It's late when Archie gets home. He knows his little daughter Mia is asleep already. Tomorrow is her birthday. He can't believe she'll be five. It seems like only yesterday when Veronica told him she was pregnant. He remembers how excited he was. He couldn't keep his hands off of Veronica for nine months. Sometimes it drove her absolutely insane but she loved how he took even more care of her. He was by her side for the morning sickness, the mood swings, the cravings and all the tears which sometimes streamed down her face for no reason.
After work Archie bought a bunch of decorations and snacks for the girl's birthday parties. Luckily tomorrow is Saturday. They'll have a family party on her actual birthday and then one with all of their daughter's little friends on Sunday.
As quietly as possible, he opens the door to the house. It's dark but there's light coming from the kitchen. He smiles.
"Hey babe, how was your evening?" he asks as he walks into the kitchen. He places the bags filled with decorations on the kitchen counter and the ones with food in the fridge. He wraps his arms around Veronica and places a gentle kiss on her cheek. She's wearing sweatpants and one of his hoodies. "Good" she sighs. "Mia was super excited about tomorrow though. It took me forever to get her to bed. That's why I'm still working on her cake"
"You are amazing. Can I help you somehow?"
"No I'm almost done but thank you" she smiles. "You can go to bed. We'll need at least one parent tomorrow who got enough sleep to function" She turns her head to face him. She missed him tonight. She knows there are nights where he has to work overtime and then he offered to run all the errands so Veronica wouldn't have to go to the store with their daughter but today was exhausting. "Don't stay up too long love" he whispers.
"I won't, promise"
Archie places a gentle kiss on Veronica's lips. He tucks a strand of hair that fell out of her ponytail behind her ear before he walks out of the kitchen and to the bedroom to get ready for bed.
After an hour, Veronica is still not back. He furrows his eyebrows. With a yawn he gets out of bed and slowly and tiredly walks to the kitchen. Veronica is still working on the cake. "Babe, it's late" he mumbles
"I'm not done Archie! I need to finish this"
"Love—"
"No!" she says. She can't hold back her tears any longer. They stream down her cheeks. Archie pulls Veronica into his arms. She holds on tightly to him. She's sobbing and crying. It breaks Archie's heart. "What's wrong Ronnie?"
"I can't get the stupid buttercream right. It's runny and not the right color. This is my third try. I'm running out of ingredients and I'm so tired"
"Why don't we try again tomorrow? It's so late"
"No I need to get this done" she cries into his chest. "It's our baby's birthday. I have so much other stuff do to tomorrow"
"Let me help you then. I think you need to take a deep breath and a little break"
"Fine" she sniffs and looks up to him. His soft smile makes her smile too. Veronica's eyes look even more tired than his. He cups her cheeks, wipes her tears away and kisses her. "We're a team Ronnie. You're an amazing mom but you don't have to do everything by yourself. Let me help you"
"Okay" she says and nods her head.
For whatever magical reason, Archie manages to make the perfect buttercream in the exact pink that Veronica wanted. While she spreads it all over the cake, Archie gets the sprinkles and the rest of the decorations ready.
Twenty minutes later, just a little before midnight, the cake is finally to Veronica's liking. She's exhausted but happy. She falls into Archie's arms. Her eyes are closed. Just for a moment they hold each other in silence. Archie head rests on top of Veronica's. He plays with her hair.
