Baby Cakes

by Sheryl Berk

  It sounded a lot like “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset” to Delaney. But she did love singing—and it was one of the leads. So she agreed.

  “How’s the musical coming?” her mom asked, flopping down next to her on the couch. She kicked off her shoes and put her feet up.

  “Okay, I guess.” Delaney shrugged.

  Her mom picked up the script and flipped through it. “I love this story. It always makes me cry.” She rubbed her belly and smiled. “My favorite part is when Charlotte’s three baby daughters hatch and stay behind with Wilbur.”

  Ugh, Delaney thought. More baby talk! “You’re forgetting that all the rest of the spiders fly away and desert him.”

  Her mother rumpled Delaney’s bangs. “You haven’t deserted me yet,” she said, planting a kiss on her daughter’s forehead. “You’re always my best girl.”

  “What if you have another girl? Will I still be your best girl then?” Delaney asked.

  “Laney, honey, you’ll always be my baby—and my first one. That’s a very special place in my heart that no one else can hold.”

  “Or what if it’s a boy? You’ll have to go cheer him on at soccer practice, and you won’t be able to come see me in my shows!”

  Mrs. Noonan chuckled. “I don’t think the baby—either he or she—will be playing soccer for a few years. I’ll be there—front row, center. I promise. I love watching you shine onstage, honey. And I love you.”

  Delaney knew it was true. Her mom loved her. But she wasn’t sure how things would change when there was another Noonan kid to love. It made her sad just to think about it. Maybe it was selfish, but she wanted her mom all to herself! She loved how they went to see Broadway shows together and snuggled on the couch watching America’s Got Talent. A new baby would be a lot of work—exhausting work, if Milly was any indication! What if her mom didn’t have time or energy for her anymore? What if she became just an afterthought?

  •••

  The thought of the new baby kept nagging away at her even the next day, as Kylie called the cupcake club meeting to order. Peace, Love, and Cupcakes met once a week in the Blakely Elementary School teachers’ lounge. It was a time to go through all their cupcake business: what orders were in the lineup for this week; what recipes needed to be created and tested; and of course, who would be doing what.

  While it was a big baking business, it was also a lot of fun and a great way for the girls to bond. Juliette, Kylie’s drama teacher, was the one who had suggested they start the club. Kylie had found each of the original fab foursome, and they had learned not just how to bake and frost delicious cupcakes, but what it meant to be true friends. With the addition of Delaney, the club clicked even more. No matter what sweet surprise came their way, the girls knew they could handle it together.

  Delaney wanted to be excited about this VIP order, but every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was her mom cuddling a tiny bundle in her arms—and her standing on the sidelines.

  “So as I told you all, this is a VIP order—and it’s very hush-hush,” Kylie began.

  “Why all the secrecy?” Lexi asked. “Are we baking cupcakes for the White House or something?”

  Juliette, the club’s advisor, shook her head. “Nope. Think closer to home.”

  “The Knicks? The Giants? OMG, are we making cupcakes for the Mets?” Sadie piped up.

  “Uh-uh,” Kylie replied. “No sports teams. I’ll give you one more hint. Delaney will be very excited about this order.”

  “You already said it’s not a pop star’s b-day or a red-carpet premiere,” Delaney said. “Beyond that, what would make me excited?”

  “How about knowing if you’re having a baby brother or sister?” Kylie beamed.

  Delaney wanted to scream. This was the big surprise? This was the VIP? The baby?

  “Your friend Sophie’s mom called. She wants to throw a baby shower on the seventeenth,” Kylie explained. “I spoke to your mom, and she wants us to make twelve dozen gender-reveal cupcakes. You bite into them, and it’s either pink cream for a girl or blue for a boy.”

  “That is so cool!” Lexi cried. “I want to do little baby rattles in fondant on top—or little duckies, or pacifiers!”

  “The coolest thing is that no one will know the baby’s gender until the party,” Kylie added.

  “Well, someone will have to know,” Sadie pointed out. “The person who puts in the pink or blue filling.”

  Juliette nodded. “Mrs. Noonan’s doctor is going to give her an envelope Friday with the sonogram results and she’s going to give it to me and I’ll fill the cupcakes. Not even your mom and dad or any of you girls will know ’til the party. It’ll be a fantastic surprise. Doesn’t that sound great, Delaney?”

  Delaney tried to feel excited. She tried to feel anything. But the most she could manage was numb. It was all happening so quickly, and now even her cupcake club had “gone baby” on her! Her parents had bought a stroller, a baby swing, a bouncy seat, a crib, a changing table, and boxes of diapers stacked to the ceiling. Her mom wanted her help in choosing a mobile. (“The zoo animals or the moon and stars? Should it play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ or ‘Rock-a-Bye Baby’?”). Her dad was even reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting. It was ridiculous! There were so many details and plans, all for this tiny person who didn’t even exist yet!

  “Delaney?” Kylie nudged her. “Aren’t you excited?”

  “I guess,” she answered quietly.

  “Talk to me about flavors,” Jenna said, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil. “I need to get shopping for ingredients.”

  “Delaney, what do you think your mom would like?” Juliette asked her.

  She wracked her brain, trying to envision what kind of cupcake her mom would want. She wasn’t much of a chocolate person, and vanilla was so…well, vanilla. Anything Berry wouldn’t be “berry” special. Then it came to her…

  “Laffy Taffy.”

  “What?” Jenna asked. “As in the candy?”

  “It’s our favorite whenever we go to the movies together. My mom and I shared a big pack of Laffy Taffy when we went to see Les Mis on the big screen. It always makes her smile.”

  “So much for being serious…” Jenna muttered. “But it’s doable. We could melt the taffy and fold it into the frosting. Maybe color it sunshiny yellow—which works for a boy or a girl.”

  “And let’s do a lemonade cupcake,” Kylie suggested. “Something to balance out the sweetness of the frosting.”

  Jenna smacked her lips together. “Yup, I can taste that working well together. Lemonade Laffy Taffy Cupcakes it is!”

  At the Charlotte’s Web rehearsal the next day, Delaney tried to focus on her lines and ignore the fact that a pink, wiggly tail was pinned to the butt of her jeggings.

  “You look cute, Laney,” Sophie giggled. “The snout…it’s really you.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Delaney replied. “At least I don’t have legs hanging all over me.” Attached to Sophie’s black sweatshirt were four long, black spider legs. She used one to swat Delaney over the head. “Come on, have some fun!”

  Since the babysitting episode with Milly, Delaney had learned that she could be herself and be responsible. So even in a pig costume, she would give the part her serious attention. She just wished everything and everyone in her life wasn’t baby-crazy!

  “This big barnyard scene should be a showstopper,” Ms. Kutchen directed them. “Cows and lambs, you’re in the back. Wilbur, Templeton the Rat, and the geese, you’re up front. Charlotte, climb up on the step stool above them.”

  The kids all stood there, looking bored. “This is so lame,” Harrison grumped. He wasn’t thrilled to be playing a dirty rat and yanked at his long, black tail. “Can’t I be a rat without a tail? Maybe a leather jacket and sunglasses?”

  “Like a biker rat?” Delaney t
eased. “Maybe you can ride around the barnyard on a moped.”

  “Exactly!” Harrison replied. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

  Ms. Kutchen handed out sheet music. “Really?” Harrison groaned. “‘Homer Zuckerman had a farm, E I E I O’?”

  Sophie shook her head. “We have to do something, Laney. Musicals are not Ms. Kutchen’s thing. Charlotte’s Web is going to be the laughingstock of the Weber Day School mini-term.”

  ‘You’re not kidding,” Olivia Issacman, aka Gussy the Goose, whispered. “All I do is sit here laying eggs! I don’t even quack.”

  “Geese don’t quack,” Harrison corrected her. “They honk.”

  “That’s even worse!” Olivia groaned.

  The old Delaney would have jumped in and rallied the troops. She would have broken into a crazy rendition of “Who Let the Pigs Out?” and led a conga line across the stage. But the new Delaney had to be both clever and practical—she’d learn that from her babysitting escapade. She had a role to play and directions to follow. Still, there might be a way to make Ms. Kutchen’s musical just a little cooler and more, well, fun. She raised her hand.

  “Ms. Kutchen, do I stand in front of the cows during the E I E I O part, or behind them?”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “Laney, snap out of it! Please!”

  Delaney hushed her. “Relax, Soph. I have a plan.”

  “Um, let’s try it in front,” Ms. Kutchen replied, checking the notes on her clipboard. She got out her harmonica and blew a note. “Everybody, on the count of three, let’s try ‘Homer Zuckerman Had a Farm’…”

  Delaney’s hand shot up again. “Yes, Delaney?” Ms. Kutchen sighed.

  “I think maybe everyone knows this song—there’s no element of surprise,” she said.

  Ms. Kutchen raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? It’s a classic.”

  “I just mean that Charlotte’s Web has a message that’s just as important today as it was when it was published in 1952. Shouldn’t we somehow communicate that?”

  Delaney knew that Ms. Kutchen loved when kids participated in class discussions and had strong opinions about the books the class was reading.

  “And what do you think that message is, Delaney?” Her teacher took the bait.

  Delaney thought hard for a moment. She twirled a strand of strawberry blond hair around her fingertips. “Well, it’s about friendship. How important it is to stand by the people who are important to you. To be there when they need you. And it’s about the cycle of life. When Charlotte dies, her babies are born.”

  “And even though we’re all animals, we act like people,” Sophie added. “Charlotte is an insect, but she has human thoughts and feelings. She really cares about Wilbur and wants to save his life.”

  “And Templeton figures out he can eat the pig’s slop—which is really pretty disgusting, but I guess, smart,” Harrison threw in.

  “He means that he’s a survivor,” Delaney explained. “He may seem mean and selfish, but he actually does help Charlotte and Wilbur. He’s not as tough as he wants everyone to believe.” She glared at Harrison.

  “Yeah, that’s what I said…” he added.

  Ms. Kutchen nodded her head. “I’m very impressed. Maybe I should let you guys direct the musical.”

  “Yes!” Delaney pumped her fist in the air. “I mean, yeah, that would be really great if we could pitch in.”

  Ms. Kutchen handed Delaney her clipboard. “Okay, Delaney. This barnyard scene is all yours. What do you think we should do to make it better?”

  Sophie gave Delaney a little push forward. “Go on! Work your magic.”

  Delaney walked around the stage, taking it all in. How could she turn the Old McDonald song into anything remotely cool?

  “I think we should rap it. You know, make it really modern and edgy.”

  “Totally!” Sophie backed her up. “Like Justin Timberlake…or Macklemore.”

  Delaney tapped her sneaker on the stage to start the rhythm. “Homer Zuckerman had a farm. Give it up! Give it up! Had a farm. There were sheep and cows, and they rapped along. Give it up! Give it up! On the farm!”

  “A rat called Templeton had lots of charm. Give it up! Give it up! On the farm!” Harrison added.

  “And a goose named Gussy became a mom. Give it up! Give it up! On the farm!” Olivia chimed in.

  “Then there was Wilbur—who felt alarm. Give it up! Give it up! On the farm!” Delaney rapped. “His best friend, Charlotte, said, ‘Fear no harm!’ Give it up! Give it up! On the farm!”

  “And that little black spider spun a yarn. Give it up! Give it up! On the farm!” Sophie added.

  “Hold on! Hold on!” Ms. Kutchen stopped them.

  Uh-oh, Delaney thought. She hates this idea.

  “I think this is amazing! I want to write it all down and figure out how you can bust some moves in the barnyard. Delaney, I’m counting on you for the choreography as well.”

  “Hooray!” the class cheered.

  “You did it, Delaney,” Sophie whispered. “You saved our musical. Charlotte’s Web is going to rock, and we owe it all to you.”

  The more the class rehearsed, the more Delaney began to get excited about the musical. She even recruited Lexi with her strong artistic sense to help them design a cool backdrop for the stage.

  “I think it should be a giant spider’s web,” Delaney told her friend as she sketched an arch and crisscrossed black lines over it.

  “Uh-huh.” Lexi nibbled on her pencil eraser. “I see what you mean. That would give the words in the web a lot of visual impact. The design could be very minimalist…almost like the original pen lines of the Garth Williams illustrations.”

  “In English, Lex,” Delaney replied. “Not Artist.”

  “I think the whole stage should like the inside of a book: white background with black lines and type. And we could use silver lanyard to weave the web.”

  “Like the stuff I make key chains out of at Camp Chicopee?” Delaney asked. “I’m really good at a box stitch.”

  “Exactly! It’s strong and it’s shiny. It would be perfect.”

  Lexi drew a web with the words “Some Pig” in the middle.

  “You know what would even be cooler?” Delaney asked. “If we could somehow hang Sophie from the top of the stage and have her swing around the web.”

  Lexi gulped. “You want to fly your friend through the air? That sounds scary to me.”

  “What if we tied a rope around her waist or something?” Delaney suggested. “I saw Peter Pan on Broadway last year, and the actors who played Peter, Wendy, Michael, and John flew all over the place. And what about Elphaba? She flies on her broomstick and defies gravity in Wicked.”

  Lexi shook her head. “Those are professional productions. There are probably a million pulleys and wires that they use to do it.”

  “We don’t need a million…just maybe one or two,” Delaney insisted. “You can’t really be a spider unless you spin a web, right?”

  •••

  Delaney made a few phone calls and asked for a few favors before explaining her idea to Sophie. “Let me get this straight,” her friend said. “You want to put a harness around my waist and swing me around in the air?”

  “Pretty much.” Delaney smiled. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re nuts,” Sophie exclaimed. “I’m afraid of heights, Laney! There is no way I am going up in the air.”

  “It’ll be perfectly safe!” Delaney insisted. “We’ll try it out first before we even show it to Ms. Kutchen. Please, Soph? Don’t you want this to be the best mini-term musical ever?”

  Sophie pouted. “Of course I do. I just want to live to tell about it.”

  Delaney placed an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Trust me. I’ve got it all worked out. I even asked my friend Sadie to bring her two b
rothers and meet us here. They’re really strong, and they can hoist you to the ceiling, no prob. And her dad is a contractor and sent over everything we need.”

  “The ceiling? How high is the ceiling?” Sophie gulped. “I really don’t know about this, Laney…”

  Delaney had to think of something, anything, that would convince her friend to take the leap. “We’re going to dim all the lights and shine a spotlight right on you. It’s going to be like a Cirque du Soleil act. Everyone oohing and ahhing…”

  Sophie bit her lip. “You think so?” If there was one thing she couldn’t resist, it was a moment in the spotlight.

  Delaney nodded. “Totally. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got a standing ovation.”

  “Okay…” Sophie hesitated. “I guess I could try it. Once.”

  “Great! Be in the auditorium during last period. Sadie, Tyler, and Corey will meet us there. And maybe you should bring a helmet…”

  “A helmet!” Sophie gasped. “Why do I need a helmet?”

  “Better safe than sorry, my mom always says.” Delaney smiled. “See ya in a few!”

  •••

  When Sophie arrived in the auditorium, Sadie’s brothers had already set up a makeshift pulley system by looping a long cable through the truss hanging over the stage. One end of the cable was attached to a harness, and the other to a belt around Tyler’s waist.

  “Thanks for doing this, guys,” Delaney said, examining the pulley. “I owe you.”

  “You sure do,” Corey said. “I believe the price we agreed on was two dozen of my favorite brownie fudge cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.”

  “And two dozen red velvets for me—with those itty-bitty chocolate chips inside,” Tyler added.

  “Done.” Delaney nodded. “You drive a hard bargain. Now fill me in on how this all works.”

  “It’s pretty simple,” Tyler explained. “I once made a tire swing for the tree house in my backyard the same way. I’m the anchor. You’re the swing.”