The next chapter is posted!
I don't own the song from the previous chapter. The song is called 'Secret Door' by Evanescence.
Enjoy :)
A couple more weeks went by, and it was now nearing the tail end of February.
Something Mia was happy about because it meant Spring was around the corner. Plus, she also loves it when daylight savings time start up again and they gain an extra hour of sunlight back for the upcoming warmer months.
Thankfully, they haven't really gotten any more snow. But it's still been pretty cold out. The temperatures would fluctuate between low to high thirties one week then low to high forties the next.
It was also nice having someone else around.
Mia and Adar have become quite close since they opened up about their traumatic past. Now, the two just continue to do a lot of things together when they can. While most of it is still giving him lessons here and there on writing or reading, they would still often find the time to tease and joke with one another, making each other laugh.
Her young ballet students have come to like his presence too.
While he may not sit in and watch during ballet sessions all that much, because he didn't want to seem like he was intruding in any sense, despite the fact Mia assured him he wasn't. There were some times he'd pop on down and at least say 'hi' to them and they would say 'hello' back and sometimes chat with him a little.
Of course, a lot of the things they would talk about was hilarious or cute. Sometimes chatting about the latest events at school or telling a funny story about what a sibling did that annoyed them.
Mia's young niece Robin, usually chatted him up the most asking him all kinds of questions like where was he from and what did he do?
While he would answer the child's question, he felt a little bad that he had to lie to her a little. Obviously, since Middle Earth doesn't exist here, he had to tell her he was from somewhere else.
He did learn a little about some of the other countries here. One in particular he learned about was England. A lot of it he learned from some documentaries that took place there and from the stories Mia would share with him from her travels there to do performances.
Coincidentally, his 'accent' sounds a lot like someone from England. So now, if anyone asks, he may just inform them that was where he was from. Which means he may have to do a little research on the country and well-known places there if others ask him more personal questions like where exactly was he from there as well and what he may have done there for a living.
Seeing as just about everyone in this society works for a living doing one thing or another.
If anything, he liked doing research on places and things. Especially now that he has a much better grasp on reading and writing. Not only that, but Mia has also been teaching him how to cook different dishes.
It was still a little odd to him that people went out and bought all their food at what they call a grocery store, including the meat instead of hunting or growing their own vegetables and grains.
On Middle Earth he was very proficient at hunting and prepping things like meat and cooking it over a fire.
But here, they didn't always cook things over open fires. Most things were cooked in ovens or on stovetops. Eventually, he was able to get a grasp on how to work those appliances, including the dishwasher, and the washer and dryer downstairs for the clothes.
Luckily, there were no incidents with anything. Nothing caught on fire or flooded.
Though Mia still generally likes to be present whenever he does use things like the oven, stovetop, toaster oven, even the microwave. Once he did almost mess up the microwave because she saw him put a 'plastic' bowl of food in there and try to start it up.
That's when she had to quickly come over and take it out while explaining to him that plastic containers and utensils never go in the microwave because they can melt and catch fire. Then she led him over to one of the cabinets and opened it and pointed to the plates and bowls that are microwave safe. This was the only time they almost had an incident which was pretty remarkable.
Here was someone who came from a place that had none of these things, yet he was able to have a handle on all these things in just a couple weeks. But then Mia did her best to go over everything with him several times. It was not only to teach him how everything works but for safety reasons as well.
When it was all said and done, she was both happy and proud with how far along he came.
"You're probably the first elf to have become effectively modernized to Earth. Congratulations." She teased.
Adar snorted at that.
"It wasn't really all that difficult once instructions were given on how to operate these machines. Same goes for learning how to read and write in the English Language and learning how to tell time on the clocks." He stated.
"Yet, despite all of that, you still managed to burn a steak one night that you insisted on cooking for us for dinner. I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry with how it came out, because it looked so pitiful." Mia continued teasing him.
"Now I know you are exaggerating; it wasn't that bad. I could still cut it...somewhat." He replied.
The young woman arched a dark brow and gave him a pointed look.
"Aerin, even Tundra wouldn't touch it when you tried to put a chunk of the burnt meat in his food bowl. He gave it one 'whiff' and then turned around and walked away. Though not before he gave you a look, like you were crazy if you were expecting him to eat that." She joked.
"Don't make me start putting all the plates and eating utensils up high where you cannot reach them,Wilwarin." He says, with a mischievous grin.
Her smile quickly dropped, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Don't even think about it. Otherwise, I'll take all of the clothes in your dresser and scatter them about the backyard. And with how cool it's been out there, I doubt it will be pleasant for you when you have to go out there and collect them all." She playfully threatened.
His grin widened, "Why Mia, if you wished to see me unclothed, all you have to do is ask."
Adar watched as her face turned bright pink, and he started to chuckle.
"Nope, no striptease from you, thank you very much." She blurted out.
He continued to chuckle at her reply.
"Guess this means you'll have to just find another creative way of getting me back then if I do decide to put just about every eating and cooking utensil in there up high where you cannot reach and would need a chair or climb up on the counter. It was pretty amusing seeing you do it the other day when you had to grab a mug off of the top shelf in one of the cabinets." He said, with laughter still in his tone.
He went in there the other day to make some tea. Only to walk in and see her on her knees on the countertop reaching into one of the cabinets to pull out a mug from the very top shelf in there.
Adar just stood back and watched the whole thing in silence with amusement written all over his face.
Mia hadn't noticed him walk in because her back was to him. When she eased herself off of the counter and back onto the floor, that was when he made his presence known and made a comment about her decent 'climbing' skills.
The young woman rolled her eyes at his last comment.
"Yeah, ha-ha very funny. Though it was still not as funny as the time, when you first tried using the shower and forgot you had to turn it to the right to make it hot and instead turned it all the way to the left. I could hear you yelp in alarm all the way from the kitchen as you got pelted with ice-cold water. It didn't help that you had just come in from a walk outside either, so you were already cold as it was." She joked.
"Yes, and since then I never forgot again to turn the handle to the right. So, lesson learned." He replied.
At this time, they were hanging out in the living room.
Mia had the TV on and was watching the show 'Cobra Kai' on Netflix. While Adar had the dictionary out in front of him and was going over each word within it. He had only started reading from it yesterday and was still in 'A' Section of the large volume.
So far, it was doing fine with it. He has yet to find a word he was stuck on and needed her to say it for him. It was probably because he got very good at breaking large words apart and sounding them out. Plus, the dictionary also shows you how the word is pronounced.
"Still can't believe you are determined to read that entire dictionary. I give you credit if you can actually do so." She says, as she sat next to him on the couch.
"Believe it or not, I have read tomes thicker than this one and have finished each one." He told her.
She was quite surprised to hear that.
"Damn, you really love to read, don't you?" Mia ascertained.
A flicker of a smile appeared on his face as he continued gong over the words and their definition. Though in truth, for most of them, he really didn't have to read the definitions because he knew what most of them meant.
"Yes, I do. Once I get through a good portion of this dictionary, I may start reading some of the books in your office." He replied.
"I've been meaning to ask, is there a certain genre of books you like more than others? Like do you like drama, adventure, history, romance? Things like that." She inquired.
"I tend to like poetry and history best. Despite the fact I have seen a good portion of Arda's history throughout the ages" He ended with a small joke.
"Yeah, careful old man. Your age is beginning to show. May have to go out and get you a walker or some dentures if your teeth start falling out." She joked.
"An old man that is still very spry and has good stamina. And can still outrun you if he wanted to." He jokes back.
"Ok, Grandpa. If you say so. Shall I get you one of those electric wheelchairs so that you have a semblance of a chance in winning in a race?" She continued, with an amused smirk.
"Can I use it to circle around your car, using the keys to key it?" He countered.
"You better not. And how do you know what 'keying' a car even means?" Mia inquired.
"Saw it in one of the movies we watched the other day, remember?" Adar reminded her.
When Mia went through all the movies they have seen so far, she does recall one movie with a scene where some guy keyed another guy's car in a way of getting even with him.
"Yeah, don't even think about it. You're starting to make me want to hide both the keys and any other sharp objects from you, like the scissors and knives in the kitchen." She quipped.
"Easy, Mia. I'm not going to do that." He says, with an amused smirk.
"Oh, I know. Because if you did, you would be camping out in the backyard for the night, sleeping in Tundra's doghouse while he gets your bed." She teased.
"I can assure you; I slept in much worse places." He replied.
The young woman huffs, "Man, you're a hard one to get even with."
His smirk widens, "I know."
A small smile appears on her face as she shakes her head, before turning her attention back to the TV in front of them across the room, above the fireplace.
A couple minutes of silence past between them before one of them spoke again.
"What time are your nephew and niece coming again tonight?" He asks.
For the first time in a long time, her brother and his wife were going out to dinner together, and asked if Mia could watch them and make them dinner tonight. Of course, she said yes, so now, her and Aerin were going to have extra guests for dinner tonight.
"Hold on, let me check the time. Pretty certain John said they were dropping them off around five-thirty." Mia says, as she grabbed her iPhone off of the coffee table.
She turned on the screen, checked the time, and was surprised at what time it was.
"Damn, time really flew today. They're actually supposed to be here within the next ten minutes. Should probably start getting out the ingredients for the pizza soon." She said.
"Need a hand with that?" He asked.
"No thanks. It's not that much stuff. I can get them out. Just listen for the door, when they come." Mia requested.
"Sure." Adar replied.
"Thanks." She said, then she got up and headed into the kitchen to get out the ingredients and cooking ware she would need for it.
She pulled out the bag of pizza dough she got from the baker the other day and set it down on the island. Then pulled out the sauce, pepperoni and cheese. The last few things she pulled out were the thin metal pizza pan, rolling pin, and flour.
Once everything was set, she retreated back into the living room and sat back down on the couch.
The two of them continued sitting there relaxing, until there was a knock on the door. Then it opened and the family came walking in. Tundra jumped down from the recliner and ran over to greet them all.
While both Mia and Adar stood up from the couch and walked around to meet them.
"Hey, sis. Thanks again for taking them for a little while. We appreciate it." Her brother John says, as he leans down to give his younger sister a hug.
Mia smiles and hugs him back.
"You're welcome. Always a joy having them." She replied.
When they pulled back, Mia then turned her attention to his wife, Tess.
She gave the taller blonde a warm smile and shared a hug with her as well.
"Hopefully, the two of them will stay out of trouble. I still always remind them to be on their best behavior when they are here or at their grandparents." Tess says.
"Nah, they're never trouble. They're great kids and they are going to have a lot of fun, because they are going to help me make the pizza." Mia informs her sister-in-law.
Robin perked up upon hearing that.
"We are!? Cool!" She excitedly said, with a big smile.
"I call putting the pepperoni on." Camden stated, as he pets Tundra's head.
"And I call putting on the cheese." Robin added.
"Well, saves me the trouble of assigning tasks at least." Their aunt joked.
"Just don't go making a mess in the kitchen and help Aunt Mia clean it up afterwards." Their father told them.
"Ok." Robin said, while her older brother groaned in protest.
Camden hated cleaning up. Hence why his room was still generally pretty messy. Something their parents would often get on him for until he cleaned it.
As the kids chatted a little with their aunt, John and Tess turned their attention to Adar.
"Nice seeing you again." John said, as he stuck out his hand for him to shake.
Adar reached out and shook his hand with a small smile.
"It is nice to see you again as well." He replied.
"Hey, I'm Tess. It's nice to finally meet you. John was telling me how Mia has made a new friend and Robin was also saying how much she likes talking with you after ballet practice." She stated, while introducing herself.
"Pleasure to meet you as well and thank you. Your sister-in-law has become a good friend to me as well and Robin is quite the amusing one." He told her.
"Oh, believe me, we know just how hilarious she can be at times." Tess said.
They all only exchanged a few more words, before John and Tess headed out.
"Alright peeps, hang up your jackets over there and then we'll head into the kitchen and get started." Mia announced.
Robin quickly shrugged off her jacket and placed it on the coat stand by the front door. Her brother followed suit and did the same.
Before going into the kitchen, the little girl stopped and gazed up at Adar.
"Hey, Aerin, are you helping too?" She asks him.
He gave her a small smile.
"I think I'll let you and your brother be the primary helpers to your aunt tonight. I'll just watch." He replied.
"Ok, we'll save you the biggest slice then." Robin says, with a toothy grin.
Her smile was both cute and amusing with both her front upper teeth missing and a new tooth just beginning to peek through the gums on one of them.
"Thank you. But I think it's best you save it for your aunt. After all, she is the one that got all the ingredients and prepped everything ahead of time." He told her.
"Good idea." She said.
Then Robin glanced over at the kitchen where her brother and aunt were, before shifting her gaze back to Adar.
She then leaned forward a little and put a hand up to the side of her mouth.
"Just be sure to watch Camden, because I know he will try and take it for himself." She whispered to him in warning.
Adar couldn't help but chuckle at her remark.
"Alright, you two help her prepare, and I'll watch him to make sure he doesn't try to steal it when it comes out of the oven." He joked.
To make it even more amusing, the little girl gave him a thumbs up before marching herself to the kitchen.
He just chuckled and shook his head a little as he followed her into the kitchen. He can only imagine how entertaining this will be to observe. Should be interesting that's for sure.
When he entered the kitchen, he already saw them all getting started on making the pizza.
Mia started by taking out the pizza dough then gave it to Robin to stick into a bowl filled with flour and running it over the sticky dough. When she finished, she took it back out and handed it over to her aunt, who proceeded to lightly pull it and stretch it out with her hands.
Once she finished doing that, she placed the stretched-out ball of dough on the round thin pizza tray. Afterwards, she picked up the rolling pin and started applying flour to it then handed it to her nephew standing on the other side of her.
The ten-year-old did his best to roll it out until it was nice and flat. Though with each roll of the dough, the tray started inching closer to the edge where the three of them stood. Adar noticed this with amusement in his gaze but didn't say anything, as he sat at the kitchen table watching them work.
Unfortunately, Mia didn't think to hold the tray for him and with one firm roll of the pin, the motion of it made the tray slide back and it almost slid off of the smooth surface of the island. That is when Mia had to quickly reach up and grab it before it went over.
The good news is, she got it before it went over. Bad news is, she got a bunch of flour from the dough stuck to the front of her shirt.
The kids thought it was pretty funny, and Robin even started to giggle a little at it. Mia just shrugged it off with an amused smile, before they continued on.
After Camden finally succeeded in making it flat enough and even, his aunt gave he and his sister each a spoon and had them start scooping pizza sauce out of the plastic bowl she poured some in and both siblings started scooping some sauce on the dough and spreading it about.
They did this for about a couple minutes until the sauce covered nearly the whole pizza in one even layer.
Next came the cheese. Mia pulled the bowl of grated up cheese over and set it before them next. She instructed them to grab handfuls of cheese and try and spread it evenly over the sauce until most of it was covered. She had them add a little extra because she knows the kids like extra cheese on their pizza just like she did.
The last thing to go on was the pepperoni slices. While she knew her nephew mainly wanted to do it, she decided to be fair and let them both grab a handful of pepperoni to put on together.
Adar watched as the two kids each picked up a couple pepperoni slices and placed them in front of their eyes and made funny faces with them. Camden did it first, then his giggling sister soon followed by example.
They really were quite the amusing pair of kids, that was for sure, and he could tell that Mia enjoyed spending time with them.
When they were done fooling around, Mia opened the oven and placed the pizza inside. It was already heated up and ready when she closed the oven door, then she put the timer on for fifteen minutes.
All three of them then cleaned up the ingredients and washed their hands. Then they set out the plates, napkins, and pizza slicer on the kitchen table. Afterwards, they all returned to the living room and sat down while they waited for the pizza to cook.
"Sweet, you have Cobra Kai on. Did you see the last episodes of Season Six yet?" Camden asked as he plopped down in the recliner and started watching.
"I think this might be one of the last episodes. But I can start them over if you haven't seen them yet and want to watch them." Mia offered.
"Nah, that's ok. I actually already saw them all last week. But I'll watch them again. Still one of the coolest shows on Netflix." The young boy stated.
"I know, that's why I have it in my selection on here. It's been a while since I've watched all six seasons from the first one to the last. I may do that again soon at some point after watching these final episodes." His aunt said, as she sat down on the couch next to Robin and Adar.
The little girl was actually sitting between the two adults.
Her gaze then went from the TV to Adar, when she saw him pick up a thick book from the coffee table and opened it. As she looked it over, she noticed it was an odd book. The words were different, as they were not written like paragraphs, but it showed what looked like a list of words in rows with tiny sentences or paragraphs written next to them.
"What kind of book is that, is it a dictionary?" Robin asks him.
"Yes, it is." He replied.
"But why are you reading it? I thought adults already knew all the words there is to know." The child says.
An amused grin appeared on his face as he shifted his gaze to the seven-year-old sitting next to him.
"Believe it or not, adults do not know every single word there is out there. Just like children, adults still learn something new all the time. Including words. As you get older, you still never stop learning. You can be very old yet still learn something you never knew before." He explained.
"Really? That's pretty neat. So, people are always learning then their whole lives?" She inquired.
"That is correct. It is what makes us wiser and expands our intelligence." Adar stated.
"Just like I had to 'teach' Grandpa the other day how to work the camera on his new iPhone because he had no clue how to do it." Camden joked.
Robin giggled at that story.
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Then he accidentally ended up tapping the screen and taking a picture of his face from below. You could see up his nose and everything." She said, with laughter in her voice.
Mia and Adar couldn't help but chuckle when they heard that.
Mia wouldn't put it past her dad to make a silly mistake like that. He's only been doing it since she and her brother were little. It's what made him very funny. Even more so when their mom would call him out on it and call him a 'dummy'.
After several minutes, she decided to get up and go check on the pizza, make sure it wasn't burning and cooking evenly. Camden also chose this time to go and use the bathroom. This left Adar and Robin alone for the time being.
"Aerin? Do you like Aunt Mia?" Robin innocently asked him.
He was a little thrown off by the girl's question and wasn't expecting it.
"I suppose I do. Though I still really haven't known her for very long. I have come to see her as a good friend at this time." Was all he could really tell her.
Which was true, he still has only been here for just a couple weeks or so.
But seeing as he will be here from here on out, there could be a possibility he may come to see her as more than a friend in time. Adar already knew they shared a bit of a connection with one another. Though it seems to come with the fact that they have both been through a lot.
His train of thought was broken when he heard the little girl speaking again.
"Still, I think you do like her. Just as I know I think she likes you." Robin tells him.
"And what makes you believe she does like me?" He asks.
"Because she smiles a lot when your around. I haven't seen her do that before. At least not in a very long time." The child said.
That was a pretty good observation and answer from one so young and he couldn't help but feel there may have been some truth behind it.
Whenever Mia did see him, her face would brighten a little and she'd give him a soft smile. While he couldn't help but smile a lot when he's around her. Then he says and does things to make her smile even more and laugh and she does the same with him.
Before either of them could say anything else, Mia walked back into the living room.
"Alright, it's looking good and almost done." The young woman says, as she plops back down on the couch next to them.
"So, we won't need a fire extinguisher for it then?" Camden joked as he came walking back in from the hallway.
"Nope, but just in case, I do believe I have the Fire Department on speed dial on the phone." Their aunt jokes.
"Don't forget you have that hose out back too." Adar added, with an amused smirk.
Robin laughed a little at their jokes.
They all continued chatting with each other until the timer went off on the oven in the kitchen. Then they all got up and headed in to take the pizza out. It actually did turn out very good and smelled delicious. The kids couldn't wait to dig in.
They brought it to the table and Mia started using the pizza slicer to cut it into eight pieces. Afterwards, she grabbed a spatula to carefully scoop off the hot pieces and placed one piece on each plate.
Of course, they had to wait a couple minutes for the pizza to cool off before they were finally able to eat it, and it ended up tasting as good as it looked.
To Mia, this was typical family time with her niece and nephew. For Adar, it was part of a nice change in this new life he has been given, and he was really starting to enjoy every minute of it.
Until Next Time ;)