Though he was willing enough, Wyatt really was clueless in the kitchen. When Sam was showing him how to peel potatoes he asked if they came pre-peeled.
"And pre-cooked and pre-mashed? You just want to order in, don't you?" Sam accused him.
"Am I hopeless?" he asked Sam.
"No. I'm sure you'll improve," Sam told him.
But later on, when he told Wyatt to poke the potatoes to see when they are done cooking, he asked if there was maybe a thermometer he could stick inside them.
"No, there is no potato thermometer. You just poke them," Sam told him.
"Uncle Wyatt, uncooked potatoes are hard. And cooked potatoes are soft," DJ explained to him.
"Right. I knew that," Wyatt claimed.
"When you're cooking, just use common sense," Sam told him.
"Do I get that at the store or pick it out of the garden?" Wyatt asked.
"Or you can just ask DJ," Sam told him and smiled down at the little guy. He seemed genuinely interested in learning about cooking and proud to hear that he could be relied on.
When it was time to fry the pork chops, Sam and Wyatt stood shoulder to shoulder, and he had a lot of trouble staying focused.
"Those look so good and smell amazing," Wyatt said. Then he leaned over even closer so his voice was deep and rumbling right in Sam's ear. "You're a genius."
Why was he doing this to him?
While they cooked, Wyatt sometimes had him flustered and too hot, and other times dismayed him with his cluelessness. Despite all of that, dinner made it to the table just fine and it turned out very tasty.
"Look at poor Barney. He's jealous of our people food," Wyatt said and scratched the dog under his chin. Barney had been served a helping of his own food but he kept looking up at all of them with begging eyes.
"He can have the bones. Dogs like bones," DJ said.
"I'm afraid not," Wyatt told him. "Dogs can only have big bones, not little ones like these."
"Oh no, Barney will be sad," Riley said.
"Sorry, Barney," DJ told the dog mournfully.
During dinner, Wyatt told Sam and the boys about traveling all over Europe before settling down in Vienna for the last year or so. After they were done eating and the dishes were cleared up, he pulled out his iPad and showed them pictures. They all sat together on the couch with the boys on either side of Wyatt, and Sam with Barney on his lap next to Riley.
"I see Barney," DJ said when the dog showed up in one of the pictures.
"We aren't in the pictures," Riley said.
"They are from Europe," Wyatt told him.
"That's far away," DJ told Riley.
"You have to cross a ocean to get there," Wyatt told them.
"In a boat?" DJ asked.
"In a plane. A boat would take too long," Wyatt said and ruffled his hair.
"Airplanes are good too," Riley said.
"They are, and you can show Sam all the airplanes in your room after you brush your teeth and get ready for bed," Wyatt said using that as an opportunity to announce their bedtime.
