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Benedict Bridgerton was good at many things, he was a good artist, he was a good photographer, he was good with a fencing sword and he was good in and on the water but he was not so good at being in the kitchen.
He’d never really needed to be. His mother had cooked for him when he was younger, then Sophie cooked for them since they’d moved in together.
But tonight he wanted to do something special, it had been 6 years since her accident, he’d graduated Uni, she was working on opening her own bakery and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
He’d been to speak to Charlie and Henry to ask their permission and he had it all planned out.
But he was starting to regret his decision to bake his baker girlfriend a cake to place his grandmother’s ring in to ask her to marry him.
It was probably the stupidest idea he’d ever had, well after their argument that had led to her running out of his parents home and being the day he’d nearly lost her forever.
But he wanted to show her that he listened and paid attention when they baked together. He helped regularly with the bakery, adding ingredients for her that she’d already weighed out, added eggs into the batter, and turned on the mixer.
He would help decorate the cupcakes, help make the cookies… everything but it was one of the things Sophie had always said, no one ever made her cake.
No one ever made the baker a cake, she always made her own birthday cakes, so he was determined.
She was in the bakery early, knowing she had a large order to fulfil so he knew today was the right day to do it.
He had her baking books out, all her hand written notes and recipes, the kitchen was a bit of a bomb site as he’d carefully weighed ingredients out, taking out flour when he had too much, but sneezing and sending it everywhere, he knew Sophie would kill him but he just hoped that she’d be back a bit later so that he’d have a chance to clean up.
The cake was done, it was just cooling ready for the decoration and for him to write the words over the top when he heard the door opening. “Honey, I’m home”
“Shit” Benedict swore as he looked around the kitchen, there was still flour everywhere, cake batter sticking to the benches and it looked like the time Hyacinth and Gregory had tried to bake and ended up preparing to have a cake batter fight. “I’ll… I’ll be right out” he called hoping that Sophie would just do her usual, go into the living room, remove her leg after being on her feet all day and wait for him to bring her either a cup of tea or a glass of wine.
He quickly grabbed a cloth and began frantically wiping down the counters as he flicked the kettle on but it seemed the fates were against him, the door to the kitchen opened “I’d like Wine… to…… what the heck happened here?” she said her eyes going wide as she looked around her pride and joy of a kitchen.
“I… baked…” he said lamely
“Did it explode?!” she asked “i mean i should be grateful it's not the ceiling but why did you not ask me to make you something, you know i’d do it…”
“It’s not for me… I made… i made it for you” he said passing her the unfinished cake “i just… haven’t finished”
“You… you made me a cake?” she asked with tears in her eyes
“I did”
“Can I taste it?” she asked “i’ve not eaten all day, i’m starving…”
“It’s… not finished but sure…” he said turning around and grabbing a plate and a knife and cutting her a piece of the cake.
“Thanks” she beamed as she took the slice of chocolate cake and Benedict turned around, rummaging in his pocket, it wasn’t how he’d planned it but something felt right about the moment.
“Oh my god” Sophie moaned as she tried the chocolate cake, doing a little happy dance “that’s a good cake! It’s really goo…oh my god!” she gasped, dropping the plate as she turned around and saw Benedict on one knee.
“I had planned to do this differently, in front of the fire, with the cake spelling it out for me, but this is just… this is perfect. The kitchen is your happy place, it always has been, i baked your cake, the cake you made us when we got together, the cake you made us the first time we made love… the first cake you made us… for every anniversary… the cake that reminds me of how much I love you, so this is just… perfect… it’s simple and just… us… so Sophie Beckett… make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?” he asked, shaking a little as he held the box open and holding his breath.
“Yes! Yes! Oh my god yes!” she squealed, throwing herself at him and kissing him as he slipped the ring onto her finger before they got lost in one another on the floor of the kitchen, despite Benedict being the one to complain it wasn’t hygienic for a change and Sophie giggled “we’ll deal with it later… i’m celebrating”