Millie, Jessie, and Amanda gathered around the table, looking over a cookbook as Millie turned the pages. Moxxie's birthday was coming up, so Millie wanted to figure out what birthday cake to make for him with the help of her children. She flipped the pages until she got to one page.

"Oh, this one looks good!" Amanda said as she pointed at the picture in the book. It was a normal chocolate cake with purple frosting on top. On it was a white frosting outline of a comedy and tragedy mask. Next to them were the words "Happy Birthday" written in the same color frosting.

Millie looked over the recipe and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this could work. It's got theater stuff on it and it's chocolate, yer pa's favorite! And it doesn't look too hard to make. We've got all the ingredients so this should be good… hopefully."

Despite how simple the recipe looked, Millie was still apprehensive about her cooking skills. There was a time before she met Moxxie that she had absolutely no experience cooking things. But ever since marrying him she had been fairly decent with helping Moxxie out in the kitchen. But this would be the first time she would cook by herself without her husband's help.

Amanda could see the uncertain look on her face. "Mommy, are you ok?"

Millie quickly replaced her worried face with a smile as she kneeled down next to her. "I'm fine, sweetie. I just haven't cooked something like this by myself before. But as long as I put my heart in it, I'm sure yer daddy will love it. Oh, that reminds me, don't tell him about this until the cake's done, ok?"

"Ok Mommy, I promise." Amanda said.

"I promise too!" Jessie said.

"Promise what?" Moxxie said as he entered the kitchen. Upon hearing his voice, she grabbed the book and hid it behind her back where he couldn't see.

"We can't tell you!" Jessie said. "It's a secret!"

Moxxie smiled, "Is that so? All right then, I won't ask what it is. But Amanda, we need to get going to your art class now."

"Ok, Daddy!" Amanda said as she followed Moxxie out of the kitchen and into the living room. As he walked to the front door, he tripped on one of Jessie's action figures. While he was able to keep his balance, the action figure fell over. Looking around, he finally noticed all the toys on the ground, from Jessie's toy sets to Amanda's Legos.

"Jessie, come here!" Moxxie shouted.

"Yeah, Daddy!?" Jessie said as he came running into the living room.

"What did I tell you two about leaving your toys on the ground?"

"That we shouldn't."

"Exactly. Now I want you to clean up this mess while I'm away."

"But I only made half the mess, Amanda made the other."

"Well, at least clean up your mess then, ok?" Jessie nodded as Moxxie and Amanda left the apartment. The boy then ran back to her mom in the kitchen, who was cracking eggs over a bowl.

"Can I help you make the cake, Mommy!?" Jessie asked eagerly.

"Didn't yer pa tell ya to clean up yer toys?" Millie replied, her eyes still on her ingredients and bowl.

"Yeah, but this sounds more fun!"

"You can't just do the fun stuff over other things, sweetie."

"Why not, the fun stuff is more funner."

Millie took her eyes off the bowl to look at her son. "Tell ya what, if you clean up a good lot of the mess, I'll let ya hold yer grandpa's hunting knife."

Jessie's eyes lit up with excitement. Ever since his mom showed him that glorious hunting knife he had always wanted to try it. "Yay!" Jessie shouted as he ran back to the living room, leaving Millie alone with the cooking.

Jessie had a bunch of toy sets on the floor, from toy car race tracks to miniature castles. He grabbed one of each and carried them over to his and Amanda's room, making multiple trips to carry in the rest. Once he was done, he ran back into the kitchen where Millie was struggling to mix her ingredients. When she turned on the mixer inside the bowl, she had pushed down on it too hard. So much that the mix went everywhere and the mixer itself got bent, causing her to groan as she had to restart.

"Mommy! I cleaned up a lot of my mess!" Jessie said.

Millie took a deep breath, eager to take a quick break from her cooking to check on her son. "Alright, let me see."

Jessie led her into the living room where she saw that there was indeed less of a mess on the floor. While there were still action figures and Amanda's toys on the ground, Millie didn't feel the need to be overly cautious where she was stepping.

"Great job, sweetie. Hang on, I'll be right back." Millie went into her and Moxxie's room and soon came out with a sharp, black hunting knife that Jessie swore he could see gleam in the light. He still stared in awe at the knife as Millie handed it to him.

"How does it feel?" Millie asked.

"It feels great!" Jessie said as he swung it around. Millie couldn't help but laugh, as she reacted this way when she got to hold her pa's knife for the first time.

Suddenly, she remembered the cake. "I gotta get back to the kitchen. Clean up the rest of yer mess ok?"

"Okay, Mommy!" Jessie said as Millie walked into the kitchen, her son still playing with the knife.

Millie pulled out a backup mixer and used it after putting the ingredients in the bowl, and this time she was successful. After pouring the cake batter into the pan, she put it in the stove. That's when she saw Jessie come into the kitchen waving the knife around.

"Are ya cleaning up?" Millie asked Jessie, which made him stop in his tracks.

"But I'm playing with the knife."

"You gotta clean your mess though."

"Are you gonna give me Daddy's gun if I clean the rest of the mess?"

"What? No, your Dad has that on him. Besides, I shouldn't have to give you anything to clean up your toys."

"Why shouldn't you?"

"Because you should just do what your mommy and daddy tell you to."

"But why should I do what you and daddy tell me too?"

"Because… because…" Millie had to think of something to get Jessie back to his task. She was above her parents' threats of leaving their misbehaving children outside overnight if they didn't do what they were told, not that they actually did that. Millie then saw the mixer on the counter that still had batter on it and had an idea.

"Because I'll let ya lick the batter off this mixer if you do it." She said as she showed him the mixer.

Jessie licked his lips. "Ok!" He said as he ran back into the living room. He immediately set forth to pick up all his action figures and carry them to his room. Once his side of the mess was finally clean, he ran back again into the kitchen.

As he entered, Millie was putting the baked cake on the counter. However, the cake itself was burned, much to Millie's disappointment. She decided to just go along with it, hoping that it wouldn't be too noticeable.

"Mommy! I cleaned up my mess!" Jessie said.

"Even the big action figures?" Millie Replied.

"Yep!"

Millie nodded and handed Jessie the mixer. The moment he grabbed it he swirled his tongue around the metal end, licking the batter off of it. Meanwhile, Millie took the piping bag and started to pour some frosting on the cake. But she pushed too hard, and the frosting came splurging out everywhere. It was at this point that Millie snapped and flipped the burnt cake over the counter while screaming in anger.

Needless to say, it surprised Jessie as he saw the cake fall to the ground. Millie's anger turned into sadness as she sat down on the floor, her back against the cabinets and hugging her knees as she cried.

"Mommy, are you ok?" Jessie asked as he put the mixer away.

"No… I'm not ok." Millie said. "It's just… y-your daddy has been through so much. He… he had a horrible mom and dad who hurt him a lot… he saw his good daddy's corpse when he was just a kid, and… and for a while he thought his good mommy was dead."

"Are you talking about grandma Gramanda?" Gramanda was the nickname that Amanda I came up with to differentiate between Amanda the overlord and Amanda the imp.

"Yeah… and during that time he… he had to deal with so many awful things by himself. And… and even after all that… he's still the sweetest and most loving imp you'll ever meet. I just… I just wanna make him something that shows how much I-I love him for that."

Feeling terrible for his mother, Jessie looked at the cake on the floor and picked it up. He threw it away and cleaned up the frosting on the floor with a paper towel. Once he was done, he gave Millie a hug.

"You can do it, Mommy. I know you can." Jessie said, which made Millie smile.

"Thanks, sweetie." Millie said as she returned the hug. Eventually she got up from the ground. "I should probably clean this mess-" Just as she approached where she thought she threw the cake, Millie noticed that there was nothing there. "Did you clean this up?" She said with shock as she looked at her son.

"Yep."

Millie gave an even bigger smile. "Thank you, Jessie."

Suddenly, Jessie had an odd feeling inside of him. It wasn't a bad one, in fact, he felt really happy from it. While he was still processing what this feeling was, Millie got a bowl and began to pour ingredients into it. "Ya wanna help make this cake?" She asked him.

"Hang on, I wanna try something." Jessie said as he ran back into the living room, leaving Millie with new determination to finish this cake.

Jessie now cleaned up the legos that Amanda left on the floor and put them in a box he brought in from his room. In little time, the room was completely clean of any toys from both Jessie and Amanda. Once he was done, he went back to help his mom with the cake. Thanks to his help and her newly built confidence in herself, Millie was able to bake the cake without it getting burnt. Together, they gently poured the decorative frosting on top of it until it looked like it did in the picture, with the words "Happy Birthday, Moxxie" written in white. While the masks on the cake were a little crooked in their shape, it didn't matter. The cake was perfect for them.

Mother and son embraced each other in yet another hug. Just then, they both heard the front door open, and Jessie came running to it to see Moxxie and Amanda come home.

"We're back!" Moxxie said before noticing how clean the floor was. "Jessie, did you clean everything?" He said with surprise.

"Yep!" Jessie replied.

"Even Amanda's mess?"

Jessie nodded.

Moxxie gave a big smile. "Thank you, Jessie."

Once again, Jessie had that happy feeling again. Noticing the confused look on his son's face, he asked if anything was wrong. "I don't know." Jessie said. "I just have this weird feeling when someone thanks me."

Moxxie kneeled down next to him. "Does it make you happy?"

"Yeah."

"That's gratitude, Jessie. Not a lot of demons have that feeling, so the fact that you do makes you very special."

Jessie smiled as he gave his father a big hug. "Thank you, Daddy. For everything."

Moxxie smiled as he returned the hug. "You're welcome, sweetie."

"Moxxie, come here! I got a surprise for you!" Millie yelled out from the kitchen. Moxxie got up from the floor and eagerly headed in the voice's direction. When he did, he was shocked to see a cake wishing him a happy birthday on the counter.

"Wow," Moxxie said as he stared at the cake in awe. "Did you make this?"

"I did, with a little help from Jessie." Millie said. The two kids watched as Moxxie scooped a piece of frosting with his finger and ate it.

"It's delicious!" Moxxie said. Hearing her husband say that caused her to break down into tears of joy as he hugged him tightly.

"I'm… I'm so happy yah like it, Mox!" She said as she cried into his shoulder. "I… wanted you to know how much I love you."

"Thank you, Millie." He said as he hugged her back, himself getting teary-eyed. "I love you too." They then embraced each other in a passionate kiss.

Jessie was happy for his parents, especially since Moxxie loved the cake. Leaving the rest of his family alone, he walked out of the kitchen, wondering what else he can help them with next.