Sunday Bake Day

She was alone and had the afternoon all to herself. She could have done a million things as there was always stuff to do with a new baby in the house. However, after putting her feet up, watching some general TV shows and drinking two cups of tea, she was bored. Glancing around, she pulled a magazine out of the rack and flipped through it.

The house was too quiet, she decided, which she also thought odd since the house must have been this way before the baby. Sighing, she put the magazine back and got up. She swayed a little on her legs, the result of too much gym and yoga throughout the week. Going into the kitchen, she put her mug in the dishwasher and thought about making something for tea.

Her and her husband hadn’t done much cooking later and maybe the baby would finally sleep through the night when they came back. She pulled some books from a small shelf and flipped through them. The gloss photos showed a heavenly delight of things, but nothing drew her. At the end, she reached the deserts and saw a whole range of cakes.

Finally, she settled on making a Victoria sponge and some banana muffins. Putting the rest of the books away and keeping that one on the work top, she rummaged for all the ingredients. Luckily, she found enough of everything and lined it all up. Then, sticking closely to the steps in the book, she made the cake mix and put it into the oven. Feeling proud of herself, she moved on to the banana muffins. It had been an age since she had last made anything, which was easily blamed on the pregnancy. She had lived off jam doughnuts, apples with toffee sauce, some other fruit and veg, nuts, toast and plain pasta.

Now, with the warm smell of sponge rising in the kitchen, she wondered how she had never done it. Smiling and feeling content, she finished off the muffin mix and waited for the timer to ping. When it did, she took the cake out and put the muffins in. She stood over the cake, breathing in the scent of vanilla and sugar.

She placed the cake to the side and imaged that in the future she would teach her daughter how to bake and all the fun they would have.