The Perfect Chocolate Cake

pic coming soon

Tomorrow Deb was having dinner for the family at her house and Justin had decided to make the perfect chocolate cake to contribute. He'd downloaded the recipe off the Internet and it didn't look that difficult. Since Brian didn't really have things like measuring cups or a mixer, Vic had offered to let Justin make his cake over there, promising that he would make himself absent while the boy worked.

Vic greeted Justin at the door as he arrived with all the ingredients in hand. Heading toward the kitchen, he almost tripped as something he couldn't see caught his foot. Recovering in time, he put his packages on the counter and turned to see a small gray kitten rubbing herself against his ankle.

Laughing, Vic picked the gray fur ball up, scratching her behind the ears as she purred loudly. "This is Sam.  Her family has gone out of town for the week and I volunteered to kitten sit."

Justin thought she was a cute little thing, but because of his allergies decided against petting her.

"I'll just take her upstairs with me and we'll get out of your way." Vic said.

"Thanks, Vic." Justin said as the duo headed upstairs.

Justin pulled out his recipe, laid out his ingredients and started reading.

'1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.'

OK that was easy enough.

'2. Grease 2 - 9 inch layer cake pans.'

Hmm, he looked through the cabinets until he found the cake pans. He'd watched his mom grease and flour cake pans before, so he took care of that.

'3. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with butter over hot water.' - Justin read that one a couple of time. He had some vague memory of a pan inside a pan that his mom had used. Maybe that's what they were talking about. Searching around, he finally found what he was looking for.

He put some water in the lower pan, stacked the other on top and put them on the stove to heat the water. As he went back to the counter with the ingredients, he noticed that the cat was on the counter, sniffing the strange items curiously. He also noticed a trail of white paw prints across the counter top. Looking around, he found the source of the white paw prints to be his freshly greased and floured cake pans.

Shooing the cat away, he washed the cake pans and re-greased and floured them. This time he decided to turn them upside down on the counter, so that the pesky kitten couldn't walk in them again.

By this time, the water was getting hot, so Justin quickly began breaking the chocolate into pieces and cutting the stick of butter off at the appropriate spot. He sat the remaining butter on a dish to the side, intending to put it in the fridge when he was finished.

Once the chocolate and butter were melted, he left them on a cool burner and went back to the recipe.

'4. Beat the eggs with sugar, mix with flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla extract.'

Opening the carton of eggs, he pulled out four and set them on the counter. Turning, he began searching through the upper cabinets for a bowl to break the eggs in. He turned back just in time to see the kitten skittering across the counter top, bouncing an egg between her paws.

"Hey, stop that!" Justin yelled. The kitten, startled at the sudden loud sound, took off leaving the egg rolling across the counter on it's own now. Justin cursed as the egg careened of the side landing with a wet crash/splat on the floor.

The kitten watched from a safe distance as Justin grabbed some paper towels and cleaned the mess up.

Finally getting the eggs broken safely in a bowl, Justin went back to the recipe. The next thing to add was a cup of sugar. He found a half-cup measuring cup, filled it once and emptied it into the bowl with the eggs. He had just filled it a second time and added that as well when a hideous yowl filled the air. Jumping, Justin ran around the counter to find the kitten screeching as if she were dying.

Apparently, someone had hung a small furry ball on a string from the doorknob of the closet. The kitten had been playing with it and had somehow gotten her paw tangled up in the string. She was now sitting on her haunches with one paw handing above her head. Justin quickly grabbed a knife from the kitchen and cut the string off.

As soon as her paw touched the ground, the kitten shook the offending string off and walked away as if nothing had happened. Justin just shook his head.

Once back in the kitchen, Justin placed the knife in the sink and returned to his recipe. Where was he? Oh yeah, adding sugar. He remembered that he had needed two scoops of sugar since he only had a half-cup measurer. Had he only done one, or had he put in two already? Hmmm, he decided to put in half a half cup, that way he'd either be just a little over or a little under.

Next came the flour. Only half a cup of that, so he wouldn't get confused this time. Then add a quarter of a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. Justin stuck his finger in the cocoa powder and tasted it. Yuck! He sure hoped it tasted better in the cake.

'2 teaspoons baking soda or baking powder'

He had baking soda and rummaged through the drawers looking for the measuring spoons. He remembered his mom having these little spoons on a ring that she always used. Bingo! He started to add the baking soda, then looked over to find the cat with her nose in the chocolate/butter mixture.

Running her off again, he looked into the pan to find a few cat hairs stuck to the edge where the chocolate had stuck and cooled. Debating, he finally decided to dump the whole thing and start over. This time when he finished, he put a top on the pan to keep the curious feline out of it.

Returning to his recipe, he remembered adding the baking soda. He *thought* he'd added both teaspoons…well, it wasn't like a teaspoon was all that much anyway.

'1 teaspoon vanilla extract' - adding the last ingredient, he put the whole thing under the mixer and turned it on. While the mixer mixed, he went ahead and measured out the cream and set it to the side.

Returning to the mixer, he scrapped the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients were mixed thoroughly.

'5. Slowly fold in the melted butter and chocolate and the cream.'

Almost to home free. He took the bowl off the mixer and set it on the counter. Retrieving the chocolate/butter mixture, he poured it into the bowl. He turned to grab the cream. Damn, that stupid cat! She was lapping up the cream. He should have known better than to leave that out.

Chasing her away again, he cleaned the cup and re-measured the cream, keeping one eye on the counter top just in case that miscreant returned. Breathing a sigh of relief that he was almost finished, Justin turn, cream in hand, only to feel one foot slip out from under him. Pitching forward, he dropped the cream on the floor and reached wildly for something to keep himself from falling. Unfortunately, his hand hit the bowl, flipping it upside down before he finally got a grip on the edge of the counter.

Hearing the commotion (why he hadn't heard the cat yowling earlier was beyond Justin), Vic came running down the stairs. About then, Brian came walking through the front door, looking for his wayward boyfriend. Vic and Brian reached the kitchen about the same time to find; Justin, legs sprawled in opposite directions, hanging onto the counter; a bowl of some sort of gooey chocolate mess turned upside down, half on half off the counter, chocolate running down the cabinets, over Justin's arms, onto the floor and finally, onto the poor boy's shoes; the kitten was on the floor nearby, happily lapping up the cream that Justin had dropped, partially covered with the chocolate mess as well.

As Justin righted himself, he glared at both men, daring them to say a word. Brian sucked his lips in, trying hard not to laugh at the extremely funny picture the younger man presented. Finally, unable to let the situation go without some sort of remark, Brian said calmly, "I thought the recipe was for chocolate cake, not chocolate cat."

Justin toed his shoes off and backed out of them. Letting out an indignant snort and, scooping up the protesting cat, he headed up the stairs to clean up without a word to the two men. He could hear Vic's soft laughter following him.

A very loud yowl erupted from upstairs. "I think you'd better go help Justin." Vic laughed. "I'll take care of this mess."

Brian considered asking to switch jobs, as he wasn't sure the boy, or the cat, was in any mood to except his help right then. He found the bathroom door closed but unlocked. Slipping in quickly, just to make sure the cat didn't escape, he had to fight from laughing a second time. Justin was trying to hold the squirming animal with one hand and wash him off with the other. Fortunately, the little beast had been declawed, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Here, I'll hold, you wash." Brian offered, taking the enraged feline from Justin and setting her in the sink. Between the two of them, they managed to get the chocolate mess off her fur. All three of them were relieved when the ordeal was finally over and they could release her out of the bathroom.

Looking at each other as the cat scurried out of the room, both men burst out laughing. Even Justin had to admit that he must have presented a hilarious picture earlier.

"I think we need to get you cleaned up now. How about you start the shower and I'll grab some clothes from the jeep?" Brian suggested.

Justin grinned, "Don't take long." He said, then slowly started undressing.

Licking his lips, Brian took the stairs two at a time, retrieved the bag which had some sweats and a T-shirt in it, and headed back up. Vic watched the man leave and return with a small smile on his face. Oh, to be young again.

Upstairs, Justin was just getting into the shower when Brian rejoined him. He tossed the bag aside and quickly stripped and joined his lover who was grinning at him in a most suggestive manner.

Downstairs, Vic had finished cleaning up and was beginning to put things away when he heard some other loud noises coming from upstairs. Knowing it wasn't the cat yowling this time, Vic grinned and went to turn the television on, hitting the volume level up a few notches.

Having satisfied himself that his lover was clean and that he had consoled him sufficiently concerning the loss of his chocolate cake, Brian turned the water off and stepped out, reaching for a towel.

Cleaned, dried and thoroughly sated, the two men dressed and headed towards the stairs to see if Vic needed any help. As they passed Deb's room, Brian glanced in and came to a dead stop. Justin looked up at the taller man, puzzled, then followed his gaze to the bedroom.

Sitting on Deb's bed, surrounded by what appeared to be hundreds of feathers, was the kitten, looking immensely pleased with herself as she guarded her 'kill'.

Brian spoke, tongue in check. "You don't happen to know a eulogy for a feather duster, do you?"

Justin snickered. "At least she can't blame this one on us."

The two walked downstairs, and seeing Vic in his recliner, decided he must have already finished cleaning up. They waved as they headed out the door.

Stopping just outside, Brian pulled the blond close and smiled down at him, "I think I know where there's a bakery that's opened late. What say we check it out and pretend this never happened?"

Justin reached up to give his boyfriend a kiss, "I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

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