[IC] City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

[Tyler Night]

Tyler opens the box and inside are all sorts of separate parts connected in several trays. He grabs himself an exacto knife with a small blade and separates each part of the car, laying them all out before taking some glue and piecing the smallest parts together. He gets the chassis done with the wheels and tires then pieces the engine together followed by the seats and windows. He grabs the body and places it on the chassis. He takes the engine and transmission and places in the front of the body then flips it over installing the driveshaft. He glues it in place then flips it back over. He sticks the hood on the car then the trunk and doors.

"Okay, that was a solid half hour of work."

He says with a smirk. By this time the girls are all well ahead of him painting their vehicles. He stops there to watch them paint.

[DELETED08735]

Ele had found a place to sit on the floor, and the girls had sat in front of her, the three of them arranging the rainbow of paints in the middle of them so they could reach easily. Showing the girls how to mix their paints on plastic trays, and wiping the brushes instead of using water so they didn't dilute the paint, Ele found herself smiling and feeling comfortable as they chatted about school and friends.

[Tyler Night]

He watches them for a few moments before returning to the task at hand. He decides to go old school and starts hand brushing the car, putting on a very light green base coat on that is almost white. He lets it dry, putting it under a blow dryer on low with hot air to speed up the drying process. After letting it dry he paints it blue, repeating the blow drying process. He dries it completely and places the stickers in the kit on the car putting on the racing stripes. As it dries the faint green base coat slightly alters the blue, making it pop even without the clear coat on the car. He proceeds to clear coat the car putting the blow dryer on it one last time.

"Alright. I think I am done."

[DELETED08735]

The girls meanwhile had finished their models and were giggling on the floor, devolving into fits of giggles every so often. When Tyler announced that he was done, Ele looked up at him and smiled softly,

"We're done too, and I was thinking it was tie to make dinner?"

[Tyler Night]

"Oh of course."

He says smiling. He stands up and heads out to the kitchen. He turns on the stove and places a large flat pan on it.

"Hey mom, you want some okonomiyaki?"

"Sure, just don't put that green stuff on it."

"Alright, no seaweed."

He starts mixing up the batter for the okonomiyaki while the pan heats up.

[DELETED08735]

"Well, I was going to offer, but okay."

Ele shrugged and stood up, carefully collecting her paints and brushes. Once everything was put away, Ele looked at Tyler's mother shyly. She was only able to keep eye contact for a moment before she looked at the floor,

"You raised a wonderful man. Thank you."

She said quietly, her voice shaking.

[Tyler Night]

"You can still cook what you want. Okonomiyaki will only go so far."

He says, starting the japanese pancake. He pours the batter out very thin, preparing the rest of the food for when the batter was nearing completion. Amelia runs out and askes.

"Are you gonna use the red shrimp?"

"Of course."

"YAY!"

She yells out and hugs him, running to the living room.

"Thank you."

His mom says towards the compliment.

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"Is there something else I can refer to you as?"

Ele asked, chancing a glance at the woman,

"You know, other than 'Tyler's mom'?"

[Tyler Night]

"Laura."

She says smiling.

"You can call me mom, most of Tyler's friends do."

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Nodding her head, Ele repeated the name,

"Laura,"

Giving her a shy smile, Ele started towards Tyler in the kitchen but slowed as she passed Laura,

"If it's okay, I'll start with Laura. My experience with a mom is pretty rotten."

[Tyler Night]

"That is okay."

She says. Tyler grabs out some cold noodles and starts separating them for the food. Amelia walks over to Tyler and Ele hugging them both as they get close to each other. She watches the cooking happen for a minute before grabbing some cabbage. She cuts it up into strips while Tyler tends to the other parts of the meal.

"So babe, what did you wanna make?"

Tyler asks her watching the shell.

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"Well, since you have this covered, and there is shrimp going into it, maybe I can make some chili chicken?"

She offered, putting her arm around Amelia then looking around and smiling, imagining their future there.

[Tyler Night]

"Oh go right ahead. I have white beans if you wanna use those."

He says tossing the shredded cabbage on the pancake. He lets it cook for a little while before tossing on some green onions and bean sprouts. He grabs out the shrimp and starts peeling and cleaning it. He tosses the noodles down and covers the cabbage and pancake with the shrimp before tossing the noodles over it and flips it all over letting it cook slowly.

[DELETED08735]

Getting out the ingredients, Ele worked around Tyler and Amelia as she quietly got the chicken prepared and cooked. When that was done and the food was ready, she placed it in a bowl on the counter,

"Let's eat! I'm starving!"

[Tyler Night]

He finishes his food, plating it all up.

"Okay, okonomiyaki is done too."

He says carrying the plates to the dining room for all of them, bringing his mom some of the food in the living room for her. He walks back to the dining room and sits down with his food.

"This is gonna be good."

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Sitting across from Tyler in her usual spot, Ele smiled at him and it widened as the kids came to eat too. Soon the table was full and they were quietly eating. Ele looked across to Tyler, and warmth filled her as she imagined them years from that moment, still sitting together.

[Tyler Night]

"Uncle Ty, do you have that hot sauce still?"

Amelia asks as she gets the chili.

"Yes I do."

She smiles and grabs out a tiny bottle of hot sauce with an eye dropper attached. She opens it up and puts the dropper in and grabs just a small amount from it, dropping less than a drop into it. She squirts it back into the bottle and puts it back in the fridge. She sits back down and starts eating. Her face instantly turning red, using the okonomiyaki to cool herself down.

"One drop is too much."

"I didn't even drop a drop in here."

She smiles and takes another bite lighting up again. Tyler chuckles, saying.

"Finally found something that can warm you up."

He eats his food slowly smiling.

[DELETED08735]

"I need to try that stuff!"

Ele said, getting up and adding the hot sauce to her plate. Taking a bite when she sat back down, Ele nodded as it burned her mouth,

"Yes! That's perfect!"

[Tyler Night]

"I ordered one of the world's hottest hot sauces on the way home. Should be here in about a week. Blair's 3am reserve, that will last for years."

He smiles and eats more of his dinner.

"That will be insanely hot, make this stuff taste like tabasco."

[DELETED08735]

"The hotter, the better! I feel like I always need the challenge of having something spicy."

Shrugging and taking another bite, Ele enjoyed the meal and it was soon finished by the multiple mouths around the table. Standing up, Ele had Sammy and Anabel help her with the dishes.