Work Text:
The clutter of Scrabble tiles overtook the small living room coffee table, a remnant of the abandoned game.
Ewron had been determined to prove himself as a responsible dad while Ash was in town for the day. In Ash’s mind Ewron's parenting skills were worthy since the day he had given up a part of himself to resurrect ghostie.
Ewron still strived to demonstrate his worth however, deciding to do an educational and productive activity with the six year old. This attempt was very short lived however, as they both soon realised that neither of them had the attention span nor the vocabulary for a game like Scrabble.
So they decided to bake a cake instead, a small surprise for Ash upon his return.
As preparations were underway, the pair had gotten off to a successful start, with both Ewron and Ghosty washing their hands and dutifully helping each other tie their aprons.
Ewron crouched down first, kneeling on the timber floor of their cramped kitchen, gingerly tying the ribbon on Ghosty's tiny white apron before shuffling around allowing her to tie his.
“Ghosty? Tie mine please?”, he requested, before patiently waiting for the girl, humming carelessly to the soft music still playing from the old box TV in the other room. The only thing louder than the music was the sound of Ghosty's heavy breathing against his shoulder as she was clearly focusing hard on the task at hand.
He knelt for as long as his knees could manage, focusing on the faint feeling of Ghosty's small hands fiddling with the apron strings. It was only after a minute or so, when Ewron could no longer feel his legs beneath him that he realised-
“Wait Wait Wait. Ghosty do you even know how to tie a knot?”, questioned Ewron, only now remembering that his co-baker was in fact six.
“Not really, no”, replied the girl meekly, continuing to attempt to fasten the strings with great focus and determination.
“Here let me show you”, he says, taking off the apron from around his neck.
Now Ewron wasn't much of a teacher, he realised this as he desperately tried to recall the mnemonic he was taught when he was younger - something about bunny ears?
“Ok so basically we need to cross the strings and push it under the other one. And then we make two loops like bunny ears okay? And then imagine we're going under the tree-” He tried, glancing at her with the corner of his eyes trying to gauge her understanding.
She stared back at the man with a blank stare.
“Dada, you're basically rapping. Maybe let me try”, she suggested
He quickly handed over the strings without complaint, saying a small prayer hoping she grasps the skills without him having to do any more teaching.
By the time he reopened his eyes from his plea to the gods, he was met with a perfect bow tie staring at him.
“Ghosty. You are amazing. Oh my God. Ok now do that while im wearing the apron”, he requested, watching over his shoulder as she fastened the strings with ease.
“Youre not very good at explaining stuff”, she said pointedly as Ewron rose, his knees creaking from the uncomfortable position, a small groan slipping from his mouth eliciting a giggle from Ghosty.
“Kurwa, Ghosty wait till you are my age and you'll see how it is”
This complaint was promptly ignored by the six year old who was already preparing her step stool and deciding which flavor to bake. Now, chocolate cake was her papa’s favourite but she reallyyyy felt like eating a funfetti, rainbow cake right now. It was a tough decision but she knew what had to be done.
Ghosty lined her stool up the wooden cabinet, standing on her tip toes to reach the large jar of sprinkles Ash had bought for her before turning around to face her other dada.
“We're making funfetti cake!” she exclaimed with a beaming smile, the heavy container covering half her face slowly slipping from her struggling grip.
“Do you need to have sprinkles on everything- fine we can make funfetti”, he conceded. He couldn't bear to deny her cute face and excited smile. He knew he was getting manipulated, it was a skill Ghosty had learnt from him after all. But that didn't matter.
“Yay”, she cheered, jumping up and down, almost tripping from her step stool, causing Ewron to lunge forward and grab the girl, disarming her of her beloved sprinkles.
With his other hand, he grabbed Ghosty effortlessly, setting her down on the clearing of the counter leaving her legs dangling over the edge. At least then she couldn't escape the minute he turned around the man thought.
As Ewron struggled to gather the ingredients aided by his daughter's stool to grab things from higher shelves where only Ash could reach, he listened to the ramblings of Ghosty.
“Papa always does the cooking, do you know how to cook?”, she asked earnestly, the question bleeding of pure curiosity and innocence.
“It's okay if you don't know how to, I can show you”, continued Ghosti.
“What do you mean? I can cook! And bake!”, he retorted indignantly, exaggerating his movements to get a laugh out of the girl.
“Ghosty, I’m telling you I’m actually a way better cook than Ash. I only make him cook because I don't feel like it. This is going to be better than any cake your other papa has ever made”, he claimed, quickly regretting everything he had just said. Not only does he have to impress Ash, he now has to impress Ghosty too.
“Japierdole”, he muttered to himself, stepping down from the stool holding the final bunch of ingredients while the cupboard door slammed behind him. They hadn't even begun baking and Ewron was already exhausted. How does Ash do this three times a day, seriously? He considered expressing more gratitude but quickly brushed off the thought.
By now, Ghosty was already elbow deep in sprinkles eating the sweets directly from her cupped hands. Wordlessly, Ewron handed her a large whisk, deciding to ignore the mess in front of him.
Before long the kitchen was filled with the sound of overlapping chatter and incessant laughter as the two discovered together, how to create the cake. It turns out Ghosty did in fact have more prior experience being in the kitchen than Ewron; having cooked with her papa countless times.
Despite her expertise, they ended up making nothing short of a mess of the kitchen with their aprons being almost useless against the onslaught of flying flour, spilt sugar and splashed milk. By the time the cake entered the oven, the moon was high in the sky and dark clouds formed, covering the starry scape.
One change of clothes and a half hour long cleaning session passed before the first droplet landed on the clear glass of the window. The droplets soon multiplied, gaining a steady rhythm as they showered upon the land.
Ewron and Ghosty were now tucked under a thick blanket on the worn couch, watching whatever movie was airing on the television. Ghosty's steady breathing against his chest and her lack of enthusiastic chatting informed Ewron that the girl was probably asleep already, lulled by the steady downpour and the hum of the movie.
Ewron blinked his eyes open, forcing himself awake; just until Ash arrived.
This peaceful scene was not long lived as a sudden strike of thunder, caused Ewron to jolt in terror, waking the resting girl lying on his torso. In a frenzy, the bleary girl immediately turned to grab her dads shirt, a sob escaping her throat before she could help it.
With shaky hands, Ewron clutched her back. There wasn't much else he could do anyway.
“It's okay Ghosty, it's just thunder see”, he soothed, though his lack of conviction betrayed his fear.
Much to both of their dismay, the thundering only got more relentless striking every few minutes leaving Ewron shaken and Ghosty in tears. The pair had quite a negative track record when it came to the rain. Especially thunder.
“I hope papas okay”, whispered Ghosty, her face buried within her dads pajamas offering the girl comfort and protection from the world around them.
Before he could answer, another loud noise erupted from across the house, causing both Ewron and Ghosty to jump, holding the other even tighter than previously.
The noise wasn't thunder this time, it was something different. Ewron recognised this, craning his neck toward the direction of the door.
“Oh kurwa. OH KURWA! Ghosty stay here and dont move, im gonna go check if there's an intruder”. The words spilled out of his mouth a jumble of polish and english.
He all but smothered Ghosty under the blanket in an attempt to hide her before carefully walking towards the door to their house.
His entire body froze as the door flung open. His eyes squeezed shut in anticipation as his mind begged him to run and hide.
“Ewron?”, came a confused call from above him.
“Oh”, thought Ewron slowly peeling his eyes open, being greeted by the sight of a slightly damp Ash standing on the doormat leading into their cabin.
“I saw that it started raining, so I came home quicker. Are you okay?” questioned the man, evidently noticing how unsettled Ewron seemed.
“I know you don't love thunder-”, continued Ash but was abruptly cut off by the shorter man throwing himself at him, engulfing him in a warm hug. A small set of footsteps, dragged across the timber alerting Ash of Ghostys presence.
“We made you cake, papa”, said the girl, fighting a yawn.
Ash peeled himself off Ewron, turning to pick up the girl, planting a small kiss on her cheek. His arm carelessly found its way to Ewron, draping itself across his shoulder in a grounding move.
“Both of you look like you need to be in bed”, chided Ash, guiding the sleepy pair up the creaky stairs and steering Ewron towards the large bed and planting Ghosty beside him.
Shrugging off his heavy outer coat and removing his uncomfortable jumper, Ash looked over at his family, laying peacefully, illuminated by the faint moonlight behind them. The rain continued to pour, though it was more like a static hum now. The thunder still struck periodically, though it wasn't as frightening anymore.
Ghosty had already succumbed to sleep; it was way past her bed time by now. He moved his gaze to Ewron, meeting his eyes with a small smile. An unspoken conversation- a promise of protection and safety. He could rest now.
Ash gently lowered himself onto the bed, draping the quilt over all of them. Under the sheets, Ewron's hand found Ash’s, their fingers intertwining. Both men whispered their good nights, before falling asleep
Still, Ewron was jolted awake to the occasional sounds of thunder roaring across the sky. Any indication of Ewron's distress was felt through a soft squeeze of Ewron's fingers against Ash's hand. Ash just squeezed back, an indication of his presence. That was enough.