The Night Before The Party

The talk of the town had been Moonbeam and Goldie’s disappearance for weeks now and everyone was looking forward to seeing them again. Many welcoming celebrations, from surprise parties to concerts, awaited them once they would set their paws on Port Borealis again, and one of them was to take place in a local bakery, not far from the port itself. While some preparations could be done days in advance, like buying decorations or painting a banner, the food wouldn’t possibly last this long… be it from going bad, or from simply being eaten by some hungry cat.

Fortunately, Devona was no stranger to staying up late for the sake of baking. Even after all the other staff had left, the lights in the shop’s kitchen were still on. She deemed that it would be most ideal to make everything the night before, as opposed to in the early morning: this way the cake will have ample time to chill in the fridge, and she won’t have to force herself to leave her cozy bed at the crack of dawn tomorrow. It was obviously more efficient this way, not just more convenient.

Work went on quite smoothly with the delicious sweet smells filling the room and calm music playing on the radio. By 11 PM, the blueberry cheesecake for the party was already in the oven and a batch of chocolate chip cookies was cooling off to the side. Devona wiped her paws on her apron and sighed, taking a step back from the heat emanating from the oven to sit down at the small table. Cheesecake, cookies, cupcakes… this was quite a lot of work for one Spacecat to handle, but she was managing. For now.

Her break wasn’t long, enough to take a few sips of tea and look around the kitchen that gradually became messier as the night went on. There really weren’t that many things to make for the party, the last one being cupcakes, but while she was here, she might as well get a headstart on the regular items. The sugar cookies were easy, but cutting out all the shapes started to become tedious by the second half of the generous amount of dough she prepared. At least she could leave the frosting for the morning shift to handle. She still had to put away enough time to make the cupcakes.

It soon came time to take the cheesecake out of the oven and prepare the blueberry topping while it cooled off. The clock struck midnight soon after Devona finished with it. That may have been the only instance of her really paying attention to what time it was. Her paws were starting to feel a little sore, and some strands had slipped out of the claw clip she used to keep hair out of her face, but she was determined to finish everything.

It was finally time to get started on the cupcakes, after she’d fixed her hair and turned up the radio a little. She could probably bake those in her sleep at this point and, considering she should be asleep right now, one could lean on the technicalities and say she did. Her plan was ambitious from the start and she was slowly regretting leaving it for last, given she had two entire batches to make, different flavors and all. She complained to herself about it but continued stirring the ingredients regardless.

Reaching the last step felt so close and yet so distant, but as soon as both muffin trays landed in the oven, Devona moved on to prepare the frosting. By that point, the kitchen was starting to feel uncomfortably warm and the smells irritated her nose, but there was no going back now. They had to be finished by tonight. After mixing in the last of the dye and stuffing the sweet mixture into piping bags. She knew she should have waited a little longer to pipe the frosting, in case the cupcakes were still too warm, but it would have been a minor error either way. She tried not to beat herself up about it and continue with decorating.

It was way past 1 AM, but at last, two plates of beautiful cupcakes sat atop the counter: caramel with swirly purple frosting and edible glitter, and vanilla with red and orange frosting and tiny fish crackers, both covered in a generous amount of color-matched sprinkles as well. The sight of the pile of dirty dishes only a glance away from the baked goods filled her with dread, however. She wasn’t going to just leave them there, was she? She wouldn’t do that, she wouldn’t screw the morning shift over like that. With a deep sigh, she approached the sink. This would hopefully be the last thing she had to do tonight.

Getting to finally shut off the kitchen lights caused a wave of relief and exhaustion to wash over Devona. Passing through the front of the store to exit and finally lock up the shop, she turned around once more to admire the party decorations done by the rest of the bakery staff. A large ‘Welcome Home’ banner hung over the counter, colorful paper garlands dangled from the light fixtures and decorative plants, there was even a table prepared for the two very special guests. Devona smiled to herself as she fished the keys out of her bag and headed out the door. Her paws ached to an unbelievable degree and she could hardly keep her eyes open on the way home, but knowing Moonbeam and Goldie would love this somehow made it worth all the trouble.