It wasn't difficult to spend an hour in the kitchen without Daryl noticing, he was out again on a hunt. He went past the walls and back into the dangerous wilderness because it was what he knew; you accepted that that was who he was.
So you had time as he left early in the morning, after spending just a little bit more time in bed with you. And you knew he wouldn't be back till later this evening, so you didn't feel the rush to bake and frost the creation you made quickly.
You and Daryl had been together since the winter before you had all found the prison, but weren't publicly 'official' till that coming summer. Time had passed and you both were visibly changing.
From the way his hair now hangs longer than it did when you first got together, to the fact that your skin is tanned darker than he remembered when he met you.
But the biggest change was the way he finally learned to open up to someone.
Now you both live in a small cozey house at the end of the road in Alexandria. Something you never wouldn't imagined for yourself, or for you and Daryl together.
But for the first time in a long time; you're happy. You're safe. You're content.
Noticing out the kitchen window that hangs above the sink, that the sky is turning dark as the sun begins to set, you rumage through a drawer trying to find the thing you brought back from the pantry earlier in the day.
Lowering it gently into the center of the dessert you baked, you carry it carefully with you up the stairs.
Setting it on the oak nightstand beside the bed, you wait patiently for Daryl to return.
And soon enough-- although feeling like hours instead of only twenty minutes-- you hear the front door open up from the floor below you.
"Babe?" His voice calls out, and you hear the slight clink sound of his crossbow being set down on most likely the kitchen counter. "Ye home?"
"Upstairs!" You call back to him, anxiously smiling for him to come upstairs.
Flicking the bedroom light off and taking his sliver lighter you light the white and blue wax candle. Setting the plate down in front of you on the bed, so he'll see both you and the surprise when he walks through the door.
"Ya cook or somethin? Smells like ya--" Daryl stops when he gets to the doorway.
Smiling softly, feeling the flame glow a bright orange against your face. The warmth different from that of a fire you'd light downstairs in the fireplace.
"Surprise!" You beam, watching him decide whether to continue walking into the room.
"What's this?" Daryl questions you, reaching the edge of the bed.
"This," You pause as he looks down at the freshly frosted cake sitting on a plate in front of him. "is your birthday cake."
His eyes move quickly to meet yours when you mention birthday. And you see a little bit of shock in them as well.
Daryl sighs, "How'd ye know today was my birthday?"
Taking his denim jacket off and standing up to drape it over the chair in the corner, he comes back over to sit across from you again.
"Merle mentioned it to me at the prison once, and when Deanna showed me the calender she has the other day... I realized that today was your birthday."
Daryl looks overwhelmed by this; even if it is something as simple as a barely decorated cake.
"So ye baked me a cake?" He asks raising an eyebrow.
"Well yeah," Shrugging your shoulders, you begin to feel nervous at his reaction. "everyone deserves to get something sweet on their birthday."
Daryl lets out something small resembling a low chuckle. "Never had no one bake me a birthday cake before."
Your eyes widen slowly, "Really? But you've had some sort of birthday cake right?"
Daryl shakes his head and you can't believe it."Didn't your ma ever bake you one or buy one from the store for you?"
He shakes his head again, "Never got nothin really, only got one gift one year. First crossbow, Merle got it for me somehow. Don't know where the son of a bitch got the money."
You let out a light laugh, before becoming serious. "I'm sorry you never got the childhood you were supposed to get. With big birthday cakes that had so much frosting it was gonna give you diabetes. And getting to be showered with toys and love."
The edges of Daryl's lips curve slowly upward, "Ye really baked this jus for me?"
It saddens you that he still has to question if someone would really do something so simple and small like this for him, but happily you assure him.
"I did," You smile. "and I hope you like chocolate. Had to steal more than I was allowed to from the pantry."
Daryl lets out a small laugh; a sound that brings such joy to your heart. And a sight that blesses your eyes, getting to see that glimmer of genuine happiness if only for a second.
"Now I want you to blow out the candle," You tell him, sliding the plate forward towards him. "and make a wish."
"Why?"
Shaking your head you smile at his unknowing of the tradition. "Because that just what you do Daryl. You make a wish as you blow the candle out."
Daryl stares at you, unmoving.
"What does someone wish for?" Daryl whispers lowly to you, looking down at the flickering flame.
"Some people wish for something in the future, some wish for something to change or to happen." You say, lending examples.
"What if I ain't got nothin ta wish for? What if I don't need nothin?" Daryl wonders out loud, and you watch the vulnerability and innocence flash across his face in that moment.
"Well," You pause, reaching out and taking his left hand gently into your right. "then wish that nothing changes."
Daryl's eyes flicker up to yours; the deep blue shinning in a new way as the light reflects back in them.
With a single gust of air, the flame is out. The smoke trickling up in a small grey line.
Later that night, once you both together had eaten over half the cake and were now cuddling under the sheets, Daryl speaks up.
"You were right bout everyone deserving ta get somethin sweet on their birthday." As your legs are tangled together in the pale blue sheets, and his arms are resting softly around your body he whispers this in your ear.
"Yeah? You liked the cake?" You ask with a small smile.
"Ain't the cake I'm talkin bout," Turning your head slightly so you're able to look up towards him. "it's you."
"Me?"
Daryl nods, his lips pressing a kiss tenderly to the top of your head.
"You're as sweet as it gets."
Leaning back into his chest, his warm radiating off him like a heater. "I'd ask you what you wished for, but if you tell me it won't come true."
You can still feel his lips pressed gently into your hair, "Can't not come true if I already got it."
A/N: I really liked the idea for this one, I just hope you guys liked the writing outcome for it. 💙
