Emmy walked through the patio and back into the house where she was greeted with the warmth radiating from the oven and into their Californian home. It was already hot outside, but the oven added an extra feeling of coziness, one that reminded her of baking during cold nights at her childhood home.
"Dogs busy and occupied, far away from the chocolate," she smiled at her partner, Daveed, who was working on his mise en place, getting al the ingredients laid out for them to make cookies.
"Suprised Luna went out in all this heat," he said in shock, standing up from the refrigerator with butter and eggs.
"It was a fight," Emmy giggled, "But I think when she found some shade, she was good."
"Great," Daveed smiled softly, "Now are you gonna help or..."
Emmy moved to the sink to wash her hands, "You know, I think I'll just watch you. You seem like you've got it under control," she laughed.
"Mhm, so that same logic will apply when it's time to eat them?" he joked.
Emmy walked over to wear he was standing and slightly leaned into his side. He had pretty much everything out, they just had to put it all together. He also had brought out their KitchenAid mixer.
"Well, where do you want me, Mr. Chef?" Emmy asked, using her hip to bump his side.
"I got the oven preheated," he began, "Can you crack the eggs?"
"Of course," she smiled. Emmy grabbed a ramekin and 4 eggs and cracked them all. She cracked the yolks and mixed them as Daveed was mixing the butter and sugar together.
"Egg and Vanilla, at your service," she said as he finished folding the sweet butter. She handed him the eggs first and then the vanilla extract.
Next they had to get the dry ingredients. Emmy took a separate bowl and sifted the flour and baking powder together.
When she was hardly paying attention, Daveed spoke up, "Hey babe, you got something-"
Emmy look up confused when he suddenly took a pinch of flour and blew it at her.
"Hey," she gasped, and repeated his action.
The two of them laughed out loud but quickly stopped the flour hijinks once they realized neither one of them wanted to clean up a mess of flour.
Once the flour was smooth enough to go in, Emmy added it to the large mixer. Daveed flipped on the buttons and they watched as their dough came together.
"It's perfect," Emmy said, looking down at the cookie dough and then raising up on her toes to kiss him.
"Indeed it is," Daveed agreed, "We just gotta add the chocolate.
Daveed unhooked the mixing bowl from the stand and pulled it out. He grabbed the bag of chocolate chips and poured some in. He handed Emmy a spatula. "Would you like to do the honors, madame?"
"Thank you sir," she said in a bad British accent. Daveed laughed as she began to stir in the chocolate morsels. Right before their eyes, the chocolate chip cookie dough came more and more together until it was done.
"Well, would you look at that," Daveed said in admiration.
"We should taste it," Emmy grinned, "Just a little bit."
She pinched off the smallest of pieces and fed it to him. She then took an equally small piece and tried it herself. Both of them hummed mmm's at the same time, mutually agreeing that they had nailed it.
Emmy grabbed a baking sheet and spraid it with a light coating of nonstick spray. They had actually had two cookie scoopers in the cabinet, so it worked out perfectly.
They began to scoop out the cookies, Emmy placing hers on one half while Daveed used the other. Placing the cookies down, Emmy used a nice, neat, organized fashion while Daveed just let them plop anywhere they fell.
It worked out both ways and soon they were putting the 2 full cookie sheets in the oven.
Daveed raised his hands to give Emmy a high five. Once she hit his hands, he held on to hers and moved them down to pull her into a hug from the high five.
They shared a light kiss before pulling away from each other.
"So now we wait?" Daveed asked.
"Now we wait," Emmy smiled as she plopped down on the floor. She sat criss cross applesauce on the floor and looked up at Daveed to get him to join.
"And what are you doing?" Daveed chuckled, meeting her eyes from where he was standing.
"Watching the cookies," she nodded at the oven, "Come on," she reached her hand out to him.
"You do know, you don't have to literally watch them, right?" Daveed asked through his continued giggling.
"Yeah, but this is more fun," she stood on her knees and grabbed his hands to pull him down.
Daveed joined her on the hardwood floors, the two of them kneeling in front of the oven. He looked at her and grinned, only she would want to watch the cookies bake. It was something he could always count on, these past four years of being with her, of loving her, she was always so much fun.
"Look at them," her dimples shone through as she pointed at the dozen cookies right in front of her.
"They're actually rising," Daveed said in awe.
"They are," Emmy grinned and took her seat back on the cold floor. She lifted her feet and pulled them up to her chest. Then she took her hands and used them to push off the ground and spin in a 360.
She giggled as she spun. Once and then twice. Daveed looked over at her and tried to hold in his laugh.
"Emmy," he burst out laughing, "Are you spinning?" he began to cry from laughing so hard.
Emmy laughed back and nodded, "It's fun, try it," she circled once more.
Daveed shook his head but knew that if he didn't she would end up convincing him somehow. He balled up his legs and spun in a circle. He laughed again, it was really fun.
Daveed spinned one more time, but this time went a little more out of control than the first one. His long legs hit the lower cabinets, making a sound that drew their dog, Moose, over.
Emmy fell forward laughing loudly. Moose's footsteps entered the room and he stood in front of his parents.
"Hi Moose baby," Emmy cooed at the oversized puppy.
"Moose do you wanna spin?" Daveed asked in his best dog voice. He stood on his knees and walked forward to the dog. Daveed took both of Moose's paws and stood him up. Moose barked happily as Daveed turned him in a circle.
"Aww," Emmy grinned, watching as Daveed set Moose back down on his feet, "Ooh, Daveed, I think they're done.
Daveed looked through the oven light and into the pans. Golden brown cookies looked back at him. "I think so too," he nodded.
Emmy stood on her feet and grabbed the baking mitts. She opened the oven and pulled out the pans. She laid the pans down on the stovetop and wafted the smell. "Mmm," she said about the sweet chocolate aroma.
Daveed rose to stand next to her and sniffed the cookies aswell. He pinched off a way too hot cookie and placed it in his mouth. He immediately jumped from the temperature calling "Hot! Hot!"
Emmy laughed at her partner as he tried to get down the cookie, "Did you think they were cold?" she shook her head.
Daveed finally swallowed the cookie and smirked, "Well... no. They're good though." he walked closer to her, "Try them."
Emmy reached out towards a cookie before she felt Daveed's finger lift her chin. He pulled her into a kiss, the chocolate taste still lingering on his lips. The kiss grew a little deeper before they pulled apart.
Emmy giggled and smiled at him, "They are good," she said as she kissed him again.
Daveed matched her grin and gave her several more kisses, "Really good." He pulled her into a hug and gave one more lingering kiss. Everything felt so sweet right now, the cookies, kissing her, holding her in his arms. It was moments like this that made him so happy he had such a fun, delightful companion to love for the rest of his life.