David and Nick had just finished rugby practice and were waiting in a nearby café for their boyfriends to arrive.

“So, how’s the wedding planning going Nicky?” David asked with a smirk.

“Urgh, I wish we’d just gone for something simple and intimate like you and Olly. Do you know how much there is to do for the big wedding we’re having? There’s the venue, the caterers, the suit hire, the florists, the registrar and don’t even get me started on the cake,” Nick groaned in frustration.

He loved Charlie with all his heart, and he knew the big wedding was his own idea. When he suggested it, Nick wanted to show the world how much he loved Charlie and show off how lucky he is to have his beautiful man want to spend the rest of his life with him, but he hadn’t realised how much was actually involved just to get everything in place. Nick had been seriously considering hiring a wedding planner to organise everything for them, but Charlie had insisted it would be a waste of money when between them they could manage everything themselves.

“It’ll all be worth it though, you told me yourself that Charlie’s face lit up when you suggested the big romantic wedding. If Olly had wanted a big fancy wedding, you know I’d have moved heaven and earth to give it to him.”

“I know, I know,” Nick rubbed the back of his neck.

“What happened with the cake?” David asked.

Nick groaned, “So we met a lady who seemed really nice, she showed us a few pictures of cakes she’d made before and had a few taste samples that were soooo good. Seriously David, some of the stuff she’d done was better than my own baking.”

“Wow, they must have tasted great then,” David smiled at his younger brother.

“Right,” Nick continued, “Then she asked when the big day was, and she said she had space in her diary for that. It all seemed to be going well.”

“Right, so what happened?” David asked.

Nick was quiet for a moment before he sighed, “So she made this comment, she said, ‘It’s nice that your fiancé trusts you and your friend with this decision but I’d like to speak with the bride too, to make sure she’s happy with everything too’.”

“How could she misread you and Charlie for being just friends? I’ve never seen you in a room where at least some part of you wasn’t touching,” David teased.

Nick laughed, “I know right.”

“So what did you say to her?”

“Well I assumed it was just one of those innocent misunderstandings, we both did, so I held up Charlie’s hand to show our rings and very politely corrected her, ‘oh no, Charlie is my fiancé, the cake is for our wedding’, nice and friendly with a smile,” Nick explained before continuing, “That’s when she turned, her face turned cold and she snapped her diary shut saying, ‘Oh my mistake, that date won’t work for me, I’m sorry you’ve had a waste journey.’ She reminded me of Jane when she found out about you and Olly, it was pretty scary.”

“Oh Nick, that’s awful,” David reached across to Nick’s hand to squeeze it across the table.

Nick gave a small smile of acknowledgement, “It was awful, I couldn’t believe people were still so bigoted these days, and especially not when you work in the wedding industry where everything is supposed to be all love and joy. Charlie started shaking it was so bad, I just wrapped my arm around his shoulder an got him out of there as quick as I could,” Nick felt his eyes starting to well up at the memory but he tried to fight them back.

“I’m so sorry Nicky, was Charlie okay?” David asked with genuine concern for his future brother-in-law clear on his face.

“Mostly, but when I try to bring up the subject of the cake now, I can tell he’s scared others will be like her. Now he keeps saying that we don’t really need a cake, and that everyone’s always too full at weddings to eat it anyway. But before, he was so excited David, his eyes lit up at the flavours and the design we’d settled on,” Nick rubbed his neck again in frustration, not with Charlie but at the whole situation.

“What was the design?” David asked when Nick was caught off guard.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked, confuse by David’s question.

“The cake design that Charlie loved?”

“Oh, we came up with this idea that represented some of our first memories together as a couple. It was a 3-tier chocolate cake, with bubble-gum coloured icing and then an abstract frame representing the Eiffel tower made of tempered chocolate leaning against it. It’s supposed to represent our first date and our first trip together,” Nick smiled at the happy memories of their early days together.

“Awww, you’re such saps,” David teased.

“Like you and Olly aren’t,” Nick joked back.

“True, true,” David agreed, “what if I made it for you?”

“What?” Nick was confused again by David’s suggestion.

“Your wedding cake, what if I made it for you? Like my wedding present to you both, you know my baking is just as good as yours so it’ll taste amazing,” David smiled at his brother hoping he wouldn’t be offended by his suggestion.

“We can’t ask you to do that David, it’s a lot of pressure making a cake for a wedding, it’s not like baking a few cupcakes for a bake sale.”

“You’re not asking me Nick, I’m offering, please, just consider it. Maybe run it past Charlie and see what he thinks,” at that moment Charlie and Olly walked up to the table.

“What are you running past me?” Charlie asked as he kissed his fiancé’s cheek before sitting down next to him.

“Oh, erm,” Nick stammered before David spoke up, “we were talking about your wedding.”

“Oh yeah, what about it?” Charlie asked smiling at the thought he was going to be marrying the love of his life.

“Well,” David tentatively started, “Nick told me about what happened when you went to look at wedding cakes,” Charlie’s face fell remembering the awful visit they’d had just a few days ago.

Nick squeezed Charlie’s hand, “And I know you said we don’t need a cake, but I know you too well Charlie Spring. You loved the cake we had planned.”

“Nick-,” Charlie started to say before Nick cut him off, “Don’t deny it baby, we both did.”

Nick and Charlie looked at each other lovingly and when neither of them said anything for a few moments, David spoke up again, “So, I had a thought. I was thinking what if I made your wedding cake for the two of you,” before either of them could say anything David quickly added on, “as a wedding present,” David knew it might be a little manipulative, but he thought that turning down a present would be more difficult for the couple than just turning down his suggestion.

“We couldn’t ask that of you David,” Charlie replied.

“Spooky, that’s what Nick said too,” David smiled, “but you aren’t asking, I’m offering. Look at it this way, you know I’m an amazing baker.”

“Ha, modest much,” Olly cheekily interrupted earning him a jab in the side from his fiancé.

“There’s no point denying the truth Olly, you’ve had my muffins,” David winked at Olly before turning his attention back to the other side of the table, “And you know I’m not going to turn out to be some homophobic psycho bitch, anymore,” David joked causing small laughs from Nick and Charlie. “Plus think of it as one less expense and one item to tick off your list.”

Nick and Charlie looked at each other and without saying a word out loud they turned back to David and Charlie replied, “Thank you David, if you’re sure it won’t be too much trouble, we’d love to accept your offer,” before adding on, “and we’re happy to pay you for it too.”

“Nonsense,” David replied with a smile, “I’m not charging you Charlie. Firstly, I get to make something magical for your wedding and secondly, you’re family Charlie, both of you.”

Charlie felt his eyes starting to well-up with tears, David had called him family. While he knew technically once he was married to Nick they would be family, the fact David saw him like that already made him feel quite emotional.

“Thank you David,” Charlie said as he got up from his seat and moved round to give David a huge hug almost worthy of a Nelson.