Chapter 10 #2
“I’m proud of you, and the timing of this is all pretty dang perfect. I’d say you prepared yourself for the right girl just as a gorgeous woman walked into your life.”
Koa shoved Preston’s back, and the man stumbled forward as he laughed.
“This has nothing to do with Mia.” Koa paused. “But if you’re right, doesn’t that mean you’re ready for the right woman? You’re the one guiding me on my respecting-women journey.”
As Koa knew they would, those words shut Preston up, and they silently finished cleaning up in no time.
“Ms. Goodman!”
Mia smiled at the sound of the voice of her favorite seven-year-old. Was it wrong to have favorites? Probably. But then again, K.J. was the only one who had come over to her new home for dinner that night, so Mia felt okay about her love of the little boy.
“Hi, K.J.!” Mia said as K.J. leapt into her arms.
Tutu laughed before saying, “K.J., get off her before she falls on her okole.”
Mia was indeed a little off kilter and in danger of falling onto her gluteal region.
K.J. jumped off, offering Mia a hand so she could steady herself.
“You must be Ms. Goodman. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,” a beautiful woman with long black hair and dark green eyes said as she opened her arms to hug Mia.
Mia had learned in the weeks she’d lived on Maui that the proper greeting was a hug and kiss on the cheek. She was still getting used to it but had to admit she kind of loved it. If only she had reason to greet Koa in this way.
“Please, call me Mia.”
“Will do. And I’m Lana.”
Lana was absolutely stunning. Mia knew that many on the islands were mixed race, and Lana seemed to be a supreme example of that.
The texture of her hair told Mia she had at least some kind of Polynesian ancestry, and the shape of her eyes spoke of Asian heritage.
But her lighter eyes made Mia wonder if she had some Caucasian in her as well?
Mia loved this melting pot of a place she now considered her home.
“And here come Kahiau and Grace.” Lana waved a hand toward the screen door that had just opened, letting in a man with an adorable baby girl in his arms.
Even from this distance with the sun setting behind him, Mia could have known that Kahiau was Koa’s brother. They were about the same height, and the way they carried themselves with their shoulders upright was the exact same, though Kahiau appeared to be a bit softer than his younger counterpart.
“Aloha,” Kahiau greeted the room at large and then said to Tutu, “Tutu, that lau lau smells ono.”
Tutu smiled her appreciation at the compliment but went back to preparing the meal.
“Nice to meet you all. Tutu told me all about you,” Mia said as she headed to the kitchen to be near the woman who’d spent all afternoon cooking for everyone.
“Then she told you this one is kolohe?” Lana teased her husband.
“And that this one drives me pupule?” Kahiau shot right back.
Lana laughed but Tutu wasn’t having it. “Kahiau, talk about your wife like that one more time and I goin’ trow da slippah at you,” Tutu warned.
Mia bit her lip, loving that this woman still knew how to put her boys in their place.
“Yes, Tutu,” came Kahiau’s immediate humble response.
“Kolohe means rascal and pupule means crazy,” a soft voice translated from Mia’s side. She hadn’t realize K.J. had followed her into the kitchen.
“Thanks K.J. I figured it was something like that, but I’m grateful for the clarification,”
K.J. nodded happily before tugging on Mia’s arm. “Can I call you Mia too?”
Mia pressed her lips, unsure of how to respond.
“Aunty Mia,” Lana called from the living room.
Mia felt her cheeks go red. She knew everyone was called Aunty and Uncle in Hawaii, but the fact that she might have spent the night before dreaming of filling the role that would make her K.J.
’s true aunty made her blush more than she should have.
Dang, she needed to stop thinking about Koa in that way.
The man was way off limits. For so many reasons.
“How about Ms. Goodman in school and Aunty Mia everywhere else?” Mia dropped to her haunches so she was eye level with K.J.
“Okay,” K.J. said happily as he went back to join his family.
“What can I do?” Mia offered Tutu.
“Get that kolohe boy of mine to set the table, and you and Lana sit there looking pretty,” Tutu directed as she shooed Mia out of the kitchen.
“That, I can do,” Lana offered as she stood, taking Grace from Kahiau so that he could do as Tutu directed. “Help your dad,” Lana directed K.J.
The guys set the table as Mia watched, feeling a bit helpless.
Tutu hadn’t let her do much since she’d moved in the weekend before.
After Tutu went to bed each night, Mia had cleaned and straightened up a bit but hadn’t ever wanted to do anything like vacuuming for fear of waking her.
Tutu spent her days and nights in service of everyone else.
Mia just wanted to give her some of the same.
Before Mia knew it, in front of her was a plate stacked high with rice, something wrapped in green leaves, macaroni salad, and a concoction of tomatoes, onions, and something else.
“Let’s say a prayer,” Tutu directed, and Kahiau blessed the food before they all dug in.
“Have you had Hawaiian food before?” Lana kindly asked from the seat next to Mia.
“I’ve had rice and mac salad,” Mia admitted shyly because even the baby was already digging into the green stuff.
“This one is lau lau. You take this part off,” Lana directed as she pealed back a layer of leaf, leaving another layer of green.
“This is the ti leaf that it’s cooked in for protection and flavor,” Lana pointed to the outer leaves with her fork.
“And this part is the luau leaf. It’s delicious. Inside there’s pork and butterfish.”
As Mia began to peel at her own entrée she realized Grace and K.J. had been given unwrapped portions, thus being able to start eating so fast.
“If you want to add some chili peppa wattah, that’s how I like ‘em,” Kahiau said as he lifted a clear bottle holding a liquid and indeed some chili peppers.
“Or just add shoyu like me,” K.J. said with a grin.
“And beside the mac is lomi lomi salmon. Lomi lomi means to massage. It’s just tomatoes, onions, Hawaiian salt, and the little pink bits are salmon that have all been mixed together,” Lana explained about the last dish on the plate.
Mia hadn’t tried many different types of seafood but she did love salmon and was willing to give butterfish a try.
She decided to go with K.J.’s suggestion and poured a little shoyu onto her unwrapped lau lau before digging in.
“Oh, my goodness,” she muttered around her food as the lau lau melted in her mouth.
“Good, yeah?” Lana said with a laugh.
“And Tutu makes the best lau lau,” K.J. exclaimed.
“Thank you, boy,” Tutu said, warmth in her gaze as she looked at her great-grandson.
“The best is when you take one bite with everything on ‘em,” Kahiau said as he loaded his fork with lau lau, some rice, two pieces of elbow macaroni and a few tomatoes and onions.
He opened his mouth wide before downing the whole bite, the look of appreciation on his face telling Mia all she needed to know.
Mia copied the bite, though not quite as huge, much to K.J.’s delight.
“Ono,” Mia declared.
Tutu chuckled as Kahiau whooped and Lana clapped.
The meal went by quickly, mostly thanks to K.J.
’s chatter. Mia loved being on this end of hearing about his day.
He spoke with such admiration about what she taught in class when in her eyes, even though she’d now been teaching at Makalani for a couple of weeks, she’d barely held everything together.
When they all finished their dinners, Tutu brought out some haupia—coconut pudding and chocolate custard—pie, and Mia decided this was what they served your first night in heaven.
A clatter sounded, and Mia saw that Grace had thrown her empty plate on the ground.
“And that’s our cue.” Lana stood and took a baby wipe to Grace’s hands and face before scooping her up into her arms. Kahiau was on the floor cleaning up the mess Grace’s plate had made.
“I’m not ready to go yet,” K.J. said, his big brown eyes wide with pleading.
“But your sister is. Sorry, Kage,” Lana said as she struggled to contain a squirming Grace.
K.J. looked to Tutu who nodded with a smile, some kind of unspoken agreement being made.
“Can I sleep over at Tutu’s?” K.J. asked, his voice full of hope.
“I don’t know…” Lana began.
Kahiau hadn’t seen the exchange between his son and grandmother from his place on the floor so he shared the same look with Tutu. Tutu once again smiled.
“Tutu says it’s all good, Lana. Kage, promise to do your chores when you get home tomorrow?” Kahiau asked.
K.J. was nodding before Kahiau could even finish his sentence.
“Fine,” Lana agreed. “Mahalo, Tutu,” she said, leaning over the back of the chair to give the older woman a kiss on the cheek.
“Bye, Tutu,” Kahiau said as he finished cleaning Grace’s mess and kissed Tutu as well.
“I don’t want to,” Grace said and started crying.
“I’m sure you’ll miss us, but we’d better head out now. Looking forward to seeing you around a lot, Mia,” Lana yelled over her daughter before leaving.
“Nice to meet you, Mia. And be good for Tutu, K.J.” Kahiau hurried out after his wife and daughter.
“Yes!” K.J. said victoriously as the door slammed shut behind his dad.
Mia laughed as she began gathering up the plates from the table.
“I get ‘em,” Tutu said from her seat but Mia could see the exhaustion written on the older woman’s face.
“No, tonight I get ‘em.” Mia realized she wouldn’t get anywhere being meek with this woman when it came to work. She’d have to fight for it.
Tutu laughed. “You’re learning, girl.”
Mia smiled at the term of endearment she’d only heard Tutu use for her family.
“K.J., help Aunty Mia and then go bocha and brush your teeth,” Tutu directed. “I’ll read you one story after that.”