Filed to story: Healing My Disabled Husband Novel
Aimee thought for a moment and said, “I’ll go to the kitchen later and see what we have. And I’m giving you all a chance to order some dishes.”
Patrick had given up completely. He could only use his eyes to put pressure on these restless guys so they wouldn’t go too far.
With so many people here, if each person ordered one dish, it would keep Aimee busy all day long. They were like hungry wolves and Patrick couldn’t bear to see them act that way.
However, even though Patrick was glaring at them with his eyes like flying knives right now, no one cared.
One by one their eyes were almost glowing as they stared at Aimee like hungry wolves.
Ordering food was definitely a skill in this situation because with so many people there, they needed to make sure not to repeat any dishes or else it would be a huge loss.
When it came to ordering food, it didn’t matter if they ordered the same thing twice. If they did, just order something else. However, after all these years of experience with Patrick, everyone knew that maximizing their synergy was important. One key aspect of this was to try not to repeat dishes as much as possible.
Sure enough, before anyone had a chance to speak up, Patrick said, “I’ll give you all a chance. Each person can suggest one dish and duplicates don’t count.”
As soon as he spoke those words, everyone glared at him in unison.
Walter said, “Patrick, you’re getting more and more outrageous.”
In the past, when they ordered food and repeated dishes by accident, they would still make them anyway. Now things were different; duplicates didn’t count anymore, which made things more challenging.
Patrick raised an eyebrow and said, “Don’t forget how many people we have here.”
However, the more people there were, the harder it was for them to agree on anything.
Of course, Patrick wasn’t going to let them negotiate, so they had no choice but relied on their accumulated synergy over the years.
Aimee looked up at Patrick, feeling both amused and frustrated by his rule-making tactics. She didn’t care how many dishes they made, since she knew that everything would taste good regardless of what was served, but having Patrick protect her like this made her feel happy inside.
Aimee said, “Let’s call Beata and Yael out too.”
This time everyone’s gaze turned towards Aimee in unison again.
Eden teased Aimee saying, “You’ve been corrupted by Patrick already!”
With so many people around already, adding two more seemed like too much chaos for some, but Aimee’s reasoning was sound; after all it was Beata’s birthday cruise party! It wouldn’t be fair if she couldn’t join in with everyone else!
What could they do? They had no choice but follow Aimee’s request even though it added another layer of difficulty.
Beata was shy and wanted nothing more than just sleeping through everything.
When she heard about ordering dishes together with everybody else, she couldn’t resist joining in despite her shyness making her want disappear into thin air. Everybody’s attention focused solely on her face which only caused River’s eyes slide back-and-forth between hers’and Yael’s faces, making Beata feel even more comfortable than before…
Yael looked at River with a silent plea to tone it down. Beata was now his girlfriend, and even when River was her brother, he couldn’t tease her like that.
River sighed and conceded. “Fine, she’s not our family’s princess after all.”
The conversation shifted back to the important task of ordering food.
Beata furrowed her brows after hearing the rules. She wanted to order a lot of dishes but repeating orders would make them disappear – what a rip-off!
Her eyes darted around until an idea struck her. “Why don’t we order as families? Each family can choose one dish.”
This way, they could cut their orders in half and reduce the chances of repeats.
Patrick chuckled. “You’re using all your smarts for this.”
Beata grinned mischievously. “It’s my birthday and Aimee said I get to call the shots on this cruise ship party – even though my actual birthday has passed and we haven’t had it yet.”
Patrick knew better than to argue with Beata, especially since she was the youngest among them.
He pointed out a loophole in her proposal though, “Sure thing! You guys are one family – The Knight Family – and we’re another – The Hayden Family.”
Everyone stared at Patrick incredulously.
Eden spoke up first, “Can you be any more shameless? Ask your wife if she agrees with your suggestion!”
Aimee was trying hard not to burst out laughing; she thought Patrick went too far too.
But as his wife, Aimee had no choice but defend him, “Pat’s suggestion makes sense!”
Eden rolled his eyes while Ben and Damion exchanged knowing looks; they knew they had their work cut out for them now.
Ben joked, “As long as you don’t slow us down!”
With Eden’s unpredictable mind, Ben had every reason to doubt whether he’d come up with something ridiculous again instead of avoiding repeats altogether.
Eden felt offended by Ben’s comment but didn’t say anything else except, “My wife will represent our family.”
Ben and Damion nodded approvingly without saying anything else; Eden couldn’t help feeling annoyed once again by their nonchalant attitude towards him.
When it came to playing games, the best rule was to do it with small groups. Otherwise, if they eliminated half of the Hayden family members, the game won’t be as lively.
Aimee, being the main chef, didn’t participate in this game. However, she still allowed Patrick to join in.
Of course, this caused protests from everyone since they knew that Patrick was a schemer who would deliberately choose repeated dishes and cancel them out.
Helpless, Aimee could only say, “Let Pat go first and reveal his answer.”
This dish will be served for everyone so that they can avoid what Patrick had chosen.
Patrick originally wanted to choose something simple that wouldn’t give Aimee any trouble. But before he could even say anything himself, Miles said, “Don’t pick a dish like scrambled eggs or I’ll think you’re humiliating your wife.”
Patrick was speechless. It was no wonder his brother knew him so well; he’d already blocked all possible choices for him.
Aimee looked at Patrick and whispered in his ear, “Choose whatever you want. I’m happiest when I cook for you.”
The rest of them couldn’t hear their conversation and collectively protested against it.
“Aimee,” Ash said. “Why don’t you just tell us what dish you want to make?”
“I might as well just give away all the answers then,” Aimee replied. “Do you guys want an open- book test?”
Ash immediately shut up after remembering how scared he used to be when Aimee dominated over him before.
After thinking about it for a while longer, Patrick finally said, “I want three servings of king crab.”
Everyone felt relieved after hearing this choice because even though it wasn’t difficult or complicated for Aimee to make this dish, everyone loved eating crab ??choosing king crab satisfied everyone’s taste buds!
With that settled down now began their official gaming session!
Eden spoke up next saying, “You guys better bring your best because I’m hoping we get some beef or lamb.”
Patrick joked back saying, “Are you really going to cheat right out in front? Do y’all think I’m dead?”
Eden raised an eyebrow at him and replied confidently saying, “There are only so many ingredients available! What else can we eat?”
Patrick was speechless. If it weren’t for their years of brotherhood, he would have thrown Eden into the sea by now.
Aimee squeezed Patrick’s hand and whispered, “It’s okay. I’m in a good mood. Let them do as they please.”
Patrick said, “Usually you spend your days on the operating table and when you finally get a break, you have to spend it in the kitchen.”
Aimee chuckled at his words and looked at Patrick with intense eyes. “Why do you sound so jealous?” she asked.
Patrick remained silent but he couldn’t help but wonder when he could be in bed with Aimee.
Of course, Patrick was sure that if he actually asked her that question, Aimee would say something like, “We’ve been married for too long.”
But even though Patrick didn’t say anything out loud, Aimee knew exactly what he was thinking.
She whispered into his ear, “Do you want to try for another baby? Then I’ll come down from the operating table.”
Patrick looked at her with an intense gaze that made Aimee regret what she had just said.
She wondered if Patrick was going to carry her back into their room any second now.
Half an hour had passed, and Patrick was completely fed up. He was proctoring the exam, and they weren’t allowed to use their phones, talk or even move their bodies. Yet here they were, still not turning in their answers. Were they communicating telepathically or something?
“Are you guys planning on communicating until tomorrow morning?” Patrick asked.
Everyone knew that this situation was all about luck; no matter how much editing one did, it couldn’t be that precise. So really, wasting time like this made no sense at all.
Now Patrick watched as everyone adjusted themselves and said, “We’re done.”
Patrick collected the papers one by one himself without giving anyone a chance to see each other’s answers or change them.
Normally someone would make a joke but right now the atmosphere was tense. Everyone waited for Patrick to announce the answers.
Aimee felt nervous too. Although cooking wasn’t challenging for her at all, she wanted to know what everyone had chosen.
Patrick revealed the first paper: Walter and April’s answer – glazed pork fillet – written in April’s delicate handwriting.
“Just as I thought,” Aimee said with a smile. “That’s my girl looking out for me.”
Indeed it was April’s idea; Walter actually wanted roast lamb but April stopped him from choosing it.
The second paper belonged to Ben and Tilly who chose grilled branzino which required great skill but wasn’t impossible either.
The third paper belonged to River and Averi who chose creamy oyster and watercress stew. Despite that River always teased Hayden brothers, he wouldn’t dare trouble Aimee especially when Averi was around, because she’d take care of him first if he did. So, River thought about it before choosing it instead of something else more difficult
Unexpectedly after they heard this dish name, River received countless glares from others especially Walter who said, “River, are you sure? You’re starting your health regimen now? Your body can handle that?”
River shot him a look thinking “who is he trying to insult?”
The next paper belonged Miles and Matilda’s answer which Miles chose Wellington steak directly without any hesitation which was quite outrageous
Matilda had initially wanted to intervene, but she knew that Miles wasn’t picking on Aimee – he was deliberately trying to provoke Patrick.
Sure enough, Patrick was seething with anger. He glared at Miles and gritted his teeth as he said, “You look like a Wellington steak.”
Miles replied, “I’ve not heard that one before. Care to make a bet?”
Patrick remained silent.
