True Love | Book 2

Chapter 32

(Jennifer)
*one month later*

The timer dings and I rush into the kitchen. I pull the cake out of the oven and set it on the stovetop. It smells delicious, like hot strawberries. Josh is going to love it. I'm so excited to give it to Josh,  I don't even waste time to let it cool.  I open the container of icing and start digging spoonfuls of it out and smearing them on to the cake. The top layer of the cake peels off as I smear the icing across the cake leaving it an ugly white and pink mess. I'm starting to remember why people usually let it cool first. "Shit!" I yell, burning my finger on the hot pan as I try to spread the icing evenly. I pause for a second, checking for a crying baby, but I don't hear anything. By the time I finish spreading the icing, it still doesn't quite look like something you would buy at the store, but it at least looks edible. "Now...sprinkles!" I tell myself, opening up the cabinet and getting out the container of sprinkles I bought specifically for this occasion. I shake them all over the cake, possible going a little over board in the process, until the icing is almost completely covered up. I frown to myself, wondering if a store-bought cake would've been a better idea. I get the squeezable icing out next, and write, "Happy Birthday Joshy!" In big, bold letters. It looks horrible, and probably tastes horrible too since I didn't quite measure all the ingredients properly. I squeeze some of the icing into my mouth and lean back against the counter looking at my work. Before I know it, I've eaten all the rest of the icing. There's no way I'm going to be able to make this cake look any better. I sigh, accepting my failure, and get out the ice cream. I get a big bowl of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and set it next to the cake. I think it's had enough time to cool now. I feel the bottom of the pan, checking to see if it's cool, and it is. I put the lid on the clear pan and set the bowl of ice cream on top. Then I carry it upstairs to our bedroom, careful not to drop it.

I enter Josh and I's bedroom, and set the cake and ice cream down on the bedside table. I climb onto the bed next to Josh and lay down. I turn on my side, facing him, and give him a big kiss. His eyes flutter open, and I run my fingers through his hair, gently. "Good Morning." I say, giving him another kiss, my fingers still tangled in his hair. "Good morning?" He says, sounding confused. "Sit up. I got you breakfast in bed." He visibly perks up at the mention of food, and sits up. I hand him the cake first, smiling at him. "I know it's ugly but happy birthday." I tell him, running my fingers through his hair again. "Jen, you didn't have to do this. You're supposed to be taking it easy, remember?" He says, looking up at me. "I know. I just wanted to do something special for you for your birthday." He takes the lid off the cake and I hand him his fork. "Cake for breakfast? I definitely married the right person." I giggle, picking up the bowl of ice cream from the bedside table. "And ice cream." I say, handing him his ice cream. He smiles, taking a bite of his cake.

I play with his hair while he eats his cake and ice cream. His hair is so soft on my fingertips. I'm almost certain I'm enjoying this just as much as he is. I stop, as I have multiple times before, and take his fork, taking a bite of the cake myself. It's not very good, but it's sweet from all the icing and sprinkles in it. You can barely even taste the cake. But Josh seems to like it, he's already eaten almost half the cake. I go back to playing with his hair. It's quiet in the room, the only sound is him chewing and the occasional sound of his fork scraping against the pan. After a few more bites, Josh sets his fork down. He lays back down and looks up at me. "You done?" I ask. He nods and I continue running my fingers through his hair for a few minutes, both of us saying nothing. Then I get up and take the cake pan and his empty bowl downstairs.

After I clean up his dishes and check on Ava and Cole, I walk upstairs. I return to find him still laying in bed, with his hands behind his head, looking totally relaxed. I lay back down with him and snuggle up next to him, laying my head on his chest. "You wanna watch a movie?" I ask, starting to draw triangles on his chest. "Yeah." He says. I grab the remote and turn the tv on. "What movie?" I ask. "I don't care, you pick." I pick the first movie I see and set the remote back down. I lay down as I was before and start drawing hearts this time. "Did you like your cake?" I ask, as my hearts slowly make their way down to his stomach. "I loved it." He says, smiling at me. I smile, even though I'm pretty sure he only ate it to make me happy. My hearts change to circles as I make my way back up to his chest, but quickly just turn into lines as I start to focus more on the movie. He moves his arms back down to his sides and wraps one around me, while the other one rests on the bed. He starts lightly rubbing my back, making me shiver involuntarily. His warm hand feels good on my back. I'm just starting to doze off when I hear a baby crying, interrupting our lazy day together.

A/N: this chapter was fun to write. I've already got the next chapter written because I wrote it before this one and I've almost got the one after that written too so that means this book is almost over. But don't worry there's gonna be another one.