The kitchen was all set up with ingredients and the tools needed to cook with. Nasha was expecting it to be one of those frozen meat pies. Not one from scratch. 

"Have you ever made one of these before?" Nasha asked Elkis.

"I have but it's been awhile. I have the recipe right here." She said holding up a slip of paper. 

They started with the filling first. They prepared the meat and mixed the spices and gravy together to make the filling. 

"Does anyone want to add anything to their filling?" Elkis asked.

"I'm good." Greige said.

"Can I have cheese in mine?" Nasha asked. 

"Sure."

While the meat cooked they set to work on mixing the dough together. After that she divided up the dough into three little lumps which she and the kids each rolled out. Flour was sprinkled over it to keep it from sticking to the table but Greige thought his needed a little more. He went to get the flour from the cupboard but it was placed back and a height he had trouble reaching and he accidentally knocked the bag over and spilled a little onto Nasha's head.

"Hey!" She cried thinking he did it on purpose. "Oh you think that's funny huh!"

"It was an accident. I didn't mean to." He said.

But she didn't listen. Instead she grabbed a handful of flour and chunked it toward him. However he dodged it and the flour hit Elkis's back instead. 

"Oh!"

She turned around and for a moment Nasha thought that she was in serious trouble. But much to her surprise, she threw flour right back at Nasha and started laughing. For a moment the salmon haired girl was too stunned to react but then she threw more flour at Elkis and some at Greige. Soon they were in an all out flour throwing battle. Laughter filled the air and smiles along with flour was all over their faces.  Eventually the sound of the oven timer got them to stop. They took the meat out, combined it with the filling, flattened the first half of dough on to the three dishes, poured the filling in, then covered it with the second half of their dough. 

Elkis placed the pies in the oven and set the kids to take a bath to wash off all the flour. She cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes while waiting for the meat pies to finish baking. When the three pies were done she called the kids down to eat and she went to take a shower before having her dinner.

The meat pie was incredible. Nasha loved it. It was so warm, savory, and full of flavor. It brought back the very few happy memories she had. One of which was the first meat pie she ever had. During her stay at one of her other foster homes she had a neighbor who was an old woman called Mrs. Dawn. A widow who walked with a cane so she had trouble doing certain things around the house. Nasha agreed to help her with her chores on the weekend and in return she paid Nasha five bucks an hour. 

She was a very sweet lady and she had become very lonely since her husband died. She enjoyed Nasha's company and was one of the very few people who had ever been nice to the girl. Then one night Nasha had punched one of the older foster kids for cutting a piece of her hair off with scissors. Her foster parents punished her by locking her outside in in their shed with no dinner. It was cold and rainy that night but she didn't stay there long. 

Mrs. Dawn had seen them lock her in their and managed to pick it with one of her hair pins. She brought Nasha inside her house and cooked her a meat pie to eat for dinner. She then prepared her a bath, gave her some warm pajamas to wear, and let her sleep in her comfy guest beds. It was the first act of kindness Nasha had ever been given and she so desperately didn't want to leave. The next morning Mrs. Dawn called the police and reported the foster parent's mistreatment of her. They were arrested and the kids were all taken back into the system.

Mrs. Dawn wanted to adopt Nasha but the agency decided that she was too old and infirmed to take care of a child. Nasha begged the agency to at least let her visit Mrs. Dawn and they said they would consider it but she never saw Mrs. Dawn again. She died a year later and Nasha wasn't even allowed to attend the funeral because she had been transferred to a new foster home and her new foster parents refused to take her. Poor Nasha almost started crying when she thought about Mrs. Dawn. 

"Are you okay?" Greige asked when he saw her eyes getting watery.

"I'm fine." Nasha said blinking away her tears. "Listen Greige I...I want to say I'm sorry for what I said to you the other night. I was wrong to say that about your parents."

"Yes you were." He said. "But I forgive you."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Good."

A little while later Elkis came down from her shower and had her dinner. She asked what Nasha thought of it and she was pleased when the girl said she loved it. That it was one of the best she had ever eaten.

"You sure it was that good?" Elkis asked. "If you didn't like something you can tell me."

"No it was perfect."

"I'm glad to hear."

"And you made these just because they were my favorite?"

"Yes."

"But how did you know?"

"It was more of a hypothesis than knowing. The agency told me about your friend Mrs. Dawson and what she did for you. They said that you really loved her and that she made you happy. I thought maybe the pie would make you feel a little better about being here."

"Huh...It's been a long time since someone has ever cared about what made me happy."

"Well I care. Now who wants dessert? I have something very special planned."

"What is it?"

"Well since it's getting real cold here in Edolas I thought the perfect dessert for us to enjoy would be hot chocolate."

"I love hot chocolate!" Greige said. "That's my favorite thing in the whole world!"

"In that case I better make this hot chocolate very special."

"What brand of chocolate mix did you have?" Nasha asked.

"Oh no. I don't use mixed brand I make mine from scratch like the pies and I add just a little melted fudge to give it that extra chocolatey taste."

"Do you have marshmallows?" Greige asked.

"Are you kidding? Who makes hot chocolate and doesn't have marshmallows. I also have whip cream and other stuff you can add to give it a little flavor like peppermint and vanilla."

"Do you have cinnamon?" Greige asked. "I like cinnamon on my coco."

"We have cinnamon."

She made three mugs of hot chocolate, all three topped with marshmallows and whipped cream but only one with cinnamon. Nasha didn't like cinnamon and Elkis liked it but not so much with chocolate. Elkis couldn't get over how adorable Greige looked when he drank his hot chocolate for the first time. He was smiling with chocolate and cream on his lips. It made her and Nasha both laugh. As they drank their coco, Elkis put a movie on and by the time it ended the mugs were empty, Greige had fallen asleep in the recliner and Nasha had dozed off on the sofa. She smiled. Today had gone pretty well.

She put the mugs in the dish washer, turned off the tv, and covered each of the sleeping kids with a blanket. Nasha remained asleep when Elkis tucked her in but Greige woke up a little and hugged her neck. 

"Goodnight Elkis." He said sleepily.

He hugged her. He really hugged her. He liked her. She hugged him back gently and helped him get snuggled as he fell back asleep. It felt so wonderful. She had always wanted a child so badly but she had never been married (As far she knew) and she didn't feel right about getting pregnant without a husband so she tried adoption but she was rejected. Then she tried foster care but apparently there were no children in Edolas in need of care. She was just about to give up when one day Gren had seen her crying in the park.

She had received a rejection letter to her fostering any children in Edolas. He didn't really comfort her that much but he was decent and he did suggest that maybe she try fostering children from outside of Edolas. With that idea, Elkis did some research, put in references and applications and she ended up with these two kids who she had no intention of giving up on.

"Goodnight Greige." She said kissing his forehead.

She turned off the lights and went to her own bedroom to sleep. To Elkis it would have been the most perfect day and she fell asleep thinking that tomorrow even better because she had finally bonded with the kids. But around midnight something would cause her hope to be tested. At 2:00 in the morning she awoke to Greige pulling on her arm.

"Greige?" She said half awake. "Greige what's wrong? What are you doing up at this hour?"

"Come!" He cried desperately. "Come! You have to come see!"

"See what?" She said becoming more awake. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you! You won't believe me! You have to see it!"

"Now calm down. Why do you think that I- Do you smell smoke?"

"Uh-huh! It's Nasha! She's on fire!"

"What?! 

She jumped from the bed and looked out the door to see that the hallway was filled with smoke.

"Okay don't be afraid. I'm gonna get you out of here." She assured him. "Just stay calm."

 She grabbed the telephone from her nightstand, handed it to Greige, picked him up, covered him with a nearby blanket so he wouldn't inhale the smoke, and ran through hallway and down the stairs while holding her breath. Once outside she gently put him on the ground.

"Griege do you the number you dial for help?" She asked.

"911."

"Good. You call that number and tell them what's happening. I'm going back in to get Nasha."

Elkis went back inside and subconsciously prayed that she would be able to get to that little girl in time. She grabbed the fire extinguisher she had on the wall of the first room and went to the living room. The sofa was completely in flames and scorching the floor but in the center of it all was Nasha who was still asleep. She was sleeping in the fire. Elkis screamed and quickly extinguished the fire before grabbing her taking her outside. However she was shocked to see that Nasha had no burns, scar, or scorches. Even her pajamas were still in tact.

"Nasha?" She called. "Nasha! Nasha honey wake up!"

"Huh? What? What is it?" The girl yawned.

"Oh thank God." She said hugging her. "You're alright."

"Of course I'm alright. What's going on? Why are we outside?"

"Nasha are you not aware of what just happened?" Elkis asked in amazement.

"What? What happened?"

"Honey you were on fire. You and the whole living room."

"I was? Oh no. Not again. No! No! No please! No! Not again!" She started panic.

"Nasha calm down."

"I didn't do it! I swear I didn't do it!"

"Sweetie please. We can talk about this later right now I need you to calm down. Okay? Take a deep breath and relax."

Nasha did as she was told and before long they heard the sirens of the vehicles being driven police, paramedics, and firemen coming. Hopefully they would be able to shed some light on the situation. 

...

Years had gone by and sadly the village's treatment of Gray and his mother didn't get any better. People either went out of their way to stay away from them or just be cruel to them. They mostly inflicted their fear and cruelty on him so he didn't mind. As long as they didn't harm his mother he didn't care. Now there were a few who did show them compassion one of which was Macao the wood carver and toy maker. 

Unlike most of the villagers he didn't see any evil or darkness in Gray. He thought the boy was perfectly harmless and innocent. He also thought that he was a very intelligent and hard working boy, when he got older Macao allowed him to help around his shop to make extra money. In truth Macao wished that he could have had a son like Gray but unfortunately it appeared that he would never be a father.

"Good morning Macao." Gray said entering his shop with a basket of cotton made fabric. "I'm here with the fabric Mother spun."

"Excellent. Put it by the chair over there and I'll give you the money I owe you in a minute." The toy maker said. 

Gray walked over to the chair by the shelf. He couldn't help but take notice of the many toys placed on the shelf. All so detailed and perfectly made. Yes there never was a single toy maker as great as Macao. He had a way of somehow putting love into his toys when he made them. Gray wasn't sure how you could do that with an animate object but that's what made Macao's work one of a kind. One toy in particular held his attention longer than the rest. It was a wooden marionette puppet of a little boy. But unlike most marionettes this one was life sized and had a very realistic face painted on it. 

"You'll probably get a lot of money for this one Macao." Gray said pointing to the puppet. "Looks like your finest work yet."

"Oh that one's not for sale."

"It isn't?"

"Nope."

"Then why did you make it?"

"Well the thing is...Oh you'll probably think I'm a stupid old fool if I tell you."

"No I won't. I promise."

"Alright. I...I made him...I made it to...To be my son."

"Come again?"

"I know it's silly but I've always wanted a child Gray and as you know I'm never going to have one so and I've accepted that but I thought it would be nice to pretend just for an occasional moment that I did have one. So I made him. Call it a coping process."

"I'm really sorry you couldn't have any children. You'd be a great father."

"You really think so?"

"My mother and I both say so all the time."

"Thank you."

"So." Gray said looking at the puppet. "What's his name?"

"Pardon?"

"He's your son so pretend or not he should have a name. Everyone should have a name, at least that's what my mother says."

"Oh right! Yes he has a name. I call him Romeo."

"Nice name. What kind of personality does he have?"

"Hmm...Let's see." He thought. "If he were really my son I'd want him to be smart and helpful. I'd want him to do well in school and be able to make friends. But above all I'd want him to be brave, truthful, and unselfish."

"Very few boys are like that."

"You were like that."

"No I wasn't I was like every other little boy."

"You were not. You hardly ever lied, you always put your mother first, and even though those rotten bullies terrorized you every time you set a foot out of your house you still went outside to help your mother with her work."

"Speaking of which I have to get back home to help her with the spinning. Have a good day Macao."

"Wait don't you want to get paid?"

"Oh yes! Thanks for the reminder. That'll be eight copper pieces."

"Oh really?" Macao said making a face that looked like he wouldn't be able to pay. "I don't have that many copper pieces with me at the moment."

"That's okay. You can pay us later."

"No I'm afraid all I can give you is this."

Macao placed one coin in Gray's hand. He was about protest until he looked at the coin to see that it was made of pure silver. 

"Is this..." He trailed off as he was scared to ask.

"Yep. It's silver. I had been saving it in case I had a child so I could use it to buy books and clothes for him. But since I now know that's never going happen to me I have no reason to keep it."

"I can't take this."

"Yes you can."

"No. You don't get money like this Macao."

"Neither do you or your mother."

"But you earned it, I didn't."

"Yes you did. You may not have earned it by spinning and selling fabric and thread but you did earn it by sacrificing your childhood to help your mother, growing up to be one of the very few decent men in this village, and for being a good friend to me."

"I don't know what to say."

"Just say that you'll take it."

Gray clutched the coin in hand and then hugged the kindly toy maker who returned the hug.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." The young man said gratefully. "You've done so much for me and my mother. Ever since I was little. I promise I'm going to pay you back for all that."

"Nonsense my boy. Kindness has no price or debt. Neither does friendship or love or family." The man told him. "Now run along before your mother worries and give my regards to her."

 "I will. Again thank you." Gray said going out the door. "For everything."