Storming The Birthday Cake

“Did it feel weird to not have your birthday overshadowed by a failed insurrection this year?” Holly asked as a mischievous smile danced across her beautiful face.

It was another cold, snowy Sunday in Maine. In fact, it was the Sunday after Aaron’s birthday, and the best friends enjoyed the view from their favorite bench along the river.

“It didn’t feel weird at all,” Aaron corrected her, “It simply felt right for me to be the center of attention again as the Higher Powers intended.”

Holly giggled and took a long sip of her coffee to warm her insides against the frigid weather.

“Thank you for baking me a birthday cake and delivering it to the house,” he continued. “That was quite the headgear you were sporting.”

Holly blushed. “Thank you. You have no idea how difficult it is to track down an authentic looking Viking helmet in Maine on such short notice.”

“I can only imagine,” he chuckled and took a sip of his Snapple.

“Oh, there’s no need to imagine because I’m going to tell you,” she informed him. “The idea came to me a few days before your birthday, so I posted online that I was searching for a Viking helmet. Of course, I was immediately swamped with replies from Minnesota Vikings fans. So I need to change my original post to clarify that I was talking about actual Vikings, as in the great Nordic warriors, not the football team. When that still led to confusion, I had to add a line about Hagar the Horrible.”

Aaron shook his head and smiled.

“It’s a sad commentary on the American education system that you had to resort to referring to an old school comic strip in order to help people identify a historic race,” he opined.

“Sadly, the NFL and Sunday comics make more of an impact on society than History class,” Holly lamented. “But in the end, I got what I needed. Added bonus: I looked damn good in that helmet, so now I’m thinking it might become a regular part of my wardrobe.”

“I agree with you there,” Aaron concurred with a grin. “I much prefer how those horns looked on you over the way they looked on that ridiculous Q Anon Shaman character.”

Holly’s gorgeous face lit up brighter than the phone lines at Fox and Friends would have in protest of that previous sentence.

“Thank you,” she gushed. “That’s exactly what I was going for. I wanted to reclaim Viking helmets from insurrectionists and for women looking to make a unique fashion statement.”

“Mission accomplished!” Aaron agreed. “For the record, the cake was delicious. You can bake for me anytime, regardless of the occasion or whatever you happen to be wearing to keep your head warm.”

Holly rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t about keeping my head warm, Aaron! It was about making January 6th all about you again.”

This time, it was Aaron who blushed.