Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

First was the stove turning on.

Then was the vegetables being added.

Then was the simmering.

In the middle of a cold night inside of the cattle children’s massive home, one girl was alone in the kitchen making something for her boyfriend who had gotten quite tipsy from a night of drinking.

“I still can’t believe that Ray was actually able to get drunk. It’s honestly impressive.” That girl was Anna. Just an hour or so ago they had a big celebration to commemorate Emma’s 1 year of reuniting with the rest of the cattle children. It was quite a big deal and a lot of the family indulged on their normally forbidden desires, and for Ray it was letting loose a tad bit and getting to have some unhinged fun with his family.

That being said, it was his letting loose that got him into this predicament in the first place. Ray wasn’t a light drinker, and in fact he was quite tolerant to alcohol, but even he drank so much that by the end of the party he had basically completely lost his balance and was really close to just immediately passing out in the middle of a dizzying headache ontop of that.

To remedy this, Anna decided to make the quintessential “sick-food” food, Chicken Soup. A simply recipe that didn’t need too many ingredients and would hopefully help the now recovering Ray from his hangover.

“Thankfully he’s in bed right now, but still…” Anna sighed as she grabbed some salt and sprinkled a bit of into into the broth mixture in the pot. She washed her hands and dried them to prepare for the next step.

Anna used a standard cup they had in the kitchen and got about half a cup of rice from one of the containers that they had. She quickly tested the vegetables in the broth first before pouring the rice in and beginning to stir.

“At the very least he was able to enjoy himself more. I’m glad. He looked like he had nothing burdening him.” It was then that Anna heard a yawn coming from behind her.

“You’re cooking something?” Anna gripped the wooden spoon tighter when she heard that voice. She couldn’t believe it. She turned around to face the direction of the voice she heard. In the end she wished she didn’t.

At the entrance of the doorway was a flushed Ray, looking both tired and yet mesmerized at the same time. He closed the door behind him as he began to walk towards Anna. Anna tensed up.

She hated drunk Ray, not because he was unpleasant while he was in this state, no no. In fact it was the complete opposite reason. Drunk Ray was an anomaly that Anna could not control or handle. He becomes a complete 180 while in this state and it made him an unintentionally powerful yet dangerous force.

Drunk Ray was polite, patient, gentle, kind, and even sometimes shy. He was like a giant puppy that was afraid that his slight actions would cause him to hurt the people around him. His cold and sometimes standoffish demeanor would be completely stripped away. It always made Anna worried because of the simple fact that,

‘He’s impossible to turn down in this state…’ Anna was able to experience a side of Ray that she would normally never be able to experience. That’s not to say he doesn’t act like this around Anna because he does, it’s just that it’s always been clear to her that it seemed he was always worried about something and it was as if his mind was occupied.

“I can help you if you want. You know I’m pretty good at cooking.” Ray said as he slowly began to walk towards Anna. He had both of his hands in his pockets which would suggest that he was still the cool, collected, and level-headed Ray that he always was, but his face held a different story. He looked worried, tired, yet his eyes flashed in wonder like a child rediscovering their favorite tv show after a long time.

Anna sighed. She left the pot simmering as she approached her boyfriend. She worriedly put a hand on his forehead. It was still hot to the touch. She gently kissed him on the cheeks.

“I don’t need help, you need help, to sleep. It’s only been 30 minutes and you still seem to have a headache.”

“I know that but,” Ray paused, his face a mix of pouting and regret. “you looked like you were cooking something for me and… I felt bad that I wasn’t helping you because I’ve got a lot of experience. I should help you with this stuff…”

This. This was exactly the reason Anna hated drunk Ray. Ray had said that so caring and genuine that you could get cavities from just how sweet it was. It made Anna’s stomach feel like it filled with butterflies and her heart felt like it was pierced right through.

‘Goddamn it, he is so hard to turn down when he’s like this…’ Anna had to steel herself. She shook her head.

“No. You need your rest. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you in this state.” Anna said. She gave Ray one last kiss before, gently grabbing him on the shoulders.

“I guess you didn’t need me afterall…” Ray’s voice seemed to crack as his eyes began to moisten.

‘Wait, is he… Hold on...’ Anna instantly realized what was happening. Was Ray going to start crying? The cunning Ray? Ray would never show any emotion like this, let alone towards somebody like his own girlfriend. It was unthinkable and yet it was going to happen.

Anna’s face flushed as she suddenly cupped Ray’s hands with hers. She couldn’t allow him to start crying on her watch.

“A-alright, f-fine…” If Ray started to cry Anna wouldn’t be able to forgive herself. Not only that but it was even more difficult to turn him down now that he started to have those puppy dog eyes. “L-look… you can help me with cooking, but on 1 condition.” Ray’s face lit up.

“What’s the condition?”

“Stay close to me. I don’t want anything to happen to you. If you lose your balance I need to be close to you to catch you, and I still need to monitor your condition.” When Ray heard that, he simply smiled. He was glad that he was able to stay near Anna like this.

“Alright, anything for you love.” Ray said. Anna blushed hard as she turned her head, going back to the stove to start stirring the pot again. Ray went up next to her and washed his hands at the sink before he began to pick off the semi-cooked chicken that Anna had set aside and shredding it into bite-sized pieces.

“It’s just a simple chicken soup. Nothing too special.” Anna said. There was a brief silence before Ray spoke.

“No, don’t worry about it. It’s perfect.” Anna blushed once again as she continued to stir the pot.

‘Damn this drunk man, why have you got to be so...’ Anna mentally pouted as she silently watched Ray at the corner of her eye.

“I feel a bit bad.” Ray said as he finished picking off the meat. He was both fast and precise, even in this subdued state. Ray washed his hands and turned to look at Anna. “I should make something for you... You know, like a midnight snack.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Yeah... Besides, I’m in the kitchen. To not cook up something while I’m here would be… well, it would be a shame.” He said as he grabbed a bit of white bread as a starting ingredient. “It won’t be too complicated, don’t worry. It also won’t take long so you don’t have to wait.”

Anna contemplated trying to stop him but at this point she couldn’t deny that Ray had most of his coordination back. Ray was always a high-functioning drunk, and aside from his headache and his rare few moments of imbalance, he was able to work just as he always did.

She sighed. Even if she did try and stop him she’d probably be persuaded in the end anyway. Anna, in response to what Ray was about to do, went closer to him. She needed to be there in case anything happened.

Ray grabbed an egg, butter from the fridge, some slices of ham, some cheddar cheese, one garlic, and poured himself a glass of milk. He cracked the egg and whisked it into a wide flat bowl, pouring the milk and seasoning it with a bit of salt, pepper, and herbs.

Ray then began to grate the chedder cheese into a plate until he had a decently sized pile of cheese.

Then, he grabbed 3 slices of white bread and placed them on a large cutting board. He cut off the crust of each of the bread and set them aside before he spread butter on all 3 of slices. Then he added everything that he had prepared. He placed the shreds of the grated cheese on all of the slices of bread, then 2 slices of ham on each. After that, he finally layered the 3 to make a nice tall sandwich.

As the final touch, he flattened the bread using one of the plates. The final flattened bread was then coated with the egg mix from earlier from all sides, including the edges.

Ray grabbed one of the pans and turned the stove on to medium heat. He sliced a large piece of the butter and added it to the pan. The smell was immediately noticeable as it wafted throughout the entire kitchen, and the sound of the butter melting on the hot pan was iconic to hear.

“Wow…” Anna simply said. Even though she had seen him cook so many times it was always a treat to see. Even with such a simple recipe, Ray had handled it with the utmost precision and care needed, and had a minimal mess on top of that. Ray smiled. It made him happy that she enjoyed seeing him cook so much.

“Ooh, that smells good. What are you guys up to?” A girl’s voice was heard from around the corner. A pair of green eyes peaked through the door, followed by a set of blue eyes. Ray and Anna turned to look and saw both Emma and Norman at the entrance of the kitchen.

“Wait, you guys are still awake?” Anna asked. She was shock. Emma and Norman had been one of the earlier siblings who wanted to go to bed after helping Ray after he almost blacked out.

“Well, we were planning to but,” Norman took a deep breath in. “We noticed some noise coming from the kitchen and an absolutely delectable smell. We just had to see what was up.”

“So, Ray’s cooking again huh?” Emma asked. She stared over at the boy with worry. “You know, you should really be in bed by now, Ray. I don’t think you should be up and about like this.”

“I’m fine. Mostly, anyway. I wanted to make Anna something since she’s so special to me and she was going to make me something for my headache. It’s only natural.” Anna’s face turned red as she went to add the chicken Ray picked off into the pot. “Anyway, would you guys like some food as well? I can make some more if you want, I’m happy to oblige.” Emma had to do a double take, and Norman, although his reaction was much less intense than Emma’s, still noticeably flinched. This was the first time she has ever seen drunk Ray in action. Emma paused, thinking over it in her head.

‘”Would you guys like some food”?, “I’m happy to oblige”?, “I wanted to make Anna something since she’s so special to me”? What in the…’ Emma couldn’t believe it.

“Are you sure you’re Ray!?” Emma suddenly blurted out. Norman and Anna couldn’t help but let out a chuckle while Ray simply smiled. “The Ray I know would never say something so… polite… or… so emotional. That’s just…”

“You’ve never seen Ray actually drunk before huh? Frankly I’m still not used to it either.” Norman said, wiping a tear from his eye. The cattle children had only ever since experienced a drunk Ray once before, so it was still a treat to see him in action like this.

Ray simply continued. He grabbed the coated sandwich as he placed it into the pan, a satisfying sizzle was heard as it contacted the melted butter and the smell that it created was genuinely irresistible. Emma and Norman approached near him and watched as a beautiful golden sandwich was beginning to be cooked.

“Up close it smells even more amazing.” Norman said.

“What is this sandwich anyway?” Emma asked. Ray, as he was washing his hands, paused to think for a second.

“It’s like… a mixture of your standard Grilled Cheese and a Monte Cristo sandwich. It’s like, a variation on the both… I think.” Ray was having a bit of trouble coming up with a proper answer to her question. Anna, Emma, and Norman however understood the basic gist of what Ray was trying to say.

Ray gently pressed the sandwich into the pan with a cooking spatula.

“Monte Cristo sandwiches are usually served with some sort of jam or some icing sugar, and the bread slices usually have mustard and mayonnaise on them instead of butter.” Ray used 2 spatulas to then flip the sandwich to reveal a golden brown crisp. The other side now had a chance to cook. “I just took some special liberties. I don’t want to go too sweet since it’s late, and Anna doesn’t like mustard, so… yeah.”

Ray used the spatulas again to start cooking the edges of the breads now, the 2 sides already being perfectly golden brown. As he was doing this however…

“Ray,” Ray turned to the voice to see Anna holding a bowl of chicken soup. It seemed it had already finished cooking. She scooped up some of the soup and opened her mouth. Ray understood her immediately and opened his own mouth as Anna began to spoon-feed the soup to him.

“It’s perfect Anna… you’re perfect.” He said as he innocently licked his lips of the soup. If Anna didn’t know drunk Ray any better that would’ve been a much different sign, but that action still caused Anna’s face to flush in embarrassment as she went to feed him another spoon.

“They’re so cute together.” Emma mouthed to Norman. It was in that moment that the blue-eyed albino had a sneaky idea. His face twisted into a sinister smile and Emma puts 2 and 2 together really quickly, though she’s not quite sure where this was going.

“Hey, Ray. How much do you love Anna?” Norman asked. Ray’s face brightened up as he shifted the sandwich onto a different edge to cook.

“I love her so much. She’s just… so amazing… and nice… and honestly I feel like I don’t deserve her sometimes…” Ray said that instantly and without any hesitation. Anna, upon hearing this, immediately stumbled with the chicken soup. She puts it onto the table before it spilled as she eyed Norman with disbelief.

”W-w-what are you doing!? You know how R-ray acts when he’s like this.”

“What’s wrong? You’re blushing really hard.” Norman simply said, completely disregarding her question. Anna plants her face in both of her hands as she fidgets in her spot.

‘Ray… you’re really gonna be the death of me…’ Anna peaked inbetween her fingers to watch Ray cook. She was not used to drunk Ray. The memory of that night in the Demon World was ingrained into her mind permanently. A night that for the first time made Anna feel something special, a night of a completely open and honest Ray, one who didn’t feel like hiding himself from her. Drunk Ray made Anna worried.

He was so sensitive. And he was so kind and yet so emotional. Was that what Ray would be like if he didn’t have that mask protecting others from himself? Was Ray in fact shielding himself specifically for her sake? Anna needed to put his mind at ease. Because she was afraid he wouldn’t be able to protect himself from his own thoughts.

Ray finished with the sandwich after cooking it from all sides, an excellent snack of multiple slices of golden brown toast, and in between had butter, cheese, and ham. He cut the sandwiches diagonally and placed his creation onto a plate.

“Anna? A-are you okay? You look sick...” Ray asked worriedly as he approached her to the table, plate in hand. Anna did have a huge blush on her face. You could tell even though she was hiding it behind her hands.

“You’re one to talk.” Anna said pouting, going up to him and placing her hand on his forehead again. It was warm now, noticeably less hot than before. Anna smiled. “You seem better now at least.”

”And you seem worse…” Ray said, looking down. Anna shook her head.

“No, no. Don’t worry about it. It’s just that,” She eyed the 2 pranksters in the corner. They had sniveling grins on their faces. “I was just a bit distracted is all. I’m completely fine.” Ray’s eyes softened as he put the sandwiches on the table.

“I-if you say so…”

“Besides, you still need to finish your soup.” Anna said. The bowl that she had was still about half full and Anna could tell Ray still felt a bit dizzy. She began to spoon-feed him like usual again.

“Let’s make what Ray made, Norman. It looks really delicious.” Emma said excitedly. Norman nodded.

“I agree. While Ray is recovering, anyway.”

“Don’t burn the kitchen down.” Ray said, right before he bit down onto a spoon of soup. It seemed a bit of his snarkiness was seeping through now that he had something good to eat. The 2 of them simply chuckled in response.

“Don’t worry, I’ve completely memorized the whole recipe. You have nothing to fear!” Emma said determined. Anna sighed.

“Make sure not to make too much of a mess.” She said.

“We’ll keep that in mind.”: Norman said, bringing out the same ingredients used from the recipe before.

As Ray was finishing his soup, Emma and Norman started their little quest to replicate Ray’s recipe. It was clear from the outset that they had much less technique than the resident cook. Their sandwiches were a lot less evenly spread with the ingredients, they made more of a mess, and they forgot to reapply the butter after Ray already used the one in the pot for his recipe. In the end, the sandwiches still looked nice to eat but it was a lot less good looking than Ray’s version of the sandwich.

“Wait, hold on…” Ray said as Emma and Norman placed their sandwiches on the table. “Emma, doesn’t your sandwich have… something on it?”

“It does?” Emma lifted the bread and rotated it around. Right there on one of the sides was a white sharp bit.

“What a minute, that’s an eggshell.” Norman said, leaning in for a closer inspection. Emma looked over at his direction and low and behold, a white bit sticking out of the bread. Emma quickly plucked it off and set it aside.

“Eh heh heh…” Emma chuckled in embarrassment.

“Now that I think about it, there was a stray eggshell that fell into your egg mix earlier.” Norman said.

“That was just 1 eggshell though!” Emma retorted.

“Better than your previous cooking attempts, anyway.” Ray said. Emma pouted, and just as she was about to say something in retort. “I’m proud of the improvement.” Ray finished what he had said.

Emma once again had to do a double take after hearing that. She put both of her hands to the sides of her head in confusion.

“This doesn’t make any goddamn sense,” She said, clearly dazed. “I don’t know if I should like this Ray or not.”

“I think it’s a nice change of pace.” Norman said, putting a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “Besides, this is a once in a lifetime experience. Treasure it while you can.” Emma looked over at Ray.

He was so different… and exposed. Perhaps this was the best time to make use of this fact. She approached him and grabbed both of his hands, holding them gently with her own. She looked at him dead in the eyes.

“Thank you so much Ray… for everything.” This was the only time she could do this without Ray brushing it off or saying something like “nah, you have nothing to thank me for”. Although she didn’t remember what exactly he did in the Demon World, whenever he responded like that she always felt… a bit angry and sad, as if deep down there was a reason as to why. She felt as if… what he was saying was simply not true even if she didn’t really know why it wasn’t true.

Well, she knew why. Obviously, Ray helped her adjust to her new family, he frequently cooked meals for them, helped her with her insecurities, stuff like that. Those were stuff she thanked him for. But it felt like there was a much deeper reason why she felt sad when he said that.

When Ray heard that, he simply smiled… and then his eyes began to water. Anna, Emma, and Norman immediately began to panic. Just from that 1 statement, Ray was already about to start crying.

“Oh… you guys…” A tear formed in Ray’s eyes.

‘Oh no no no no no no what in the world did I just unleash!?’ Emma felt simultaneously shocked and guilty at the same time. That being said, even if she wanted to help Ray not start crying in front of her, she didn’t know exactly how to stop him from doing so.

Norman tried to take a shake at it.

“L-look Ray, w-what Emma was trying to say is that she really appreciates you and wants you to understand just how much you’ve done for her.” Although it was a valiant attempt, it had the opposite effect.

Tears slowly began to roll down Ray’s face while a panicked trio try their best to think of something to prevent this.

“I should be the one to thank you…” Ray simply said. Emma immediately brings her attention to him as the panicking became intrigue. “If it weren’t for you and Norman… and Anna… and the rest of the siblings… then I… I would have…” Ray’s words remained unfinished as he was overtaken by emotion. Emma and Norman both looked down. It seems they both were getting emotional too.

“It’s going to be okay.” Anna said reassuringly, placing his head onto her shoulder as she pat his back. She was really trying hard to hold back her tears. If she started crying she was certain Ray would be even more sad, sadder than he seemingly was now. Anna moved her hand up to his hair as she pat it.

“There, there… I’m here for you.” She whispered lovingly to him. Ray went quiet and it seemed the waterworks stopped. Anna looked over him and noticed that he had his eyes closed. “Ray?”

“I think he went to sleep.” Norman said, approaching the both of him while simultaneously rubbing his eyes. The excess of emotion made Ray tired enough to hit the hays. Emma exhaled in relief. Had Ray continued she wouldn’t have been able to hold back.

“Ray…” Anna said to herself. Atleast Ray was able to finish the whole bowl of soup. That also contributed to his tiredness. Anna shifted Ray’s body as she wiped away the tears from his cheeks. “Do you guys mind if you could carry him to his room?”

“I don’t mind at all.” Emma said, determined. She rubbed her eyes as well. With ease, she picked up Ray.

“He needs proper rest.” Norman said, nodding in agreement. Emma smiled sadly at the man she was carrying in her arms. Both her and Norman exited the kitchen shortly after.

As Anna saw the 2 of them leave, she sighed, noticing the sandwich that Ray had made still untouched on a plate. She went to go pick it up. It was thankfully warm. She felt a bit bad. She hadn’t even tasted it while Ray was still awake. Without another word, she bit into the sandwich and its flavor seeped into her mouth. Meat, cheese, butter. Savory, sweet, salty. Soft on the inside yet crunchy on the inside.

“It’s… delicious.” Without her even realizing it, Anna felt tears roll down her cheeks. She bit into the sandwich again as she silently ate.

“You say you don’t deserve me... and yet,” She smiled. “I feel I’m the one… who doesn’t deserve you.” Anna ate the last piece of the sandwich, not even bothering to wipe away the tears. It was both happy and sad. The sandwich was absolutely amazing and she felt so nice after eating it.

As Emma and Norman both came back from Ray’s room, Anna quickly wiped away her tears before they noticed.

‘Thank you Ray… for the midnight snack… For everything.’

Chapter Text

“There you guys are.” Anna said as Emma and Norman enter the room once again. Thankfully she had already finished wiping away her tears, so she had no fear of the 2 of them coddling her.

“Aww, you finished the sandwich already?” Emma asked, clearly distressed. Norman put a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess you must’ve wanted to taste the perfected version of the sandwich to compare, huh?” Anna chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her head.

“It’s fine… It’s just a bummer is all.” Emma crossed her arms. “Guess I’ll have to get Ray to cook me one of those sandwiches again in the morning.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Norman said as the couple sat down in the dining room.

The 2 decided to chow down on their sandwiches. From the looks on their faces they seemed to be really enjoying them.

“Mmmm!” Emma said as she bit down on her food. “This is great! Man… if my sandwich is this good then I wonder how Ray’s sandwich would taste.”

“Ray always was great at cooking.” Norman said as he finished up on the sandwich. “And it didn’t even take him long to be this good at it.” Anna smiled.

There was just something about other people complimenting her boyfriend that just made her feel all fuzzy inside.

“Especially compared to some… other people I know.” Norman said as he gently nudged Emma. Anna almost instantly understood as she joined in on the teasing.

“Oh yeah, I remember what happened in BO6. Uhhh, when was it again? After we saved Goldy Pond?” Anna said, feigning herself having a hazy memory of the event. Emma puffed her cheeks out in anticipation. She knew where this was going.

“I will never forget what Ray told you after you worked your butt off to learn some cooking and you gave him your dish.” Norman looked like he was on the verge of laughing while Emma immediately looked annoyed.

“Oh boy, it’s this story again.” Emma murmured to herself. Anna already looked like she was going to burst as well.

“When Ray tasted your dish, his response was absolutely amazing.” Norman said.

“Congrats. I can’t imagine how much work it took for you to be this average.”

Norman said with a surprisingly accurate Ray impression. Both him and Anna started to burst out laughing while Emma just sat there with her arms crossed.

“I still can’t believe Ray actually said that to me.” Emma pouted. “He still sometimes says it to me if I volunteer to cook for everyone!” Even though Emma seemed mad, she was still chuckling alongside them since the way that Ray said it was just so iconic.

Anna breathed out. It was nice reminiscing on the past, and Emma didn’t seem to bothered at all by it. After their laughing, she took the plates that were on the table and went to the sink to begin washing up. As she did though she spotted something still on the countertop.

The crust of the bread slices from all 3 sandwiches was still there on a plate, as well as a whole garlic sitting next to it.

“Guys, didn’t we leave this out?” Anna asked. Emma and Norman approached.

“Ray did leave this when he was making his sandwich. We just followed what he did.” Emma said.

“What was he planning to do with this?” Norman asked.

“Well, he probably meant to throw this out anyway.” Emma brushed the thought aside as she took the bread crust and approached the bin.

“Wait!” Anna shouted out. Emma froze as she was about to dump all the crust into the bin. “If he planned to throw them away I don’t think he would have bothered to put it in a separate plate.” Anna said.

“Huh… you do have a point.” Emma said, putting the plate back on the countertop. “But what exactly did Ray want to do with this… crust?”

Anna then had a bright idea. A bit of harmless revenge for the couple’s teasing towards her earlier. Anna sighed as she assumed a nonchalant persona, starting to wash the dishes in the sink.

“Well, I mean…” She paused. “Don't get me wrong, you can throw it away if you want but… I’d imagine Ray would be very angry about how the food was wasted after he had prepared such a delicious snack for us.” Emma froze as she stared at Anna, eyes filled with fear. Surprisingly enough, Norman was too.

“I mean, it’s probably fine if you throw it away. Ray would probably understand. It’s not like he’ll remember anything that happened tonight so I mean you’re free to do it if you want.” Anna knew it was giving the both of them shivers.

Angry Ray is a Ray seldom seen before, but every time it appeared it brought terror upon any person who dared interact with him. Emma and Norman have both been on the receiving end of angry Ray once before and they would never, ever forget that moment for as long as they lived. Angry Ray was something not to be messed with and they knew never to incur angry Ray’s wrath.

‘Now for the finishing blow.’ Anna thought.

“I think it would be a big shame if the crust would just be lying around. Imagine how Ray would feel if he brought this out specifically for us and we didn’t even end up using it. Well, it’s not like he’ll remember anyway. You can probably throw it out.” Anna closed her eyes as she continued washing the dishes. She just needed to wait until she heard those sweet sweet sounds of panic.

“N-n-n-no… it’s fine.” Emma said, clear worry in her voice.

Score!

“What do we do, Emma?” Norman asked as he eyed the bread crust in front of him. “If we do something wrong, Ray will for sure get angry at us. He probably won’t stop until his words are drilled into our brains.” Anna smirked.

Anna knew Ray a bit better than even Emma and Norman, so she could say for certainty that Ray already forgot about the events of tonight. Even if he did remember he wouldn’t go into angry Ray. At most he would be annoyed Ray, which is a lot less potent and more similar to how he usually acts.

It’s just that Emma and Norman were so traumatized by angry Ray that it clouded their judgement completely. It was amusing to watch. Anna also knew instantly what Ray was going to make with the bread crust. She just wondered whether the other 2 would be able to figure it out.

“It’ll be fine, let’s think about this logically.” Emma said. Panic was still in her voice but know it was more like focus-mod panic than pure fear panic. “He left the bread crust out on the countertop, but he also noticeably left out the butter as well.”

“And there’s that garlic too.” Norman added. “What would he want to do with the garlic?”

“Maybe he wanted to make a dip?” Emma said. “The garlic and the butter. Even the milk is here too. What if he wanted to make a sauce to go with the sandwich?”

“All the ingredients are here though.” Norman said, bringing Emma out of her tunnel vision. “Ray could’ve planned for anything. Besides, if he wanted to make a dip why would he leave the bread crust out? And also why didn’t he make it while he was making our sandwiches? We ended up eating them alone without it in the end anyway.” Emma was stumped.

She clutched her head as she tried to think of something. Anything. Sadly, her lack of cooking knowledge left her without any possible ideas.

“Norman!” Emma cried out as she hugged Norman tight. “I don’t want Ray to get angry again! He’s so scary when he’s angry. I won’t be able to handle a round 2 of that again.” Norman smiled sweetly as he embraced her.

“Don’t worry. I feel the same way too. We’ll figure this out though, I promise you that.” Norman went into full thinking mode as he looked over at the ingredients one last time.

‘Alright, let’s think about this systematically. When we entered and saw Ray making the sandwich, all of the ingredients were out on the countertop. The bread, the butter, the ham, the cheese, the milk, the crust which was already cut off, and the garlic. Out of those ingredients only 2 of them went unused; The crust and the garlic. Does that mean that he intended to use the crust and the garlic together? That’s the only explanation I can think of. If he wanted to use one of those ingredients for the sandwich or for another dish, he already would’ve done so earlier, but he didn’t. Which means he was probably planning to use those ingredients together after he made the sandwich. In the end he couldn’t do that since he fell asleep. What does that leave us with? Well, we have 2 ingredients that needed to be used together somehow… … … … Ughhh, that’s the only info we have!’ Norman was stumped.

2 ingredients, but there’s no way that Ray would’ve made a snack with only some crust and some garlic? There had to be atleast 1 more ingredient here somehow but Norman couldn’t figure it out. He scanned the countertop again. All of the ingredients were clumped together in one huge group.

‘Wait!’ Norman figured something out. ‘The layout of the ingredients is different from when Ray was cooking! When we entered the kitchen, the ingredients were separated! One group had the bread crust, garlic, and butter, alongside the herbs and spices that he used for the sandwich. There was a different group that had the bread slices, the cheese, and the ham! That must mean that, although most of the ingredients were used, he was intending to have them in different groups to signify different recipes. Therefore…’

“I’ve figured it out!” Norman said enthusiastically. Emma’s eyes brightened in anticipation. Norman had figured it out. The ingredients of Ray’s mystery dish.

“Bread crust, garlic, butter, and spices. Those are the ingredients of Ray’s dish!” He said proudly. Emma clapped as she thought about it in her head. She quickly came to the same conclusion as Norman did.

“Wait… that makes a lot of sense actually…” She said impressed. It was big revelation to their goals! However, it was very short lived. “That said, what comes next?” What Emma said immediately destroyed Norman’s confident composure. “We have the ingredients ready, so how exactly do we put them all together?” Norman froze.

Unfortunately for him, this was the extent of his culinary knowledge.

Norman instantly deflated like a pricked balloon. How was he supposed to know what he was meant to do to make a dish with those ingredients? He didn't even know where to start! His helplessness seeped into Emma as she too looked like the life out of her had been sucked out

“Oh boy… that’s the... thing isn’t it?” Norman said, defeated. He slumped down onto a nearby chair. “What are we going to do now… If we fail this Ray will for sure get angry at us… then he’ll yell… then he’ll tell us how much we messed up… then-”

“Garlic bread.” Anna interrupted. She had been watching the whole debacle and although it was amusing at first, their dejected and depressed attitudes that became more intense the more it went on just made it hard to watch. At this point she decided that it was best to save them from their own despair before she had the chance to witness a midlife crisis form right before her eyes.

Emma and Norman’s attentions were on Anna. Anna wiped her hands dry as she was already finished washing the dishes.

“A simple garlic bread recipe using leftover bread crust. Here, I’ll show you.” Anna approached the ingredients. She didn't feel the greatest since it was getting really late now, but she went to work regardless.

'I apologize in advance if I make a mistake.'

She sliced a big chunk of the butter off and placed it into a bowl. She then put said bowl in the microwave for about 30 seconds on medium heat to melt it. While this was happening, she got a clove of garlic or 3 and began to grate it into a separate bowl.

Once the butter had melted she added the grated garlic into the melted butter and added the desired spices; Mixed herbs, salt, and chili flakes. She then mixed the entire thing together to get this sort of garlic spread.

Last but not least, Anna used a pastry brush to apply the mixture onto the bread edges. There was a lot of crust to go through so she made sure she made a lot but as all of the crust was sufficiently coated she was ready to toast them.

Using the pan they used previously, Anna placed the bread crust as they began to toast, a noticeable and delectable garlic smell emanating through the air. She applied the garlic butter even on the crust side of the bread. After it was sufficiently toasted, she flipped it so that the other side had a turn. It was a delightful char of golden brown.

“Wow, that smells nice.” Emma said in wonder.

“Agreed.” Norman added.

It didn’t take long for all of the bread crust to be toasted as she placed it into a large bowl. Thankfully, nothing went wrong.

“Man, you guys are hopeless when it comes to cooking.” Anna said, exhausted. “Garlic bread isn’t that hard to make anyway, I don’t think it would’ve been all that hard for you guys to figure that out.”

“You really saved us though, Anna.” Norman said, relieved. He audibly exhaled out. “Thank you so much. We don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”

“Sorry…” Emma said. “I still can’t get this cooking thing wrapped around my head.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s fine.” Anna said. She sighed. She was honestly kinda exhausted. The night had lasted a lot longer than she thought and there were so many twists and turns and emotions flying everywhere. She could already feel her mind wander to thoughts of sleep as her head instinctively slumped back.

“Well, on the bright side,” Emma said, picking up the freshly toasted crust. “We still have something to snack on, and knowing Ray this probably tastes good too.” She bit into the toast.

It had a much more milder punch than the sandwich, but the flavor was still rather rich. It came in waves, and since the garlic and the herbs weren’t spread perfectly, there was a new taste to be had with each different part of the crust.

“Mmmm, it isn’t as explosive as the sandwich but it’s still pretty good.” Emma said as she had Norman bite into her crust.

“Wow… it’s surprisingly simple but the flavor is rich.” Norman said, a grin on his face. Emma giggled at his reaction as she went in for another bite.

As she watched the scene unfold she bit into some of the bread too. It was just as they said, a mild punch but a rich flavor. Anna smiled.

She was glad her siblings were able to enjoy life like this. To smile, without having to live in fear. It used to be dream they thought they would never reach but here they were. Living life. Like normal.

Anna felt her eyes feel heavy as she used her hand to rest her head on the table. It seems after eating all of these warm foods, her body was now telling her it was ready to sleep. As she watched Emma and Norman enjoy themselves in eachother’s company, she smiled.

‘Alright Ray… you guys… see you tomorrow…’

She closed her eyes as she fell into a deep slumber.