The Wishing Cake

An older woman sat in front of the old house, watching the powder blue SUV pull into the driveway. A young couple climbed out of the vehicle. The man was tall, neatly dressed. His green eyes shined in the sunlight through his thick, black glasses.

The woman puffy-eyed woman looked from the man to the older woman at the door. Her dark hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days. She wore a simple T-shirt and leggings.

"Thank you for coming," the woman said softly. "It means a lot you're so willing to help."

"Anything for my daughter-in-law," the elderly woman approached the younger one and gave her a hug. "Come inside; I'll make you both some tea."

"That would be nice," the woman said softly. The three of them walked inside the house.

The large living room was filled with pictures of the woman's travels. Little souvenirs decorated a coffee table in the middle of the room. The young couple sat on the cream-colored, overstuffed couch. The older woman disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'll never stop staring at these pictures," the young woman said thoughtfully.

"Mom always did what she wanted when she wanted," the man said. "She didn't mind me coming along. However, Grandma didn't like me traveling too much. But Mom always knew she had a babysitter with Grandma."

The young woman opened her mouth to say something, but her mother-in-law came back with two steaming cups of tea. She placed the cups on the table then went back to the kitchen to get a cup. She sat near the couple on a nearby red chair in the room.

"How are you feeling, Clare?" the older woman asked. "I don't know how to describe it," Clare replied. "I thought I was going to be a mother. I never thought I'd want kids, but then it was happening. And now, it's not." The two women were silent for a moment.

"Todd, I'm sure your grandmother's feeling up to having a visitor," the older woman said. "Why don't you go see her?" Todd stood up and went up the stairs, his mother noting how quickly he got up and left.

Todd took his time going up the stairs, admiring every picture and piece of travel memorabilia. He smiled, remembering the little gifts she'd give him when she'd come back from her trips. He still had the dragon statue in his bedroom.

"Todd, is that you?" an old woman stepped out from her bedroom. She was older than Todd's mother, but most people couldn't tell. She still had muscles like a young woman. Her long, white hair was put up in a bun, and her large glasses magnified her green eyes. If she kept her hair down, she'd look like an older Professor Trelawney.

"Hi Grandma," Todd said shyly.

"Let me look at you!" Todd's grandmother walked up to him and gripped his shoulders. It amazed Todd how fast she moved for a woman in her eighties.

"Looks like Clare's been feeding you too well," Grandma laughed. "You're getting a little bit of a pot-belly. Some ab workouts will get rid of that! How are you otherwise? Is Clare here too?"

"She's downstairs with Mom," Todd answered. "Did Mom tell you what happened?"

"She did," Grandma said, "and I'm sorry for the poor girl. But how are you doing with it? Is a child what you wanted? Is it what she wanted?"

"We hadn't thought about it," Todd admitted, "We knew it could happen. We weren't exactly preventing it from happening. She was so happy when she found out, but now, I don't know what to do to help her. I thought Mom would talk to her and let her know she's not alone."

"I see," Grandma said thoughtfully. "Come sit down! I have something special for you in my bedroom."

Grandma's bedroom didn't look like a typical old lady's bedroom. Instead of knitted scarves and ugly sweaters, she had her own gym in her room. She could exercise as much as she wanted. Unlike his mother, Todd's grandma kept her walls filled with pictures of his childhood. He sat on her bed and waited as watched her go through her closet.

"Ah! Here it is!" she cheered. She handed Todd an old piece of paper. He took it looked at it.

"Grandma," he said slowly, "it's..."

"The Wishing Cake recipe, yes!" Grandma said cheerfully, "It's time to pass it to you."

"But, I thought you were waiting until we had children pass on the recipe?" Todd asked.

"At first, but you need it now more than ever," Grandma said. "You understand what to do, right?"

"I make sure she makes a wish before she eats a slice, right?" Todd asked.

"No, no," Grandma corrected. "You have to make the wish. If children is what you two really want, you need to make the wish as you make the cake. And then, you need to give her a slice. In time, your wish will come true!"

"How do you know it's going to work?" Todd asked skeptically.

"It gave me your mother didn't it?" Grandma answered. "It's been in our family for a long time. Your grandfather and I used it to get your mother. Your mother used it to marry your father. Now, you can use it to build your family."

That night, Todd and Clare came home. Clare went to their bedroom to lay down while Todd looked through the ingredients. He wrote a quick note to Clare and stopped at the store to buy some ingredients.

As she slept, Todd cleaned the kitchen. Then he set to work mixing everything together. Normally, he'd rush through ingredients. When he cooked, the meals weren't bad, but he could tell Clare wasn't as thrilled about his cooking.

This time, he took his time measuring out everything. He followed the recipe to the T.

"I wish for Clare to heal," Todd wished as he mixed, "I wish to see her happy again. I wish for the courage for us to try again." As he put the batter in the oven, he kept repeating the same wishes over and over again.

Clare woke up to the smell of chocolate. She ran her fingers through her hair and walked into the kitchen. She watched Todd as he carefully mixed a batch of icing and spread it on freshly baked chocolate cake. She didn't know how long she stood at the doorway, watching until he put a cherry on top and saw her.

"Did I wake you?" he asked.

"No," she answered, "have you been making this the whole time I was sleeping?" Todd smiled and sliced the cake. He took out two pieces and put two slices on them.

"I thought you might like something sweet after a day with my mother," he said. Clare sat at the table, and he handed her a plate. She took a bite. It was the best cake she ever had.