The afternoon sun poured in through the kitchen windows as Jake and Kat settled back into the rhythm of home after their road trip. The house smelled faintly like vanilla and sugar, the kind of comforting scent that only meant one thing: Kat was baking.

Jake leaned against the counter, watching her with a grin as she mixed ingredients in a big glass bowl. “You baking a cake already? We’ve been home for like ten minutes.”

Kat smirked, not looking up as she whisked the batter. “I missed my kitchen. And we need something sweet. Besides…” — she nudged the bowl with her elbow — “you know you’ll be the first one asking for a piece.”

Jake shrugged. “Fair.”

From across the kitchen, Oliver sat patiently, his fluffy brown ears perked, tail thumping lightly against the tile floor. He tilted his head, sniffing the air with great interest.

Kat glanced down at him, then leaned close to Jake and whispered dramatically, “You know what time it is…”

Jake raised an eyebrow. “Cake batter time?”

Kat nodded like it was a sacred ritual. “Cake batter time.”

As she poured the batter into the cake pan, she carefully scraped most of it out — but not all of it. She left a few thick globs clinging to the sides, then placed the bowl down on the floor with an exaggerated flourish.

“Oliver,” she said sweetly, “you’ve been so good lately. Go ahead, treat yourself.”

Before she even finished the sentence, Oliver pounced forward like he had just been granted a royal privilege. He buried his snout into the bowl, his little tongue working overtime to clean every inch of cake mix left.

Jake laughed. “You’re gonna turn him into a sugar addict.”

Kat leaned on Jake’s arm, watching Oliver go to town. “He deserves it. He didn’t even try to eat my sandals today.”

Oliver paused briefly, looking up at them with a dollop of batter on his nose, then went back in with even more enthusiasm.

Jake pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. “He looks like he’s living his best life.”

Kat laughed, wiping a bit of flour from her cheek. “He is. Cake mix, a cute outfit, and two humans who are obsessed with him. He’s basically a king.”