Birthday Games

63.

As requested by regressionlover16. Please remember, people, if you want to see a particular chapter next, you should leave a comment on the first chapter in this book; so I can find all the votes in one place.

Karin looked up and down the kitchen. It was quite a mess, with boxes and packets all over the worktops, and spilled cake mix and sweet toppings in quite a lot of places on the table. Normally Daddy would have tidied up something like this, or got the servants or household fairies to do it, but this time the Princess was convinced that it should be her own responsibility.

"How do we tidy up?" she asked Birthday, "There's way too much to do! It's even more stuff than tidying out my toybox!"

"Don't worry," the fairy spoke more sternly than she had in the whole morning, like this was her idea of work now, rather than play. "You need to start with all the boxes and packets. They're the easiest to move, and once they're sorted out you can clean around them. So, pick something up and we'll find where to put it."

"Right," Karin nodded, and picked up a half-empty tub of strawberries. They could have been an ingredient, but today as it turned out most of them had ended up providing energy to a couple of hungry chefs. "Where do these go?"

Birthday pointed to the fridge. And when Karin opened it, the fairy turned and flew in front of a space that was just the right size on the inside of the door. Karin put them down, and smiled just a little when Birthday applauded. Then she was onto moving the next box she picked up on the table. All the ingredients went away, one by one, and Karin was quite surprised to find that Birthday knew the right place for each one. Once that was done, they piled up the bowls beside the sink. They could be washed later, once probing fingers had smudged away the biggest blobs of cake mix, which Karin thought should be the chef's reward for making a wonderful cake.

And then she wiped the table down, and the work surfaces. It was hard to reach the back, because she was still much smaller than Daddy, but with Birthday holding onto the far side of the cloth they somehow managed. In less than half an hour, the kitchen was already looking kind of neat.

"Wow, it's so much easier with a fairy in charge," Karin giggled, "You know where everything goes!"

"That's because everything has its place," Daddy said as he sauntered into the room, "Unlike your room, where everything seems to live on the bed or on the floor most of the time. You've done a great job today. I'm really proud of you!"

Karin blushed as red as a beetroot, or at least that's what it felt like from the warmth of her skin, and a single compliment made her feel happier than any gift she could imagine getting.

"But, you do seem to have flour in your hair, and a ring of dough like a tiara," he pointed out, "Just how did that happen?"

"I think it was putting her head in the mixing bowl," Birthday offered an explanation, "Trying to lick the last bit clean." Just for a second, Karin wished she could have just wished the fairy silent in that moment. But that would have been a waste of a wish anyway, so she kept quiet. The embarrassment here would only last a second.

"Well, it suits you," Daddy smiled, and then reached out with a damp cloth to sponge a line of cake ingredients off her forehead. That done, he continued: "There's one more surprise I want to get ready for you before the party starts, and we haven't got long now. So can you go and play with your toys for a little while? Or you can have a bath if you want, there might just be time if you hurry, and then you could be all clean for your loyal subjects."

"Okay, thankies Daddy," Karin grinned, and breezed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. When she was gone, the king looked at the big pile of dishes beside the sink. I would be doing a little more work than I'd expected today, but it was worth it to see my Princess's radiant smile.

Meanwhile, at the top of the stairs, Karin was bounding straight towards the...

... bathroom (turn to chapter 31)

... bedroom (turn to chapter 35)