The Alpha And The Baker

“All right, let’s dig in.” With that, they took four of the cream puffs off the impressive structure and shared a bite each. One thing was for certain, no matter which way the competition went, there would be plenty leftover for the crowd to enjoy. “Fantastic!” “Exceptional!” “You’ve truly outdone yourself, Miss Nga. I have…

“You expect a little old lady to know?” she quipped back in a way that told me that she was far from just a little old lady. “I’ve always been told to respect the wisdom of my elders.” “Your elders. Not ours.” “You don’t think that you have wisdom to impart to us-what did you…

I helped pull things out of the three mini-ovens in our kitchenette and set them on a cooling rack for either my mother, Aunt Letitia, or Felicia to check. I watched them use a thermometer, toothpick, or butter knife to judge whether the stuff was cooked through. It fascinated the hell out of me. I…

“Don’t mind if I do, then,” another judge said. He was a flamboyant, middle-aged man whose electric pink shirt made me want to put on a pair of sunglasses-it was so bright to my enhanced vision. “Thank you for your efforts,” the third, a severe-looking, older judge said, her smile thin as she peered over…

Even more elaborate phrases were used, like “a perfect combination of rich, sweet, and creamy”, “tastes like my childhood” and “this is the kind of pie that makes me want to dance like I still had young knees”. I shot Chris a worried glance as the judges tottered off to deliberate, and he sent one…

“Boo,” I said, ruffling her hair. “That was terrible.” “On the contrary, I would argue that I’m a comedic genius and that pun was gold.” I opened my mouth to tease her, but my mother pinched my arm. “Don’t argue with our head baker! She knows what she’s talking about.” By the time the cobbler…

“Ain’t no thing,” he said before drinking out of his own cup. “Punch table is over that way if you end up wanting more.” “I appreciate it.” I had the strangest feeling of déjà vu as I went to take a sip. I paused. Something was pulling at my memory, but it was a bit…

Ramirez would most definitely be a pair to be reckoned with. Maybe the universe had a reason for keeping them apart. They’d probably cause an explosion of awesome. I enjoyed walking around on Abuelita Ramirez’s arm. She seemed to take distinct pleasure in correcting anyone who pointed out that I was a human by telling…

I ignored their mutterings in several languages and started doing whatever my mom and Gammy McCallister needed to get settled. I would have loved to start setting up the kitchenette assigned to us as well, but I knew better than to do that without Felicia. Thankfully, she showed up ten minutes later, parking in the…

“Me?” I echoed, my fingers tracing the tiny, rather delicate symbols. “And she made this?” “Well, she had help from some of the kids. Jason has a knack for the tiny knots needed for the beads. Apparently, it’s made in a way so that if the string breaks, all the beads won’t all just fall…