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» BIRTHDAY CAKE «

Carl Prepares For An Important Event, With A Bit Of Help (season 9 time-jump, not canon)

"Do you know what's next?" Carl asked, his finger scanning the page carefully over the middle of numbers and words. Maybe he should've practiced baking a cake before actually doing it.

"Have you put the eggs in?" Judith piped up, her arm spinning in circles as she whisked the mixture. "It doesn't look like it's got eggs in."

"Damn it!" He realised, quickly cracking three eggs into the bowl. He couldn't imagine how much worse it would be if his sister wasn't helping out.

It wasn't every day your girlfriend turned twenty one, something that Carl was very aware of. She had made him a cake for his birthday several months ago, so it only seemed fair that he did the same. He just had no idea how much work went into baking when you were terrible at it.

"Do you think she would like chocolate? She's never told me what kind of cake she likes." Carl wondered out loud, cleaning down the worktop.

"I think she'll love it. And if she doesn't, then I will." Judith grinned, setting the bowl of cake batter down. "All done. Now it just needs to go in the oven."

Judith had been all for baking a cake, especially with Carl. She noticed he didn't seem to mind when she licked the spoon, or nibbled on the chocolate flavoured ingredients.

"Right..." He agreed, taking a look at the oven. There were a few dials on the front, each of them surrounded by their own set of numbers that he didn't quite understand. He seemed to stare at it for a long time before Judith finally leapt off the counter, turning the necessary knob and causing the machine to whir. Carl held a playful glare towards his sister. "Show off."

"Pea brain." She countered, sticking her tongue out in return. She mopped up the spilt mixture on the surfaces, dustings of flour and sprinklings of sugar, until it looked like no one had even touched the place.

"Do you really think she'll like it?" Carl started the timer with a sigh. He was starting to think the cake wasn't what he really worried about.

"Do you still have the back up present?" Judith bounced over, her eyes wide with excitement.

Carl rummaged around in the kitchen drawer to his right, lifting papers and sheets. "It's not a back up present, Judy. If anything, the cake is the back up." He told her, finally presenting the item.

A dusty black box, small enough to fit in his palm as he flipped the lid open. It wasn't much to look at, but a ring had many different sentimental meanings depending on how you looked at it.

This one had belonged to Lori, gifted to her by Rick when he asked to marry her a long time ago. This one meant a future, a life of joy and happiness. Together forever.

"What time did she leave?" Carl asked Judith, the box snapping shut as he buried it in his pocket. He wasn't sure if Belle even knew it was her birthday today, only confirmed when she decided to go on a run. She woke up and didn't even hint at it, meaning she either forgot or it was some kind of test to see if Carl remembered.

Judith shrugged, her finger dipping into the scraps of batter. "A couple hours ago. If she's with Glenn then she won't be long now." She figured out. The two had always been an effective team outside the walls, getting the job done quickly.

A pair of hurried footsteps pattered down the hall, an energetic girl running through the doorway. "Mommy's coming! Mommy's coming!" She yelled cheerfully, bursting into a fit of giggles when Carl swept her up into his arms.

"Already?" He sighed, bouncing the girl in his arms. "You think you can stall?" He asked, grinning at her rapidly nodding head.

After a soft kiss on her forehead he set her down, letting her run back into the hallway. "Mommy, don't go in the kitchen!" She called when the front door clicked open.

"Why not, baby?" Carl heard from outside, prompting him to speedily remove the cake from the oven. Judith was already prepared with the icing, dribbling it over the surface to spell 'Happy Birthday Belle!'.

"Daddy made a cake." Carl internally groaned at the words from his daughter, but he still felt the twinge of amusement.

"Finished." Judith announced, licking the leftover icing from her fingers. The timing was great, because at that moment two figures wandered into the kitchen, one with a guilty expression and the other curious.

Belle scanned the room, picking out the exhausted faces of Carl and Judith as well as the chocolate cake in the middle of the counter. "What's this?" She asked, her lips peeking up in a confused smile.

"Uh...happy birthday?"

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Oh, how I wish this was canon.

(Thank you so so much for 7k on Time Is Dancing)