Tis The Season//for KING & COUNTRY

Follow Me in Merry Measure

"This is fine,"Vince said. He glared at the milk-butter mixture he was cooking on top of his DIY double boiler. It stubbornly refused to thicken.

On the counter next to him, Ben and Daniel struggled with surprisingly sticky cookie dough.

"At least it's a cookie bar and not individual cookies,"Daniel pointed out, trying to stay optimistic.

Ben's optimism, however, had run out.

"Joel,"he announced,"I'm taking over."

Joel looked up from his Christmas Week Tier Cake.

"Nope,"he said, popping the p.

He covered the bigger, gingerbread layer in more thick red frosting. Phoenix helpfully handed him tools.

"I could do the mini chocolate layer,"Ben offered.

"I've seen you decorate cakes,"Joel said,"so absolutely not. Also, it's a chocolate cinnamon layer."

"Same thing."

"Mo? Co?"

Moriah and Courtney looked up from the gingerbread village they were constructing with the other kids.

"Here, I'll trade,"Teddy offered. He and David Smallbone, band manager and adopted father to everyone who was not legally a Smallbone, were at the chocolate bark station, or as Joel referred to it, the "old man cookie" station.

"I'll pass,"Ben said. He secretly agreed with Joel's opinion on the bark.

"I'll trade, Teddy,"Luke offered. He manned the ginger snaps with his sister, Libby.

"What about me?"Ben whined.

"You stay here and help me,"Daniel ordered. Ben pouted.

"Come trade with me,"Moriah offered. "You'll fit right in with the other kids."

Joel and Vince snickered.

"Crap!" Vince shrieked, as the mixture got angry. It bubbled furiously and made pissed sounds. He whisked vigorously.

"Is my frosting done?"Joel called.

"No,"Vince answered,"but its pissed!"

He lowered the heat and whisked in the vanilla extract. Once that was incorporated, he poured the frosting into a small bowl and covered it with cling wrap.

"Goodbye,"he told it coldly, as he banished it to the fridge.

"Where's my frosting?"Mod asked, from where he worked on the red velvet cupcakes.

"In hell,"Vince snapped, heaving himself onto a chair. "I'm so tired."

"Me too, man,"Joel replied, smoothing the sides of the bottom tier. "I do need that frosting, though."

"As do I,"Mod reminded.

Vince sighed.

After what felt like a millenia to Vince, the frosting cooled. He whipped up some for Mod. He played photographer assistant to Mitchell, who took pictures and "taste tested" treats. He assembled a mini gingerbread house. He helped Courtney do a gingerbread Buckingham. He helped Mod put the cupcakes into a tree shape. He helped Joel assemble the tier cake. He calmed a crying Evie and made the chocolate for the old man cookies. He tried to choke Ben. He mixed up some gingerbread dough and bought more ingredients as needed. He washed an unfortunate amount of dishes.

Finally, the sweets were finished. And just in time, too.

The extended fkac family had arrived: management, family, PR, and everyone in between.

By midnight, as Vince fell asleep in Luke's lap, there was hardly anything left- in sweets and in energy. For Vince, at least.

No matter what Ben said, whisking hot milk and butter was hard work. Hopefully, he'd have good arms. He'd done one heck of a workout.

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I know it's really bad, but I wanted to write something fun and Christmasy and most importantly, full of food.

I really need to stop looking at desserts online.