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Characters: Tyr and Sif, Guest-starring Tina Shin
Date/Time: Friday, July 22th, starting around 7 p.m.
Location: Frosted Fancies, Chicago
Rating: TBD, but probably no more than PG.
Warnings: Possible eye-rolling cuteness.
Summary: Tyr and his daughter, Tina, go visit Sif over the weekend.

Kevin had to admit he was anxious as they got closer and closer to their destination.

His ever perceptive daughter caught on quick. "Are you sweating, Daddy?

"What? Oh yeah, a little, hon. I'm just a little hot."

"But you have the air conditioner on." She seemed to think a minute. "Are you worried about seeing your friend?"

Sometimes she could be way too perceptive. He sighs. "Yeah, honey. I am a little."

Again she seemed to think. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Kevin nearly coughed in surprise. "What? No, Tina. Amber is an old friend who I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk with for awhile, that's all."

Tina raised a screwed-up eyebrow at him, totally not convinced.

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"Of course I'm sure," Sif said warmly.

"Well, if you haven't found a place yet, then you're more than welcome to stay with me. I insist. I've got a guest room that doesn't see nearly enough guests. And, if you haven't eaten yet, I'll be more than happy to cook for you. It's much more fun cooking for a group than for just me."

"I..I can't impose on you like that, Sif," he whispers her name so Tina couldn't hear.

"It's not an imposition," Sif insisted softly but firmly, "We're family. It's what we do for each other. Besides, I just washed all my linens yesterday, so they're fresh. Come and stay with me. It's a big house, and it gets lonely when it's just me."

He sighs, knowing he's defeated. "Tina, would you be okay staying at Ms. Wheatley's house?"

The little girl was just returning from behind the counter, a cookie in each pant pocket. The little girl looked serious as she looked at Amber, almost as if weighing her character. Finally she spoke.

"Yes, Daddy. I think Miss Amber's nice."

He chuckles. "Well there you have it."

Sif chuckled.
"Oh, sweetie. Here. Let's box those up instead of stuffing them in your clothes. Fewer crumbs that way." She quickly took care of the extra cookies.

"Well, come on, then. Let me take you home."

She ushered them out, locked up the bakery, and went for her car. "Just follow me, okay? It won't take long."

She led them to her house, which was a charming older place, painted white with green shutters and a fence. Flowers bloomed in the gardens. "Here we are. Home sweet home. Come on in--I'll show you around."

Little Tina had a hold of her dad's good hand as they made their way in.

"Wow, Miss Amber. Your house is real pretty," Tina said as her eyes took in the place. "What kind of flowers were those?"

"What she said," Kevin said with a smile. "You have a lovely home."

"Thank you," Sif said graciously.

"As for my flowers, these are roses, and daisies, of course. My peonies are already spent, but the poppies are still blooming, and the grape hyacinth--that's the little purple ones. And my climatis..." Sif continued to name off about a dozen different kinds of blossom.

"Why don't we go on inside. Are you two hungry? I could sure make us all something for dinner."

After Sif mentioned the poppies, Tina began to get lost in the names and thus nodded quickly when asked about going inside.

When Kevin was beside her. "You sure about this? My girl's got a high metabolism and a bottomless pit in her stomach?"

She chuckled.
"You like pizza? You're in Chicago, after all, so how about some real Chicago deep dish?" she suggested.

"Pizza! Radical, dudette!" The girl suddenly exclaimed.

Kevin hid his face behind his hand. "She got into my old movie collection years ago, and watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie. Ever since she relates them to pizza."

Sif laughed.
"Okay. Come on, Tina. Would you like to help me in the kitchen? Let me get the oven fired up, and it shouldn't take more than about a half-hour."

She turned the oven on, and started looking through the fridge and pantry.
"Let's see... Flour... salt..." Sif got out everything for the pizza dough. "I still have some homemade marinara from spaghetti night on Tuesday... Cheese, of course..." She looked at Tina. "What do you like on your pizza, sweetie?"

"Sure! Could you ho.." she was about to ask her dad to hold her cookie box, but halts herself. Very conscientious for her age, she instead sits the box on a table and gives Tyr a quick hug before joining Sif.

"I like cheese," she stated proudly. Tina listened for a bit before her face wrinkled cutely in confusion. "Marynarra?"

"Marinara is the sauce we put on," Sif explained, gesturing to the jar filled with a hearty-looking sauce. "Anything else besides cheese? Ground beef? Pepperoni? Sausage? Vegetables? Pineapple? Pickles?" She was teasing at that point.

Sif glanced at Tyr.
"What about you, Kevin? Any requests for toppings?"

Tina stuck her little tongue out at the latter toppings. "Ewww."

"She likes what she likes and sticks with it," Tyr informed. "Me? Umm, a little pepperoni would be fine, thank you."

"Fair enough," Sif said with a smile, "How does half cheese and half pepperoni sound?"

"Sounds good to me." He looks back at Tina. "Remember young lady, no eating too much. Remember the belly ache you had last time?"

Tina sheepishly looked at the ground, confirming she had been planning to binge. "I told Mommy it wasn't your fault my tummy hurt."

Amazing how considerate she could be. "Honey, that's not what I meant. I just don't want to happen to you again."

Sif gave Tyr a curious look, but decided it wasn't the time to pry.

"It's okay," she said, "I like to eat a lot sometimes, too. But, we can always eat the rest tomorrow if we don't finish it tonight. Now... let's get you an apron, and get this pizza going! Have you ever done any baking before, Tina?"

She seems to take Sif's words in stride and nods a little.

"No, not Mommy or Daddy can cook very well. I eat a lot of takeout."

There's an almost inaudible slap as Kevin smacks his head in embarassment of his domestic ineptitude.

Sif grinned.
"Not in my kitchen, you won't. Don't worry--I'll teach you. First, we have to make sure our hands are clean, so come here and we'll get washed up." Sif quickly washed her hands.

"Now, we're already preheating the oven, so that's taken care of. So, we'll start with the crust. Flour comes first. Why don't you help me measure it?" Sif handed her a measuring cup. "This is how much we need, so go ahead and fill it up there from the container..."

"Okay," Tina said putting her mind to what was before her.

Tyr looked a little wistful. Wow, they're getting along pretty good. Maybe, no, no, damn it don't start that again! But you never know, but she'd, stop, just stop! He frowned at his inner monologue. He tried to focus on what was happening in front of him.

Sif seemed wonderfully content guiding Tina through the rest of the pizza dough ingredients, not seeming to mind at all if a little got spilled here and there.

"Now comes the really fun part," she said, "We need to roll out the dough so it's nice and thin for the crust." Sif sprinkled a little cornmeal over the rolling sheet. "We take our rolling pin and try to turn the ball of dough into a pancake, ok? You want to try?"

One thing that had clearly passed from father to daughter, was a willingness to get one's hands dirty. She gave a nod and was handed the pin. She looked at the dough as if gauging a potential adversary, her tongue sticking out a little as she strategized. Tyr discreetly pulled out his cellphone to take a picture of her face. It was too cute. She even took a few steps back and forth, studying it from all sides.

Sif smiled.
"Okay, almost thin enough. Now, just to get it the last little bit..." Sif smiled and picked up the dough. She tossed it into the air like an expert pizza maker, spinning it. "There we go. Perfect. Now it goes into the pan... And we prick it with a fork. Why don't you go ahead and make lots of fork holes in it for me? All over."

Her little face lit up as if the sight of pizza being tossed into the air and caught was the best thing ever. "Yes, Miss Amber," she answered as she began to poke holes in the crust.

Kevin had walked up closer and whispered: "Don't look now but I think you have a fan."

"The magic of the joy of cooking," Sif whispered back, lightly touching his back as she looked back to Tina.

"You're doing a great job. Now, we put the sauce on... Make sure it's nice and even. Not too much..." As the sauce was put on the pizza, the kitchen was soon redolent with the aroma of it: tomato, garlic, herbs...

"The cheese goes on next. We'll just grate it on. Lots of it, of course, and let's do some different kinds. Mozzarella... Romano... Asiago... Parmesan..."