Welcome Home!

Part 41: Baking Up a Plan

Barnaby looked down at Wally plainly. He knew what Wally was trying to do. Wally wanted him to apologize for being blunt, well, mean. Barnaby grumbled.

"I'm real sorry 'bout all them things I said. I'm only sorry that I said it mean. What I said t'was the truth," Barnaby crossed his furry arms and squinted at Wally, almost as if to challenge him. "But, yer a caring guy, aren't ya? I'm glad yer so careful, Wally. Yer such a silly guy," Barnaby smiled. He patted Wally's head and left the kitchen.

Barnaby flopped onto one of his couches and fell asleep instantly. Wally appeared in the living room moments later.

"All done with your errand here?" I looked at him. Wally moved his head towards Barnaby's direction.

"Yes. I was going to talk to Barnaby some more, but he is asleep."

"Haha! You must bore him, Wally!" Sally lightly punched Wally's shoulder. "I'm kidding, don't worry. I was hoping he'd still be awake,though! Oh, well. What are you two up to next? Whatever it is, I'd love to join! Unfortunately, I'm a wee bit busy. Let's hang out during that tea party, yeah? See ya!" Sally laughed. She practically flew out the front door, running over to Julie's house.

Wally and I were left standing, dumbfounded. That was typical of Sally. She loved to talk a ton and then leave before you could reply. I didn't mind, though. She was a busy sun.

"Want to go make something to eat?" Wally looked over at me. I responded with a content smile and dragged him home.

Wally and I stood in my kitchen, although it was slowly becoming our kitchen.

"Can we make something involving apples?" Wally asked as he eyed my lovely fruit basket. I giggled and patted his shoulder.

"Of course! Would you be interested in caramel apples? That's the only dessert I can think of at the moment.." I hummed as I placed some dry, clean dishes in the cupboards.

(As you tidied up the area, Wally did some snooping. He wasn't trying to be rude! He just wanted to find a cookbook. He found one eventually

He flipped through it, only reading the titles. He was hoping he'd find something involving apples.)

"Apple poke cake...?" Wally read something hesitantly. I turned around and walked over to him, stating at the recipe he had found.

"Sounds delightful! Here, pick an apron over there in the closet. Don't ask why I have a closet in the kitchen. I myself don't know!" I joked. Wally laughed and looked through my various aprons.

He picked one that said: Hug the Cook. I did not comment on it, but it was a very cute apron. It had lace on the bottom, as did all my aprons. My own apron was a mix of rainbow pastels with faint, white doodles of clouds and raindrops on it.

"Ready?" I called as I set bowls and measuring cups down. Wally excitedly hopped over to me, cradling the apples in his arms.

(Over the next few hours, Wally had a lot of fun. He especially liked the random play fights throughout the process, like how you had thrown an unimportant amount of flour at him. Wally had covered his hand in flour before slapping the front of your apron in response. You had a while handprint for the rest of the baking of the cake.

Wally kept stealing apple slices you had cut. It eventually came to the point that you had to put him in a timeout chair facing the wall. You only kept him in that chair for a few minutes, though.

He still did not understand where the apples had gone by the time you had popped the cake into the oven.)

"Are you sure you didn't eat the rest of the apple slices?" Wally poked my cheek repeatedly in a slight attempt to annoy me. I was not annoyed

"I am very sure, Wally," I chuckled lightly. It was funny how Wally had no object permanence regarding apples.

"If you say so, then!" Wally sang. He wandered over to the sink and washed the dishes and containers we had used happily. He was humming a quiet song to himself as he did so.

A little while later, the poke cake was finished. I set down a plate for Wally and cut him a slice. I sat across from him and began eating my own slice.

"I'm not convinced you put the apples in here, but it is very good," Wally gave me a thumbs up as he rapidly blinked at his slice.

(Although Wally was not usually fond of anything that wasn't birthday cake or apples, the poke cake you two had baked was exceptionally good. Wally did not why, but he wasn't interested in an answer.

As he looked around the kitchen, he stared out into the living room just beyond it. He noticed a record player.)

"Do you still listen to records on a record player?" Wally looked over at me curiously. I shrugged.

"Sometimes. Record players are able to achieve a sort of.. feeling that nothing else can."

"..Would you like to dance to one of your records?" Wally smiled. He stood up and collected the plates. He walked over to the sink and began washing them again, glancing over his shoulder back at me.

"Oh! That would be a delightful way to cap off this evening, wouldn't it?" I pushed in my chair and walled into the living room. Wally followed me.

"Oh! That's a very peaceful song," Wally pointed at a small, blue record. He carefully wiped the thin layer of dust off of it and placed it on the player.

I laced my fingers with Wally's. We waltzed around the living room for quite some time before it was time for bed. It was such a peaceful moment.

I put away the record and yawned. It truly had been a great day! It wasn't particularly eventful, but boring moments made life worth it. Being content in the moment was what mattered now.

I walked into the guest room and lingered by the doorway.

Wally was sitting on his bed, reading a book. He looked over at me and closed his book, keeping a thumb in the place he was reading.

"Good night, Wally," I bid him a good night. Wally gave me a sleepy smile.

"Good night, dear friend. May you sleep well," he returned my closing.

"So may you," I smiled. Wally blew me a kiss before returning to his book. I closed the door and tiptoed to my own room.

I snuggled underneath the covers. What a lovely day it had been! I sighed and fell asleep.