The Paws-some Anthology (Book 1 1/2)

6. Baking Cookies

"What do have here?" Patton giggled as he and Logan both walked in to find Roman pulling out a bunch of baking supplies with Nyxie sitting on the counter. Roman laughed as he set the flour down making Nyxie giggle over everything. "Are you two baking... without ME?"

"Nyxie wanted cookies." Roman rolled his eyes playfully as he started setting things up. "So I thought we'd make some like you and I used to when we were younger."

"Oooh!" Patton bounced on his feet excitedly as he looked around at everything. "What are you guys making? Can I watch?"

"Of course you can watch!" Roman laughed as Patton rushed over just looking over everything as Logan eyed the scene in front of him cautiously.

"What kind of cookies call for..." Logan hesitated as Patton just giggled beside him. "... bananas?"

"Banana chocolate chips ones." Roman called out as he tickled Nyxie making her squeal and kick about. "This little one wanted to try something new and I remembered an old recipe Patton had made once."

"Oh right!" Patton's eyes sparkled as he leaned against the counter. "Those were so good! Did you find the recipe? How do you know how to make them?" Roman's eyes flashed as he laughed awkwardly just waving Patton's question off.

"Nevermind that, the most important thing is making sure we have enough stuff right?" Nyxie beamed with a nod as Roman paused for a second, his eyes scrunching in thought. "We're making three batches so we have to triple everything." Logan stuffed his hands in his pockets waiting for the moment he was asked a question. However, he didn't forget what Nyxie had said as he just watched the other to see if Roman really could figure it out on his own and how fast. "The recipe calls for a half cup of mashed banana but I always put a whole cup. Can you count the bananas for me, sweetheart? We need 9 of them." Logan's eyes shot wide as Roman just turned away to go to the cabinet. Patton's eyes narrowed slightly in awe as Logan just blinked in surprise.

"Do we have enough chocolate chips?" Nyxie asked as she spotted the single unopened bag on the counter.

"Yep. We only need 3 cups and there's 4 in a bag." Roman grabbed the measuring cups and this masher tool with a bright smile on his face. "Hey Patton, can you preheat the oven to 350?"

"Of course, Kiddo." Roman gave the fatherly figure a thankful look before glancing over at Logan.

"Do you want to help? You don't have to, but I know your good at measuring." Logan smiled softly as he just held his hand out making Roman's eyes shine. "YES!" Roman handed him the chocolate chips and cups before turning to the flour with a silly look. "You, my silly friend, are going to get scooped." Nyxie giggled at her Papa's silly voice, watching as Roman grabbed one of the bowls and a measuring cup of his own. 

"How much flour is this going to take?" Logan asked with this spark in his eyes wondering just how smart Roman actually was and how long he had been hiding it. 

"Well the recipe calls for 1 and 1/4 cups so 3 and 3/4's but we have to separate them in the three bowls because that's just a lot for one bowl." Roman laughed as he started putting the flour in the bowls. "The sugar if you want to do it is 1 and 1/2 cups. Oh! Patton, can you grab three eggs?"

"Here you go!" Patton giggled as he handed the small egg bowl to Nyxie who just kicked her feet and bounced making Roman smile even more over how happy she was.

"The chips are measured and poured, and the sugar is done. Do you need anything else?" Logan asked as he watched Roman grab the extracts.

"3/4 teaspoon of salt and 3/8 teaspoon of Backing soda, please. Patton, do you want to help Nyxie with mashing the bananas?"

"PLEASE!" Nyxie yelled as Patton just laughed happily with a nod. "Thank you. Thank you!"

"Coming behind you." Roman called as he quickly passed Patton to grab the butter beside him before pausing to watch Nyxie who was just giggling away so happily. "You're doing such a good job, Sweetheart." Roman cooed, giving her a soft kiss to the forehead before going back to his spot to help measure it all out. Logan grabbed the baking powder with a look as Roman's eyes widened with a nod. "Right we need 3 teaspoons all together. Thank you."

"It's no problem, Roman." Logan said as he started to gently pour the powder into the spoon. "Plus you're making it far easier and more efficient with how you're calculating the correct amount of ingredients so quickly." Roman hesitated as he glanced up only to see Logan giving him a smile. "I must admit to being fairly proud."

"I told you my Papa was smart." Roman frowned as he quite obviously tried to ignore what was being said. "Hey, Papa? How much is 12x15?"

"180. Wait..." Roman blinked as Nyxie just chuckled quietly, oblivious to the surprised look Patton had beside her. "Now I know you're not doing THAT in math. Logan's good at pushing you but not to that level."

"I can confirm... that was not what we were doing." Logan cut in seeing the smirk Nyxie had on her face while he pushed up his glasses. "The hardest question she had was 12x4."

"Papa. Papa... What's 9x22?" 

"Why are you asking me math question's?" Roman whispered softly, a clear look of anxiety in his eyes, only making Nyxie pout. 

"Because my Papa is smart and I wanna prove it. Now... What's 9x22?" Roman chuckled as he gently nudged her shoulder making her pout. "No... Don't go quiet. You need to answer..."

"We need to finish these cookies before dinner so... no more math." Roman called back only making Nyxie sigh with a small nod. "Come on, Little one. I'll even let you give Thomas his batch."