Sibling Rivalry II
 by: Hankster

© 2022 by the author

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

hankster@tickiestories.us

(The Great Cake Bake-Off) 

Prologue

George Kelly and Jay Harper are husbands.  They own a very successful bakery in Brooklyn, NY, and an equally successful coffee shop next door to the bakery.  They have two great kids, Tyler, 12, and Joy,11.  They have fulfilled the American dream, but their success is not as important as how much they love each other.  They are constantly hugging and kissing each other at home.  Their frequent show of affection often has their tween-aged kids giggling.  Neither the parents nor the children are bothered about the giggling.

The kids love to see their parents display their affection for each other.  It confirms the deep love they each have for the other, and gives the kids a sense of living in a safe, and loving environment.  Too many of their school friends, have suffered through the divorce of their parents.

Both George and Jay are top-notch bakers.  They are masters of their craft.  Crazy as it seems, because of their love for one another, each one worries that he is not nearly as good as his other half.  In their eyes their spouses are better at everything, than they are.  This false humility will shortly set off a series of very unexpected events.

There is currently a very popular reality show airing on TV.  It’s called, The Great Cake Bake-Off.  The TV show is usually aired in the summer in lieu of a myriad of reruns.  It starts with eleven contestants.  Each week they must produce a dessert delicacy requested by a panel of three master chef judges.  The assignment must be completed in a very short period of time.  Each week one contestant is eliminated until there are only two remaining for the finale.  Actually, the entire show is taped, and the contestants must abide this torture, for ten days in a row, Monday to Friday for two weeks.  The last man standing receives a prize of a quarter of a million dollars.  Besides the money, the winner gets to demonstrate how to make a different dessert each week on The Cooking Channel.  The winner is assured great success with his bakery.  But even losers are usually rewarded by customers flocking to their bakeries or to their restaurants.  It’s a win, win situation.

Without the knowledge of the other, Jay nominated George, and George nominated Jay to appear as contestants on the show.  In both nominating letters, the writer candidly revealed that they were nominating their husband.  A couple of years ago, a husband and wife competed against each other.  The ratings went through the roof that summer.  The selection committee concluded that two husbands competing against each other would raise the ratings to new heights.

Furthermore, one of the committee members remembered reading something recently.  He did some research, and discovered that George Kelly was Colin Kelly’s brother.  Colin is a famous TV actor, singer and songwriter.  He is currently starring in a Tony winning Broadway musical.  That clinched it.

One morning, both Jay and George were behind the counter preparing to open the bakery, when a TV crew came into the bakery with the host of the show, Phil Moore.  It was the host’s intention to inform both of them that they had been nominated to compete on The Great Cake Bake-Off.  The TV crew was there to record their shocked reaction.

They were both more than shocked.  They were overwhelmed, but more than that, they were flattered and excited.

“Wait until I tell Colin I’m going to be on TV,” George boasted.

“Well, that’s a problem,” Phil said.  “The show will be completely taped before the first episode is aired.   We must ask both of you to sign a non-disclosure clause. Especially, you cannot disclose the winner.  If you do, you’ll be disqualified, and we’ll make an announcement before each episode that you dropped out before we started airing the show.  If you are actually eliminated, we won’t have to make the announcement anymore.  Should one of you win, we’ll retape the last five minutes and name a different winner.  In order to help you keep the secret, you’ll have to stay in a hotel in Manhattan during the taping period.”

“That’s pretty harsh,” Jay said.

“And furthermore, we can’t both be away from the business for that length of time.  You’ll have to choose one of us,” George said.

“No way; you’re a package deal,” Phil said.  “It’s both of you or neither of you.”

Their bakery and coffee shop manager, Nate Berg, was standing by speechless during all this hoopla.  He finally spoke up. 

“Are you guys crazy?  The prize is a quarter of a million bucks.  Don’t you trust me enough to let me run things for a couple of weeks?  Just pretend you went on a two week vacation.  Staying at a hotel in Manhattan will be sort of a real vacation.  You’ll even be able to see Colin’s show.”

“What about the kids?” Jay asked.

“Make nice, nice with your housekeeper and nanny, Liz,” Nate said, “and I’ll bet she’ll stay with them.  They’re practically old enough to stay alone anyhow.  Stop making excuses.” 

“Can we share a room at the hotel?” Jay asked Phil.

“We usually keep the contestants in separate rooms, but in your case we’ll make an exception.  If not, you’ll be sneaking around in the middle of the night, tiring yourselves out.  That won’t do.  We want you to perform your A game.”

Jay and George looked at each other and smiled.

“Okay,” George said, “where do we sign?”

They made Nate sign also.

-1-

When George’s brother, Colin, was informed that Jay and George were going on a two week vacation, he and his husband, Mark, volunteered to look in on Liz and the kids.  He advised the vacationing twosome to stop worrying and enjoy themselves.  Colin could not believe that his brothers were going to vacation in Manhattan, but they told him that they wanted to see his show and many others.  He said that he would leave them tickets for house seats at will call for the Tuesday evening of their trip.

“Why don’t you go someplace a lot further way?” Colin asked.

“Manhattan is where we want to be,” Jay answered.  He and George smiled sweetly at Colin, who decided that it was none of his business where they spent their time off.

Three weeks later they took the subway to midtown Manhattan to begin taping the competition.  As they were settling into their luxurious hotel room, George said, “I know that I’ll be eliminated before you, but I’ll be rooting for you to win.”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Jay said.  “You’re a much better baker than I am.  I’ll be eliminated before you.”

“In your dreams,” George smirked, “but wouldn’t it be great if one of us did win?  Think of all the things we could do with $250,000.”

“It’s too early to plan what to do with money we don’t have,” Jay said, “but for sure, it would pay the kids’ college educations.  They could even go to Ivy League universities.”

When they were fully unpacked, George said, “You know, honey, during the competition, we might be too stressed out and too pooped to play.  Let’s make love tonight like there was no tomorrow, because there might not be for two weeks.”

“Sometimes you get super ideas,” Jay said, “but let’s check on the kids first.”

Tyler answered the phone.  “Relax,” he said.  “Stop worrying about us.  We’ll be just fine.  Just have fun and do what two healthy gay men do on vacation.”

Tyler had begun to tease them about their sexual orientation, and it bugged the fathers. All Jay could say in utter consternation was, “Tyler, knock it off.”

Tyler joked back, “I didn’t say anything wrong, did I”

“Go to sleep, and make sure Joy is okay.  We love you.”

As they promised each other, Jay and George had a love making session to end all such events.  They spent over three hours in foreplay.  In the shower, they rimmed and sucked, but saved anal sex for a dry bed, and for the climax.  They were in the shower for what seemed forever, and concluded with some very nasty golden showers.

Later, in bed, they gave each other lengthy trips around the world, with lots of rimming, belly and toe sucking, and wherever else their tongues could reach.  Eventually, they fucked each other.  Jay was on top, and they came quite close to each other.  They both started to cry.

“I love you so much,” they whispered simultaneously.

*****

The first taping occurred the following morning.  The contestants were challenged to make six fruit filled tarts within ninety minutes.  Each tart had to be filled with a different fruit. 

Go figure.  How lucky could they be?  Fruit tarts were the number one best-selling dessert in their bakery.  Not only that, it was the most requested dessert in the coffee shop.  As can be imagined, they both made the cut the first day.  The loser had unfortunate luck.  He did not prepare the crust properly, and it fell apart in the oven.  Not only that, it was overcooked. 

It was only 11 AM when the first episode was put to bed.  The contestants were advised that they were free the rest of the day to enjoy all that Manhattan had to offer.  The first thing Jay and George did was to go to the theater district on their way back to the hotel.  They were able to secure two good seats, at great expense, to that evening’s performance of a hit musical other than Colin’s.

Then they went to one of the hundreds of luncheonettes which lined the New York streets.  They had lunch there, and just for fun they had fruit tarts for dessert.  Jay had apple and George had cherry.  Their next stop was their hotel, where they changed clothes.  While naked, they had a quickie. 

They had always wanted to take the kids to the Bronx Zoo, but never had the time.  They decided to check it out, and if it was all that it was cracked up to be, they reckoned they’d call Liz and have her take the subway on Saturday morning, and meet them at the zoo with the kids.

The zoo was more than they expected it to be, but they had to get back for dinner and the show.  They really splurged.  They had dinner at a five star restaurant and then headed to the theater.  From the theater they walked back to the hotel.

While headed back to the hotel, Jay was prompted to say, “You know, honey, we thought we were lying when we told people we were going on vacation, but we’re really on one.  Even if we’re eliminated, let’s stay the whole two weeks.”

“We’ll see,” was all George could manage to say.  “The fees at the hotel are way over our heads.”

“I’m sure we can find a discount hotel.”

Tuesday evening came, and they were still in the competition.  They went to see Colin’s show, and George’s confidence, in his brother’s acting and singing ability, was reaffirmed.  They went backstage after the performance, and Colin proudly introduced his brothers to some of the cast members.

At the end of the first week of taping on Friday morning, Jay and George were in the top six.  Phil, the producer advised them to have a relaxing weekend because the competition would be even tougher the following week.

Liz brought the kids to the zoo on Saturday morning.  They had a great day, but the children cried and clung to their dads when Liz said that it was time to go home.  Colin wanted to join them, but he had a matinee performance.  It was just as well.  He was recognized wherever they went, and fans pestered them all the time.

The two bakers decided to spend Sunday relaxing and making love.  They couldn’t believe that they had survived the first week of competition.  On Sunday afternoon, they took a stereotypical stroll to Central Park.  “Sunday in the park with George,” Jay said facetiously.

They sat on a bench watching a kid’s softball game.  They didn’t care who could see them.  They clasped their hands tightly.

They sat quietly for a while until finally, George said, “I’m not surprised that you’re still in the competition, Jay, but I’m shocked that I am.”

Jay laughed.  “You’re a bigger jerk than I thought.  I’m not surprised about you.  I’m shocked that I’m still in it.”

“Let’s agree to disagree,” George muttered.

Thursday’s taping came to an end, and the husbands were the two finalists.  Jay and George embraced out of camera range.

“Do you realize,” George asked, “that no matter what happens, we’ve won a quarter of a million dollars?”

“I know, but right now I’m more concerned with tomorrow’s challenge,” Jay said.

-2-

Back in Brooklyn, if someone wanted to order a wedding or anniversary cake they went to “The Bakery.”  It was the go to place.  When they opened their shop, Jay and George couldn’t agree on a name, so they named their business simply, “The Bakery.”  Apparently, they were only inventive when it came to baking, because they named their coffee shop, “The Coffee Shop.” They couldn’t come up with a name for that establishment either.

The morning of the final competition, George and Jay stood patiently at their baking stations, waiting expectantly for the host to announce their final challenge.

“You have to create a cake for a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party,” Phil said.  “It must be at least four tiers and thirty inches high.  You can use any ingredients in your baking area.  You have three hours to complete this challenge.  The clock starts now,” he said.

Since a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary is represented by silver, the men were not surprised to find silver sprinkles among their baking supplies.  Instinctively they knew that they had to incorporate the edible sprinkles into the cake.

When they created an anniversary cake together at the bakery, they always used the same recipe for the cake.  Their customers always raved about how moist and sweet the cake was.  It was their unique talent for decorating the cake, that had earned them their most deserved reputation.  They both knew that their cakes in this competition would be exactly the same.  It was their decorations, not the cake, that would win the contest.

They were expert decorators, so George decided to do something different with the cake recipe, while Jay decided that if it isn’t broken don’t fix it.  So George changed the cake recipe, and hoped for the best.  Besides, he really didn’t care if Jay won.  Jay stuck to the old cake recipe, tried and true.

The three hours flew by exceptionally fast, and the judges stood in front of Jay’s station first.  They asked him to describe the ingredients, and wanted to know if there was a special reason he used them.  The decorated cake almost blinded the judges with silver reflections.  Jay did an excellent job describing the relationship to love that each element of the decorations had.

When they came to George, they looked totally disappointed.  The only silver evident was a small amount sprinkled on the 25 which adorned the top of the cake.

“You didn’t use much silver,” one of the judges commented.

“No, I didn’t,” George said.  “It would have clashed with the cake.”

“What do you mean?” another judge asked. 

“You’ll see when you taste it.”

The two final contestants cut off three slices of their creations, and brought them to the judges, who stared at their plates in disbelief.  The cake on Jay’s plate, as delicious as it was, appeared ordinary.  George’s cake glistened with silver light.  He had mixed the edible silver sprinkles into the cake batter rather than on it.  The flavor of George’s anniversary cake made the judges eyes roll back.

Their hotel room was paid for another night, because the taping ran beyond check out time.  Jay and George decided to celebrate and spend another night in the big city.  This time they could relax and even drink if they wanted to.  They went to a gay bar in Greenwich Village that their brother-in-law Mark had recommended.  Not only recommended, but he was there in person.

When they spotted each other, they all said almost in unison, “What the fuck are you doing here.”

Mark spoke first.  I come here every Friday night for a TGIF drink.  Then I go to the theater, and wait for the performance to end.  Colin and I go out for a late, light dinner.  Now what about you two?”

“This is the last night of our vacation,” George said.  We hadn’t done The Village at all, so we decided to celebrate here.”

“Celebrate?  What are you celebrating?” Mark asked.

George thought fast.  “We’re celebrating the first real vacation we’ve had since we committed to each other.”

“Why don’t you have a drink with me, and then we’ll all go to the theater and surprise Colin?”

“Another time Mark.  It’s our last night here, and we have big plans, but we will have that drink with you.”

-3-

An hour before the first episode of The Great Cake Bake-Off was to be aired, George called Mark.

“Hey Mark,” he said sounding very casual.  “Do me a favor.  Something’s wrong with our TV.  Would you tape The Great Cake Bake-Off.  As baker’s, Jay and I never miss an episode.  It’s on The Cooking Channel in an hour.  Also, please watch it.  You’re in for a big surprise.”

“Uh oh,” Mark said.  “Why do I get the feeling that something’s going on here?”

“Yes, there is.  Watch the show and your curiosity will be satisfied.  You can show the tape to Colin when he gets home tonight, or tomorrow morning if it’s too late.”

“C’mon,” he begged, “tell me what this is all about.”

“It’s a surprise, and if we tell you it won’t be a surprise.”  George hung up on him. 

There was nothing wrong with their TV set.  Jay made popcorn, and he, George, Liz and the kids sat down in the living room together as a family to watch the first episode of the baking competition.  Liz and the kids were still in the dark.  They believed that George and Jay went on that two week vacation a few weeks ago.  So, when the contestants were introduced, Liz and the kids began to shriek.

“You’re famous now,” Joy yelled. 

“I’ll bet you’re as famous as Uncle Colin,” Tyler beamed.

“We’ll never be that famous,” Jay said.

Maybe they would not be famous worldwide, but they became celebrities in their neighborhood.  The local ice cream parlor set up weekly viewing parties, so the neighbors could watch together and root for George and Jay.

Early in the morning after the first episode aired, and before the bakers even left for work, George’s phone rang.  It was Colin, of course. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.  “Surely, you could have confided in me.”

“No, I couldn’t.  Jay and I signed a contract.  Don’t even ask me who won.  If word got out, and it was traced back to us, we’d be disqualified, and they would refilm the final episode.   You’ll just have to wait it out like everybody else.  It’s early.  Get back in bed and fuck Mark.  Bye, I love you.”

When they opened the bakery that same morning, they had more customers than they had ever served before, and everyone wanted fruit tarts.  Jay handled the crowd, but George went back into the bake shop.  He was obliged to bake many more fruit tarts, until he ran out of ingredients.  It took George a long time to accept the fact that his customers thought his and Jay’s pastries were great, and that they weren’t coming in because he was Colin Kelly’s brother.  This morning he finally accepted that fact.  At least for now, he and Jay were the celebrities.

On the night of the final episode, the whole neighborhood gathered in the ice cream parlor. George, Jay and Mark were given a seat up front.  Everyone knew that one of their favorite pastry chefs was going to win, but which one?  As the episode continued, and the anniversary cakes began to take shape, Mark’s phone kept ringing.

“It’s Colin,” Mark explained.  “Every time he leaves the stage for a moment, he calls to get the news.  Finally, the big moment came.  It took Phil Moore, the host, an eternity to announce the winner.

“The winner of the tenth season of The Great Cake Bake-off is George Kelly.”

The chefs then went on to describe why George won.  It was his brilliant idea to put the silver sprinkles into the batter, rather than use them as decorations.  The crowd was so noisy, nobody heard them.

Little by little, the neighbors began to disperse.  Mark was finally able to get a word in edgewise.  “I just spoke to Colin.  He’s got a limo service ready to pick him up and rush him to your house as soon as he’s finished with curtain calls.  He wants us all there for a celebration.”

Liz and the kids were still up when they got home. 

“Tomorrow is Saturday,” George said.  “We’re having a celebration as soon as Uncle Colin gets here, so you kids can stay up.  And Liz, please stay also.  You’re family.”

Liz grabbed George in a bear hug.

When Colin bounded in, he kissed Jay on the lips, but he enveloped his brother in a hug that left George breathless.

“You see,” Colin said.  “I told you that you were my hero, and you never disappoint me.  I’ll always be in awe of you.  Don’t ever forget it.”

George hugged Colin back even harder.  When they broke it up, the entire family crushed together in a group hug.

Posted: 09/16/2022