The brown oak door shut behind her, and the key gave a small click as it locked the front door. Garnet stood for a moment, surveying the small entrance to her three bedroom home. There was only one coat currently on the coat rack, a light blue one with bright yellow buttons. Only one pair of shoes was set out by the floor - a pair of dark leather shoes, the kind that could easily be slipped into. Years of use shown on them, from the worn in soles to the faded color.

The house was strangely silent; there was not even the creak of old boards or the hum of the refrigerator. It was almost as if the house itself could not understand the unusual lack of sound and had forgotten how to make up for it.

As Garnet removed her bright red coat, she suddenly remembered why the house was so empty and quiet. Other than her wife, Pearl, who appeared to be home (if her car in the driveway, coat on the rack, and shoes on the floor said anything), no one else was there. Steven was out that night, going to see a movie and get dinner with his friends Connie and Onion from school. The trip had been planned a few weeks ahead, and Garnet wondered how she had possibly forgotten. After all, her adopted son had been marking off the days on the calendar until Pirate Monkey II's release date for months.

Her other adopted child, Amethyst, had proudly proclaimed a few nights earlier that she had a date on Friday night. It was with Sadie, a girl in her geometry and American Literature classes, and who worked at a doughnut shop.

"Friday is going to be my night," Amethyst had declared proudly, all the while holding up her phone. On it were a number of pictures of her and a blond girl - Garnet had not needed any more clarification on who the girl was.

Garnet smiled to herself. The kids were old enough to take care of themselves, and they both had cellphones if either Garnet or Pearl needed to call them. The silence, though highly unusual (and certainly uncommon), was rather refreshing and relaxing after a long week of work.

"Pearl?" Garnet called. She reached down and took off her own shoes - a pair of fairly new bright red sneakers. "Are you home?"

For a moment, she listened to her words echo off of the walls.

"Garnet?" Pearl sounded startled, and Garnet's own muscles tensed at the surprise in her voice. Free of her shoes, she walked to the kitchen, fists at her side and eyes locked forward.

The kitchen was the second largest downstairs room, second only in size to the living room. Standing by the stove was Pearl; the thin woman looked rather small, as if the room was trying to swallow her. She stood so still, looking so different from usual with her still neat hair and makeup; were this any other day, then Garnet would be helping to lighten her load with the kids.

"Oh, Garnet," Pearl said, looking down to her feet. Her blue eyes darted from her purple socks to the stove to the kitchen windows. "You're home earlier than I expected."

"Is something the matter?" Garnet raised an eyebrow. Her body stiffened, and her fists hardened. Years of teaching self defense classes had helped to keep her body strong and ready to fight. "Is there something that I should know?"

Pearl shook her head, bits of red hair falling in front of her eyes. "Oh no, no, no, no!" The tone of her voice lightened, and Garnet's muscles relaxed. Pearl wiped the hair away from her eyes and smiled. "I was just hoping my surprise would be done by the time you got home. Oh well, it's not too big of a deal."

"A surprise?" She crossed her arms over her chest, but smiled. "What kind of surprise?"

Just coming home to see her wife like this was a surprise in and of itself.

Pearl gestured over to the stove, where a large, gleaming metal pot sat. "I didn't know if you were feeling like going out tonight, so I decided to make you dinner." She scratched her arm. "I was actually hoping to have it on the table when you got home."

"Don't worry about it." Garnet walked forward and placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder. Her eyes never left her wife's face until Pearl had finally relaxed and the redness in her cheeks had faded. "I am sure that it will be wonderful." She looked over to the pot, catching her reflection in the metal. "What are you making?"

"Nothing fantastic," Pearl replied. "I just thought that spaghetti would taste good. I already heated up the sauce and thought it might need to cool a little. Besides, I have other things to deal with as well." Pearl opened the oven, letting warm air out. Inside, on a tray, was a large brown cake.

"Smells good," Garnet commented. She snaked an arm around Pearl's thin waist and pulled the shorter woman towards her. Placing her chin on Pearl's red hair, she smiled. "I bet this will taste fantastic."

Pearl nodded.

The two turned silent. For a moment, neither moved much, just huddled close and enjoyed the warmth of the other. Pearl's body fit in with Garnet's so easily.

Then, Pearl looked back to the stove. "Both should be about done. Let me get the spaghetti in bowls and the cake set out to cool, and then you and I can eat." Pearl grabbed a large blue oven mitt and pulled the cake out one handed, before placing it down. Then, she turned back towards the pot of spaghetti. "I know you got here a little earlier than I expected, but I hope that you are still surprised."

"Oh, believe me, I am." Garnet gave a soft chuckle. The stress from the week earlier melted off of her; it was hard to be sad when she had an unexpected, yet happy, dinner before her. The dinner date, however, was much more exciting. "Tonight has been rather unexpected, but none the less a wonder."

Pearl smiled. "Then my hard work paid off."

"Yes, it most certainly did." Leaning forward, she gave her wife a quick kiss to the lips before reaching towards the cabinet. She pulled two white bowls out, and then grabbed two spoons from the utensil drawer.

"Someone's excited," Pearl commented. Her smile widened. "Let's eat this and then have a little cake. I got strawberry frosting - your favorite!"

"Now what did I do to deserve all of these wonderful things?"

"Oh, nothing and everything." Pearl leaned forward and gave Garnet her own quick kiss. Pearl's lips were soft and warm, and for a moment Garnet saddened when her wife pulled away from her. "Really, I just thought that you deserved a little surprise."

The two got their bowls of spaghetti and sat down.

"Thank you, darling."

"You're welcome." Pearl's eyes softened. "I just couldn't let a free night like this pass us by."