Inspiration-> This Instagram Video (This gent makes me think of Sy every time I see him, and his confections look so darn tasty!)
Author’s Note-> This is a work of Fiction! Part of my Syverson Family Chronicles! (You can't tell me Sy probably won't turn into Marshall, when he retires and becomes a stay at home dad!)
Ao3 Link-> HERE
Divider by-> @FIREFLY-GRAPHICS!
-> If you would like to get notifications for my writing! Just follow my Tag List blog, @VIKING-RAIDER-TAGLIST as well as my @VIKING-RAIDER-LIBRARY and turn on the notifications for it! It’s that easy!’ Ao3-> DRAGON_DWELLER
You entered the kitchen, returning home from a long day of work, to discover the last thing you expected of your husband of fifteen years. The tall and muscular, retired Army Captain, turned stay-at-home-dad, was bent over your chaotic center island, sporting nothing underneath your sunflower-print apron, beside his flour dusted, dark-wash jeans. The island and kitchen was littered with nearly every mixing bowl, baking sheet and pan you owned, along with rubber spatulas, wooden spoons, measuring spoons, and all the ingredients you needed to bake a cake.
Your face twisted in a stupefied expression of confusion. Sy wasn’t a baker. The man could cook, yes. He could grill a mean piece of meat. But the delicate nature of making cake to Syverson was like pulling the pin on a grenade. Something he’d rather not do, under any situation. So, finding him meticulously layering and filling a cake made you want to make sure you hadn’t walked into the wrong home.
“Austin?” You croaked, blinking at him.
Sy started, a glob of Peanut Butter buttercream dripping over the side as his hand slipped with the icing knife. “Hey, Sugar!” He replied, giving you a sheepish grin, scraping the buttercream off the side and back into the bowl. “How was your day?” He asked, stepping over to kiss you.
“It was all right.” You replied, nodding and kissing him back. “What have you been doing all day?” You inquired, cocking a brow around the kitchen.
“Oh.” Sy chuckled, a soft pink appearing over his bearded cheeks. “Well, um…” He cleared his throat, wiping his palms on the apron. “I overheard Ada on the way to school this morning, that she wanted a butterfly cake for her birthday. So,...” He twisted his upper body towards his hard work.
Your heart melted, grinning at your Bear. “So, you’re making her a butterfly cake.”
“Yeah.” He nodded, looking back to you, a little abashed. “Not sure how it’s going.”
“Well, let’s have a look.” You said, moving around him.
“I’m going for this.” Sy explained, picking up his flour-y, buttercream covered phone, to show you the vision he had. “I have her favorite flavors. Peanut Butter buttercream, with a chocolate drizzle between.”
“Mmm, sounds tasty.” You hummed, looking at the beautiful and simple enough looking cake, he was attempting. “How far are you?”
“I have one wing done, it’s in the fridge.” He answered, jerking his head in the appliance’s direction. “I just have the last wing and the body to do, then decorating.”
You took a cheeky taste of the buttercream. “Oh god.” You moaned, licking your lips.
“It’s awful, isn’t it?” Sy asked, looking at you, worried. “I knew my ratios were off.” He growled at himself, snapping up the bowl.
“Austin.” You gasped, grabbing for the bowl before he could harm the buttercream inside. “Your ratios are perfect.” You assured him, wedging yourself between him and the counter, stopping him completely. “You made it yourself, from scratch?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, looking down at it.
You cupped his face in your hands. “It’s really good, babe. Don’t you dare toss it. I will not forgive you.” You giggled, kissing him softly.
Sy sighed into the kiss, pressing his forehead against yours. “Thanks, Sugar.”
“Ma!” Ada’s voice called out.
“Christ, she can’t--”
You understood, flying out of the kitchen, stopping your youngest from getting anywhere near the kitchen and her surprise. “Hey, munchkin!” You greeted her, whisking her up into a big hug and twirling her away from the kitchen. “I missed your sweet face today!” You told her, smiling as you heard her giggle.
“I missed you today, Mama.” Ada chuckled, locking her arms around your waist and gazed up at you. “Can you help me with my math? Daddy is being a sneaky bean in the kitchen.”
“He is being a sneaky bean in there. He won’t even tell me what he’s doing. But I’m sure he’ll tell us soon enough, Cricket.” You hummed, stroking her soft curls out of her face. “Til then, let’s go do your homework.” You said, before guiding her towards her room, looking over your shoulder towards the kitchen, seeing Sy pop around the corner, holding up his phone and nodded; understanding.
Finishing Ada’s homework, you checked on your sons, Myles and Colt, finding Myles absorbed in playing Call of Duty and Colt with his nose buried in his latest book. You spent time with them, ensuring their homework was finished and they all stayed out of the kitchen, leaving their father’s secret mission undiscovered.
“Mama, I’m hungry.” Colt whined, coming to stand in Myles’s bedroom door, leveling a look at you as you sat beside Myles, playing Plate Up with him.
“All right, bud.” You replied, eyes still glued to your oldest’s tv as you rushed to serve customers as Myles ran the kitchen. “I’ll order some pizza. How’s that sound? You just come and help your brother keep our Cafe, Sip and Dip, running, while I do that.”
“Can I get extra sausage!” Myles asked, his blue eyes big with hopeful persuasion.
“Yeah, I’ll put it on your half. What do you want on your half, Colt?” You nodded, handing your controller over to him.
“Just pepperoni, Mama.” He shrugged, sliding into your vacated slot on Myles’s bed.
Nodding, you slipped out into the hall, heading to ask what Ada wanted on her half of a pizza, when your phone chimed with ‘Simple Man’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd, informing you of a text notification.
Sy: I’m finished.
You: Not a moment too soon either! I’ll come down and look in a moment.
You pocketed your phone and popped your head into Ada’s room. “Hey, Cricket. I’m ordering pizza for dinner tonight. What do you want on your half of the pizza?”
“Extra pepperoni!” She declared, looking up from her tablet.
“On the order.” You smiled, then headed to see how Sy’s cake turned out for her. “All right, Bear, let's see!” You called, entering the kitchen and discovering him in the act of cleaning things up.
“Now, before you see it.” Sy warned, loading the dishwasher. “Just remember I did almost all of this by hand, from scratch.”
“I will.” You nodded, grinning at your husband, knowing, no matter how it turned out, Sy had put his heart and soul into this cake for your daughter. And that was the most important ingredient of all. “I’m sure it looks beautiful, Sy. And having had some of the buttercream you made, from scratch,” You said, seeing how covered in flour, batter and frosting his poor phone was, from looking at recipes and photo references. “It’ll taste amazing.”
Sy nodded, his unruly curls falling against his forehead as he moved towards the refrigerator, where he had it stored. “She’s going to hate it.” He gulped, his hand grasping the handle.
“Good lord, man.” You giggled, shaking your head with a smirk, putting your hand over his. “How many deployments? Three kids, that are your spitting image, in every way possible! And you’re frightened by a piece of cake.” You teased him, almost cackling with amusement. “The pin has been pulled on the grenade, Captain Frosting.” You said, pulling open the refrigerator door for him. “The only thing left to do is eat it!”
Inside was a cute and pastel butterfly cake.
An eight-inch round for the body, with the peanut butter buttercream and a chocolate ganache between three layers, for Ada’s obsession with Reese's cups. The wings were made from a twelve-inch round cake that Sy had divided and used each half for one of the wings on either side. All three pieces were carefully, but roughly, covered in pink, white and blue fondant. A valiant effort from a pair of hands hardened with callouses. Sy had done a little piping bag work with a green frosting, creating wobbling little lines along the tops of the cakes, down their sides and bottoms. He had even attempted to make a couple fondant flowers with the fondant he had left, dotting them in a couple places, before deciding he wasn’t very good at them and didn’t make anymore. Finally, for the butterfly’s antennae, he used two strawberry Pocky sticks.
“Well?” Sy rasped behind you, his eyes on the side of your face, studying it for every hint of reaction.
A smile crossed your face and you turned to face him, slipping your arms inside the apron he still had on, feeling the warm, but tense, skin of his sides as you did. “It’s gorgeous, Sy.” You assured him, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of his neck. “She’ll absolutely love it.” You hummed, nuzzling the side of his face.
“You know how I know?”
“How?” He cooed, closing his arms around you.
“Her Daddy made it all for her.” You murmured, kissing the corner of his mouth. “And it is lovely, Austin.” You reaffirmed, brushing your fingers through the back of his hair.
Sy bent his head, his lips brushing your ear. “I left some of the buttercream and ganache, for later.” He purred hotly.
“You naughty baker.” You moaned, licking your lips and letting your mind wander, as Sy’s hands found the slope of your bum.
“Mama! When’s the pizza gonna be here!” Myles shouted from the top of the stairs.
“Right, I’m supposed to be ordering pizza for dinner.”
“What a terrible way to ruin dessert.” Sy laughed, kissing you deeply.
could we get a synopsis of what your ongoing fic is about?
To say that Regina is making an effort to be a better person would be, in her personal and superior opinion, an understatement. Just this morning in homeroom, for instance, after Kevin G. made a math pun that functioned as a raunchy innuendo truly so horrific that everyone in the vicinity lost several brain cells, Regina bit her lip so hard in an attempt to hold back her comment that she drew blood underneath her several layers of lip gloss. Growing pains.
Still, despite her efforts to change, she kind of thought senior year might not be that different. She thought everything would go back to normal, or at least some version of normal in which everything stayed the same except for her. Obviously not everything is about her, but, like, this is her moment of growth, hello? Can the universe not acknowledge that?
But it turns out that a semester of high school in which a math teacher is falsely accused of pushing drugs, a new girl with zero fashion sense wins Spring Fling Queen, and Regina gets hit by a bus is wont to transform the entire DNA of the senior class population.
This is probably great news for everyone else.
For Regina, well. Like a caterpillar in the chrysalis, she temporarily died. Only for 15 seconds, but still. Metamorphosis is a real bitch.
//
Anyway. Back to the point.
So, Regina thought things might be the same this year, or at least similar enough that she could follow the initial blueprints of teenage socialization she’s been carefully crafting since 6th grade, barring a few modifications to fit her new and excruciating improved outlook on life. The world of course has other plans because it’s a cruel and unrelenting place (re: Regina got hit by a fucking bus). She’s attempting to adapt, but there are a few crucial changes to her life that are making it difficult, such as follows:
This is a sweet little story for my dear friend @cavillsthighs ! I'm so so so sorry this is late, but I really hope you enjoy this sweet little story.
Masterlist Buy Me a Coffee
It was oddly quiet when you entered the small house, kicking off your shoes and listening for Sy's telltale music he plays when working on his latest project. The house you both bought was a bit of a fixer upper, but you knew when you laid eyes on it that it would be perfect, Sy immediately taking a liking to having projects to occupy him when he's home. Lately it's been finishing a task at a time, and he had spent the entire week talking about finally finishing the master bedroom and his plans for the next job.
Sighing to yourself, you toe your shoes off and head to the spare room you had been sleeping in while the master was in disarray, wanting nothing more than to change into comfortable clothes and relax on the couch. You were admittedly a bit disappointed, having been looking forward to spending the rest of the day with your captain, but the thought immediately goes out the window when you see the obvious lack of clothing in the opened wardrobe. You frown and turn to check somewhere before hearing a crash and Sy's gruff voice cursing.
"Sy? Is everything ok?" Your brows furrow as you turn the corner, immediately having to bite back a laugh as you see him shaking a foot next to the end table that you moved that morning, but the sight of him juggling a large bouquet of peonies and an extra-large pizza box from your favorite local shop. "Aww..."
He grumbles a bit, a tint of pink teasing his cheeks from above his beard. "You weren't supposed to be home yet..." He sets the pizza on the counter, wrapping an arm around you and kissing you softly. "Happy birthday little one."
You blush, smiling shyly as you accept the peonies. "You're too sweet," You kiss his cheek, smiling as you put them in a vase. "Were you trying to surprise me, captain?"
Sy grumbles a bit at your teasing, chest puffing a bit as he crosses his arms, following your every move with his eyes. "Don't rub it in, I was tryin' to spoil my girl." He wraps his arms around you from behind, kissing your neck. "Why don't you take a nice hot bath, get in your pjs, and we can open some beers and watch your movies... As a start," You feel his grin against your skin.
You hum, relaxing against his strong chest. "Thought you hated them?"
"I do," He kisses across your shoulder, letting his beard tease you. "But I love seein' my girl happy more."
"So the captain really <i>does</i> have a soft side..." You can't help but grin, turning in his arms to hold him close. "That sounds perfect... Thank you."
"Just for you." He grins, kissing you deeply as his large hand squeezes your rear. "Get dressed, baby. It's gonna be a long night, you won't be able to move once I'm through with you."
You flush a bit, shaking your head as you head towards the stairs and feeling his gaze on you. "You just want to stare at my ass."
"'Course I do," He smirks when you blindly flick him off, still focused on the sway of your hips. "The rest is a bonus."
can we get a sneak peek from the fic you’re writing?
oh i suppose we can have a little sneak peek under the cut. as a treat
“So,” Cady says, hands smoothing over her legs, an anxious tic Regina noticed on day one. She’s wearing these corduroy green shorts that would be totally lame on anyone else, Regina especially, but Cady has a way of making Safari-nerd chic look kind of cute. It’s almost regrettable Regina had stamped that out of her last year, if only because she couldn’t pull it off herself.
Whatever. She’s over that now. She has bigger things to worry about, like not obsessing over the galaxy of freckles those shorts reveal.
Her life is so hard.
“So,” Regina replies, adamantly keeping her eyes on the road. Safety first, etc.
“Are you still seeing Shane?”
It’s a valid question, but Regina’s shoulders tense. “No,” she says, aiming for nonchalance. “That was more of a situationship type thing. We're just friends.”
“Situationship?”
Regina laughs despite herself. Cady is still as clueless as a martian sometimes. “Yes, like. Not a defined relationship, but something that’s kind of… I don’t know. More than a hookup. A recurring thing.”
“Interesting.” Cady seems to ponder the idea. “So you didn’t really break up?”
“No, not really.” Regina hesitates, but the expression on Cady’s face compels her toward honesty. Well. Some honesty, anyway. “My therapist says I should try to not get involved with anyone right now. Work on myself, and all that.”
Cady’s expression opens in surprise, either at the honesty or at Regina having a therapist, who knows. “Oh. Wow. Huh. Yeah, I mean. No guys? Wow.”
Oh, Cady. “Well, Roger works my body enough these days.”
Cady scrunches her nose in confusion. “Wait, who’s Roger?”
“My Physical Therapist.” Cady stares at her. “That’s a joke, babe. Jeez, tough crowd.”
“Oh.” Cady finally breaks a smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you make a real joke before.”
“Well, I’m hot and smart. To be funny too would just be really unfair to everyone else.”
Cady’s little laugh fills the car, a bubble of warmth against the cloudy midwestern sky. Regina soaks it in like a dehydrated sponge, trying to ignore that feeling in her chest that’s telling her to lean in, to push, to take and take and take.
the parallels between senior year Regina bringing essentials to comfort Cady and GSU Regina bringing comfort essentials to Cady are so endearing to me 🥹
belated happy birthday!!!
Regina George, apparent believer in the care package.
