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The Baking Fiasco

Writer’s Note:This is a fluffy one-shot of the MBS, not the typical memes we normally post. The events in this story take place between the second and third books of the series. Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoy.

Story under the cut

    Reynie’s quiet footsteps were masked by the sound of pouring rain outside. It had been late at night, far too late to be considered reasonable, when a figure with strikingly blue eyes had roused him from his sleep. Apparently, the storm that had been going on for some time had awakened his friends with booms of thunder earlier that night, and they had decided that it was necessary to wake him as well. 

“It was obvious we had to get you too,” Kate whispered as they carefully traversed the stairs by the light of her flashlight. “It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

    The two of them made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Constance and Sticky sat waiting. Sticky smiled and gently waved as they appeared in the doorway, still a bit tired from waking up at such an odd hour. Constance, on the other hand, simply grunted and rested her head on the table. Reynie smiled at the familiar and comforting sight of his friends, already happier from simply being around them. Reynie and Kate sat at the kitchen table, ready to discuss whatever topic happened to come up.

“How long have you guys been up?” Reynie asked, looking around at the three of them.

“Well, I got up first, then I found Sticky while I was walking around down here, and then we found Constance, nearly asleep standing up. So around 15 minutes, give or take,” Kate said, seemingly unaffected by waking up so early. She seemed as animated and lively as usual, hardly staying still in her seat.

“It isn’t my fault I look so tired…” Constance grumbled, her face still smushed into the table. “You try waking up at 12:30 in the morning when you’re 3 years old.” She yawned as she said this, only emphasizing her point.

“Yes, it seems we all gather together when we’re tired,” Sticky noted, gently readjusting his glasses. “We seem to be each other’s source of comfort.”

    Reynie smiled at this, happy that his presence brought them happiness as theirs brought him happiness.

“Well, what should we do with this extra time we have?” Reynie asked, gesturing around him. 

“We should do something for the adults,” Constance said, seemingly out of nowhere. “They’ve been stressed an awful lot lately, and I’m sure you guys can guess why.”

    A small moment of silence was exchanged between them, reflecting on the danger that had not only brought them together, but had brought them to reside here, under this roof. They had been through a great deal of peril with one another. It was one of the reasons they were so close. Even now it seemed that danger was looming closely, waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike.

“Well...what would we even do?” Sticky inquired, hesitantly. “We don’t have enough time to do a deep clean of the house, and trying to do most other things to help make their day a bit easier would cause too much noise.”

“How about baking something for them?” Kate asked, grinning. “There are plenty of ingredients in the kitchen, since they just got groceries yesterday, and it wouldn’t be too loud if we’re careful!”

“That’s a good idea,” Reynie said looking around the kitchen thoughtfully.”But what should we bake? There are so many recipes to choose from.”

Kate quickly scurried up to a shelf in the kitchen where a cookbook resided, and began flipping through the pages. 

“It should be something simple, something that’s easy to make but is delicious all the same. Any ideas?” Kate asked, looking at the three of them.

Constance piped up. “Mr. Benedict’s favorite treat is Snickerdoodle cookies, maybe we could make those. It should be on page 237 of the book you’re holding.”

    Kate quickly flipped to the according page, and nodded thoughtfully. “This seems easy enough to make. Flour, sugar, cinnamon, cream of tartar… Yeah! We should be able to make these with plenty of time before the rest of the house wakes up.”

    Kate assigned tasks to the group. Reynie would be in charge of gathering the ingredients, bowls, and measuring cups/spoons, Sticky would be in charge of measuring the ingredients and pouring them in, she would be in charge of stirring, and Constance would be the taste-tester to make sure the recipe was going smoothly. Everyone agreed to the roles assigned to them, and they began to work. The kitchen began to warm up with the heat from the oven and the happy voices of the four working together. Soon, each one of them was covered in flour and laughing as they kept working. After thorough testing, they had deemed the dough fitting to be baked into cookies. They carefully rolled the small balls of dough in cinnamon sugar and placed them into the baking sheets. 

    The cookies were placed into the oven, and the dishes were put into the sink. The four of them headed to the living room and sat on the couch, talking and laughing, much happier than when they had woken up. As they talked they grew more and more tired, and eventually they fell asleep, cuddling closely on the couch. 

    Reynie immediately knew something was wrong when he smelled the faint scent of smoke. His eyes shot open and he dashed to the kitchen, causing his friends to stir from their sleep as well. Black smoke had begun to rise out of the oven, likely from the cookies that had been placed within it an hour before. Reynie quickly turned the oven off and opened it. Smoke poured out of the oven, leaving two sheets of black, burnt lumps that were meant to be cookies. They hadn’t been in the oven long enough to set on fire, thankfully, but the cookies were certainly no longer edible. He donned a pair of oven mitts and carefully lifted out the baking sheets.  

Kate, Constance, and Sticky ran to the kitchen as well, and immediately knew what was wrong. Reynie sighed as he looked at the burnt cookies. They were meant to be something special for everyone, and they had been ruined. It was obvious from the expressions on his friends’ faces that they felt the same way.

“Well, c’mon,” Kate said, opening some of the windows just a crack to let the smoke out, “We can always try again, can’t we?”

    Her unwavering positivity made everyone feel better, if only a little. The group of them began to work to clean up the mess, waiting for the cookies to cool to throw them away. They were about to do just that when Mr. Benedict walked into the kitchen,a rather surprised expression on his face. The four of them began to sputter out rushed explanations and excuses as to why A)they were up so early and B)why the whole kitchen smelled of smoke, when he began to laugh. His laugh, so very similar sounding to dolphin speech, was bright and lighthearted, making it obvious he wasn’t upset with them, but thought it rather funny. The four of them relaxed when they understood he was not upset with them. When he eventually gained control of his laughter, he addressed them kindly.

“Thank you for working so hard to do something kind for us,” he said, smiling at them earnestly.”I appreciate the time and effort you put into your baked treats, even if they didn’t quite turn out as you hoped they would. I have an idea,” he said, gesturing toward the kitchen. “ Let’s try one more time. You’ll likely have a bit more help this time around, as the smell also woke up Number Two, Rhonda, and Milligan. No doubt soon enough the house will be up and lively,filled with the voices and excitement of a Saturday morning. But perhaps,if we work quickly, we can finish the cookies in time for everyone to wake up to them. What do you say?” he asked, smiling toward the four of them.

    They agreed that this was indeed a good idea, and worked to fetch the recipe once again, cleaning off the baking sheets as well as the bowls and measuring cups/spoons, and got all of the ingredients back out again. Number Two, Rhonda, and Milligan soon after joined them downstairs as well, helping out where they could. They decided to make a quadruple batch, as the normal recipe didn’t make nearly enough cookies to satisfy everyone in the household. Eventually, the kitchen was once more filled with the gentle laughter and pleasant chatter of those who happily worked within it. 

    Eventually, the rest of the residents of the house woke up to the sweet scent of homemade cookies, and to a bright, happy scene within the kitchen. The morning was spent eating cookies, talking, laughing, and listening to the gentle patter of rain from the storm. Constance sat on Mr. Benedict’s lap as he told stories and jokes. Kate cuddled with Milligan as they smiled and laughed together. Reynie, Miss Perumal, and Miss Perumal’s mother drank tea and talked with one another, laughing and smiling in each other’s warmth. Sticky and Mr. and Mrs. Washington embraced one another and talked quietly but sincerely to each other. Rhonda and Number Two chattered back and forth, occasionally saying something to make the other burst into laughter.  By mid-morning, the storm had cleared up to reveal a bright sunny day, as well as the sweet smell that always occurs right after it rains.  

By noon that day, every face in the household was beaming with joy.

The end.

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