A Cute Little Moment: Chapter XII: The Little Moments Storyline:):):):):)

 

The “Little Moments” Storyline😊 (Eight months after Lexi and Thaddeus were married😊)

I woke up with a smile on my face that morning of October 21^st. Not just because it was my birthday, but it was my first birthday as a married man. Even though Lexi was six months pregnant with our daughter, she still woke up before I did for work just to make pancakes dressed in whipped cream and raspberries. I could smell it when I woke up and the next thing I knew, she was walking into our room with a plate in her hands.

“Lexi, you didn’t have to do this,” I had told her, pushing my glasses onto my face as Lexi had placed the plate in my hands. I knew she had to be exhausted.

“What are you talking about?” she’d replied, one hand supporting her belly as she’d used her other hand to make a gesture like she was actually brushing my comment aside. “Happy birthday, honey!” she had smiled, carefully bending her knees so she could kiss me on the cheek. I’d blushed and I had wondered if I would ever grow out of that. Probably not, I’d conceded.

“Thank you, Fangirl. This is amazing,” I’d said, moving my plate aside so I could stand up to hug her. She told me as I got ready for work that I would come home to my favorite dinner, cake, and some birthday presents. I greatly looked forward to that, even though I did feel bad that she was doing all of this for me while she was literally growing a human. When I walked through the door, I inhaled the smell of a sweet-smelling chocolate cake baking in the oven and I grinned. I stepped through the doorway of our small apartment to see Lexi mashing potatoes in a black pot, looking beautiful in a forest green shirt that brought out her eyes. I chuckled. I should have known she would wear my favorite color today and I had to say, she looked amazing in green.

“Hello, Fangirl,” I said, still breathing the sugary smell coming from the oven, noticing the oven timer only had one minute left.

“Welcome home, love,” Lexi replied, starting to mix green food coloring into the vanilla frosting as the timer started sounding. Lexi brought the cake and stuck a tooth pick into the cake. “Hmm, a tad under-baked,” she muttered to herself as she placed the cake back in the oven.

“Can I help?”

“No, birthday boy! Go change into something comfortable!” she exclaimed, shoeing me out of the kitchen.

“Okay, Mrs. Bossy,” I teased as I left the room. I crept into our bedroom and grabbed some navy-blue sweatpants and my forest green sweatshirt from Lexi and I’s wedding night that said, “Groom” on it. Because it was getting a little colder outside, I put some socks on. As I put my work bag away, I became alarmed at the sound of the smoke detector. I came running out of our room as Lexi hastily opened the oven and grabbed the cake. It was no longer chocolate brown, but black instead. At the same time, Lexi’s hand flew to her mouth.

“I forget to put on the timer again- oh, no!” she exclaimed softly as tears started pouring from her sparkling green eyes. Not that they were very sparkly at the moment, though. I dashed to the kitchen and turned off the smoke detector. I ran my hand along Lexi’s shoulders as she sobbed harder. “I burned it! Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!” she said over and over again. I walked in front of Lexi, brushing her tears away.

“Lex, it’s okay. You didn’t mean to burn it, darling,” I whispered, kissing her forehead before pulling her into my arms.

“I’m sorry,” she wept.

“Shh,” I replied. “It’s okay, Lexi.” I rested my hands on where our daughter was and Lexi’s eyes fell to her baby bump and she smiled softly. I smiled back at Lexi, brushing my lips across hers.

Later, after we had finished our meatloaf and mashed potatoes and green beans, which were delicious, Lexi turned off the lights. Soon after, she came back to the table holding a cake with green frosting and two number two candles, casting an orange shadow on the wall.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,” Lexi sang happily. “Happy birthday, dear Thaddeus, happy birthday to you!”

Lexi placed the cake in front of me, and I blew out the candles. Lexi clapped her hands as she turned the lights back on. Lexi plucked the candles from the cake and sliced two slices. Even though it was burned, I ate every last crumb.