Half Baked Hearts | ✔

02. Babysitter

Armed with a sheet of wax paper and a French tipped piping bag, I followed along with the YouTube tutorial, flicking my wrist just like the guy in the video. But while he made neat little flower petals, I only made a mess.

Flowers made of icing were my kryptonite.

I'd been baking since my grandma showed me how make peanut butter cookies with only three ingredients when I was ten. But when it came to decorating, I was still a newbie. It had only been three months since my Aunt Mimi selected me to help her with cupcakes for one of my cousin's birthday parties.

She showed me how to do that basic frosting design you saw on most cupcakes—the swirly looking one. I remembered getting completely lost in the repetitive motion, silently cheering whenever one came out perfectly.

I was upset there were only two dozen cupcakes.

That night when I got home, I whipped up some frosting from scratch, poured it into a Ziploc bag and practiced some more on Oreo's.

I'd had the worst stomach ache of my life that next morning, but it was worth it for the discovery a new passion. No more making plain, boring cakes for me. Everything I made had a design, no matter how simple.

It had been a few days since I told Aunt Mimi about the bake-off. She hadn't mentioned it once, but I held out hope that she'd come to her senses. And since the competition required a partner, I was practicing my decorating skills so I could bake alongside her in LA.

Dad always called his sister hardheaded and often compared me to her. The comparison was accurate and Aunt Mimi was about to see me at my highest level of stubborn.

The entry deadline was June 30th and I had until then to convince her of what a great idea the show was.

My phone rang, the sound breaking my concentration and causing me to jump. Weirdly, that was one of the only times my flower petal came out nicely. I had to remember that.

Setting the pipping bag aside I picked up my phone from the counter, wiping icing from the screen with my apron. It was Aunt Mimi. I wondered if she could feel my thinking about her.

"Hello, my favorite Auntie!" I sang when I answered the phone, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Girl, last I checked, I was your only auntie." There was a laugh in her voice. "Are you at the office?"

"Nope, it's my day off." I had to beg Dad to let me have the weekend off, Friday included. I needed time to perfect my piping technique. Thankfully, Vanessa offered to do to extra shifts. She really enjoyed teeth.

"Good, I need you to come down to the shop, if you're not too busy."

I couldn't hold back the excitement swelling in my chest. Did that mean she was on board with the bake-off?

"Yeah, okay," I said, already headed down the hall to shower. I had frosting just about everywhere. "I'll be there in thirty."

"Perfect!" She said with a relived sigh. "Thank you, my favorite niece!"

I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Last, I checked, I was your only niece."

Her laughter came over the line. "Go shower."

After a quick shower I put on a sundress with sunflowers printed on it and slipped on some sandals. My hair was in two buns (my go to style when my hair desperately needed a wash) and I added a few yellow hair clips to each side to hopefully distract from the flaky build-up of leave-in conditioner.

I left a note for Dad on the fridge, promising to clean up my frosting mess when I got back, and was out the door.

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