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Virginia Lewis knew, in the back of her mind, that some baking ingredients would be difficult to get her hands on in the nine kingdoms. The availability of things like vanilla, for example, was made so simple back in New York. Just go to the store and pick some up, no extra steps needed. Now that they were living in the Fourth Kingdom, Wendell’s Kingdom, they needed to track down the correct people with the correct ingredients.
As Virginia loved baking and cooking, she didn’t mind too badly.
Particularly not since Wolf was more than eager to go and fetch whatever it was she said they needed. Wolf had ulterior motives; he loved eating almost as much as he loved Virginia. How exactly he got these ingredients was somewhat unknown to Virginia because sometimes Wolf was gone for a long while and he had nothing to trade when he left. She suspected that he was stealing and considering that up until recently, wolves had been terribly discriminated against legally, Virginia found it difficult to mind that her husband was out thieving.
It was a delight when he returned with the ingredients for her to make not only gingerbread, but also royal icing. Virginia worked in their cottage kitchen, her thoughts spread like the branches of a tree. She thought of Snow White, that wonderful woman who helped to save Virginia, how she used to cook in this very spot with these very dishes. She thought of the recipe, because that was an important detail and Virginia was so happy that she’d thrown herself into cooking when her mother left. Virginia had the recipes to her favorite dishes memorized and was fairly confident in her ability to recreate what she didn’t have a recipe for. The last branch was twined with the second, as Virginia spoke aloud to Wolf about every step she took and why.
Wolf’s tail was out, as it so often was these days, wagging as he watched Virginia. He was attentive, asking questions and making comments that showed he’d been paying attention to what she said in the past.
For being good, Virginia let him lick the spoon and then the bowl.
“Thank you, Virginia.” Wolf kissed her cheek before taking the spoon and the bowl and sitting on a stool out of the way.
While the cookies were in the oven, Virginia cleaned up her dishes. She liked to keep a tidy kitchen. When cleaning was done and the cookies were still baking, Virginia made her way to Wolf. “I think you’ll like these,” she said as she put her arms around his neck. Virginia pressed herself to Wolf, pushing her face into his neck and breathing in the wild, familiar scent of him.
“I love everything that you make, my sweet love,” Wolf assured her. He laid one hand over Virginia’s belly, telling her that he was talking about more than just the cookies.
Virginia had more or less made her peace with being pregnant. She's never wanted to be a mother, especially not after having taken care of her dad for so long. It was exhausting to go to work then come home and take care of her dad. Virginia loved her dad, which was largely why she did it, but it had worn on her.
Now there was Wolf. Wolf who was more than capable of taking care of himself. Wolf who was happy to hunt and scavenge and cook and clean. He more than pulled his own weight in their relationship. He was someone that Virginia could lean on emotionally and physically, someone she could rely on entirely. Wolf made Virginia more optimistic about their future child. She wasn't doing this alone; he was doing it with her.
Overcome with a rush of affection for Wolf, Virginia nuzzled Wolf's neck.
Wolf whined faintly. His hands slid to Virginia's ass and squeezed, drawing her closer in the same motion. He rubbed his scruffy cheek against Virginia's hair, scenting her the same as she did to him.
Virginia gladly let herself be drawn to Wolf, arousal hot between her legs. She wanted to drag him to bed and ride him, cookies be damned. But the smell of gingerbread filled the cottage and Virginia had worked very hard on shaping them to be just right and Wolf worked very hard to get the ingredients that no matter how she ached, Virginia couldn't just let the cookies burn. "Alright," she said, "I've got to get the cookies out of the oven before they burn." Virginia pulled away from Wolf.
Wolf held one of her hands and kissed each knuckle as she pulled away. He half rose from the stool to follow her to the oven. "We certainly can't have that," he said mildly.
Virginia took her hand back, patted Wolf's cheek, and then slipped on her oven mitts. Opening the oven resulted in a blast of warm, gingerbread-scented air. She peered in at the cookies and then decided that they were perfect. She'd gotten to them in time. Virginia picked up the tray and deposited it on the potholders. With a spatula, she scraped each cookie off the tray before it burned and onto the cooking rack. They were perfect in shape, which was a wonderful surprise because Virginia had shaped them by hand.
Wolf, always drawn to food, came up beside Virginia. His breath caught when he saw the cookies. "Those are little wolves!" he exclaimed.
Virginia grinned up at him. "Do you like them?"
"Oh, Virginia, I love them!" Wolf exclaimed. His tail wagged so hard Virginia could hear it. He wrapped his arms around her and peppered kisses in her short brown hair. "You are not only a master chef, but also an artist," he announced. "I am the luckiest wolf in the Nine Kingdoms."
Pride bubbled like champagne in Virginia. She smiled and held up two bags of royal icing. "When they cool, we get to decorate them."
Wolf's eyes lit up.