Her clothes had been folded and set on the floor near her head, and a familiar rich, appetizing smell filled the house.

Smiling, she dressed and padded into the kitchen.

He had cleaned up the flour. She was sorry to have missed the sight of the Nightkind King wielding a broom and dustpan.

Barefoot and shirtless, and dressed in his jeans, he stood at the counter in front of a pan of chocolate cake. Evidently, she had slept hard for a couple of hours, for the cake was not only baked, it also appeared to be cool. He had opened a container of store-bought, cream cheese frosting.

His head bent, he focused on spreading the frosting evenly. He took such care with the task, gently working the knife so that he didn’t damage the delicate surface.

For some reason the sight brought fullness to her chest. Tears sprang to her eyes.

“What did you do?” she asked.

It was a stupid thing to say. She could see very well what he had done.

He looked up to give her a smile that creased his face.

“I baked you another cake,” he said. “I hope I did it right this time.”

The End