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“Something smells amazing,” Emily smiled as she stepped into the apartment and kissed Aaron. The rich, sweet smell of baking wafted towards her nose and she inhaled deeply. She knew that Aaron liked to cook but she had never known him to bake before. “Has Jessica been baking?”
“No, I have,” Aaron admitted, looking almost insulted at the idea that he couldn’t bake. “Jack’s class is having a party tomorrow and apparently shop-bought treats wouldn’t do.”
“I didn’t know you could bake.” Emily commented as he led her into the kitchen where Jack was mixing a bowl of icing sugar and food colouring. “Hi Jack,”
“Hi Emily,” Jack smiled and she smiled at the flecks of flour and icing sugar on his cheeks. “We’ve been baking lots and lots.”
“What have you made?” Emily asked curiously as she set her bag down. Whatever was in the oven smelled incredible but there were also several trays with various baked goods cooling around the kitchen. The counters were also littered with mixing bowls, jugs and various bags of flour, sugar and other ingredients.
“Rice krispie cakes and cookies with chocolate chips and rainbow cookies and they’re in different shapes and I get to decorate them all!” Jack explained cheerfully as he held up the bowl of blue icing sugar for Emily to examine.
“That’s amazing Jack,” Emily smiled as she turned to Aaron. “Again, you never told me that you could bake.”
“Well unlike some people, I can be trusted to use a kitchen.” Aaron retorted and Emily playfully swiped him with a tea towel. She wasn’t a terrible cook per se. She knew what she could make and what she couldn’t. It just so happened that one list was far, far longer than the other.
“Rude,” Emily pouted as she looked hopefully at the various baked goods. She never turned down free food. Especially not free homemade food. “Are there any going spare?”
“Of course, they’re the ones in the oven.” Aaron replied as he checked them before he turned his attention to Jack who was carefully sprinkling the rice krispie cakes with sprinkles, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrated. Emily smiled at the sight as Aaron helped Jack ice the various cookies with different colours of icing and patterns for each shape. The stars were iced yellow. The chocolate chips were iced blue and green. The rainbow cookies had white icing. By the time they had finished icing the cookies, the timer went off to let them know the last batch of cookies were done. Aaron lifted them out of the oven and turned it off before setting them aside to cool.
Emily reached for one and received a second swat, this time with an oven mitt, for her troubles. “Hey!”
“You’re worse than Jack,” Aaron scolded playfully. “Let them cool first and we’ll have a few with some coffee,”
Emily watched Aaron and Jack ice the final batch of cookies before Jack led Emily away to the lounge. “Daddy wants us to help him tidy up,” Jack stated wisely as he reached for his toys.
“That’s the worst part,” Emily agreed as she helped Jack set up his lego pieces. “Do you and your dad bake a lot?”
“Yeah, Daddy loves baking, he says it helps him relax.” Jack explained. Emily personally couldn’t think of anything less relaxing than fussing around in a kitchen trying to make cookies and cakes from scratch when it was easier to just get some from a store or bakery. “And he always lets me lick the bowl or the spoon.”
“Which is the best part,” Emily agreed as she looked over at her shoulder and smiled at Aaron. “Are you sure you don’t need help, Chef Ramsay?”
“He’s not Chef Ramsay, he’s Daddy.” Jack pointed out, confused at why Emily had called his daddy the wrong name and then he was left even more confused when they just laughed harder at his comment. Grown ups were definitely weird.
“Emily was just kidding,” Aaron explained as he placed the final mixing bowl into the dishwasher. “I’m nearly done so we’ll have them soon.”
True to his word, a few minutes later, Aaron carried over a plate of cookies balanced along with a cup of coffee for Emily and a glass of juice for Jack. As soon as he set them onto the table, Jack lunged for one and Emily took her cue to grab one too. Aaron smiled at them as he went to fetch his own coffee. Emily bit into the still warm, soft, sweet cookie and smiled at Jack who had already devoured his own cookie and nodded knowingly at her.
“These are amazing,” Emily commented as Aaron sat on the couch beside her and grinned at Jack.
“Because we work together to bake them, right Jack?” Aaron said and Jack nodded and high-fived him.
“Teamwork,” Jack agreed as he reached for a second cookie. Emily felt a rush of affection for both father and son. She knew that this was something special for just father and son and she was pleased to share in the moment with Aaron and Jack. The delicious cookies were an additional bonus too.