“Kay”
This was a Number 9 Country debut hit for singer John Wesley Ryles in 1968. It also hit 83 on the pop charts. Ryles had another Top Ten hit in 1977 and had a respectable career but spent more time as a session background vocalist. Conway Twitty was his stepfather.
As I’ve said before, I used to work in kitchens and as long as it wasn’t a distraction, I was usually allowed to play music. Since I know not everyone shares my love for gutbucket blues and country golden oldies, I usually kept a varied mix on my iPad. I’d save the hardcore honky-tonk for when I’d have the kitchen to myself.
One slow afternoon, I was cranking out the hits from the Nashville Cats and this song came up. The dishwasher - a sweetheart of a kid, New Orleans through and through - stopped to listen. Make no mistake, he had no love for country music and this was before everyone decided “Jolene” was their jam. He stopped and listened to the whole song with a thoughtful look on his face, occasionally interjecting with “Damn! That’s cold” at appropriate moments.
The song ended and he thought for a minute. “Man, you listen to some sad-ass music,” he said. “You ever need to talk, let me know. I worry about you.”
It wasn’t the first time my depression and my love of cheatin’ songs from men with broken hearts had been connected by someone else.
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Wild set the last of the ingredients on the counter before clapping his hands and calling out, “Alright! Who wants to help me make cinnamon apple muffins?”
There was an excited gasp from the loft where Legend was taking a nap followed by quick footsteps. Legend appeared at the top of the stairs and almost tumbled down them in his haste, caught at the last moment by Twilight.
As soon as he had his feet under him the little bounced over to where Wild stood in the kitchen area of the house.
‘Me me me! I wanna bake!’ he signed, hands nearly shaking with his eagerness.
Wild laughed at the clear excitement, grinning back at him. “We need clean hands before we do any baking, remember? And maybe go get changed into something you don’t mind getting dirty. You can borrow some of my clothes if you like.”
Legend nodded before bounding off back up the stairs. Wild shook his head fondly at the sight before taking his own advice and moving to the sink to wash his hands. He’d already put his hair up earlier, so that was one less thing to worry about.
It was only a few minutes before Legend was back, this time in some of Wild’s old clothes - slightly too big on him due to the other boy being several inches shorter and slighter. He scurried over to the sink to wash his hands, glancing at Wild for approval. He beamed when the older hero gave a thumbs up.
When he was done Twilight came over, brush in hand. “Hey, kit. Do you want me to put your hair up to keep it out of the way while you bake?”
Legend nodded and did his best to hold still as the rancher pulled his hair back into a small ponytail. Once he was finished the boy bonked his head gently against the rancher’s chest in thanks with a beaming grin before bouncing back over to Wild.
‘Bake now?’ he signed.
Wild nodded. “Bake now!”
Legend gave a happy squeal, stomping and flapping his hands excitedly.
“Bake bake bake bake!”
Wild guided him over to the counter and pointed out all the ingredients they’d be using. Flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt sat on one side with eggs, oil, and milk on the other. Two apples, freshly picked, sat on a cutting board with a knife next to them on the other counter.
“I’ll cut up the apples, okay? Can you mix all the dry ingredients together? I wrote down the measurements you need here,” he gestured to a piece of paper next to the ingredients and Legend nodded.
Wild left him to it and started on the apples, confident that Twilight could help if Legend ended up needing it; peeling and coring them in quick succession before chopping them into small pieces and dumping into a bowl. When that was done he checked back in on Legend.
The little had his brows furrowed, tongue sticking out in adorable concentration. He carefully poured the last of the dry ingredients into the bowl before mixing them together.
“Good job, blupee,” Wild praised, earning a surprised squeak. Legend’s ears went pink and he rocked side to side, flapping his hands happily. “Time to add the next ingredients. Are you ready?”
An excited nod.
“Okay, I’ll add these if you want to add the apples?”
Legend nodded so quickly he wobbled for a moment and Wild had to reach over to steady him. He let out a giggle before moving to grab the bowl of apple pieces. Wild added the eggs, milk, and oil, then motioned for Legend to pour in the apples. Then he offered his little brother the spoon to mix everything together.
Legend reached for it before biting his lip and pulling his hand back. He glanced from Wild to the spoon then back to Wild again. Then he whispered, sounding suddenly shy, “Help?”
Wild blinked in surprise. “You want me to help?”
Legend nodded, still biting his lip and making Wild worry it would start bleeding. Wild sighed, reaching over to gently ruffle his hair.
“Sure thing, blupee. Good job asking, I’m proud of you.” Legend flushed and glanced away at the praise. “Here, you hold the spoon and I’ll help you mix it all together, alright? Then we can pour it into the muffin tin.”
‘Okay,’ the boy signed, finally reaching out and taking the spoon. His cheeks were still pink.
Together, they folded the apples into the batter before Wild had Legend hold the bowl so he could carefully scoop out enough to fill each well of the muffin tin. Once they were full Legend gathered up all the dirty baking supplies and put them in the sink while Wild quickly whipped up the crumble topping and sprinkled it over top the batter.
“Alright, now we just stick it in the oven and wait for about 25 minutes!” he announced. “Think you can wait that long, little blupee?”
“Uh-huh! I used t’ do it wh’n I helped my Uncle bake back home!” As if to prove it, Legend plopped to the floor in front of the oven right then and there.
“...Okay. Just let me or Twilight know if you want to do something else, alright?” Wild slid the tin into the oven and set a timer on his slate for 25 minutes.
True to his word, Legend didn’t move from his spot once until the timer went off, rocking and humming as he watched the oven with a single-minded focus.
He moved out of the way so Wild could take the tin out of the oven without being told, gasping in delight at the now-baked muffins. He watched closely as the older boy inserted a toothpicks into each muffin, checking to see if it came out clean.
“Hey, Lege, go call the others in so we can eat these before they go cold?”
“Yeah!” Legend raced to the door and yanked it open, shouting, “Muffins’re ready!!!”
Then he was back, bouncing eagerly as he waited for everyone to join them.
Wind was the first one inside, grinning as he yelled something over his shoulder to the others. He was quickly followed by Four and Hyrule with Sky close behind.
“Hi, baby!” Sky exclaimed, moving in for a hug which Legend happily accepted. “You made muffins?”
“Uh-huh! They’re apple cinni- cinna- um, yummy! Wil’ helped me!”
Twilight chuckled. “You mean you helped Wild, kit.”
“Mm!”
Warriors and Time finallly came in, walking slowly and clearly in no rush. Wind ran over and grabbed their hands, tugging them impatiently towards the table where the rest of the Chain waited. “You guys are gonna make the food go cold, come on!”
“There’s no rush, Sailor, it’s fine.” Wars grinned, reaching over and ruffling Wind’s hair. He squawked.
“There will be if the muffins get cold and Legend cries,” he glowered.
Wars winced. “…Right. Sorry.”
“Well, we’re here now,” Time cut in, smiling. “No need to worry. Legend, would you like to do the honours?”
Legend bounced a few times with a happy sound before carefully picking up one of the muffins and handing it to Wild. The champion took it with a smile and a word of thanks and Legend moved on to the others, tongue sticking out in concentration.
They all took their muffins eagerly but unanimously decided to wait until everyone had theirs to try them.
Legend picked up one of the last muffins and glanced around to check that they all had one before taking a big bite. He immediately made a delighted sound and began to sway side to side as he chewed.
The rest of them took that as their cue and began to eat their own, more than one of them letting out appreciative noises at the taste.
“Lege, Wild, these are so good,” someone - it might have been Four - groaned. Everyone else made various sounds of agreement.
“It’s really the little blupee here you should be thanking; he’s the one who gave me the recipe.” Wild grinned, looping an arm around Legend’s shoulders.
Legend giggled and leaned into the touch with a contented smile.
(here’s the recipe i used for reference!!)
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