He'd waited all weekend, just in case.

Taking off for a weekend at The Sugar Cube was no easy feat but he'd called in a few favors with some of his employees to have his shifts taken care of. With the snow finally melting and spring around the corner, more people were coming to the mall in search of summertime clothing - it was a toss up, whether or not they wanted sweets or drinks to go with their new clothing. Watched figures meant less cookie sales but coffee and tea were always in demand, regardless of season.

But this was a special weekend.

He'd had it marked on his calendar for weeks, months even. Ever since he'd discovered the date, it had nestled itself in the back of his mind, as if he were scared to forget it if he wasn't constantly reminding himself of the “big day” in question.

The only problem was...Tristan was still nowhere to be found.

He'd missed Valentine's Day, when Danny had set aside a dozen hearts for the occasion. He'd been gone for Easter, putting to waste the colorful egg-themed cookies he'd made especially for his best friend. And now, for his own birthday….

….well, Danny had a feeling that he and Gatsby would be sharing the themed sugar cookies with each other in the coming days, just as they had for the other holidays.

Part of him knew he was being foolish. That Tris would let him know when he was coming home - when he wanted Daniel to know. At the same time, though, he wasn't about to be caught empty handed for when his best friend did get back into town...it just meant for an especially lonely Saturday and Sunday, in the meantime.

He'd busied himself by baking a small cake from scratch, something he hadn't done in a long time. Homemade icing was another fun experiment, choosing a green hue to match the eyes he hadn't seen in what felt like forever. Gatsby had been the ever-helpful assistant (or at least in his mind, he was) and the endeavor had eaten away at least a few hours of the breezy Saturday day.

But still, the cell phone on the counter refused to ring.

Danny had gone to bed disheartened, shaming himself for even daring to get his hopes up. Surely Tris was going to enjoy himself on his special day, wherever he was, and the young blonde was being selfish for daring to hog up the other man's special day.
Sunday morning brought along with it a slightly cheerier mood, prompting the baker to take hold of his card, the cake and Gatsby’s leash before the clock on the stove even had time to chime nine o’clock.

“We'll just have these ready for when he does get back, yeah?”

Gatsby just grinned, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted. A short, curt bark later had Danny laughing as he closed the door behind him.

“I agree. Nothing better than coming back to a letter - it's like a homecoming all on its own.”

Gatsby reiterated his bark, adding a few more comments here and there along the way to Fiona’s house. Maybe Fi would want some of the cake, or know someone who would. The card would simply find itself on top of the ever-growing stack that had been collecting in Tristan Lestrange’s absence by the bright, cheerful boy who didn't know any better than to keep on hoping.