Work Text:
Robby was laying on the couch playing on his phone when the doorbell rang. He had no idea who it was, but he figured that he better answer the door, in case it was his father. Johnny had a habit of leaving his keys at home.
When he opened the door to find Miguel standing on the doorstep holding a cake.
“My mom made a tres leches cake for you and Johnny to SHARE,” Miguel said as Robby let him into the apartment. He had put emphasis on the word “share” because he knew that Robby would be able to eat the whole cake by himself with no problems. “Don’t ask me why. I don’t know.”
“Okay,” Robby said. He didn’t really care why Carmen had baked them a cake, Robby was just glad to have it. Carmen’s baking was amazing.
“Alrighty then. I need to run. I have other errands I need to do for my mom.”
“So that’s all I am to you. An errand. I thought we were brothers,” Robby said, pretending to be offended, though he was partially concerned that Miguel did only think of him as an errand, as if hanging out with Robby is something that Miguel must do, not something that he did because he wanted to, but because something he did because he was required to do so.
“You know we’re brothers and you know I love you, but I really need to go. I’ll see you later,” Miguel said. Miguel was getting tired of Robby always worrying that he wasn’t loved by anyone. Miguel knew where the emotion stemmed from, though, so he tried to be patient and give Robby the time that he needed to accept that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore. Johnny had been attempting to be patient with this as well, but he was not nearly as good at it as Miguel. Patience just wasn't in Johnny's character.
“Okay. Love you too. See you later bro,” Robby said. He didn’t want to hold Miguel up any more than he already had.
“See you.” And with that, Miguel was out the door.
Robby sat himself back on the couch and began playing on his phone again. He tried his best to ignore the tantalizing smell of the cake. When it became almost too much to bear, he shot Miguel a text saying,
I’m going to eat the whole thing
He wasn’t expecting a response as fast as he got one
Do NOT eat the whole thing
It was so tempting though. Robby wanted to eat the whole thing.
FINE!!
Robby sent as text response to Miguel.
Robby went back to playing on his phone, but at some point, he simply couldn't handle not eating any of the cake anymore. Just one slice won’t hurt. There will be plenty left over for Dad, Robby thought. Then he ate one slice, which quickly became two, then more. Eventually, Robby ate the whole cake. Granted, it wasn’t an exceptionally large cake, but still. Carmen’s cooking had a habit of making him eat a lot. There was a time in his life when all he would eat was Carmen’s cooking. Her food was just so good, and he couldn’t resist it.
And he needed something right now.
Robby had been working through a depressive episode and hadn't been eating much the past couple of days. He just hadn't been hungry. But now that he was starting to feel relatively normal again, Robby was really hungry, and Carmen's cake was right there. And Carmen's cooking is his comfort food. So, Robby simply could not resist the cake sitting on the counter.
Then, Johnny came home. Robby still had chocolate on his face from eating the cake. This was the first thing that Johnny noticed when he saw his son. “Hey, Robby,” Johnny said.
“Hi, Dad,” Robby responded.
“Why are you covered in chocolate?”
Robby wiped his face off. He hadn’t realized that he had chocolate on his face.
“Miguel brought over a tres leches cake that his mom baked. I tried to save you some, but I couldn’t resist it. I was just so hungry. I’m sorry, Dad,” Robby said. The two of them were trying to build a new relationship based on honesty, which was new and weird for both of them, yet exactly what they both needed.
“That’s alright,” Johnny responded. Honestly, he wasn't too mad about the cake. Johnny was too busy feeling relieved that Robby was hungry again. If Robby had been "not hungry" for another couple of days, Johnny would have had to do something about it. He was overwhelmed with relief that Robby was feeling better, even if it wasn't all the way.
Johnny hugged Robby in an attempt to express his joy. Then, he went to take a shower after a hard days’ work.
Robby shot Miguel another text.
I ate the whole thing
Robby got no text response, so he assumed that Miguel was upset with him for eating the whole cake. He hadn’t meant to upset Miguel, one of his only friends, but he had because he always kills his relationships without meaning to. Always.
Then there was another ring of the doorbell. Since Johnny was still in the shower and Robby didn’t really want to make anyone else mad today, Robby went and answered the door. To his surprise, it was Miguel and Carmen was standing behind him. Robby thought Carmen must be mad at him too.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eat the whole thing. I only wanted a slice, but it was so good,” Robby started apologizing before they could even say a word.
He didn’t notice that Carmen was holding another cake.
Robby let Miguel and his mother into the apartment, but he kept babbling apologies. “I know that I was supposed to share it. I didn’t mean to,” he said.
“Robby, calm down.” That was Miguel. A strong and calm voice of reason. Robby immediately calmed down enough to take in what was going on around him. Robby looked at Miguel and Carmen. He could tell from the look on her face that Carmen had called for his attention multiple times before he had finally acknowledged Miguel. “It’s not that big of a deal Robby. In fact, I was hoping that you would eat most of that cake. Maybe not all of it, but most of it.”
“Really? Why?” Robby was confused. Why tell him not to eat the whole thing if Miguel wanted him to eat the whole thing? It didn’t make sense.
“Don’t think that I haven’t noticed your eating habits lately,” was Miguel’s simple response. Both boys knew what Miguel was referring to when he said this.
Robby had been in a funk lately and Miguel knew it. He always knew. It was actually more of a depressive episode than a 'funk', but Johnny still didn’t really understand what that meant, and Robby always tried to simplify such things for his father. It made it easier for them both. But when Robby experienced a depressive episode, he generally stopped eating. At all. It worried his family and friends a lot.
That is what had been happening the past couple of days, Robby had stopped eating, or at least, not eaten a satisfactory amount of food for a boy of his age and height. Miguel had wanted Robby to eat something, even if that something was a whole ass tres leches cake.
“You’re a great brother,” Robby says, going to hug Miguel.
“I do my best,” Miguel said. “Besides, Mom made another one for all of us to share after dinner. The pizza’s on its way and you will eat at least a little of that before you get any cake.”
Robby thought about the proposal for a second, looking at Miguel. Then he glanced at the cake. Then back to Miguel. “Okay. Deal,” Robby says. “I’ll eat some pizza. I’m kinda hungry anyway.” It had been multiple hours now since Robby had eaten the cake for his makeshift lunch and he was in fact hungry again
“Good,” Miguel said, shoving Robby playfully. Robby shoved back, laughing.
When the pizza came, the family gathered around the table in the kitchen and ate pizza and cake. It was then that Robby was sure that Miguel was always going to look out for him and it was then that Robby decided that he would do anything for Miguel in return. Robby knew in those moments, that no matter what happened, his family, his chaotic blended family, would always be there for him to be whatever he needed.