A very short story I wrote, inspired by several songs. I thought I'd put it up. Hope you enjoy it. :]
+Cake
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Emily Michaels stared out the big picture window in her living room, playing with her wedding ring as she waited patiently for the letter. The baby kicked, and she closed her eyes and smiled softly, rubbing loving circles across her abdomen. She was due in just over two weeks, and he’d become very active in the last month of her pregnancy, kicking and moving around so much she could hardly get to sleep most days. By the time he stopped, she was usually completely exhausted.
About an hour ago, she’d awoken from the longest and calmest sleep she’d had in a long time, and she was again able to enjoy the feeling of her little boy making himself comfortable. He settled down after a few slow, rhythmic strokes of her fingers, and she began to sing quietly, resting her hands on her distended belly. This week’s letter was special – Kade was writing her the estimated date for when he could finally return, and she – and the baby, it seemed – were excited.
After almost a decade of military service, he was coming home, and not just for a short two weeks; he would be home permanently from now on. Since he’d left at 18, directly after graduating and asking her to marry him, she’d only seen him four times: the first time, at age 20, when he’d officially married her and made her his, the second when he’d come home to recoup from a gunshot wound that had severed several ligaments in his shoulder and required extensive healing when she was 22, the third when he came home for a couple weeks as a break to spend time with her at 24, and the last, just short of a year ago. She’d found out she was pregnant shortly after he was shipped out again the last time, and was so ecstatic she could hardly contain herself in the letter she had written that week. They’d been trying for a baby for years, but it was very difficult when he was never there.
The letters always came on Thursdays, always in the afternoon, and were always delivered by the same boy, Dylan Hart. Emily had come to know him very well, and he was very handsome; he had curly golden hair and a set of adorable dimples. She always teased him about how they must drive the girls crazy. It had become a tradition over the past six years, since she’d moved into the house at 20 and he’d turned 11, for them to sit, eat homemade chocolate cake, and talk, while he pretended to ‘forget’ where he’d put her letter for an hour or so.
Emily knew he liked spending time with her, that she was like an older sister to him, and that he always made the same excuse just so he could stay longer. She had also recently noticed that he loved cooing at and talking to her stomach. Not that he’d ever admit to anyone else that he was a total softie.
A familiar knocking came at the door, and Emily pulled herself out of her cloud of tired happiness to push herself up and waddle to the door. She swung it open, beaming at Dylan and beckoned him inside before padding into the kitchen, leaving it to him to close the front door once he came in. She set two generous slices of moist velvet cake onto plates and poured a couple mugs of raspberry tea, setting everything carefully on the table. She had just lowered herself into her chair when Dylan skipped in and dropped into the chair opposite her with complete ease, instantly reaching for the cake and stuffing it in his mouth. Emily rolled her eyes and nibbled lightly on her own cake, bemused.
“Why are you always such a pig? That’s a massive piece of cake, you have more than enough time to eat it,” she pointed out, smiling when his cheeks turned pink.
He swallowed the last bite and licked his fingers. “I know, it’s just so good,” he muttered, sneaking glances at the remaining cake on the counter. She gave him a knowing look and nodded, and he went to slice another huge piece for his insatiable appetite, cheeks flushed.
