New Years Prep

Fortuna started their New Year's Eve by cooking breakfast for Brizo and themself. They made Omelettes and hash browns while Brizo wandered through their garden to pick some fruits. Strawberries, blueberries and blackberries filled a bowl in the middle of the counter as the pair sat on either side, picking away at their meal. The morning was pleasantly quiet and warm from the crackling fireplace. A light dusting of snow covered the land outside the window from the previous night. 

The pair spent a good hour slowly finishing their meal and waking up. Flames in the fireplace slowly burned away the list bits of chill in the air, getting them ready to go about their day. They needed to prepare for the New Years party later that evening, of course, and woke up early in the morning to have ample time to get everything ready. Brizo woke slower, sipping on hot chocolate while Fortuna started baking for the party. They carefully mixed and kneaded dough for cookies, batter for brownies and got together little mix-ins for the sweet treats. With so much to bake, they had to make batches. Two trays would go in the oven at a time while the rest stayed out on the counter for the time being.

Just before noon, the duo heard a knock at the door. Brizo looked at Fortuna for a moment before realizing they had no intentions of answering the door. She sighed and made her way over, peeking out to see Polly waiting patiently outside. She smiled up at Brizo once the door opened, shifting her basket to the side to wave.

“Hiya, Brizo! You guys ready for the party?” 

“We will be, why don’t you come inside, Fortunas in the kitchen baking at the moment.”

“I can tell, it smells fantastic in here! Is there anywhere you want me to set my stuff?”

“You can set it on the picnic tables out back, we’ll be setting up on the patio anyway.”

Polly nodded and picked her basket back up, carrying it through the house and out to the patio. There, she found a few picnic tables set up under a canopy with streamers scattered along the edges. She set her basket down next to a box of party poppers and wandered into the kitchen to find Fortuna mixing up different icing colors. They had a bowl of grey mixed and set aside and were mixing a gold icing. Around the other counters were brownies, sugar cookies and cupcakes on cooling racks.

“Do you need any help mixing those?” Polly asked.

“Oh! I didn’t realize you were already here, Polly. This last bowl is going to stay white, so it doesn’t need any mixing. Could you get my box of decorations out of the cupboard for me, please? It should be on the top shelf to your left.”

“Of course!” Polly shuffled over to the mentioned cupboard and sifted through a few containers of sprinkles to find the box tucked away in the back. They set it on an empty spot in the middle of the kitchen counter and opened it up to reveal some round, shiny silver and gold sprinkles.

“These are really pretty! I bet they’ll look great on your cupcakes.”

“I sure hope so. You can help me ice and decorate the cupcakes if you’d like, or you could help Brizo set up our place settings. She mentioned having party poppers and other goodies at each seat for everyone to take.”

“I think it’d work out best if Polly helped me get the place settings done and then we both came inside to help you with your cupcakes, Fortuna,” Brizo smiled as she passed by the kitchen door. Polly glanced at Fortuna, who nodded, and followed Brizo out to the patio.

“I want everyone to get a party popper, hat and party horn - you did bring the horns, didn’t you?” Polly nodded. “Good, okay where was I… Right, a party popper, hat and horn and those silly little 2022 year glasses. Then I want to have some confetti and streamers around the tables. Once all that's done we can go back inside to help Fortuna. Sounds good?”

“Yep! Let's get started.”

By the time the trio had finished their preparations, it was late afternoon and the party was only a few hours away. After spending the morning setting up, they were all very tired, so they piled onto the living room couch for a nap. Polly snuggled up between Fortuna and Brizo and Fortuna spread out their wings to act as a second blanket for the trio. In a few hours they’d all be up and about, greeting friends and celebrating the New Year, but for now, they’d rest.