A Slave to Broken Hearts (A Slave to Love Sequel)

Chapter 76: Charity Case

"Hey, you guys got started without us," Mom said once she and Peter came home to find Blade and I in the kitchen, elbow deep in making cupcakes. We were using the cake recipe I made with my mom, but we needed a ton of cupcakes, one for each person, which meant we had to make several batches. Mom and Peter had been out, finalizing cake details since that was the one area where my mom had decided to pay someone else to do and picking up last minute items for their honeymoon trip to Paris.

"We have a ton of cupcakes to make and frost, seemed best to get an early start," I explained.

"Thank you," Peter said, "What can we do to help?"

"Um..."

The oven was already preheated, the cupcake trays were already lined with pretty sky blue papers, and we were just about to finish up our first double batch. Which proved to be a slightly stupid idea, seeing as my mixing bowl was far too full and Blade ended up having to hand mix it for me to avoid spilling and making a mess of the mixer. I was already spooning the batch into the papers while Blade cleaned up my mess, so there wasn't really much to do, not until we started the next round. It had been a relaxing time, just baking together and listening to music, that I could almost imagine we were back home and it was a regular day.

"Wanna lick the beater?" I suggested.

"I do!" Mom declared, joining us in the kitchen and swiping one from the plate I'd laid it on.

"I'm good," Peter said, eyeing Mom with amusement. "Seems you two are quite the cake making team."

"Plenty of practice," Blade replied, rinsing off some of the dishes he'd washed already to stack them on the dish rack, ready for the next batch.

"With a kitchen like yours? I'm not surprised," Mom said. "I'd pretty much live in there in too. But there's really nothing for us to do? I mean, you guys are really spoiling us here."

"We're going to start the next batch soon, so you can always do that yourself and give us a break--" I started.

She waved her clean beater at me. "Don't think so, honey. You started without us which means you should have been fully prepared to finish without us."

I finished filling the last cup, handed Blade my dishes, then swiped the last batter covered beater. "In that case, you don't get to sample anything."

"All because of you, I haven't slept in so long, when I do I dream of drowning in the ocean, longing for the shore, where I can lay my head down, I'll follow your voice--"

"I don't know how you can listen to this," Mom said, making a face at where my phone lay on the one spot on the counter that wasn't covered with baking supplies or food, blasting music. "I mean, honestly, it just gives me a headache."

"It's not bad actually," Peter commented, going over to help Blade with the dishes.

"Well I like it. And I'm the one doing most of the baking, plus I'm your favorite daughter, so I get full musical decision making authority," I said, sliding the trays into the oven and setting a timer.

"Yeah, well, you're my only daughter so I don't have much choice, do I?" Mom replied.

"Exactly. You created me in your image, so now you have to deal with the consequences."

"I only created you in half of my image, the other half was your father, and clearly you got your taste in music from him."

"Sounds like a blessing to me."

"All because of you I believe in angels, not the kind with wings, no, not the kind with halos, the kind that bring you home, when home becomes a strange place, I'll follow your voice, all you have to do is shout it out--"