Chapter 56 Everyone is preparing for the party...
The chaos in the kitchen had nothing to do with how many people were good at cooking; it was purely due to the playful nature that had taken hold after the initial excitement of youth. Even with a recipe as the fairest judge, it couldn't stop some people from having wild ideas. Fortunately, there were always some reliable people among them.
"At least I don't think salt should be added to butter."
I agree!
Enid raised her hand high; she was a die-hard sweet tooth and fiercely defended her right to the sweetness of cream. Well, actually, she won, because the way she puffed out her cheeks and clung to the cream bowl was indeed quite amusing.
“Great, I agree. So what’s next?” Barbara smiled and opened the recipe. With time running out, everyone stopped fooling around and, in a very short time, perfectly replicated the cake according to the recipe. However, the final disaster was in the decoration.
It probably can't be called an orange grove, because everyone drew what they wanted on it, and they even made an effort to leave two small spaces for Alfred and Bruce. The orange grove was condensed in a corner, but there were many cute orange segments piled up next to the cake.
"Very good, who will go and call Alfred and Bruce next?"
Barbara looked up and saw Dick and Enid discussing what to do next. They and Stephanie were going to do the decorations, as the party venue wasn't finished yet. Damian had to go take care of the little ones, Cassan and Jason. She thought for a moment and then spoke up.
"Jason, why don't you go?"
"Huh?" Jason was taken aback for a moment, then nodded after a while. "I know, I'll go call the old man and Ah Fu."
Although we don't know what Jason and Bruce talked about, when Barbara went to check on the cake later, the empty spaces on it had been filled, and Bruce and Alfred had left their own designs. Isn't that great?
Barbara came out of the kitchen and saw Enid, Dick, Cassandra, and Stacy decorating together. They were almost done. Enid winked at Barbara, as if hinting at something. Barbara smiled and nodded in response, which made them all happy.
Enid and Dick gave each other a high five in perfect unison. After the high fives, Enid went out of her way to give everyone else a special high five as well. "Great! I knew it would be fine!"
"Excellent, perfect teamwork." Dick praised Enid, who was a little embarrassed. "It was Barbara who said it! But isn't that wonderful?"
"What do you mean it's great? You mean none of you are going to call me to go and call the old man by yourself?"
Jason walked out, hands in his pockets. He'd heard everything. It wasn't anything serious; he'd just had a little argument with Bruce a while back, maybe just a playful banter, whatever. But Enid's anxious expression amused him.
"Huh? Uh-huh... I didn't say anything!"
She immediately surrendered, making a zipper gesture with her mouth to pretend she hadn't said anything. Jason didn't press her further, instead picking up the decorations from the ground and handing them to Dick, who was in charge of decorating the high places. He was very good at this, extremely good at it.
"What do you guys think? Could we hide an Easter egg in the very center? Then, when Tim walks over, it'll explode and cover him in confetti, just like I saw when I was searching for surprises!"
Enid searched for many videos about birthdays, parties, and other related topics. She had never actually attended a happy birthday party, or rather, a celebration party, so she could only enrich her thoughts through videos. But this idea seemed pretty good, and everyone actually agreed with it.
"It's alright. I'll prepare what's hidden inside."
"Come on, you little devil, I'm not going to let you release just one person, I'm in too!"
Jason disagreed with letting Damian put the things inside by himself, arguing that it would leave no room for any prank. Stephanie was also clearly excited, and after failing to stop him, the setup, which was almost complete, was put on hold. Everyone started preparing the enormous sphere and the decorations inside.
"No! Annie, you can't!"
Anne was itching to crawl into the colorful ball, but Enid quickly stopped her, saying, "Annie, if you go in, it won't be a surprise, it'll be a fright. I don't think Tim wants a hedgehog growing on his head." Anne looked disappointed for a moment, then glanced at Jason with renewed interest.
"What did this guy say?"
"She wants to stay on top of you because it makes her look tall."
Enid's voice was weak, and she didn't dare to look Jason in the eye. Damian chuckled, as if to say, "This is your honor." Jason glanced at Damian's height and didn't care.
"You have good taste." Damian noticed the look in Jason's eyes as he said this in a relaxed tone. He was already itching to use the knife, but the next second he saw Annie dash over, the little hedgehog perched on Jason's head, made a small heart shape with its hands, and then lay down. "TT, never mind."
"Alright, all done. So, who's going to hold Tim back?"
Dixla returned to the center of the screen. The plan required someone to hold Tim back while another person pulled open the Easter egg, which was filled with all sorts of things. Barbara had already calculated the best placement. From Tim's perspective, the angle where it was covered by other decorations was the least likely to be noticed.
"This kind of thing should be done by the old man."
If Jason had to choose the best candidate, he would say Bruce is the best, followed by Dick, and of course Stephanie, since they are a couple. But the best would definitely be Bruce.
No one objected to this statement.
But the key point was how to persuade Bruce to participate in their plan, so they tacitly skipped the topic because they didn't really think Bruce would object. So, when it came to who would reveal the Easter egg, Damian crossed his arms.
"I'll take responsibility."
"Okay, then I'll go and persuade Bruce?"
Enid volunteered to persuade Bruce, which wasn't difficult at all, was it? She enthusiastically dialed Bruce's number. He was just about to go to a meeting, but he still had some time, so he stopped and found a secluded corner to answer Enid's call.
"What's wrong? Did Fia run into some trouble? I'll probably be back later."
“Um… Father, I mean, our plan…” Enid briefly explained the plan, “So, can you help us?”
This is a good plan, isn't it? Bruce agreed without hesitation, not even caring that he would get hit in the head by the little surprises in those Easter eggs. In fact, he was very reassured about his children. "Of course I'll agree. I'll be back as soon as possible. Don't worry."
"Great! Thank you so much, Father! And thank you for your hard work!" She gave Bruce a bright smile, hung up the phone, raised her hand, and announced to everyone, "I declare the plan complete! Now we just wait for the main character to return!"
At this moment, Dick picked up the colorful ball, which was almost half his size, with one hand and easily hung it in the prepared position. The others stood at the doorway, simulating the situation when Tim came in to analyze whether it was appropriate. When they heard Enid's excited voice, they all stopped what they were doing. Although they all knew that Bruce would not refuse, no one wanted to spoil the fun. Instead, they all expressed their agreement to her.
“Very good, Fia,” Dick gave a thumbs-up with one hand. “I’m almost there. You and the others go check out this location.”
"Great!" Enid smiled and gave everyone a thumbs up, then ran to Barbara's side. She ran back and forth, looking around, and found the spot to be perfect – it wouldn't reveal the exact location of the colored ball. "Wow, awesome! Perfect! You guys are amazing! I'm awesome too!"
"It's very simple."
"But I hope I won't need this for my next birthday."
Jason expressed his stance. His birthday was in August, and he could already guess what kind of scene it would be. He solemnly expressed his refusal because Enid's ideas were all based on videos from online anime and even forum posts. He could even guess what kind of comments she would make.
As for the others, aren't they all just enjoying the show and watching the drama unfold?
"Hey hey hey... um, don't worry, I won't use this! Everyone's surprise is different!" Enid clenched her fist to show her serious attitude. Stephanie leaned closer, "So, me too?"
“Yes!” Enid smiled and kissed Stella’s cheek. “That means Stella agrees.”
"Um... okay, I can't refuse, can I?"
Enid, having found Stephanie's weakness, laughed triumphantly. Jason, on the other hand, stood next to Dick, who had already come down. "Your trick won't work on me. I don't want to get caught by Dick."
"Please, Jay, I'm not that petty, okay?"
"Hard to say."
Jason, deliberately trying to sabotage Dick's plan, refuted Dick's answer without hesitation. Enid chuckled slightly, "Actually, there's no real plan. It's basically that if you don't come, we'll kidnap you and take you home. Hmm, isn't my idea great?" Sometimes, violence can be quite effective in breaking the deadlock, can't it?
"As expected of the old man's son, fine, whatever."
"So, when it's my turn, should I excuse myself?"
Barbara could already guess what was going to happen next, but it actually looked quite interesting, didn't it? Because she understood Enid's way of thinking very well; after all, she had helped a lot with the party planning, so she could already guess where Enid would go to look for information next.
"Ah... please, Barbara!"
"I understand, of course."
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Author's Note: Obviously, I didn't write about the birthday part, lol, mainly because I couldn't stop writing about the cute interactions (whispering).
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