It certainly looked pretty, with iced piping around the edges and matching little icing flowers on every layer. At the top was a flourish of icing foliage which would have made the bride and groom dolls look as though they were standing in a garden, if there had been any dolls.

There were dirty bowls and things lying all over the place, but the only one with anything still in it was the half-filled one Gabriel was holding as he smoothed down the icing. He pursed his lips and stepped back to take in the whole of the cake. It was over four feet tall. "I do, don't I?"

His tone was light, belying the sudden pang of unease. When he'd come in this morning it had seemed the most natural thing in the world to pull out his pots and pans and bake the cake. He knew it wasn't as good as it could be--he'd been taste-testing, and there were things off about it, like he hadn't quite gotten the base right. The icing was fine, perfect even; that, he had been able to get right early on. But he already knew the cake itself was going to taste fair at best.

None of which explained why the Hell he'd started to bake it. Abruptly he whirled around and sauntered toward Elena, snatching up a couple of clean spoons and offering her one. "Looks like I overestimated the icing, too. It's your lucky day!"