Moments: A BWWM Short Story Collection

XVI. Precious Treasures

As requested by Marshmallowmarshes and fixzy02.

I pulled the oven mitts off, titling my head from side to side as I checked the pan-sized cake's texture. A few pokes with a toothpick confirmed that everything had cooked evenly, so I shut off the oven as I raised my voice towards the back room.

"Angela, honey! The cake's ready!" I shouted.

"Yaaaay!" came my wife's warm voice from the back bedroom. "I'll be right there!"

I stored the mitts as I admired my handiwork. Naked as it was, the small vanilla cake was a triumph in regards to my... less than adequate cooking skills, and the best part was yet to come. A caught a snatch of hurried whispers, and a smile broke across my face as I turned to the two boys poking their heads around the counter.

"Grab the icing, you two are up!" I said.

Daoud and Bahir rushed into the kitchen, matching Avengers shirts fluttering in their haste to beat each other to the green tube. Our boys were twins, and having turned seven four months ago they were competitive about everything.

"Give it back!" Bahir shouted as Daoud held up the icing in triumph.

"Don't be so slow next time! You get the yellow!" Daoud shot back.

"Dad! Make Bahir share the green! That's like... half the cake!"

Bahir rolled his eyes at Daoud's remark, but I knew he'd have done the same thing had his brother beaten him. I gave him a quick look before grabbing the blue and white icing and handing them to Daoud.

"Aw, let him make the boring grass! You get to fill in the sky and the clouds!"

Daoud grinned at Bahir, who looked down at his tube with a sudden loss.

"No fair! Filling in just one color is boring!" he said.

"Well, maybe there's some flowers in this field?" I suggested as I nudged the yellow icing over. Like a whole bunch of them! Doesn't sound so boring now, does it?"

Bahir shrugged and took the tube, and the boys began jockeying for position on the stool as Angela entered, puffy hair unkempt as she rubbed her round face.

"Let's hope the birthday girl isn't cranky when we wake her up; wish I could get some sleep myself, actually." she admitted as she leaned against the wall. "I know I told you I really wanted this, Harry, but sometimes I think we might've made a mistake."

Angela's sparkling brown eyes met my green ones, and after a moment a tired smile broke out on her plump lips. No matter how many times she said otherwise, she was just as glad as I was that we finally had children of our own.

I'd met Angela in college five years ago, and a year of chem lab partnership led to a deep friendship that blossomed into love. We married right after graduation and settled down to start a family... only to find out that Angela was barren.

It had crushed us both when we learned the family we'd dreamt of would never be, but eventually we decided to use our spare time to help others by joining an international relief organization. Our chemistry background helped us treat water supplies in war-torn regions, which eventually led to a certain country in the midst of political violence... where we met three very special orphans.

Daoud and Bahir, as well as their newborn sister Tyesha, had lost their parents in a fire set by rebels, and their uncle was desperate to get them out of the country. Our organization's rules forbid adoption of refugees to avoid accusations of favoritism, but Angela was so moved by their plight that she refused to leave without them.