Piece of a story

This is a piece of writing from a story I wrote:

The door flung open before Blake could even reach it. His mother stood there, apron tied around her short, stocky figure, flour dusting her graying head of hair. “Blake!” She called to her son. A smile almost bigger than she was spread across her face. “I’m so glad you came!”

“You know I wouldn’t miss my sister’s college homecoming for the world.” Blake smiled at his mom, towering over her. Despite the fact Blake was now taller than his mother, he knew that to her, he would always be her little boy.

Mom drew Blake into a quick hug, then pulled away. “Well come inside out of this blazing heat!” She scolded him as if it were his fault he was standing outside.

Blake stepped inside and scanned the room. Balloons and streamers covered foyer’s ceiling and over the entryway to the kitchen/dining room, a big banner read Welcome Home Lexi!

“Wow, look at this place,” Blake sniffed the air like a prairie dog. “Something smells really good, mom,” he told her as she scurried past him.

“Speaking of that,” Mom said, heading underneath the banner-clad entryway, “I’d better go check on that cake.”

Just as she finished saying that, the timer beeped, and he heard Mom pull open the oven. Blake followed the smell of chocolate cake into the kitchen where Mom had her head in the oven, checking on the cake. The timer wailed again, indicating time was up, and it would like to be shut off.

“Oh shush,” Mom told the timer as it beeped once again. Blake leaned over and pushed the oven’s “timer off” button above the stove near the oven’s built-in digital clock.

Mom came out of the oven with her cake, and spun around to set it on the counter top, nearly bumping into Dad as he carelessly strolled though the kitchen.

“Watch it, old man,” she told him, as she carefully placed her fresh cake on the counter. “You’re gonna get burned one of these days.”

“Sorry mother,” was Dad’s response.

Blake smiled at his parent’s playful banter. For them, it meant their relationship was going well.

Mom began to frost the cake just as the doorbell rang. Mom looked up and squinted though the foyer at the door. “Oh, Alexis must be here. Blake–”

“I’ll get it,” he said, before Mom could ask him. He strode out to the door, and opened it to see Alexis standing on the porch steps, her blonde hair blowing in the breeze, framing her pretty face.

“Hey, sis,” Blake drew her into a hug. “I missed you. How was college?”

Lexi pulled out of his hug and met him with her blue eyes, identical to his. “I missed you too.” She smiled that bright smile of hers. “College was great, but I’m glad to be home.”

“Let’s go inside before mom starts hollering at us to get out of the blazing heat.” Blake moved two fingers on each hand as he quoted Mom. Lexi giggled, and Blake opened the door to let her in.