Valentine's Cookies

He's just turning up the collar of his jacket and walking out of the police station when his phone buzzes. Digging into the pocket of his jeans, a fond smile flickers across his face at the message that pops up. Can you pick up some powdered sugar on your way home? We're low. Shaking his head, knowing what his wife is up to, Barry shoots Caitlin a text back: Of course, see you soon.

A minute later, he pulls his Nissan Rogue out of the parking lot and heads towards the corner grocery store his family frequents, losing himself in the song on the radio. The song plays on repeat in his mind as he walks through the familiar aisles in search of powdered sugar, plucking a bag from the shelf and grabbing a few other items while he's at it—fresh apples, coffee creamer, a loaf of bread, all of which he sets gently on the register before beaming at the familiar face at the end. "Hello Mrs. Keller," he greets, the white haired woman smiling back in return.

"Hello to you too, Barry," the woman is always happy to see her regular customers in the store, and she seems to hold a special spot in her heart for the Allen family. "You're missing a few today!"

He just laughs and shrugs, pulling out his wallet while she rings up his purchases. "Just a quick stop for Caitlin, they're all at home working on a valentine's project."

She nods, still smiling and gives his total. They exchange money and "how are you's", Mrs. Keller asks how Caitlin's doing and if the girls are getting excited (well and very!) , and then Barry's bidding her farewell and back on the short road home. Just like before, he sings along to the radio, his mind half on the case he's working and half on what awaits him at the end of his drive.

Everything looks relatively calm when he pulls up to the cozy, two story home that he and Caitlin purchased eight years ago but he knows better than most that looks can be deceiving. Breathing in one last moment of calm, he plucks up his groceries and slings his messenger bag across his chest, leaves his car in the garage and makes his way up the path to the front door. The moment he pushes it open, he's greeted by a chorus of shouts. Knowing he has about ten second to prepare, Barry sets his bags down on the floor and opens his arms wide.

Sure enough, two little bodies come tearing around the corner just a moment later, their own arms outstretched, shouting and smiling ear to ear. In the midst of the noise, he makes out the word "daddy" being played on repeat, astounded as always that his two little girls can raise such a racket. The moment they're in reach, he leans down to scoop them into a hug, laughing at the way they nuzzle against his side and squeeze tightly. Of all the things he loves about being a father, this might be his favorite: almost nothing feels as good as these first, eager hugs they greet him with when he gets home from a long day at work.

He sets the girls down after planting a kiss against both their cheeks and in unison, his eight year old and his five year begin babbling excitedly about their days (no matter how many times he and Caitlin remind them to take turns, they're always too eager to wait). He should scold them gently, remind them not to talk over one another (which is causing their volume to hike steadily upwards, and makes it difficult for even him to keep up with both) but he can't quite manage it. He loves how all he has to do is walk in and it makes them happy, loves how their little eyes light up (one set of brown, one set of green) as they launch into their stories, loves the way Kella tugs at the bottom of his coat in an attempt to distract him from Cara, all while her young sister is using increasingly more animated hand gestures to keep his attention. So instead of reprimanding, he just lets them talk themselves out and then cuts in the second they stop for a breath.

"Sounds like you both had good days," he remarks, tugging them both in for another quick hug. "I can't wait to hear all about them, as soon as your school work is done. Do you have any homework tonight?"

The guilty little grins they both give (so very much like his own) cause his heart to clench even while his smile turns a little stern. "What are we working on tonight?" It's an Allen house rule: schoolwork always comes first, then dinner and family time.

"Science and math daddy!" Eight-year-old Mikeala confesses, eager and still smiling because she loves both subjects. His oldest is completely brilliant, just like her mother, and absolutely loves school.

"Reading! We have to read a valentine's book and draw a picture about what happened." Caralyn, at five, has been reading for a while, advanced for her grade and always eager for more.

"I'm gonna help her with the hard words," Kella explains enthusiastically, to which Barry nods, proud of how well his oldest daughter helps her little sister.

"I'm going to bring these groceries to mom, let me know if you need any other help. Mom or I will come check in a little bit." The barely wait for him to finish before scampering off to their play room down the hall, where they'll sit in their little school corner and work. He watches, amazed as always that this is his life; that he's somehow managed to get this lucky.

It's a feeling that only swells when he walks into the kitchen a moment later, greeted by the sight of his beautiful wife at the center island, arms covered in flour and a messy apron tied around her protruding stomach. He knows immediately that she's been listening to the exchange in the hallway, the evidence in the soft way she's smiling, her dark eyes catching his fondly. "Welcome home."

Barry wastes no time in dropping the groceries on the kitchen table (next to a pile of cooling heart shaped cutouts) and moves to greet his wife with a hug and a kiss, one hand resting against her stomach. At five and a half months pregnant, she's definitely showing, though she's not quite at the point where she needs to trade in all her normal clothes yet. Barry pulls away from the embrace a moment later, covered in white, and drops a kiss against Caitlin's nose as she tries not to laugh at the sight of him. "I see you've been busy," he comments, gesturing to the flour and cookie dough filled countertop.

"Wanted to get their treats for tomorrow started early, now that there's two of them." Every year since Kella had started kindergarten, Caitlin makes a heart shaped cookie for each of her classmates. After dinner, they all work together to ice them in pale pink, white and red and Kella chooses two candy heart messages to place on each cookie. Once the kids are asleep, she and Barry will pipe the names of each child onto their own cookie and carefully attach the candy hearts. It always takes hours, Caitlin determined to make each one perfect, and this is the first year that Cara will have a box of her own to take to school.

"And the unstoppable duo didn't demand to help you?" Helping their mother in the kitchen is probably the only thing Kella loves more than horses and Cara loves more than soccer.

Caitlin laughs, wiping her hands off against the straining belly of her apron and moves to check the pan in the oven. "Oh, of course they did but after three trays they got distracted. I sent them to do their homework so we can do the frosting after dinner, which I was hoping you could take care of?"

Barry leans down just a bit to press a kiss to her temple, "of course. Paninis tonight?" At her nod, he gets to work putting away the groceries from earlier, exchanging them for dinner ingredients. They work easily around each other, brushing constantly (and purposefully) as he prepares dinner and Caitlin finishes and cleans up the cookie mess. They chat about their days (even though they'd worked together to track down a meta-human con artist half the morning), and Barry fills any potential silences with quiet singing. It's an easy rhythm they settle into, perfected over ten years of marriage and twelve together and one they both enjoy.

The quiet peace is shattered shortly before dinner is actually finished, when both girls appear in the kitchen door, done with school work and hungry, so Caitlin guides them in setting the table and soon enough they sit down to eat. The process only involves minimal squabbles and by the time everything is in its proper place, Barry's serving up dinner.

Very much their father's daughters, Kella and Cara take turns scarfing down their food and talking a mile a minute about school though the conversation eventually turns to the valentine's festivities that the next day will bring. Both are excited to help finishing making their treats, especially Cara who has spent the last two years helping frost but not getting to pick out messages.

Once everyone has finished dinner, and cleaned up, the fun begins.

With Caitlin's help, the girls spend over an hour deliberating what messages (and heart colors) to give to each of their friends, while Barry just laughs at their suggestions, doing his part and frosting the cookies. Now and then, when planning gets boring, they take a break and help him (which almost always devolves into a tickle fight that Caitlin stops just shy of getting powdered sugar everywhere), before settling back to work.

It takes right up to bath time to finish frosting and choosing, and then Caitlin is herding both girls upstairs for baths and to get ready for bed. Watching, Barry notices the way she moves: a little more stiffly than usual, and is by her side in a minute. "Cait, why don't you relax for a little while? You've been going all day, between work and baking and the girls. I'll do baths tonight and then call you up when we're ready for bedtime stories."

She's not sure how she got so lucky, to find and fall in love with someone as thoughtful as Barry Allen, but she's certainly grateful as she nods and watches him head up the stairs, calling out ridiculous warnings to the girls as he does so ("anyone not ready for bath time when I get up the stairs has to bathe in jello!"). Caitlin revels in the silence for a little while, propping her feet up in the recliner until Barry appears on the landing, summoning her for stories.

Because Cara loves it, they reread her homework story, Clifford's First Valentine's Day and then, after kisses and hugs (for mommy and daddy and Kella and Cara and their favorite stuffed animals), they flick off all but the nightlight and leave the girls to sleep.

Back downstairs, they begin the final phase of cookie decorating. It takes another hour to pipe out all the names, place on the candies and prep the boxes for packaging in the morning but they both know it will be worth it. Little traditions like these are a cornerstone of the family life they've been building, and even when they're exhausting, they both cherish the life they get to build for their children. Even still, Caitlin can't help but remark: "I think we're going to need to bake these a few days early, by the time this little one is ready for valentine's cookies." She rests a hand on her stomach.

Sliding his hand over hers, entwining their fingers, Barry just smiles. "I can always take the afternoon off or leave early to help," he assures her, pulling his wife into his lap and nuzzling in close. "Just think, only one more week and we'll be know if baby three is a boy or a girl."

Caitlin sinks into the embrace, nodding against his collarbone, twisting slightly to nestle into his grasp. "I'm not sure who's more excited, us or the girls. It's all they could talk about until I distracted them with the cookies." She loves the feel of his chuckle against her skin and leans up to press a kiss to the side of his jaw, the action interrupted by a yawn.

"Bed time Mrs. Allen?"

"Bed time Mr. Allen."

They clean up the kitchen and turn in for the night. When Caitlin wakes the next morning to help get the girls ready (a little later than usual, as her alarm seems to have been reset), it's to see a cookie and a note waiting on her bedside table. She plucks the note out first and reads: I got the girls ready and am bringing them to school. Dr. Wells knows you'll be in late today. Start with a healthy breakfast : ), sleep in and I'll see you for lunch? Happy Valentine's Day! Love, the luckiest man in the world.

Smiling, she plucks up the cookie to see Mommy frosted unevenly across the top (Kella's doing, no doubt) and two candy hearts (Play Time & I 3 You from Cara), as well as a bouquet of fresh flowers on her dresser from her husband. Happy Valentine's Day indeed.

So I wanted to contribute to all the Valentine's love, both from my contest and from everyone else, and it turned in to a fun family fic. Decided as I was getting read to post this that I wanted to do a whole story of Allen family holiday themed stories, so this will be the first one. Not sure if I'll update as holidays come or just when I get an idea, but I will definitely tackle all the big ones.

Just some family fluff, inspired by the cookies my own mom made for me each year as a kid. It's definitely a tradition I hope to continue in my own family some day. Hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading, feedback always appreciated! Happy Valentine's Day!

Take care & best wishes,

A.O.R.