The Third Recipe and the Editor
Sunday morning dawned.
“…….”
I jolted awake before the alarm even went off.
After checking that Luca was still sound asleep, I hurried out to the terrace for some jump rope and a quick shower.
I was being this diligent first thing in the morning because I wanted to finish the last recipe today if I possibly could.
After all, having just one child was a little freer on the mind than having two.
“Oh, look who’s up—our Luca?”
The baby, half-asleep and nodding off, didn’t even seem to realize I hadn’t been by his side.
Luca glanced at me as I came into the room, then wordlessly flopped onto his side again and stretched a hand toward me.
“Aigoo, you want me to put you back to sleep? What a sleepyhead you are today, my baby.”
“Mmngh…….”
But no way! I scooped him up just as he was lying there, supporting his head and back, and headed for the terrace.
“Time to wake up with the morning sun, Mr. Luca.”
“Aung-ah……!”
Luca stamped his feet in midair, looking thoroughly sulky.
Still, the cool morning air made the baby lift his head to look at the street and stretch.
Only after a final little yawn did he seem truly awake, babbling at me.
“Aboo.”
“Yeah, good morning, right?”
“Yeah.”
“My baby, say ‘Daddy’ today too. Da-ddy!”
“Daddya! Papa!”
When I kissed both his cheeks in turn for calling me so vigorously, he let out a dolphin squeal that nearly burst my eardrums. I really ought to make him a singer when he grows up…….
After feeding the baby breakfast, I sat on the sofa and refined the sketch I’d done yesterday, trying to weave in every element I’d learned from baking so far.
It wasn’t easy to imagine the exact taste before making it, but if I calculated the recipe mathematically I could roughly predict the flavor.
The design was even harder than the taste, but this time I had a clear motif, so it was fine.
“……Hmm.”
I’d have to make it for real once, of course, but for now it pleased me in my head.
Having built the perfect image in my mind, I closed the notebook.
I sat the baby in the bouncer and placed a standing toy in front of him.
“There, now you can play while watching what Daddy’s doing, right?”
“Yeah.”
I kissed the hair of the baby who answered so promptly.
“Always so good at answering, at least.”
Seeing him grab the toy right in front of him, I tied on my apron.
This cake was one I was making for myself—a cake that expressed my life. So I actively reflected my own tastes in the recipe.
Lemon Earl Grey cake as the base. Blueberry whipped cream on top. The point was the subtle fragrance, moderate tartness, and sweetness blending together.
Making the basic sheet and cream didn’t take long. And then…….
“……Taste: pass. Luca, want to try?”
I cut a bite-sized piece of cake and put it in the baby’s mouth. He chewed thoughtfully while looking up at me.
Since he didn’t spit it out right away, it seemed the baby found it edible too.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah.”
“Daddy’s good at baking, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Aigoo, so cute. Is our Luca cute every single day?”
“Yeah.”
Alright—now came the real part.
I planned to make this cake lavish enough to be the centerpiece of a party.
At first I’d thought of something gentle and cozy—yellow and white and generous. A “home-baking” sort of cake…….
But I boldly tossed that idea.
This cake, designed to be sophisticated and luxurious, had gold and gray as its accent colors. And it was a small, sleek two-tier!
Indeed, a cake looked much prettier raised high rather than spread wide. Better for decorations too.
I shaped the cake sheets, and for the blueberry cream that would coat the outside I added edible coloring I’d mixed myself.
The gray that swirled with the blue and purple of dawn just before sunrise. I spread that cream over the sheets and smoothed the surface cleanly while turning the cake board.
Up to that point it was a rather unremarkable cake, but…….
The moment a single sparkling golden touch landed on it, the feeling became indescribably different.
Decorations made by rolling white chocolate spheres and star shapes in gold powder.
Gray and gold went quite well together.
One sun, one star. One sun, one star…….
The bright, warm sun and the sparkling stars decorating the spaces between.
The warm golden lights that had fallen upon my gray world as I waited for morning.
Click.
I photographed the finished cake from every angle to send to Kelly tomorrow.
After that I removed the decorations and separated the two tiers as well.
I re-creamed the now pitiful-looking lower cake and neatly cut it into six slice cakes.
Cutting them revealed the warm yellow inside.
“Alright then—no holding back…….”
Placing the decorations back on the slices made even the small pieces feel abundant. Elegant, sophisticated, pretty.
I had made it myself, yet it really did look quite good.
Feeling proud, I packed them two to a box, loaded Luca into the stroller, and left the house.
Two slices per household—I planned to deliver them to the neighbors on the second floor and to James on the first.
“Oh my goodness, thank you so much. Come in, come in!”
“Ah, no, I’m fi—”
Rose and Lily, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, accepted the cake with genuine delight and firmly refused my protests, ushering me inside and pressing all sorts of things into my hands.
“This is from one of my students—it’s a wonderfully fragrant tea. If you grind the leaves fine and mix them into your baking it’ll be lovely. Oh, and take this too. This is…….”
“Oh my, how pretty! Lily, look at this cake!”
Only after enduring a steady stream of praise and far too many gifts was I finally able to leave their apartment.
“…….”
It had been a little overwhelming, but I couldn’t help the smile spreading across my face.
“They’re good people, aren’t they, Luca?”
“Yeah.”
Luca answered from the stroller, gripping the brand-new silver tea tin. You’re not allowed to throw that.
I moved the tin—which looked rather expensive even at a glance—out of Luca’s reach and opened one of his favorite picture books on the stroller tray.
Then I stood in front of Evan’s door, briefly debating whether to knock or ring the bell, when a loud voice erupted from inside.
“……You call that talking right now?!”
“……And you—!”
I couldn’t catch every word, but there was no mistaking the vicious argument.
Our building had excellent soundproofing, yet the noise was still leaking out.
I had zero desire to walk into a couple who’d clearly set aside the weekend for a fight, so I took the elevator down to the first floor.
James, who worked at the café seven days a week, was as bright and cheerful as Santa Claus today as well.
“Oh my, how can something be this beautiful……!”
And unlike Rose and Lily, he offered more professional appreciation, admiration, and praise.
Since I’d come down anyway, we chatted over cake and coffee.
“You could take at least one day off on Sunday, couldn’t you?”
“Haha, being here is my rest. The joy of my soul lives in this café!”
“I’m not just saying it—you’re really amazing.”
How could someone be so genuinely happy with their work and their life?
While we talked I picked up Luca, who’d been diligently looking at his picture book, and fed him a little cake and milk.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, our little lord doesn’t seem nervous outside anymore.”
“Yes, he’s improved a lot, hasn’t he? I think having his older brother around has given him confidence in all sorts of ways.”
James’s eyes went round.
“His older brother?”
“Ah, I haven’t introduced him yet.”
I briefly told him only that I had become the children’s godfather. James didn’t dig deeper; instead he gave my shoulder a hearty pat.
“That’s wonderful news. Then maybe our little lord feels like he has one more person on his side now. That might be why he’s gotten braver?”
“If so, I’m truly glad. I worried a lot that the two of them might not get along.”
“So the older one is attending a kindergarten around here now?”
“Not yet. I thought settling in at home should come first……. But I’m thinking of sending him around autumn.”
He was four—exactly the right age to start preschool.
“But, er, I don’t have to send him every single day, do I? I still don’t know much about these things.”
James laughed kindly.
“My, usually the child wants to stay home and the parents want to send them. This household might be the opposite.”
“Well, he’s still so little…….”
“Other children are just as little and they’re fine, aren’t they?”
“That’s true, but…….”
Feeling an inexplicable embarrassment, I was about to change the subject when the sudden wail of an ambulance grew louder.
Luca froze solid at the unexpected noise; I pulled him into my arms and covered his ears.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Soothing him, I glanced outside—and the ambulance I thought would pass right by our building came to a full stop.
The fleeting thought of “surely not” barely formed before the rear doors flew open and paramedics wheeled a stretcher into the lobby.
James shot to his feet.
“What on earth is going on?! Don’t tell me Lily and Rose—!”
“Those two were perfectly fine just a moment ago!”
I stood as well, taking in the scene outside.
Then came the scream.
The elevator opened, and Grace, clutching her full-term belly and howling in pain, stepped out supported by Evan.
“Ah……. Seems it’s nothing too serious to worry about.”
James, who had looked ready to dash out, calmed at once and sat back down.
I sat too; I had no particular wish to catch their eye.
From the feel of it nothing was wrong—it simply looked like labor had begun. Still, people usually drove themselves to the hospital…….
I couldn’t jump to conclusions, and intervening felt awkward either way. I’d only be in the way.
But every word from outside carried clearly into the café, so without anyone suggesting it we both held our breath and listened.
The paramedics settled Grace onto the stretcher and loaded her into the ambulance.
Evan, who had been following, suddenly stopped.
“Guardian, aren’t you coming? Will you drive separately?”
Evan stood there looking somehow lost, then answered in a businesslike tone.
“I’m not going.”
“Pardon?”
Grace screamed his name between cries, her voice thick with disbelief.
“Aaaah! Ah! Evan, are you seriously doing this?! ……Aaaah!”
The paramedic asked again.
“Aren’t you the pregnant woman’s guardian?”
Evan replied in an even calmer voice.
“Not anymore, it seems. But I’ll call that person’s real guardians and tell them to go to the hospital.”
The ambulance carrying the screaming Grace drove away.
Even after that, Evan remained standing stock-still in the same spot for a long time.