FATHER ALWAYS SMILING

Chapter 03 ~~~~~~

"I asked that as well, but he said his last name originates from Iceland."

"So, he's Icelandic, familially speaking." Their father says. "Think he speaks the language at all?"

Their mother shrugged. "We didn't really get into that."

"Mom, can we eat now?" Kaya whined. "I'm hungry!"

"Okay, Kaya." She turned her attention to what plates that they had pulled out. "I'm just glad I decided to wash these after checking the water."

After the pie was served, the family took a bite as Elain let out a breath while Nathan cursed. "Holy shit, this good!"

"Nate, swear jar," Zuri said.

He looked shocked. "But it's buried in the car."

She gave him an arched stare. "Don't care, you take a dollar out and place it on the counter. You know that kind of language isn't tolerated in this house."

"Not even this new house that isn't technically our house yet?"

"Nope."

Their father placed a hand on Nathan's shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I've already added to it, at least five bucks' worth."

"Still kind of sucks..." he muttered while stuffing his face with steak and mushroom pie. "This is good, though."

After finish eating, the family went back to picking out individual items from boxes; one of the following things they did was gather more of their dishes that were still in boxes and put as much as they could into the dishwasher.

Elain returned to her room, and this time, giving her bedroom a complete look over. One wall on the right was slightly slanted and had a window where the bed had been put; the wall on the right was where she kept her desk and laptop. Next to that was a dresser surrounded by boxes that would eventually be filled with her clothes. Along with her other belongings, like books, a few plushies and her keyboard. There was another window that gave her the view of the front yard, where she could see the house across the street. She noticed that a car was pulling out of the driveway but gave it little notice as she closed the curtains to her windows and went to get dressed for bed. She was tired after a long day but couldn't help but think of that little girl one last time before falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next few days kept Elain busy, helping her parents unpack, heading to what would be her little sister's new school, banking information, and then heading to what would be her new high school. The building itself was of red brick; it looked like something she had seen from TV dramas.

Even when she got the short chance to wander around for a bit, getting the chance to see a connecting library and the cafeteria, honestly, it was relatively spacious. However, that was also because there were no students or faculty currently inside. Give it a couple of weeks, and it'd be packed to the brim. Probably.

The next day, while Elain was unpacking her things from several more boxes, Elain's Mom knocked on her bedroom door.

"Elain, I'm sorry, I know you're still unpacking,"

"Uh-oh. Should I be worried?" Her mother laughed at that.

"No, it's nothing bad. Could you go and return the pie plate that belongs to our neighbour from across the street."

"Sure," she said as she went to stand. "I'll do it now. It gives me the chance to stretch my legs and give my back a break for a bit. Do you think he's home?"

"Hopefully, if not, we can try again a bit later." She says as Elain heads for the stairs in which her mother adds. "When you get back, we'll be ordering dinner. Thinking of shawarma this time around."