The Benefits of Baking by Robert Ravers

Victoria and Gavin helped Ashley climb up the outside stairs and into the cabin's sunroom. Heather abruptly stopped in front of them, sniffing the air. She hurriedly whipped open the door leading into the main cabin. The smell of fresh bread wafted out to greet them.

Entering the cabin, Heather noticed Sarah Woodsen, Gabriela Lockett and Phillip Zander sitting at the dining room table, watching the activity in the kitchen. Turning she saw her father and surprisingly Skye Willows in the kitchen hard at work. "Dad, you're baking?"

"Of course, I am, pumpkin," answered Robert with a grin. "I would nev--what happened?" he added as he noticed Ashley limp into the room with help from the other two teens. Seeing her daughter hurt, Sarah moved to get on her feet.

"It's okay, Mom. I just turned my ankle a little. You can stay there, I just need to get off it," Ashley explained, not wanting her mother to get too upset over it. Sarah reluctantly sat back down, unsure if she should listen to her daughter.

"I'm so sorry, Ash. I never meant for you to get hu--," Victoria apologized for possibly the hundredth time until she was interrupted.

"I think she knows that by now, Vicky. You can stop," an annoyed Heather stated, as she watched Victoria and Gavin lower Ashley onto the nearest kitchen stool. Gavin backed away several feet, unsure if needed permission from Heather to leave. Victoria stayed near Ashley's side fretting.

"Will someone please tell us what happened?" Robert asked again.

"I slipped and fell near the pond. I--," Ashley started to explain.

"It's all my fault! Ashley was teasing me, so I pushed her, and that's how she was injured," a guilt-ridden Victoria broke in to take the blame.

"I know you would never mean to hurt Ashley, Victoria. Although, Ash should not have been teasing you enough to make you lash out," Sarah Wooden stated.

Ashley looked sheepishly at her mother after her admonishment. Feeling a presence at her side, she turned her head to see Skye standing there. The young woman held a baggy filled with ice.

"I thought you might need this," she said softly while handing it over.

"Th-thanks," Ashley managed to get out, surprised at the thoughtful act. Reaching down, Ashley realized she wouldn't be able to apply the ice to her ankle while sitting on the stool. "Vicky, could you give me a hand over to the table?"

Her friend rushed over to do whatever she wanted. They had just taken a couple of steps when Phillip spoke up, "Hold it, girls. Look at what you're standing under."

"Phillip, this isn't an appropriate time for that," Sarah frowned at him. The two girls looked up to see they were standing under a twig of mistletoe.

"Dad, where did that come from?" asked a surprised Heather.

"I brought a few of them with. I thought it might be a nice touch. We just put them up a little while ago," her father explained.

"We're both girls! Do we have too?" an anxious Victoria asked.

"No, you don't. There's no rule th--," Ashley's mother started to say.

"Now, Sarah, I don't think that's your call," Gabriela said interrupting her best friend. Noticing the tension amongst the girls over Ashley's ankle she thought using the mistletoe would be an excellent way to shake up their attitude. "Robert is the king of this castle. His rules should be the ones followed. What say you, King Robert?"

Robert had a hunch as to why Gabriela was going along with Phil's suggestion and decided it might help. "Well, not to sound too unenlightened but I'm not interested in kissing another man anytime soon. So no two men should be **** to kiss under the mistletoe during this stay. Everything else goes."

"Everything!" Victoria wailed out. Robert nodded gravely.

"Fine! Let's just get this over with. I need to sit down," an irked Ashley expressed. She leaned forward slightly and gave her best friend a quick, soft kiss on the lips. Ashley attempted to get her shocked best friend to help her move again, but Victoria stood frozen in embarrassment.

"Boo!" Phillip Zander hollered out. "We want our money's worth!"

"At Ravers' Cabin we expect to see a greater effort than that for the rest of your stay," Robert solemnly added before he had to turn away when he cracked a smile.

"That really was a disappointing performance, girls," Gabriela told them as she stood up to help Ashley, who had started to hop over on one foot.

"Like the girls need to hear your advice on kissing each other," Sarah told her best friend.

"Hmm...Skye, could you be a dear and hand me a bottle of water for Ashley?" the dark-haired woman asked, taking a few steps closer to the kitchen.

"Sure," the breathtaking young beauty replied, already turning to reach into the refrigerator. Retrieving a bottle, she moved to hand it over to the older woman.

"Oops...would you look at that," Gabby said pointing back up above to the mistletoe that her and Skye were now standing under. "Guess it's our turn, Skye."

Before the younger woman knew what hit her, Skye only managed to squeak out an eek, Gabriel lunged forward, grabbed her face with both hands and gave an exaggerated smooch. The funny over-the-top kiss didn't turn into a quick one off as Skye recovered her bearings and kissed the older woman back. Breaking off their contact, the two women moved their faces back just inches and stared at each other. Gabby licked her lips, Skye bit hers before some unseen **** pulled their faces back together.

Gently they kissed, exploring each other's lips. Gabby moved her right hand to caress Skye's cheek lightly. Incrementally they turned the temperature up, alternating on sucking and gently biting their counterpart's lips. Skye's hands were no longer hanging at her side, but now gripped Gabriela's waist. Silence filled the kitchen and dining room but for the soft sounds of their kiss, until they took it up a further notch. A faint whimper from Skye signaled the increase in passion, then a moan from Gabby. A whimper, a moan, a whine, a groan, would've told anyone not looking that the kiss had turned downright steamy. Except that not one pair of eyes had turned away from the rousing sight.

Skye's hands had slid down at some point, now firmly gripping and groping the MILF's toned-ass. Gabby's right hand had moved upwards until it intertwined in the young model's blonde-streaked brown hair. The bodies of the two sexy women ground together, bringing them closer and closer to the breaking point.

THUD

All eyes swung over to see Zack standing just outside the dining room, his mouth gaping open in shock, the book he had dropped lying on the hardwood floor at his feet.

All around the room people slowly recovered from the sizzling scene. Ashley's and Victoria's hearts were racing as they imagined it had been them kissing passionately, although the latter teenager felt guilty and confused by her thoughts. Gavin, standing in front and off to the side of Zack, was painfully aware that his rigid dick that could be seen by anyone. He decided it was time to skedaddle, and headed downstairs. Robert too was hard as a rock. With his large girth almost impossible to hide and his daughter on his side of the island, he slid down to the sink and turned his back to everyone. Fortunately for her father, Heather was still mesmerized by the kiss. Excited and jealous, she wanted to experience a kiss that passionate. Across the island from Heather, a flustered Skye was **** to sit on a stool before she tumbled to the floor. Gabriela, breathing heavily, turned to look at Sarah, trying to catch her breath in order to tell her something. Sarah, for her part, sat lost in thought, remembering her younger days when she and Gabby had kissed like that to excite guys.

"Hot damn! That was one hell of a kiss," Phillip loudly commented. The elder Zander was already plotting how to see a private version of that kiss again and more. He knew it might be possible as Jeff and Gabby were opening to sharing. It was Skye he would need to convince and fast enough to enjoy on this stay.

"Sarah, you should know, I don't give advice, I set an example," Gabriela was finally able to state after catching her breath.

"I think you two girls need to give it another try now," Phillip suggested to Ashley and Victoria, giving them both the creeps.

"I think that's enough out of you, Phil. How about you go find my husband and let him know his daughter hurt her ankle," Sarah half-suggested, half-ordered with a hard look. Grumbling, Phillip rose up from his chair to go find Damon. Noticing the distraction, Zack hurriedly sat down at the end of the table to hide his erection.

Victoria, deciding she needed some time alone after all the events so far, announced she was going to work on an article for the school newspaper for a little while. Robert offered her the use of the den so she wouldn't be bothered.

"The muffins!" Robert suddenly exclaimed. Rushing over to one of the two ovens, he hurriedly pulled out a tray. "Whew, any longer and they would have started burning."

"I thought you forgot about us baking," his daughter flashed him a pout as she spoke.

"Pumpkin, I would never forget about our cabin tradition. I missed us not being able to do it for the last few years."

"But you started without me," Heather whined.

"I wanted to surprise you, honey. Plus I wanted to get the biscuits and muffins out of the way first. Of course, I missed having my little assistant at my side. Fortunately, Skye bakes herself, so she was able to lend me a hand," explained her father.

"I hope you don't mind my helping. I didn't know it was a father-daughter tradition," Skye softly told Heather in an apologetic tone.

"Oh no, I'm glad my dad had some help," the teenager politely told her, hiding that she was a little miffed over it.

"Hey, cupcake. I heard you twisted your ankle," Damon Woodsen said to his daughter as he walked over and knelt to get a look at her injury.

"Speaking of cupcakes, that's what I was waiting on you for, pumpkin. I know that's your favorite to help with, " Robert informed Heather, quickly brightening her mood back up.

"I never knew you were so handy in the kitchen, Robert," Damon admitted.

"Only with baking. I don't know much about cooking actual meals. Harry's mom taught me just enough that I survived college, but I've never had the time to learn much more. I'm always on the run having dinner meetings at restaurants. And I believe most of you have experienced Frida's cooking," Robert said referencing the Ravers' longtime cook. "Why in the world would I attempt to poison myself when I have a genius like her in my home."

"Even with Dad's busy schedule, he's always made time since I was little to bake for me when we're at the cabin," his beaming daughter proudly told the others.

"I have to give all the credit for this family tradition to my grandmother. She knew how our life was at home and tried to make the cabin a warm, loving home for Daniel and I. I think that's why I always considered the old cabin to be my true home. If it had been closer, I would have run there instead of Harry's house whenever my father's criticisms started up. Which was a lot."

"Grammy was the best. I miss her so much," Heather said fondly of her great-grandmother who died when she was a little girl.

Smiling, Robert thought back to some of the life lessons his grandmother taught him. "When I hit puberty and thought baking wasn't cool, she told me that the way to a girl's heart is through her stomach. For a young teenager who only thought of girls, that renewed my interest considerably. Of course, I've used that advice many times in my life."

"I'll say, I still remember the story about the day you showed up at Mal's house for the first time. You brought a basket of homemade muffins, chocolate chip cookies and...," Gabriel recalled with a laugh but unable to remember the final item.

"Banana bread," Robert filled in with a laugh. "Her mom practically adopted me that day," he added with a huge grin that slowly faded into a frown.

Oh hell! Gabby why did you have to bring up Mal! Sarah Woodsen screamed in her head.

"It might have been overkill, but it certainly worked," Gabby continued, not picking up on her friend's subtle motion to stop.

"That it did, that it did," Robert softly said, more to himself than anyone else.

Heather's interest had perked up at conversation. Who's this Mal? Why haven't I ever heard of her? Feeling his daughter's questioning look, Robert gave her a glance but refused to meet her eyes.

"How about we decide what to do for today? If no one has any ideas, I have a suggestion," Robert said looking around to the others. Getting nothing but shrugs and negative replies in return he continued. "I had originally planned this trip for tomorrow, but with the weather forecast looking mixed, I thought we could change plans to today. Anyone up for a long walk over to the Cyan Hot Springs?"

"Ooh, I can try out the new swimsuit I bought," Gabriela eagerly announced, causing Zack to groan in fear and anticipation.

"I don't know. Honey, do you think your back is okay enough for the long walk?" Sarah asked Damon.

"It's been alright this morning. Might as well give it a try," he responded.

"I never knew there were hot springs in the area," Skye quietly admitted.

"They are exceedingly rare in the region. The Cyan springs are quite a small number of pools, deep inside the park. That's led to them to be an almost unknown treasure of the park," Robert informed the younger woman.

"I would love to see them, count me in," she told her host.

"Great, how about after Heather and I finish baking the cupcakes, we make some sandwiches for a quick lunch and head out," he suggested to others. "Does anyone want to go ask the others if they're interested in going too?"

"I will. I should also check in with Monica and see if they will be arriving soon," Sarah offered, standing up.