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It’s your birthday really soon, and Leo is really excited. If you ask him what his favorite holiday is, what his favorite day of the year is, even when his favorite season is, he’ll say your birthday hands down. His birthday is your favorite day of the year too, but knowing how easy it is to fluster each other, you won’t say that outright. You haven’t talked about your birthday much, in spite of how close it is. He wants to make sure this is a good day for you, as good as it can be at least. He knows you’ve had some really shitty ones in the past - especially before you met him - so now he’s determined to make them as fun and enjoyable as possible for you. He’s taking the fact that your attitude seems to be neutral leaning towards positive, maybe even happy about your birthday as a good sign.
Teeth freshly brushed, skincare applied, you’re cuddled up next to each other. You’re watching the cartoons casting soft purple and blue light into your darkened bedroom, and he’s watching your face illuminated by the screen. You look so pretty like this, you always do. Leo can’t get enough of you. He values moments like this, cherishes them so deeply he doesn’t think he can describe it. You chuckle at the end of the episode as the next one starts playing. In this episode, the main character asks her friend to hide cakes around to surprise her with. Like, a lot of cakes.
“I want that,” you state, staring at the screen. It’s the first real birthday request you’ve made, and it makes him so happy.
“You want a bunch of cakes?” he asks, voice gentle in the quiet atmosphere, and you can hear the smile kissing his lips.
“Yeah,” you muse, hand rubbing his back, slipping below his t-shirt.
“How many?”
“Hmm…” you consider. “Two or three.”
You’d feel bad asking for more than that. You know he’d disagree adamantly if you told him, but it’s a step forward from previous years, so you’re at peace with it.
“What kind of cake do you want?” he asks. He’s pretty good at cooking, but he doesn’t have nearly enough experience baking, and you shouldn’t have to bake your own cake from scratch - unless you want to. He thinks he can probably get his mom to help. She adores you, and her cakes always kick ass.
You’re quiet for a minute.
“Can we get grocery store cake?”
“You want grocery store cake?” he asks sweetly.
“Yeah,” you confirm, “like, the kind with little balloons and frosting flowers, and a printed picture of the power rangers that says ‘happy 4th birthday’ in curly font…”
He knows exactly the kind of grocery store cake you’re talking about. You’re quiet again. He can sense some hesitance with all of this; celebrating your birthday in a way that doesn’t end in tears and fighting and disappointment is still new. It’s uncharted territory for you. He knows it’s hard, knows it’s scary. He wants to make sure you know that he understands what you’re going through, and that he’s going to be there, holding your hand, the entire time. He smiles up at you, a look so determined to get you the ultimate grocery store cake on his face that it has you chuckling.
“I will get you the biggest, most frosting flowered power rangers grocery store-iest cake they have.” He gazes at you with brazen, comedic confidence before settling back down into your chest.
You smile, a timid excitement beginning to grow. He pulls you closer, nuzzling into your neck and pressing cozy, familiar kisses against your skin. His hands run over your sides, your stomach, warm and tracking shapes, leaving reassuring touches wherever they fall. It’s a silent confirmation that he’s here for you, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. Until he can make your birthdays amazing, and fantastic, and great, he’s going to make them good.
Walking through the familiar aisles of your grocery store, Leo drags you and your metal shopping cart around.
“Over there!” he exclaims, making a beeline for the baking aisle. Even in the harsh fluorescent lighting, he still looks really, really fucking good. The anxiety begins to melt away as you watch him, latching onto his easy going, vibrant energy. He wears a fluid sense of humor like a well loved hoodie, always wrapped around him and providing a tangible sense of comfort to everyone nearby. You stay close as you walk down the linoleum tiles, keeping a tight grip on his proverbial sleeve. After a minute or two of searching back and forth, you finally find the boxed cake mix.
“Chocolate, vanilla, carrot cake,” he says, skimming the flavors in bright font on the boxes.
“Yeah, pretty standard…” you muse, doing the same. He’s quiet for a second, and you turn around. He’s holding boxes of your two favorite flavors, an excited smirk on his face.
“What if we combined these into a layer cake?” he asks. He watches closely as you face lights up a tiny bit.
“Perfect!” you smile, and he tosses them into the cart, satisfied that he’s starting to help you feel more like yourself. You grab a few cans of frosting in your favorite color, and start to look at the sprinkles.
“Estrella,” he says, and you turn around again.
“Oh my god,” you gasp. He’s holding a box mix and matching frosting in the flavor of your favorite cereal.
“We kind of have to, right?” he asks, coaxing another smile out of you.
“Absolutely,” you say, examining the box before tossing it into the cart “this looks so good…”
After thoroughly inspecting the various sprinkles and decorations, you settle on colored sugar in your favorite color, and two bottles of pastel star shaped sprinkles. You grab a few small tubes of frosting, also in your favorite colors, before finally making your way over to the bakery section. You grab some candy and chips along the way, then begin looking through displays of cupcakes. After skimming through several weird flavor combinations and more than a few misplaced boxes of muffins, you pick out a box of cupcakes with different colors of frosting and little birthday toppers on them.
“We should probably pick out the ice cream cake last, right?” Leo asks, looking at the ingredients of a cherry hand pie.
“Yeah,” you agree, pausing to look at different bagel flavors they have in a case. The last thing either of you want is for one of your cakes to melt. You meet him over at the cake counter, looking at the different flavors and designs. You don’t see any with frosting flowers, but your focus is quickly pulled away.
“Aww,” you say, pointing out one with a trio of frosting balloons in the corner, “that one’s cute.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, checking the smile on your face, “it looks really good too.” He places it in the cart, careful not to smush any of the other items you already have in there.
On your way to the frozen aisle, you take turns pointing out various items you have no use for and declaring matter of factly, “I want that.” It’s a small joke, but it’s been making both of you laugh nonetheless. You lose track of Leo for a second. You’re about to call out ‘Sparky?’ in hopes of finding him, before you see him hovering at an end cap by the pharmacy section.
“We should get this.” he deadpans, holding up a travel sized bottle of generic brand pepto bismol for kids, with a skateboarding giraffe that says awesome! on the label. You repress a chuckle.
“We’ll use it to decorate my cake,” you say, a faux sweet sincerity to your voice that gets a loud laugh out of him, and then one out of you by proxy.
You finally find the frozen food aisle. You stand next to each other, staring at ice cream cakes and ice cream bars, and various other forms of ice cream for a little while. Soon you settle on a cute cake that will go nicely with the other flavors you picked out already. You place it in your cart. You close the door, and Leo draws a little heart on the foggy glass of the freezer. It makes you smile, bringing in that comfortable warmth in your chest you always get from being around him. You draw a little heart next to his, then a smiley face. He adds a birthday hat, then traces a little cake in the remaining fog, writing ‘hbd.’ and you both giggle. You’re sure that will be a fun surprise for whoever comes to get an ice cream cake next.
At the check out, he grabs your favorite candy, then one for himself as you begin to check out.
“Oh shit,” he says quietly, looking at the cart. You look over at him. “We forgot the milk. I’ll go grab it real quick.” you agree, and he heads off. You’re glad he remembered, you’d feel pretty silly if you spent all this time at the grocery store and forgot something like milk.
You continue carefully taking all the cakes out of your cart. You feel good about all the ones you picked out, and you’re excited to make the boxed cakes together. And by making them together, you mean you’ll make them and he’ll keep you company, then you’ll both decorate them together. Talking with Leo, sitting on the kitchen floor with him while the sweet smell of pastries and vanilla fills the room, making each other laugh while the timer steadily ticks down is your favorite part of baking anything. You’re looking forward to it.
It takes him a little longer than you expected, but he’s back with milk by the time you’re almost done checking out. He triumphantly presents you with the carton. He checks your energy, your vibe again, and he’s relieved when you don’t seem suspicious at all. By the time you’re walking back to your car, making easy conversation, he’s confident he can pull off this extra surprise for you.
Usually on your birthday, you have some kind of movie night with your close friends, maybe a few family members you’re actually on good terms with. You don’t like to make a fuss about your birthday, that much is obvious, and everyone knows to play it low key. This time is no different, you think, as you set out bowls of popcorn and boxes of candy on the coffee table. Once the gang’s all here, before you start the movie, Leo brings out the cake. Then another. And another. By the third cake, everyone is thoroughly amused.
“Wait, how many cakes are there?” Hazel asks with a laugh.
“Seven.” Leo states, bringing out cake number four.
“I thought we got five,” you say.
“We did,” he starts, bringing out yet another cake, “cupcakes, two boxed cakes, and ice cream cake, plus the one my mom made for you…”
You let out a giggle, still so endeared from when she had dropped by to give it to you in person earlier and wish you a happy birthday. She gave you the biggest hug, and the cake smelled so good, you really couldn’t wait to try it. In spite of how well you get along, it still came as a shock that she would do something so sweet for you.
“You really thought she wasn’t going to make you a cake?” he asks rhetorically, “C’mon Estrella, she loves you.” He squeezes your shoulder with a smile, one you return.
“Yeah, but that’s still six!” you call as he leaves the room again.
“Well…” he starts, a mischievous tone to his voice. You have an idea of where this might be going.
“What did you do?” you ask through a smile. You see a flash of glowing orange light outside the doorway, and he signals for everyone to start singing. He enters with a sheet cake covered in frosting flowers and sprinkles, adorned with a picture of the power rangers on it, reading “happy 4th birthday!” in curly script. He lights the rest of the candles with his fingertips and places the cake in front of you. You let out the sweetest, most heartfelt bubbling laugh he’s heard in a while, and it warms him to his core.
In the glow of the tiny candle light, the corners of your eyes are misty as your friends/found family sing happy birthday to you. Every detail you mentioned, every little thing about this cake that might be totally meaningless to someone else, Leo remembered it. He perfected your vision to a tee.
The sight of the brightly colored crime fighters looking back at you as candle wax drips down near the frosting fills you with a joyous feeling you can’t describe. Leo intertwines his hand with yours. You’re fighting giggles and tears, and when you blow out the candles, you think this is the first great birthday you’ve had. The first of many. You’re looking forward to when your birthdays become awesome, spectacular, perfect, and you can’t wait to spend all of them with Leo.