A/N: ?Ahhh! A la persona que comenta en espa?ol, ?muchas gracias! ?Me alegra que estés disfrutando de mis historias! ?Tus comentarios son muy amables y me traen alegría! Usé el traductor de Google para esto, estaba nervioso por cometer un error ... Pero puedo entender sus comentarios sin traducción.

The above was to a very kind reviewer... As for this short story, I decided I wanted some baking fluff... Let's say this takes place very soon after Drakken and Shego get together as a couple.


Baking

Shego yawned and stretched as she padded silently to the kitchen in her slippers, not bothering to straighten her robe over her pajamas. A smile stretched tiredly across her face as she watched her husband bend over to pull a baking tray from the oven, his denim-clad backside presented to her as if on its own platter for her viewing pleasure. The pink apron that he wore over his button-up with shirt-sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms, only emphasized the attractiveness of his frame and served to hasten her approach. She grinned as a myriad of emotions washed sleepily through her mind.


Drakken set the first steaming tray of cakes on the waiting trivets and then adjusted his oven mitts before reaching down for the next tray. The scents rising amid the heat were all but intoxicating and he grinned smugly, quite pleased with the first success in the new dessert he was attempting. As he rose with the second tray and shifted to place it down, a hand sliding low on his hip startled him into a yelp and the tray slipped the few inches from his hands and clattered onto the trivets.

He stared at the cakes for a moment as they slid in their rounds atop the tray, gasping for breath as he realized that all was well. No damage had been done and he hadn't been burned.

"Shego..." he breathed in mild annoyance. Even married, she still snuck up on him and startled him. Her hands had circled his waist and she was leaning into his back, her head resting between his shoulder blades.

"What's on the stove?" she asked.

Drakken looked down to the pans simmering on the burners. He felt Shego's chin creep up to rest atop his shoulder.

"I'm poaching pears... It's going to be a rustic ginger and poached pear layer cake with cream cheese frosting," he explained with a satisfied smile. "I'll garnish the top with a halved whole pear and candied ginger, and these sliced pears will go between the layers..."

He trailed off as Shego's hands felt under his apron, one sliding up his chest and the other resting comfortably around his midsection.

"It smells delicious," she said softly, and he noted the air of tiredness in her voice.

"I need to get the cakes out to cool," he said, eyeing the four steaming rounds on the trays.

Shego's arms only tightened around him as she snuggled more securely against his back. Drakken smiled softly and slid his hands beneath his apron to cover her hand over his heart.

"Did you have something you wanted to do this morning?" he asked with a slight smirk, curious to her motives.

Her only response was a long hum of contentment as she moved her head back to rest between his shoulder blades. Drakken frowned for a moment, growing frustrated at both the contact and how restricting her presence was. He was suddenly aware of the feeling of his clothing against his body and had to fight the instinct to shrug out of her grasp. Instead he took a deep breath, inhaling the warm scents of ginger and pear, and focused instead on Shego's contours against him. After a long moment he shuffled to the counter, smirking in a mix of mild annoyance and amusement at her determination to hold onto him.

He began carefully removing the cakes from the pans, which was easy enough with Shego embracing him until he had to move from the spot. Then it was another awkward and slow shuffle that caused his brow to furrow as he got the cakes into the fridge.

"If the cakes have to cool, why are you doing the pears now?" Shego asked suddenly, her chest vibrating gently against his back as she spoke.

"Because..." he said with mild impatience as he moved back to the stove, "they'll have to cool as well. And I'll use the juice for a reduction to drizzle between the layers and over the top. I'll want the frosting to cool as well."

"Mmh, what kind of frosting?" Shego asked, her chin creeping up to his shoulder again. He turned to meet her eyes and immediately smiled. There was nothing but happiness in her face, and the mild discomfort he felt at her closeness melted away. He set his hands over hers again and her smile broadened.

"Cream cheese, I said," he answered seconds later as he realized he'd become distracted looking at her. Her slightly sleep-swollen eyes, her mussed hair, and her soft green lips smiling at him were enough to make him forget every other distraction of the moment he might have imagined. If not for the scent of the pears cooking, he might have even forgotten where they were.

She was ready and eager when he turned, and their lips met only briefly before her head was on his shoulder and his cheek rested against her hair as they slid into a warm, close embrace. Drakken let go any last lingering thoughts of annoyance as he relaxed into her arms. And even if her motive had originally been to bother him, he didn't care anymore. Her present motive was clear as she nestled against him, making him rethink the early morning he'd chosen to start baking. Perhaps it wasn't too late yet to cozy up under some blankets...

"What is the cake for?" Shego asked softly.

"Practice. I want to bake this one when we go to Mother's, but I've never made it before."

Shego tilted her head up slightly, her smile still broad.

"Why not bake something familiar?"

Drakken's brow furrowed slightly. "Because...I want Mother to know I've not been idle."

Shego peered at him more closely. "What do you mean idle?"

Drakken pursed his lips thoughtfully and glanced at the stove. He reluctantly let go of her, and she released him to watch as he turned the burner off under the pears. When he turned back her gaze was curious, and he reached for her first.

With an arm around each other's waists and their other hands held with fingers laced between them, they walked side by side out of the kitchen. Drakken wondered if Shego would like them to crawl back into bed, but she steered them toward the living room and so it was moments later that they were snuggled on the sofa, she curled in his lap with her robe covering them both like a blanket.

"Mother and I used to experiment and create new recipes..." Drakken explained. "We continued when I left for college, and sometimes...we would even bake while on the phone. But...after I started my 'radio career'..."

He trailed off, and where he had expected a smirk from Shego instead he received a look of sympathetic understanding.

"We've only exchanged a few new recipes over the years. But now... We wanted to start doing that again. It's been over twenty years since we...did a proper experiment. We would decide, a new cake for one week. Cookies the next... Improve upon banana bread another..."

He had gestured idly as he explained, but he stopped as he realized Shego was stroking his jaw.

"I get to eat some of these experiments, right?" she said softly.

"Yes... Anything you like," he said, studying her content expression again. She looked so dreamy he worried suddenly she might have been exposed to some toxic chemical. "Shego...are you okay? What have you done this morning?"

"Woke up... Missed you..." She snuggled closer and set her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "And now I don't."

Drakken felt mildly uncomfortable again, trapped beneath her as he was. But he shoved the feeling aside and instead rested his head against hers. If that was all it was... Simply a rare moment of pure affection from his wife... He wasn't going to complain about it. In fact, it might warrant another experiment...

He kissed her temple, and then followed it with a trail of slow, soft kisses up along her hairline. He watched her smile grow until she finally opened her eyes briefly before meeting his lips with hers, the touch warm and full of love.

'Yes,' he thought to himself as her fingers wove into his hair and they shifted to lay down on the sofa. 'A worthy experiment.'