This was the year I was going to prove them all wrong! After the teasing from Christian and the subtle, but kind offer by Lissa, I was going to do it myself this year! It was the big three, and I was bound and determined to make Dimitri a birthday cake.

Olena had sent me her tried and true chocolate cake recipe, promising that there was no way that even I could mess it up. And I was hoping that was true. I wanted to prove that I wasn't just a Guardian, but that I knew how to make a home. We'd been together five years now and I knew, hoped, that we might take the next step soon. But I wanted to prove that I could make this house a home. Not exactly like his mother, but close.

I pursed my lips as I read the recipe again. I thought it was strange that she said to pour coffee and put sour cream in it, but I wasn't about to question the master. I reached for one of the glass containers on the counter, reading how much sugar I was supposed to put it. I opened the jar and scooped out the amount and then put it back, reaching for the second container for the salt. I put the measured salt in and set it back on the counter.

The rest seemed to go smoothly, and even as I scraped the last of the delicious chocolate batter into the pan, I was impressed with myself. I set the pan in the oven and cleaned up the mess I had made before starting in on the icing. The icing was just as easy and I had to force myself not to eat the icing from the mixing bowl. Double chocolate was Dimitri's favourite, and I knew that after a long day coming home to a surprise was going to make his week.

I had already made an order for Dimitri's favourite dinner to be delivered just before his shift ended. I had time to kill. But as I looked at the clock, I was worried I wasn't going to have enough time to ice the cake.

I read over the instructions again and furrowed my brows.

"Wrap in cling wrap and put in freezer for twenty minutes?" I whispered to myself, biting my lip. It sounded insane again, but I did it anyway when the cakes had finished baking and cooled on the counter for fifteen minutes.

After waiting the time instructed, I took the cake out and unwrapped it, surprised at how spongey the cake was despite it being in the freezer. I turned the music on as I iced the cake, bobby my head to the lyrics of Taylor Swift. I wasn't a fan before, but it turned out that Dimitri was a closeted fan, and the last few albums were pretty good. It was comical to find out that he was a fan. I borrowed his phone for music when mine died during my work out and when Karma came on, I was momentarily stunned. Enough that I forgot I was holding weights above my head and almost dropped them.

I liked the spatula once I finished decorating, moaning quietly at just how good it tasted. Olean was right, even I couldn't screw it up! I had enough time to clean up my second mess of the afternoon before our dinner arrived, and I scurried around the kitchen to get everything put together.

I jumped when the door opened.

"I'm home."

"Hi!" I squeaked, glancing to see that he was home a half hour early.

"How was your day?"

"It was great. Christian treated me to a really nice lunch," Dimitri said as he came into the kitchen, stopping in his tracks when he saw the cake on the counter and the takeout.

"You didn't need to buy me a cake, Roza," Dimitri said softly, coming towards me and cupping my face before kissing me softly.

"I didn't. Your mother shared her chocolate cake recipe."

When Dimitri pulled back his brows were raised.

"Is that so? She wouldn't share that with me when I moved."

I smirked and tossed my hair over my shoulder. "Maybe she loves me more," I teased before telling him he had time to change before I was ready for dinner. He smiled and kissed my cheek before heading towards the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt as he went.

I smiled to myself as I set the table and put our plates down, pouring us both a glass of wine as he came back out, now donning jeans and a sweater.

"It smells amazing," Dimitri said as he sat down, taking a sip of his wine. I smiled at him and dug in. in my journey to make his cake, I hadn't eaten all afternoon. I was practically ravenous. We spoke about our day and work while we ate. Dimitri said that Christian had made his breakfast when he got to work this morning, and took him to a new restaurant under the guise of meeting Lissa, but it was so that they could celebrate his birthday. Lissa had given me the day off when I told her I was determined to make Dimitri a cake.

She probably thought it would take a few attempts to get it right. She even teased me about forgetting the baking soda.

Once we finished dinner, I was practically itchy for him to try the cake. I even held off eating any pieces or crumbs until he had the first slice! He could see the excitement on my face and looked towards the kitchen. I jumped up from my chair and went into the kitchen, fishing out the candles from the drawer and matches. I set the candles on the cake and lit them, balancing the plate on my hands as I walked back out.

"Happy birthday, Comrade," I sang softly as I set it down in front of him. I told him to wait a moment and I went back to get plates, forks, and a knife to cut it. he looked like he was impatient, but I knew that he was just pulling my leg.

"Now can I blow them out?"

"Yes," I said with a grin.

Dimitri winked and blew his candles out, reaching for my hand and kissing the back of it.

"Thank you, Roza. This is perfect," he enthused and I blushed. I cut us each a cake after picking off the candles and sat down. Dimitri had already put a bite of cake in his mouth before I sat down. My eyes flicked up to his and he smiled, but even as he did, there was something off about his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, but it was strained.

"Is it bad?"

Dimitri shook his head and swallowed, almost thickly, and took another bite.

"It's perfect," he said.

I grinned again and dug into my piece, shoving it in my mouth before stopping. I looked at him and he still had a forced smile on his face. I grimaced and spat the piece out onto my plate.

"Oh, my God. That is disgusting!"

"How much salt did you put in this?" he said, taking a drink of his wine. The cake was extremely bitter, not tasting anything like a cake should.

"Only what the recipe said!" I cried. Dimitri frowned and stood up, going into the kitchen and looking at it. He looked at the jars of flour, sugar, and salt on the counter before pulling the one with the red lid towards him.

"Did you use this?"

"That's the sugar."

Dimitri bit his lip, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Roza, we put the red lid on the salt, remember? After I put salt in my coffee last week?"

I pouted and leaned back in my chair.

"I thought I nailed it."

Dimitri came back to the table and pressed a kiss to my lips.

"I give you an A for effort. It happens to everyone," he said and I sighed. I was not too proud to admit that I was disappointed that I messed up the cake. I wanted to prove to myself even that I could do this.

"If anyone asks, I ate the whole cake because it was so delicious," Dimitri said as he brushed my hair back from my face, "But if you want, we can make another one together."

I pouted for a moment before nodding. As we walked hand in hand into the kitchen, I took the coffee container out of the recycling bin and set it on the counter.

"What's that for?"

I took the jar with the red lid and pulled it towards me. I took the lid off both and promptly dumped the salt into the Folgers container.

"I'm never making that mistake again. That explains why my oatmeal tasted funny this morning."

Thank you to Gigi256 for the prompt idea to help me out of my funk. While the promo was hilarious, my mom made my great-grandfather a chocolate cake for his birthday when she lived with him. She switched the sugar with the salt by accident (they were stored in clear containers). He never let on that she had made a mistake, and he ate the whole slice with a smile on his face until my grandmother tried a piece herself.