"Okay, okay… We can figure out from this book and I remember Aunty Jom saying that the oven is already set to the temperature…. And we can surprise our fathers with our cookies, na?" Alexander nodded at his sister's words.
Climbing up and down from their stools to gather the needed equipment, the twins finally got down to business.
… at 4:33 AM.
The twins had forgotten all about their fathers' strict rules — no entering the kitchen without an adult, no touching electrical equipment and cooking appliances — the excitement of springing their fathers a surprise had gone up to their head and clouded their judgement.
Word by word, their little finger traced the font as they read out each step carefully.
"150 gee em of flour…" Natasha read the fine prints and poured the packet of flour into the mixing bowl — or rather, all over the kitchen counter.
The floor, her natural hazelnut mocha hair and her fair rosy cheeks were covered with specks of flour.
Alexander giggled at how his sister looked.
"You look like a snowman, Nat!" He chuckled and brought his hands to his mouth. After their giggling fit ended, they continued their mission.
"150 gee em of sugar… " This time, the boy read out and mixed the content into the bowl.
In came two blocks of butter that they had misunderstood with their young brains, they plopped the frozen butter into the mixing bowl that sent more specks of flour and sugar flying to their faces.
Sounds of utensils clanging — drawers opening and closing — people whispering — jolted Gulf awake. Immediately sitting up, he peered his ear toward the door to confirm the reality of the noises.
"Tirak…" Gulf patted his husband's chest and hush whispered. When there was no response, he tried again and shook him a little harder this time. "P'Mew…"
Gulf understood why Mew was so sound asleep; He had only arrived home at 1 in the morning when his schedule ended.
"Hmm?" Mew stirred and fought hard to open his eyes when he heard Gulf's voice. "What's wrong, Tua eng?"
"Let's add one more bag, Nat! I am sure Phor and Papa will love more chocolate chips in their cookies!" Alex suggested cheekily and peeled the bag of chocolate chips inside the mixing bowl. Natasha nodded and giggled excitedly as well.
After everything is in — as deemed by the twins — all that's left is to start the mixer.
With both tiny hands on the knob, they turned it right to the max with anticipation and expectation that it would churn out magic — just like their baking sessions with their Aunty Jom.
But to their horror, the attached hook spun around and sent the pre-mixture (now with 2 bags of chocolate chips and a bottle of sprinkle added into it) flying around and covering their tiny bodies with the sticky stuff.
Rushing towards the farthest end of the kitchen, the twins watched the monstrous machine whirl the contents out of the bowl. "It's not supposed to be like this…" One of them commented with worry and fear.
"I think we should turn it down!" Nat proposed.
The loud whirring sound got louder when the hook dug into the empty core after pushing the contents to the walls of the mixing bowl.
Both Alex and Nat started panicking at the frightening noise; Alex was on the brink of tears as he covered his ears.
Watching her brother shaking in fear, Nat braced herself and climbed back the stool to turn off the machine. Afterwhich, she made her way to her brother with a reassuring smile. "It's okay now na, Alex… Don't worry, I'm here na." The young girl consoled.
Flour, chocolate and sprinkles
Start from the beginning
