his father. "Can you say 'happy birthday?'" she passed him over. He couldn't, naturally, but he could wiggle along, showing his happiness, and that did the job.

"Morning, little man," Lucas kissed the top of his youngest son's head while Maya went to investigate what the others were up to. They met halfway, in the hall, as Noah came ahead of Elliott. The eldest boy came along, carrying the quaking Lou in his arms with the same care he gave anytime he held his baby brother.

"Hey, guys, good morning," Maya whispered. "You want your dad to have a look at her?" she guessed, and both boys nodded. "Alright, go on."

"Can we have cake now?" Noah asked.

"Tonight," Maya told him. He was disappointed, but he didn't argue. He just went and followed Elliott and they went to wish their dad a happy birthday. It took many hours, but in time they would get to show Lucas his cake, and between their excitement and his genuine awe… It was a great success. They made sure not to let it be forgotten that Jamie had contributed, too… as a taster.

The Friars' 'great birthday marathon month' was barely through round two that they already needed to gear up for the third and final round. Elliott's turn… four years old already. No matter how many times they said it or thought about it, there was still that feeling of 'that can't be real' at the back of their minds. He couldn't possibly be days away from turning four; he'd just been born, hadn't he?

"Mommy!" Noah turned to her after they'd seen Lucas and Elliott off. The soon to be birthday boy was on his way to preschool, and his younger brother had clearly been waiting for the moment when he'd be gone to do something. His mother hadn't been aware of this, not until he called to her… loud enough that she could have heard him from upstairs… in the attic. She was right next to him though, so she jumped before turning to look at him. By his giggles, it had all clearly registered as hilarious to him, nothing else. It took Maya a moment, breathing to herself, but she didn't correct him.

"Yeah, Bee?" she asked.

"I'm going to make Elliott's cake with you, right?" Noah asked back, a very serious look on his face. It was important.

"Of course!" Maya promised. "I would never do it without you. We got this," she offered him her fist, and he reached up to bump it with his good fist. "You're going to help me design it first?" Oh, he would definitely do that.

They went and sat at the kitchen table, with Noah sat up in his mother's lap while she drew up their ideas. This was going to be a bigger endeavor than their last cake: this one was going to be a carved, shaped cake. They had offered Noah the same option when they'd been doing their 'investigation' for what he'd want, but he'd said no. Now, as he and Maya worked on his big brother's cake, it became clear that he might not have really understood what they'd meant. Maya almost felt bad that he hadn't been able to get something like that for his birthday, but all she could really do now was store that information away for next year… When he'll turn four… somehow… That was next year Maya's emotional crisis. Right now, her Chewie boy was freshly three, and that was plenty.

"What do you think? That's good, yeah?" Maya asked, sitting across from her baking assistant for the day as he got hold of the offered spoon and gobbled up its creamy contents. The cake was done, at least as far as it could be done until the big day, when they'd have to combine the pieces and finish the assembly. Until then, the pieces had been hidden away, some in the basement fridge, some out in the little house, and the accomplished bakers could sit to a small tasting of their own.

"Goo'," Noah replied with his mouth full.

"Easy, chew, swallow," Maya chuckled. He was eyeing the bowl on the table, little tongue still trying to collect any leftover frosting from the spoon. Maya snorted, gathered another scoop, and offered it to him. "You're going to crash on me later, aren't you?" she asked. He was already too busy with the new spoon to respond. "Definite sugar crash…" she whispered to herself.

Finally, the last morning of May rolled around, Elliott's birthday. For once, he caught them by surprise. The birthday boy managed to come into his parents' room, climb on to the bed, and burrow his way in between them without waking them. They both put their arms around him at some point, but this while still sound asleep, only to find their visitor when they woke up, one and the other almost at the same moment.

"Now when did you show up?" Lucas whispered, smiling.

"Who cares?" Maya whispered back as she leaned to look into their sleeping boy's face, to kiss his squishy cheek. It got him to start and wake up, too, and he blindly reached out his hand until it landed on her face. "Good morning, Sprout," she spoke quietly, kissing him again. "Happy birthday…" The words made him smile, and he turned this jolly face to his father when his mother nodded over to him.

"Happy birthday, bud," Lucas told him, scooping him up when he flipped over to face him. "Did you have a nightmare?" he had to ask. Elliott shook his head. "No? You just wanted to come here?" Lucas asked, and Elliott nodded. "As you should."

A few minutes later, the master bedroom was visited by a semi frantic and confused Noah, who'd awakened to find his brother was nowhere to be found. But then there was Elliott, so all was well once more. They'd already had the family party, the day before, as Elliott's birthday fell on a Monday this year, so the big cake had been completed and presented to its recipient, and it had been so much of a success, with him and little brother Noah, that it almost didn't matter that the cake had only been made for one of them. It felt like it could have been for the both of them, so it sort of took care of the fact that Noah hadn't gotten his special shaped cake.

He'd had his little friends over from preschool, including Max and Max, and his aunts and uncle, his grandparents and great grandparents… Like at Noah's birthday, they'd had very special guests on hand in the form of Tanner and Angela Clutterbucket, Charlie and David Olsen, Caitlin Olsen, and baby Harry Olsen. They'd first gotten to meet the boy at Noah's birthday, and it was already fascinating to see the growth of a few weeks, but beyond that… Just to have him there, and his sister, and his parents, and his grandparents… It was still all so new for all of them, but then it worked. It just worked. They were a family, and all those years apart didn't matter except to make it so that every call, every message, and every visit felt like a thrill in their hearts, a wonderful thrill.

If it wasn't enough that they all got to be there, as it was the first time that they saw her in person since she'd shared the news, they all took the time to congratulate Maya on her new job. They'd done it over the phone when she'd first told them, but it meant as much to her as it did to them to hear it face to face, with hugs. She still couldn't forget the reactions she'd gotten out of her parents, and her stepmother, and her in-laws… She wouldn't forget this one either.

Today's not about that though, it's about Elliott. Today was his actual birthday, and it would just be the five of them, and the senior Friars, and the dogs, and the cats, and that would all they could ever need to celebrate the day when Elliott Lucas Friar had made them a family.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners