Filed to story: Luci Forrester and Easton Reed: Hockey Romance Story
“I brought over a hundred cookies if you guys want to help or if you want to eat a bunch later,” she adds, her enthusiasm infectious. “With enough icing for everyone to use.” She continues, “And aprons for you, not pink ones or girly-themed ones that I thought were funny, but you know what? That’s not… you probably don’t want…”
“I-” I start, but Kingston cuts in before I can finish.
“Luci Louuuu,” he calls out, his tone playful.
She blinks, pausing her scratching. He never calls her that. “Sorry,” she says, her cheeks flushing slightly.
“Don’t apologize for that. Now, which apron do I get because I am definitely decorating cookies?” Kingston says with a slow grin, clearly eager to join in.
Becker sighs dramatically, feigning relief. “Oh thank fuc…ccacia for that. I thought I was going to be the only one. Where’s mine?”
“Like I’m missing out on this,” Jackson adds, stepping closer, excitement radiating from him.
Luci shakes her head, holding up four black aprons. “I have Darth Baker, then there’s Come to the Dark Side, We Have Cookies. Umm, Baking Jedi, and finally, May the Force Be with You, Along with Cookies.”
Becker cackles with glee. “I call Baking Jedi!”
Kingston grins wider. “I’m May the Force Be with You.”
Jackson laughs heartily. “Darth Baker here!”
She tosses me the last apron before she starts setting up icing and sheets of paper all over the island and tables. “I’m going to let you cut some out and bake them. While they cook, you can help me put icing on. Let me show you how to do it.” She pulls out trays of cookies from the large cooler. “These are already prefilled and ready to decorate with toppings. I have completely undone ones. The prefilled with icing ones you can just take those icing bags and start on them with whatever design you want to make.”
As she demonstrates how to use thick versus thin icing and explains the labeled bags, I can’t help but feel a mix of admiration and anxiety. I know I’m going to completely suck at this. “You can always put icing on them completely and use sprinkles or the other decorations instead of other colored icing,” she continues.
“How do you know so much about this? And you made all these cookies?” I ask, staring down at her in wonder, genuinely curious.
“No. Sydney’s dad is a champion cookie decorator. He taught all of us over the years, and they spend an entire weekend doing this. He made all of these for me when I told him my plan to take Cole to the fire station, and all the icing bags,” she explains, her voice filled with pride.
“Well, let’s see what four hockey players do with this experiment,” Becker says, waggling his eyebrows before diving right in.
Luci moves to help Cole roll out dough and cut his shapes with the cookie cutters she brought. I listen to his joyful laughter as they work together. “You have a Batman cookie cutter, Luci?!”
“Well yes, who doesn’t?!” she replies, mock offended, and I can’t help but chuckle.
We concentrate hard on our cookies, and Luci finally comments on our focus. “You four are acting like this is a challenge.”
“It is,” Kingston mutters, determination in his eyes. Even Baker is icing cookies, and soon enough, we’re all munching on our creations as we work. That’s before Becker decides to squirt icing at Jackson for fun, igniting a mini-icing battle among us. The counter quickly becomes a sticky mess, and our aprons are splattered with colorful icing.
Suddenly, a lightsaber descends between us, and Luci’s laughter fills the air. “You were right, Cole. We might need this to make the icing behave.”
“Are you calling us icing?” Becker feigns offense, placing a hand over his heart in mock horror.
I reach around her, aiming a quick squirt of icing onto her nose. “I can see this devolving quickly,” Jackson cackles, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
Cole calls out for Luci’s help, and she narrows her eyes at me, her playful expression promising retribution. “This isn’t over,” she warns, a grin tugging at her lips.
Luci decorates a ton of cookies quickly, and I find myself marveling at her skill. They aren’t anything super fancy, but they’re undeniably pretty. After a few hours, she stacks some off to the side, and I can’t help but wonder if those are destined for the fire station, a thought that still makes me uneasy.
“We have a lot of cookies to eat,” Baker says with a chuckle, clearly enjoying the chaos we’ve created.
“They won’t last long. I’ve eaten like ten already,” Kingston admits, a hint of sadness in his voice. “They are delicious.”
“Mr. Logan is an amazing cookie baker. I think I have them all separated to take to the firehouse. Coco, are you ready to go? They’re having pizza there,” she prompts, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Yes! I can’t wait to sit in the fire truck. I get shoes!” Cole exclaims, tearing off toward his room, and I shake my head in amusement.
Becker hands Luci the lightsaber with a grin. “Take that. You definitely might need it to keep this icing in line.” He playfully shoves me, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Who needs enemies with you around? You might need it more. Your icing definitely misbehaved on those cookies,” I retort, heading after Cole to change my shirt, chuckling as I pull off the apron.
I can’t remember the last time we decorated cookies, not since we were Cole’s age. Last year, we baked some chocolate chip cookies for him on Christmas Eve, but those were premade. I grab a white half-zip pullover adorned with blue and silver stripes across the chest.
As I wait in the hallway, Cole skips out of his room, his face alight with excitement. “Are you excited?” I ask, matching his energy.
“Yes! Luci said they have games and other kids. Barrett is coming too!” he replies, practically bouncing on his feet.
“Baker, can I leave all of this here for now? I’ll take it home before the light parade,” Luci asks as we step back into the kitchen, her tone hopeful.
“Of course, Luci,” Baker replies, his voice warm and welcoming.
She’s wearing black leggings and a pale green sweatshirt, oversized but not like one of my hoodies. “I almost forgot. I got you something else,” she says, rummaging through her bag once more. This time, she pulls out two ball caps. I take the larger, black one she offers, laughing as I see the cartoon Grinch peering out from behind a zipper with the words, “Ewww, people!”
Cole’s cap is black too, featuring the phrase, “It’s because I’m green, isn’t it?” He had found that hilarious when the Grinch said it the other night.