''Is everything ready?'' Alex asks you, walking into the kitchen. He makes his way over to the kitchen counter, where you are standing, just putting down the mixer. You nod and turn around, now facing Alex with a smile. Alex puts his arms around you and gives you a kiss. ''Alright, lets do this then.''
He breaks the kiss and steps aside to grab the box of the cake the two of you want to make. You pout, because you just like him kissing you, but he just laughs and shakes his head. ''C'mon,'' he says. ''It was your idea after all.''
That is true. This morning you saw a TikTok where someone was baking a cake and decorating it beautifully and that video stirred something in you. So, the next thing you knew, you rushed to the supermarket to grab all the necessary things and came back with a confused Alex. You relied your idea and honestly, he wanted to do something fun as well, so you rushed to the kitchen like a happy child and began to set up everything you needed. Alex laughed at the sudden hyperactivity, but soon joined and that is how the two of you ended up in the kitchen now.
''So, what do we need to do?'' Alex asks while reading the instructions. You look over his shoulder to read it as well. Once you have read all the steps, you begin to do the first step, which is putting on the oven, so it is warm when you are done with the batter. Alex is greasing the cake pan with butter. When that is done, you read the steps again and it now says you can begin with the mix and making the batter. This is the fun part. Alex has put on some music, to create a lively atmosphere in the kitchen. The sound of upbeat tunes fills the room as you move with the music, adding butter to the bowl and mixing it until the butter is soft and creamy.
Once you are done with that, Alex puts the mix in the bowl, along with 1 spoon of water. Now comes the part where the eggs need to be added.
''How many eggs need to be added?'' you ask him.
''Eh four eggs,'' Alex answers, handing you two eggs. ''Who can crack the eggs best, you or me?''
He grins. Game on then. Alex goes first and the first one cracks quite nice. No shells fall into the bowl, but there are a lot of cracks. The second one is the better one for him, with less cracks and no shells. Now it is your turn. The first one you break, almost has a beautiful break. The yolk is whole and there are no shells. Alex looks with full astonishment. The second one is also a nice one, but the yolk breaks and there are more cracks. Overall, you did the best job breaking the eggs. Because Alex lost, he needs to mix all of it together. The batter needs to get mixed until it is smooth. Alex takes the mixer and stirs everything together. After that is done, you take it over, because now the mixer needs to stir it all together until it is light and fluffy.
''You need to stir for around three minutes,'' Alex tells you, looking at the instructions. ''Will you manage that?''
You nod. ''I think so. How hard can it be?''
As it turns out, quite hard. After two minutes, your arm starts to ache. Alex notices it and offers to take over, but you are determined to finish this. Once Alex tells you the three minutes are over, you immediately stop and take your hand off the mixer. You admit it was harder than you thought with a defeated smile. Alex stirs just for a few more seconds and then takes the mixer out of the bowl, taking one of the beaters out of the mixer and gives it to you to lick it off. You happily takes it from him and begins to eat the batter from the beater. This brings you back to your childhood, to the times you baked something with your parents or grandparents. Once they were done with the mixer, they gave the beater to you. Alex takes the other one.
''I missed this,'' you admit. ''Just baking and having fun, licking the batter of the beater. That was a huge thing when we were a child. We always looked forward to that when baking.''
''I mean, it is tasty enough to eat it,'' Alex says. ''But not more tasty than the cake we are baking.''
You laugh and nod in agreement, enjoying the moment. After a few more licks, you both set the beaters aside and get back to it. Everything is mixed and it looks good. So now the batter needs to put into the cake pan and then Alex slides it into the oven, setting the timer on 65 minutes. On the instructions it says 60-70 minutes, so 65 is right in the middle of that to compromise. And now the waiting begins. While waiting, you decide to clean the kitchen counter and put everything in the dishwasher. That way you don't have to clean after all of it is done. Alex helps you with cleaning and while you do that, you dance and hum along with the music. Alex decides to film a short clip of you dancing and humming along and posts it on his Insta story. He puts his phone away again and when Shake it Off from Taylor Swift starts to play, you can't help but sing and dance to it, Alex joining in too. You laugh and enjoy this moment, just him and you, having fun. Alex enjoys it as well. These kind of moments matters to him the most and he enjoys these moments, especially when he is so busy with racing.
After the song is over, so is the dance party. But you still enjoy the music that fills the air. The both of you decide to just relax on the couch until the timer goes off. As the minutes go by, the smell of the cake baking in the oven fills the room and you can't wait till you can eat it. Before you know it, the timer goes off and it is time to pull the cake out of the oven. The cake smells delicious and the colour also looks good. It is such a nice gold brownish colour. Your mouth waters, but you still need to wait. The cake is now cooling down, so you and Alex make the preparations for the decorations and the frosting.
''Are we just doing random decorations or are we doing a theme?'' Alex asks.
''Hmm,'' you think. ''Lets do a theme. I want to try that.''
''What about a summer theme?'' Alex suggests. ''We are nearing the summer after all.''
''Or we do F1 as theme,'' you grin, which makes Alex shake his head and sigh.
''Just when I thought I could escape F1 for a few days,'' Alex mutters. ''But lets do that. I want to see how your car will turn out.''
Both of you begin to decorate the cake, each taking a side. You draw a car, a red one to piss of Alex. You also add a podium and a trophy. You also think it is funny to write box box and it's lights out and away we go. And the number of Alex can't miss too and add it on the top step of the podium with a heart. After a while, the both of you are done and are satisfied with the end result.
''We did it,'' you softly say. You are proud at the end result.
''We did it,'' Alex agrees. Alex notices his number and the heart and finds it so sweet. He gives you a kiss and uploads the end result on his story.
''I think it is time to eat it now,'' you say. ''I am so curious on how it tastes.''
''Lets taste it then,'' Alex suggests and cuts of two pieces.
You have waited quite a while for this, but now it is time to taste this masterpiece of a cake. Your eyes widen in delight when tasting it.
''It is amazing!'' you exclaim.
Alex takes a bite as well, nodding in agreement. ''We make a pretty good team, don't we?''
''The best,'' you say, sharing a warm smile with him.
