#[ i made cupcakes and forgot the freaking baking soda ]

[despairforme]

He tried to bake a cake, got impatient and ate the batter.

[kaepopsicle]

Will you do the same fanfic moot thing? 🥰😊☺️

yes yes yes I will <33 — this is going to be really long lmao

[ @sarahbkwl ]

crack fluff — her and ten go to an art museum and compare each other to the weird looking statues and paintings

[ @rr0zu ]

romantic fluff — absolutely beautiful words and just paints a pretty picture, her and jaehyun walking down New York City while holding hands // wearing semi matching outfits ,, the sun going down behind them

[ @starrdustville ]

holiday fluff — her and doyoung putting up Christmas decorations and he lifts her up to put the star on the tree and he says something like “you’re the prettiest star of them all.”

[ @himitsu-luna ]

literally just fluff — taeil and her baking cupcakes but ends up messing them and up and just putting frosting on each other tehehehe

[ @floweringtheflowers ]

crack teen — her in the library with mark and they’re trying to study but keeps kicking each other under the table and end up throwing books and paper balls at earth other

[ @babyyangx2 ]

more romantic fluff — her and yangyang at an arcade and he’s trying very hard to get a stuffie for her (and him) from the claw machine

[ @beomqyu-s ]

fluff — she is going to an amusement park with txt and you guys are all cute and matching and having fun ,, trying to scare each other on the rides

[ @hangsxng ]

crack fluff — they are going to a mall with jaemin and they do that cute tiktok trend where they close their eyes and pick random pieces of clothing and try them on and have a whole runway show for each other

[ @ncitythoughts ]

pretty much all of these are crack fluff — her, john, and taeyong are doing those wine and paint classes but they all just end up messing each others paintings up and get drunk and laugh about it later

[ @imjustuhhvibing ]

shotaro is trying to teach her japanese and he laughs at her pronounciation and he thinks it’s super cute when she gets annoyed at his teasing

[ @yejisea ]

chenle and her going to see a scary movie and chenle ends up getting scared and spilling the popcorn on both of them

[ @liudejuns ]

friday night bf vibes — her and xiaojun chilling at in their apartment,, jun is playing his guitar singing to her while she’s laying on the couch watching him,, has her arm resting on the back of the sofa while she’s smiling at him

[ @yongsprout ] (ope you changed your name uwu)

taeyong was playing among us with her and he turns out to be the imposter and kills her — and immediately goes to apologize to her - “ahhh I’m so sorry !! I had toooo”

[ @junguwuta ]

her and jungwoo were watching a cooking show and trying to recreate the dish — ends up causing the smoke alarms to siren and the rest of the members run in thinking there was a fire and turns out it was just them, standing with powder on their faces

[ @strwberryneo ]

jisung and her are playing video games and she’s beating him so he messes up her controller so he can win and she ends up tackling him and they playfight and chenle walks in stares at them and walks out not wanting to know what happened

[ @heartyyjeno ]

jeno finally convinced her to go on a run with him and she does but ends up getting tired half way through so he carries her the rest of the way and they get ice cream

[ @mairah-shaikh ]

winwin, kun, and her go out to eat for dinner, and start discussing random conversations they think people at the restaurant are having

[ @btsastro ]

her and jungkook are filming a YouTube video where jungkook tries to do her makeup and ends up failing and starts laughing at how funny she looks

[ @fairvtale ]

lucas starts messing around and plays with her makeup and comes out at her looking like a clown and mocks her by saying “I’m the prettiest princess of all look at mee”

[ @johns-marshmallow ]

she’s in car with johnny and ‘do you want a build a snowman’ comes on so the two blast it and start scream singing it

[ @tinystupidwitch ]

goes out with hendery and he ends up hearing bad alive playing on the radio and starts crack dancing to it in public and she’s trying to act like she doesn’t know him but he starts dancing on her

[ @cloudychannieee ]

her and renjun were sitting on the floor painting and chilling until she decides to fuck up and put paint on his face and he decides to put paint on her face and they end up painting each other and getting paint everywhere and jaemin and doyoung come in and scolds you guys

[ @bbyyangiex2 ]

her and sungchan were at a gas station late at night to get some snacks and sungchan was making fun of her bc she couldn’t reach the top shelf and he grabs stuff for her while she kicks his shins and goes to get a slurpy

[ @moonbvul ]

haechan and her were playing just dance for fun but then they started getting intense and it turned into a competition and they just get super worked up and start getting all sweaty and tired but he wins and rubs it in her face while she smacks him

[ @danishmiilk ]

winwin was trying to read a book but she kept on bugging him and poking her head above the book trying to get his attention ;; he was trying to avoid her but she kept doing it until he finally put the book away and picked up up and asked her what she wanted — and she just wanted a hug

[ @yutaaaaaa ]

yuta and her were in osaka and she was so excited looking around seeing everything and freaking out while yuta was uwuing and blushing at how cute she is and gets her some stuffies and food and so when they end up getting back to the hotel her hands are full with goodies

[ @sush-iii ]

her and lucas were going shopping at a local grocery store — you decided to sit inside the shopping cart as he pushed you around, lowkey running you into things, you guys scream and laugh trying not to break anything

[ @thatkpopmeme ]

a fall / halloween au — chenle and jisung and her were exploring an graveyard at night, chenle was all excited while jisung was hiding behind her. not letting her go, and chenle ends up scaring the shit out of the two of them and laughs about it bc haha he thinks it’s so funny

[ @calypsohan ]

another holiday/birthday au — winwin and him were out getting snacks and soda for the party that ten was throwing, they end up goofing around and get everything except for the soda and snacks

[ @peachyhan ]

college au — jaemin and her were practicing for their dance final coming up and they had to master a salsa routine, you guys end up falling and laughing and not being able to take it seriously — but have a lot fun doing it

[ @ncteaxhoe ]

I want to say smut with John and Jae but I’m going to be fluffy and say it would be like a sleepover with Mark, and them, and you guys end up having a dance party at 2 am and doyoung comes in screaming at you to shut up

[ @ex0tic-vgh ]

was playing monopoly with markhyuck and mark ends up going to jail and haechan lands on his property having to pay him but he refuses bc and I quote “I’m not paying a criminal” (yes this is basically an au of that tiktok sound so all creds goes to that person he made it tehe — but imagine how accurate and funny that would be)

[ @seostudios ]

was sleeping peacefully on a Saturday when best friend!renjun comes in and literally jumps on top of her yelling for her to get up bc it’s his birthday and he wants to go party and get w a s t e d

[ @du0tine ]

goes skiing while yangyang and xiaojun and they were at the top and xiaojun got scared so yang being the bitch that he is pushes him down,, he ends up falling and being okay but throws a big chunk of snow in yangs face, and they end up snow fighting with solange is just trying to ski

[ @henderyprince ]

her and hendery were setting up a birthday party for kun but gets distracted but the decorations and ends up sucking up the helium balloons and makes a diss track with their voices sounding all funny — they also film a video of them dancing with the streamers acting like ballet dancers or ice skaters

[ @flytomyparadise ]

two words taeyong , rollerskating — you guys go rollerskating and he tries to act all poised and cool but ends up falling on his flat ass — and you skate over there laughing at him asking if he needs help up and he ends up pulling you down with him and you guys sit there in the middle of the rink laughing at each other

[ @mignonmark ]

mark meeting her family for the first time and he’s really nervous but she lets him know that they will love him no matter what — but he is still unsure so he asks john and jae for advice and they give him big brother help and it’s just pure and adorable bc he gets her mother flowers and is super respectful to her dad

OKAY I THINK I GOT ALL MY MOOTS — don’t be afraid to let me know if i forgot someone I don’t want anyone to feel left out — <333

[tinkslittlebelle]

Suicide cookies

Summary: Virgil had both good days and bad days. The balance between the was relatively even. Though the bad days were just slightly more often.  On those bad days, Virgil baked. And he baked a lot. He calls them his suicide cookies, but the others don't know. And he wants to keep them that way

Warnings: mentions of Deceit, mentions of Remus, suicidal thoughts, depression, sadness, crying

Genre: angst and fluff

Words: 2,300!

Notes: this is something I do my self. When ever I feel depressed or suicidal and I go in to my kitchen and bake! It gets my mind or things. I will also sew and make different crafts bit I just get like Virgil would bake

-----

Most people would think that Patton is the baker,  but they would be wrong. His baked goods are alright but not the best. They were usually a little burned and frankly he didn't really enjoy it. The only time he enjoyed baking was when he baked with Virgil. And Virgil loved to bake. He would bake anything. From Coolio to cupcakes, from scones to a four layer cake. Sometimes more than one. What ever he was feeling at the moment he made it.

But what the others didn't know is that when Virgil baked, it means his was having a rough day. On those days he usually has unpleasant thought about self harm or ending his life. When these thoughts come up, instead of acting upon them, he'd head to the kitchen and started baking. And he'd bake a lot.

The others just assumed he really likes to bake or was really bored and had nothing better to do. But they weren't complaining. They LOVED his baking. It was the best they ever had. And he doesn't is all without a cookbook.

It wasn't until late one night that Roman actually figured out why he baked so much.

Roman had woken up late one night to sound in the kitchen. Figured he'd be the brave prince he is and fight off the intruder. Got out of bed, stealthily walked down the stairs, stop right outside the kitchen, sword ready and listening for the threat. But what he heard surprised him. It wasn't a monster or a threat or even a dark side that broke in. He really hope it wasn't his brother digging through their trash again, but instead it was the sound of someone sobbing. He lowered his sword and stuck his head slightly in to the kitchen, trying his best to be quiet. What he was made his stomach drop. It was Virgil sitting on the floor with his good up. Tears fresh on his face and mumbling to himself. Roman couldn't heard much but what he did left him in tears.

"Just do it already"

"They don't love you"

"It would be better if you were dead"

Roman almost ran in there to comfort the crying sides, bit before he could, the kitchen timer went off and Virgil stood up. And taking the fresh cookies out of the oven. He chuckled darkly to himself

" Well I can't die now, who else will eat these cookies" he ate a few of the cookies before speaking again "well I guess Patton would eat them and the others but I don't think they would enjoy them as much if they found out I killed myself after I made them. And I want to enjoy them" With a sigh he ate a few more and shoving some in his pockets before putting the rest away.

At the sight of Virgil cleaning up, Roman quickly sink out. Once he got back to his room, he went straight to his desk and started to work on ways to make him feel better.

The next morning, Virgil walked in to the kitchen and stopped at the sight. All of his favorite breakfast foods where sitting beautifully displayed and purple and black balloons. With Roman standing proudly in the kitchen.

"Surprise!!" Virgil just blinked back at him.

"What's going on?"

"It appreciate your favorite emo day!!" Virgil's face went red

"Psh That not a real holiday"

"Oh yes it is! Here I'll prove it" Roman walk over to Virgil before exiting the kitchen and shouting up the stairs "PATTON ITS APPROPRIATE YOUR FAVORITE EMO DAY!!"  Virgil didn't even have time to react before he heard a door slam open and Patton practically leapt off the stairs and in to Virgil's arms, engulfed him into a massive bear hug.

"HAPPY APPRECIATE YOUR FAVORITE EMO DAY!!!!!"

"Jeez Pat calm down!"

"I'm sorry kiddo, I didn't know that was today!! If I had known I would have gotten you a gift" Patton giggled

"It's all right Pat. I didn't even know it was today either." He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair.

"Well I be sure to remember for next year. I'll go get Logan and we can do whatever Roman has planned for us to do today" and with that he left to go get  Logan.

"Well my dark and Stormy Knight. I have a few of your favorite activities for us together and to end the day with a movie, your choice. I just wanted to you that you know that we love you and you are needed" Virgil's face got even redder.

"T-thanks Princey" Virgil tried to hide his redning face as Roman lead him over to the couch while they waited for Logan.

Over the next few days Roman made sure that Virgil felt loved and appreciated, whether is is something grand or small. The others seemed to catch on and started doing small things as well. And Virgil loved and and over all put him in a better mood.

But all good things must come to an end.

After a week of the love and care had gone down, he still felt loved but sometimes the world feels like it against you.

He woke up in his bed one afternoon and he was instantly filled with dread.  His body felt weak, the small amount of light peeking through the window hurt his eyes. The sound of his alarm clock gave him a massive migraine. And these thoughts have been louder then they have been on a long time. Repeating the same thoughts that he dreads. The voices of his family spitting insults towards him. Hearing them float around in his mind and in the shadows of his bedroom.

"Everything you say can be proven to be falsehood but logic. Your services aren't warranted and not needed"

" All you do is hurt Thomas. And you hurt everyone else. You are just the worst kind or person"

*You suck the creativity, the fun, the passion out of everything. No one wants you around so just do us all a favor and kill your self already."

"We just have you around to be nice"

"No one likes you"

"You're not apart of the group"

"Go away"

" Your pathetic"

"Worthless"

"Freak"

As the more thoughts that appeared, the more distressed he became. He thought quickly to his favorite way of coping to get his mind off these pesky thoughts and got out of bed to head to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, he noticed that Roman was sitting at the table with two cups of coffee. Roman nudged the glass towards Virgil as of to tell him it was his. Virgil nodded in thank but did nothing else. Even though he knows that the thoughts on his were just cognitive distortions, they still felt real and looking at Roman and imagining his say those awful things about him more than he thought possible.

Sipping his coffee and started to get the ingredients, he was just going to make just a simple chocolate chip cookies to start and then work his way up. He grabbed the flour, sugars, baking soda, vanilla, and the salt. then he walked over to Patton's special hiding place to get the chocolate chip. One he has all of the dry ingredients all out and prepped, he started with to get the wet ingredients. He first got 2  teaspoons of hot water and then walked over to the fridge to get the final three ingredients. He grabbed the eggs and the butter and place them on to the counter. When he looked back at the spot where the milk should be and saw it was empty. With a sullen smile he closed the fridge. Before he started to put the ingredients away, he chuckled darkly to himself

"We are all out of milk. Well I guess I'll die". Before he could take any steps closer to the ingredients, he heard Roman, who he forgot was in the kitchen, spit out his drink and start coughing. His mind instantly off the suicide cookies and on to his friends choking

"Oh okay god, Roman! Are you ok?" Roman put his hand on Virgil as if to keep him there. One he finally stopped dying, he looked up at Virgil, regained his princely composer before speaking in that dramatic what he always does

" Now that will not work at all!" He lead Virgil to the living "let's go get more milk from Thomas, my favorite fiend!" He pulled Virgil to sink out with him but when he rose up, he allowed Virgil to appear like he usually does, probably because he remembered how bad rising up made him feel last time.

Thomas as already on the living room and was startled for a second on the random appearances bit calmed down the second he realized who it was.

"Hey guy! What's up?"

"Virgil here was going to bake but we are all out of milk. So we were wondering if we can borrow yours?"

"Oh sure. But why do you use actual ingredients if you're just in my head? Can't you conger it up for yourself"

"Well of course I can conger it myself but the real thing is always better! And Virgil always makes the best treats!"

"Is that true Verge? Well you'll have to let me try some sometime!" Virgil blush and shuffled his feet

"Um sure. I'll definitely let you have some." Roman sunk back out and Virgil followed. Once the were both back on the mindscape, Roman handed Virgil a black a purple apron, and he had on a red and white one with gold trim.

"Well should we start baking?" He walked back into the kitchen with the milk and set it on the counter and smiled back at Virgil. All Virgil could do is stair

"Why did you do that?"

"Why did you do what"

"You made my coffee, you took me to get milk from Thomas and you summoned special aprons for us."

"I don't like seeing you unhappy"  Roman took a step closer to Virgil and lowered his voice "I know why you bake constantly" at that Virgil tried to get away from Roman. But Romans grip didn't falter.and instead he pulled him into a hug "it's okay! We all love you. We understand that some days are worse than others. If you ever and I mean EVER need someone to talk to, you can come to me anytime." He let go of the hug  and wiped away a few years tears Virgil didn't know had fallen and then wiped his own. "After all, I pretty great at listening to stories" virgil chuckled at the last part.

"I - thank Roman. For everything"

"Any time my emo knightmare. Now these cookies aren't going to bake them selves!!" The two of them started to bake the cookies and the thoughts from earlier had already gone to past. Talking to Roman and learning that he has his support really helped with them. He knew he could also talk to the others and o was comforting to know that he is actually loved and it's not just to be nice

After they finished baking the cookies, they shared with the others and Thomas. While Thomas loved them and said they were the best cookies ever. The others said that Virgil cookies are always the best but these blew all the others out of the water, with the help of Roman.

The next day, Roman woke up later then usual. He looked over at his alarm clock to check the time but the time was wrong. Strange, maybe the power had turned off in the middle of the night. Shrugging it off and got ready before heading down stairs to the kitchen.

Once he made his way down stairs, he took one glance in the kitchen and stopped. There was red and gold balloons,  a large fancy 3 tier cake was Royal red with gold trim with little crown decals and glitter. Roman eye the class with such awe. Virgil has never baked a cake this fancy, mostly little ones for birthdays. He walked in the kitchen to see Virgil covered head to toe in flour and icing and was washing dishes.

"Virgil? What is this all for?" Virgil jumped when he heard Roman speak. When Virgil turned around and looked at Roman, Roman could see that he mostly likely hasn't slept all know, but he didn't looked stressed- he actually looked happy.

"Roman ah well- shit- I didn't expect you to wake up yet but I ah" Virgil stumbled over his works before sighing. "I was up all night and u just wanted to thank you-"

" Oh Verge you didn't have to- "

"Shh I'm not finished!" Virgil stopped Roman " it's just, you knew and you were trying to help me without me getting upset. And you did a good job of that. You did your best to help me. You got milk from Thomas for me, the nice matching aprons. And you wanted to bake cookies with me. You said they you'll be there when ever I need it."  Virgil walked over to the kitchen table and grabbed some and unfolded it, before turning around. What he had was a banner the he probably was going to hang it up. He showed it to Roman and he gasped

"Well, happy appreciate your favorite princy day!"

[tbehartoo]

Surprise Party!

Happy Birthday @seasonofthegeek! You always gift us so many wonderful stories, THANK YOU! Hope you like getting some stories on this special day

Characters (in order of appearance): Alya, Marinette, Nino, Adrien

Rating: General audiences- This is so much fluff!

Summary: Alya is hoping to give Nino the best surprise for his birthday this year

“Thanks for helping me with this, Mar-Bar,” Alya said as she added another flower to the cupcake in front of her.

“No problem Allie-Cat,” Marinette replied as she finished the leaves on Alya’s previous cupcake. “I haven’t had time to help with a baking project in awhile.”

“I thought you dropped by your parent’s place just the other day?”

“Yes, but it was just to invite them to Emma’s dance recital on Thursday,” she said with a sigh. “I didn’t really have time to do more than invite them and then run out to go pick up Louis from his gymnastics and grab Hugo from the groomer.”

Alya laughed. “I still can’t believe that you insisted on getting all three of those names in your family so much that you had to name the dog Hugo.”

Marinette frowned at her friend for a moment. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re kidding right?” Alya pitched her voice high and began to flutter her eyelashes. “And then Adrien and I will get married, have three kids: Emma, Louis, and Hugo, and maybe a hamster.” She looked at her friend and arched one brow, “Sound familiar?”

Marinette was stunned for a minute then broke out into a huge laugh. “I totally forgot all about that.” She was thoughtful. “I guess that’s why I didn’t fight Adrien when he wanted to name Louis after his mother’s father?”

Alya snorted as she passed her cupcake to Marinette and picked up another one to start putting the decorations on the top.

“Besides, Hugo just looks like a Hugo,” she said in defense.

Alya nodded. “That’s true. I can’t imagine him having any other name.”

They worked in comfortable silence for several minutes.

“What time will your parents be bringing the kids back from the movie?” Alya asked.

Marinette looked at the clock.

“They’re supposed to be done by 1:30, but then you have to figure in some extra spoiling time for Pelée. So probably 2:30?”

“They don’t have to do that you know,” Alya said frowning in concentration as she added another rose.

“I know it, and they know it, but you just have to face facts,” Marinette said and smiled at her friend. “Every child that comes within a five foot radius is now considered their grandkid.”

“I blame Nathaniel for that,” Alya replied. “Him and Luka showing up at the bakery with their adorable new baby, nearly in tears after Nath’s mother just shut the door on them, and then thinking that your folks weren’t going to do something about it.”

“I’m sure they just thought my parents would coo over their little one and offer a slice of cake on the house,” Marinette chuckled. “They should have known better than that.”

“I still can’t believe it was your mom that nearly knocked his parent’s door down and dragged them to the bakery to introduce them to ‘her’ new grandchild! And then almost stuffed Nath’s dad in the oven when he used that slur in her presence.”

“I think dad would have done it, but he was holding the baby and there’s no way he was putting him down anytime soon.”

Alya teared up a little. “I really love those people, you know.”

“I kind of guessed it when you made Pelée’s middle name Sabine and Maleek was given Thomas for his.”

“I guess that is something of a clue,” Alya chuckled.

There was silence as each woman thought back on the past and the role that Tom and Sabine played in their lives.

“So when is everyone else going to be here?” Alya asked.

“Well Luka and their lot will be here exactly at 2:37,” Marinette began.

“So five o’clock for the art colony,” Alya said knowing that between the artist and his husband, the musician, the concept of “on time” was a lost cause.

“Yeah,” Marinette said arranging the cupcakes into a tasty looking bouquet. “And Chloe and Alix are supposed to be here around three.” Marinette looked at the arrangement and switched the position of two cupcakes. “Bridget should be here any minute, but Félix won’t be able to come until he gets off work. Your parents are picking up the twins from university and then they’ll be here about three-ish. I haven’t heard back from Nora, so who knows with her. Nino’s parents are planning on picking Ysabel up at the airport right about now, so they should be here in half an hour? Maybe longer?” She started filling in the spaces between cupcakes with green frosting shaped like leaves. “And of course, Adrien is taking his job of distracting Nino until four o’clock very seriously. He’s already taken Nino to a fancy four-course lunch, shopped for party decorations, and they’re,” she looked at her most recent phone message, “looking at various steam cleaners they could rent to clean the rug,” she looked back at her phone, “but he just realized that should have been done a couple of days ago if the carpet is going to be dry in time for the party.” She looked at Alya. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell him that you’ve moved the party here so Nino can stop freaking out?”

Alya giggled and shook her head. “It’s the only thing I could do to surprise him for his birthday! Over the years I’ve tried so many ways to surprise him and it never works. Organizing parties on the down low? He always finds out at least a week before! I’ve tried hiding presents, giving him candles that don’t go out, gag gifts, a no birthday-birthday (sadly he really liked that one) everything I can think of to surprise him, but it never works. This time I might have gotten him!”

She sighed when Marinette’s phone pinged again. “It’s getting hard on him since he thinks we still have to clean up the more public rooms for this party, that I let him plan, and decorate, and get the food ready, and put the drinks to chill.”

“Oh that reminds me,” Mari said as she put the finishing leaf on the cake bouquet. She put the decorating bag into the bowl in the sink. “Help me get the tub down for the drinks?”

Alya grabbed the step ladder and followed Marinette into the walk-in pantry.

“I had to turn my phone on silent because it’s getting hard to ignore his texts,” she said as she climbed up to be able to reach the metal tub used at every gathering. “I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to erase those before I see them.”

Marinette nodded as she took the article. “He’s sent me a couple of texts to ask you to turn your phone back on. I’m afraid I’m throwing you under the bus here because I told him I passed on your message, but that you’re not speaking to him right now,” she said and grinned when Alya stuck out her tongue in her direction.

“That’s fine, but tell him we need more ice,” she started to cackle. “I always send him for ice at the last minute. And he knows that I won’t accept it from anywhere but my ice store.”

“How do you know he actually goes there?” Marinette asked. “I mean it’s half way across the city.”

“Well, first of all he has to show me a receipt,” Alya said. “And you best believe I check the date and time. Second, if I think it was too fast then I’ll check the trace I have on his phone, which he knows has to be on or I will send him to go again while I get rid of the inferior ice. Third, is something I only did at the beginning when he was testing my sincerity over how serious I take my ice. I call the shop and talk to the clerks. I know all of them and their loyalty is to me not Nino. So if I ask about him being there they’ll confirm or deny his story as the case may be. Oh, maybe I should call right now so they can pass along a message for me?” She looked at Marinette who was shaking her head.

“Alya, no,” she moaned.

“Alya, yes!” she countered.

“It’s a good thing you two love each other,” Marinette said as she started loading juice and sodas into the tub.

Alya just grinned as she called the convenience store to leave her message for Nino. Then she allowed that the inferior ice in Marinette’s freezer could be used to chill the drinks, but insisted on making a sign warning everyone not to use the ice.

Marinette got her friend paper and markers as she checked that they were ready for the party. Soon guests were arriving and presents began to pile up. With one text Marinette let Adrien know that Nino could be put out of his misery. Ten minutes later Adrien and Nino’s voices could be heard through the door.

“But dude if we’re only going to be a minute,” the sarcasm was thick for the last five words,”why should I bring in the ice?”

“Because it’s kind of hot out there and if you are missing too much of Alya’s precious ice we’ll have to go back and get more?” Adrien replied.

“Good point,” was the response as Adrien’s key was turning in the lock.

“Surprise!”

Nino was stunned. Adrien gently took the ice from his unresistant hands as Pelée and Maleek dashed to their father shouting “Happy Birthday!” at the top of their lungs.

Others came forward to hug and wish Nino a happy birthday, but Alya was suspiciously absent. Nino came alive in the embrace of his family and friends. It wasn’t until everyone who was there had given him hugs, kisses, and or fistbumps that Alya appeared in front of him.

“Are you mad?” she asked quietly, a little repentant for what she’d put him through.

Nino reached out and pulled her into a tight hug.

“How can I be mad when you’ve managed to get the most important people in my life into one room?” He eased back on the hug, but didn’t let her go. “And they’re here because they want to celebrate another year we’ve had together.” He brushed the hair out her eyes so that he could gaze at her. “This is the best birthday present I could ever have received,” he said with a huge smile.

Alya pulled him into a searing kiss which was only broken when Maleek came and demanded to be picked up.

After that, music was turned up, food was eaten, and a good time was had by all.

“Happy cake!” Maleek demanded.

“Yes, it’s time for happy cake little man,” Adrien said as he brought out the bouquet now lit with candles all over the sphere of cupcakes.

Nino demanded that Pelée and Maleek get to help him since he couldn’t possibly blow all the candles out in one go. It turned out that he couldn’t do it with two very enthusiastic helpers either. (Adrien had kindly switched out the candles for ones that wouldn’t go out.)

Once the cupcakes were demolished Nino was seated in a comfy chair to open presents. Pelée helpfully brought each present to him while Maleek was kind enough to help him open them. Alya was mostly on wrapping paper duty, but she also helped when a present was too heavy for her daughter to safely move.

Finally they were down to one present. It was a slim box that normally would hold a bracelet or perhaps a watch, with a large golden bow on top.

“This one’s from Mommy,” Pelée told Nino as she crawled up into his lap to sit opposite of Maleek.

Nino glanced up at Alya’s worried face before saying, “Well then I’m sure I’m going to love it.”

The box creaked open and the whole room seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.

Nino just stared at the gray, plastic wand and the word it was flashing in the results window. With a whoop of delight he swept his children up into a hug and turned them around. Then he set them down so that he could hug Alya. Then he pulled the little ones back in a family hug.

“We’re getting another baby!” he called to the room of perplexed watchers.

The entire room exploded in cheers. Soon everyone was surging forward to offer their congratulations.

Nino kept one arm around Alya and tried to keep a hand on the head of one of the children until they managed to escape to ask Auntie Nette for more treats.

“I take it you like your present?” Alya whispered in his ear between Alix’s handshakes and Tom’s crushing hug.

“It was the only thing that could have topped this surprise party,” he answered truthfully. He smiled as he kissed her cheek. “Have I ever told you that I just love my birthday present?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to hear it again,” she replied as she booped his nose.

He leaned in again to kiss her and then whispered, “I love that you are my birthday present.” He gently nuzzled her hair. “You’ve given me the most wonderful family and I am blessed to share this adventure with you.” He gently placed a hand on her abdomen. “I can’t wait to meet our next great treasure.”

Alya put her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his. “Happy birthday, my love,” she practically sighed.

“Yes, yes it is,” he whispered back.