Cupcakes and Tattoos

Chapter 22

"Alexa, where are Callie and Cristina?" Arizona asked the little girl who was now sitting on her bedroom floor playing with Sonny.

"In the car."

"They've been out there this whole time?" Arizona had brought Alexa up to her room so she could get ready.

"Yeah." Alexa shrugged.

"Well, serves them right. Do you want breakfast?" Arizona was going to make them wait as long as possible.

Yes, please!"

"To the kitchen!" Arizona ran out her bedroom door. "Race you!"

Alexa got up and chased after her. She giggled when she saw Arizona slide down the bannister. "Hey that's cheating! I'm too small to do that!" She yelled as she jumped down the stairs.

"No it's not, it's called being creative." Arizona scooped Alexa up and flipped her over her shoulder. She tickled her behind her knees, making the little girl squeal in laughter.

"Auntie Zona! Stop!"

"What was that?"

"Please stop!"

Arizona stopped then tickling and rearranged her in her arms. "What do you want to eat?

I have cereal, muffins, toast, and fruit."

"No bacon and eggs?"

"Trust me, you don't want me to make you bacon and eggs."

"Can I have cereal and muffins please?"

"You will have to help me make the muffins. Is that okay?" Arizona was glad she chose that. Now Callie and Cristina will have to wait even longer.

"Yay!" Alexa wiggled out of Arizona's arms and pulled her towards the kitchen. "Can we make chocolate chip?"

"Is there any other kind?" Arizona laughed at the little girl's excitement. When they got to the kitchen, Arizona turned on the oven to preheat and pulled down a large mixing bowl from the top of the fridge. "Alexa, can you get eggs, milk, butter out of the fridge and put them on the counter right here?"

"Okay!" Alexa was excited she was getting to help. With a little effort, she managed to open the door and find the eggs and butter. She put them on the counter and went back to the fridge. "Auntie Zona, I can't reach the milk." The tall side by side fridge made the top shelf out of her reach. She hated being little. Alexa felt herself being lifted up from behind to the right level. She grabbed the milk jug with two hands. "Thank you!"

Arizona put Alexa down on one of the barstools and went to get the rest of the ingredients. She pulled out flour, baking powder, white sugar, salt, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and vegetable oil. She took two aprons off the hook in her pantry, making a mental note to go buy a child sized one for Alexa later. "Do you want pink or blue?" She asked holding the two aprons up for Alexa to see.

"Pink!" Alexa jumped off the stool and skipped to Arizona. "Is it going to fit?"

"Of course it will. Don't you trust me?" She waited for the little girl to nod her head before making the adjustments to make the apron fit. She folded the bottom four times and placed it around the tiny body. She used the ties and wrapped them around her a couple of times to make the apron stay on. She then knotted the strap that goes around the neck to make it smaller and slipped it over Alexa's head. She took a strap off an extra apron and tied it around the bib to make sure it stayed out of the way. "See? Perfect!" Arizona put her own apron on and lifted Alexa back on to the stool and had her sit on her knees to reach the counter better. Arizona stood behind Alexa and put her arms on either side of her to reach the items in front of them. This is exactly how her dad used to help her bake when she was Alexa's age. She had always wanted to do this with her own kids one day. "Okay, you're going to help me measure." Arizona set a small bowl on the scale and handed Alexa a spoon and the flour. "We're going to scoop flour into this bowl until this number says six. Can you do that?"