Bern Keene was not good at surprises.
She never had been, but until she met Violet, it hadn't bothered her. Bern liked lists, and plans, and knowing what came next. Unexpected changes to her plans? Not so much.
Violet, on the other hand, loved surprises. Unless they involved murderous squirrels, of course, but that had only happened three or four times anyway. She loved surprising others with little gifts of home-made jam and hand-knitted socks, and she had cried with happiness when, last winter solstice, the children of the Scoutpost had sung her favorite song for her.
Violet was so gentle and kind and good, and she deserved to have someone make her feel as loved as she made everyone around her. It was hard to put into words sometimes, but Violet deserved to know that meeting her was the best thing that had ever happened to Bern, that more than 50 years of marriage had only made Bern fall more and more in love with her.
So, Bern decided, she would surprise her wife for her birthday—and it would be the best surprise Violet had ever seen.
***
Violet Keene awoke to the sound of swearing.
"Bern?" she mumbled sleepily, turning over in bed. "Is that you?"
"Shit, I—" Some more swears followed, and then her wife was beside her, smiling at her apologetically. "Sorry, Vi. Didn't mean to wake you. Not yet, anyway. But, now that you are awake…" She cupped Violet's face in her hands and kissed her gently. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you, Bernie bear." Violet smiled, then took in the little tray behind Bern. "What's that?"
Bern's smile fell, and she sighed. "Breakfast in bed. I wanted to surprise you, but… It didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it to."
"Had another fight with the toaster?" Violet asked, chuckling.
"That too, yeah," Bern grumbled. "Don't know what I ever did to that thing, but it hates me."
Violet giggled. Bern was the most competent person she knew, but the two of them had long since accepted that cooking wasn't exactly her strong suit. "It's still very sweet of you, dear. How about you come back to bed so we can eat breakfast together?"
Despite her gruff exterior, Bern was a surprisingly cuddly person, so Violet was confused when, instead of climbing into bed with her, she pulled away, shaking her head. "No, no, you don't understand," Bern said. "It's your birthday! I wanted to surprise you, and it's all gone wrong. Look!"
She placed the tray in Violet's lap and frowned. "See? The toast is burned, the tea is almost cold… The only halfway eatable thing is the honey from the bee boxes, and you don't even like honey that much!"
It did look a little pitiful, Violet had to admit, but the obvious care Bern had put into it more than made up for that. "And what's that?" she asked, pointing at what looked like a pile of red yarn.
Bern sighed heavily, putting her head in her hands. "It was supposed to be a rose. You love them so much, but they don't really grow well here, and you always knit so many beautiful things for me... So I tried to knit one for you."
Violet's eyes filled with tears. "That—Bern, this is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."
Bern chuckled and shook her head. "It looks like a hairball, Vi. I wouldn't exactly call that 'sweet'—"
"Bern," Violet interrupted, taking her wife's hand in both of hers, "you didn't need to do any of that. Meeting you, falling in love with you, was the best surprise of my life. I don't need anything else, you know that. And you did this anyway, just because you love me. By definition," Violet concluded, kissing Bern's nose, "that makes it the sweetest thing in the world. Well, second sweetest. First one's you."
"Flatterer," Bern whispered, rolling her eyes to hide the tears that were gathering in them.
Violet grinned. "Now, since it's my birthday, can my lovely wife please come back to bed with me? It's far too early, and you know I can't sleep without your snoring."
"I don't snore," Bern protested, climbing under the covers to snuggle up next to Violet.
"Sure you don't," Violet mumbled, and fell asleep almost as soon as Bern had put her arms around her.
Bern smiled, pressing a kiss to her wife's forehead. "Happy birthday, Vi."