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Dennis stared at the recipe with such disdain you could almost see it in the air around him.
This was his first year celebrating Hanukkah with Robby, let alone celebrating Hanukkiah at all, and he was determined to make it a great one. Dennis had wanted to cook a grand meal for Robby, one full of his Bubbies recipes from when he was younger and other ones he had found online. Robby had been persistent in telling Dennis he didn’t have to and in contrast Dennis saying that “I know I don’t have to, I want to.”
An immovable object has met an unstoppable force.
. . . .
Dennis won that argument.
So now here he stands in the kitchen that can only be compared to that of a confectionary battlefield. Flour and dough cake the counters from the fresh, yet messily braided, challa loaf that now sits on a cooling rack off to the side. Potato peels lay strewn across the floor from where they missed the bin while Dennis was peeling them for the latkes. Theres other miscellaneous messes around the kitchen, however none that prohibited from doing what he needed to do. His mother would scold him if she found out he wasn’t tidying his area while cooking.
Dennis for the most part, has gone through his cooking adventure without any mistakes or smoke alarms set off. This wonderful track record he had going came to a screeching halt when he reached this one recipe. It was his Bubbies recipe for a loaf like chocolate chip cookie called Mandel Bread.
From what Dennis has gathered it’s supposed to be this golden brown loaf with a deceptively sweet and nutty flavor, it’s texture very similar to that of a biscotti with the addition of a light coat of cane sugar coating the outside, Robby’s Bubbie had been very insistent on that part. The texture of the loaf is achieved by baking it twice, once to get that light airy middle and the second to get that gorgeous golden brown on the outside. Yet here Dennis stands with a very oddly looking loaf shaped lump of coal.
Dennis had drilled an I.O during the stress of a MCI, had sedated an unruly patient without too many issues. Yet the most challenging task Dennis has faced this month is a loaf of bread.
A singular loaf of bread.
Just as Dennis was mustering up the courage for his 4th attempt at the loaf he hears the distinct sound of a lock turning and the door he’s been meaning to fix. He whips his head over to the clock on the oven, almost losing his footing from the fuzzy socks he was wearing on the wooden floors. In bright red luminous letters it read 5:30 pm.
Shit.
Dennis had completely forgotten that Robby had said that Jack would be covering the last 2 hours of his shift so that he would be able to have dinner with Dennis. He then looks over to his phone where it lay out of harms way on the counter, he taps the screen where he sees the messages Robby had sent minutes prior saying that he was on the way home.
To their home Dennis mind supplied, now wasn’t that a funny feeling.
While his body was trying to catch up with his mind on what to do, Robby appears in front of him, bottle of Dennis favorite red wine in one hand and in the other a gorgeous yet simple bouquet of hydrangeas.
Dennis is snapped out of his panic induced stupor by Robby’s sweet yet tired voice, “What’cha got over there Mouse?” Peeking over Dennis shoulder at the loaf shaped lump of coal. Dennis scrambles to cover his abomination with his body and nervously says, more so yells, “Absolutely nothing!”. Robby looks at Dennis with his ever imposing ‘I don’t believe a word you just said’, one that’s normally reserved for patients who say they just happened to ‘slip and fall’ onto a phallic shaped Christmas decoration.
His resolve crumbles with that one look and before he can think about what he says, he blurts out all in one breath while wildly waying his hands around, “I remember you saying that one of your favorite deserts was Mandel Bread and while I was going through the recipe cards your Bubbie wrote I found a card for them and figured I’d do some more research into making it but every time I tired something went wrong and now my legacy has been tarnished by a piece of bread.”
Dennis stood in the middle of his confectionary warzone, gasping for breath, face red and that distinct feeling of barbed wire around your throat before you were going to cry. He looked up to Robbys face, expecting to find disappointment yet all he saw was softness accompanied by a smile that never failed to warm Dennis up.
Robbby set down the wine and the flowers and opened his arms expectantly, waiting for Dennis to magically magnetize himself into them. Dennis shuffles towards Robby never being able to deny the man a hug.
“Denny you did all of this for me?” Robby whispers after a minute or two. Dennis looks up at him, perpetually sad eyes meeting warm brown ones, “Of course I did, It’s our first Hanukkah together and I wanted it to be memorable.” Dennis lets out a breathy laugh and thumps his head into Robby’s chest “Yet I couldn’t get a loaf of bread right”.
Dennis feels Robby let out a deep sigh, feeling his chest rumble with his next words, “Den I would’ve been happy if you had gotten takeout from the Chinese place down the road and put on Adam Sandler’s eight crazy nights. This is way more than I would ever expect you to do.” The comforting weight on his back shifts to his and another one appears on the back of his neck, guiding him to look up at Robby.
Finally finding the courage to look up to meet his eyes, Robby smiles, one full of love and adoration. He places a light kiss onto Dennis’s raw and bitten lips and with their lips still pressed together, a silent yet unmistakable ‘I love you’ is spoken onto them.
The pair stand there for what seems like hours, basking in not only the warmth around them but the warmth and comfort they bring each other. The loaf shaped lump of coal sitting on top of the stove forgotten about.