//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: The Morning After 
// Story: Diary of a Baker 
// by Wildebeest 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 7: The Morning After

That one night turned my entire perception of Cup Cake upside down.  Months before, she was this perfect, omnipotent being, and my entire life was devoted to appeasing her and trying in vain to impress her.  She was out of my league, a mare I couldn't ever hope to measure up to.  Her very existence was tormenting me and making me tremble with fear.

All of this changed on the night I saw her cry, the night I saw her blush, the night I heard her beg for my company.  That was the night that I finally met the real Cup Cake: not Cup Cake the Empress, not Cup Cake the Goddess... but Cup Cake the Pony.  She was a radiant, wonderful pony, but a pony nonetheless.  She had her fears, her insecurities, and her regrets, just as I had mine.  

The funny thing is, after that night I was more in love with her than I ever had been before.  I needed her, and I needed her to need me back.  I wanted to be her rock, her companion, her teacher, her confidant, her shoulder to cry on... and her foal.  And I wanted her to be mine.  

I awoke the next morning a few minutes before her.  On most mornings, I try to drag myself out of bed as soon as I can, so I can head into the bathroom and kick-start my senses with a steaming hot shower before the store opens.  But this morning, I decided that I wasn't in any real hurry, so I took a moment or two to just lay in bed and... watch her.  

She just looked so precious when she was asleep.  There was something oddly therapeutic about seeing her curled up into a little ball with that dreamy little grin on her face, about watching her belly slowly and rhythmically expand and compress while letting her warm breath softly caress my face.  

Finally, her eyes started to creep open, and her gaze was immediately met with mine.  

"'Bout time," I said.  "Good morning, sleepyh-"

Before I could finish my sentence, I could feel her reach around and gently place her hoof on the back of my neck.  She guided; not pulled, but guided; my face towards hers, and I felt her plant a kiss directly onto my lips.  I closed my eyes, wrapped my hooves around her back and squeezed her body close to mine as our lips locked together.  If I had one wish at that very moment, it would be that I could spend the rest of my life lying on that bed, embracing her, with her lips pressed up against mine.  

It was unlike anything I had ever felt before.  It wasn't the first time I had kissed a mare, of course, but this one was... different.  It affected me in a way that no other kiss had.  It was intense.  Dizzying.  My stomach was churning, and my heart was pounding so hard I was afraid that it might burst right out of my chest.  My mane was starting to dampen as beads of sweat were multiplying on my brow.  I had to stop, just so I could catch my breath.  

Cup Cake's smile faded and her eyes widened with concern when she saw me gasping for air.  "Are you all right, sweetie pumpkin?"  She asked.

When I heard that, my heart nearly stopped.  Did she really just call me sweetie pumpkin?

That's not something that young fillies call their coltfriends when they're casually dating, that's something that full- grown mares call their husbands after they've been together for five or ten years.  How was she already so comfortable with me?  How was I already so comfortable with her?

It was scary, and almost too much to take in at once.  It was at this moment that I knew there was no turning back.  It was far too late for that.  This was the mare that I was going to be with forever, the mare I was going to grow old and raise a family with.  It was 100% guaranteed, and by now there was nothing I could do about it.

But I didn't want to do anything about it.  I was glad that this happened to me.  Before she came into my store, I was wallowing in a sea of mediocrity, and she saved me, pulled me out and breathed new life into me.  I couldn't have been happier to know that I was going to devote the rest of my life to her, and at that point I didn't want to have it any other way.  

"Yes, honey bunny," I said.  "I'm all right."