When Jennifer and Tearra left the SGC they had went directly to a pizza parlor with a dining area. During Tearra's first few days on Earth Janet had bought Tearra two weeks worth of clean clothes that were charged to Uncle Sam, so taking Tearra shopping was a low priority. When they were done eating, thirty minutes later, Jennifer was driving Tearra to her new home.
The fenced in two-story house was isolated deep in the woods and it was originally owned by Jennifer's grandparents. As a middle-aged woman, Jennifer's grandmother was mugged three times by three individuals who lived within a three miles radius of her. The muggings took place less than a year apart and she had developed a phobia of being near people who weren't her relatives or close friends. Building a house with a burglar alarm five miles away from their closes neighbor was an attempt to deal with that phobia. Jennifer's grandparents had lived in the house for fifteen years before Jennifer's grandmother died of cancer. Three years later Jennifer's grandfather died and the house was left to Jennifer in his will.
Jennifer hated living five miles from her closest neighbor, but she hated the thought of selling the house even more. When Jennifer took possession of the house two years before, she had voiced her feelings to Doug, her fiancé at the time, about how she couldn't wait for the housing developers to reach her.
The distance from Cheyenne Mountain to the house was a nice commute and when Jennifer got on the road that took them into the woods, she noticed the glow in Tearra's face.
Jennifer was about to say something, but before she had a chance to Tearra turned towards her and asked with excitement in her voice, "Is the house surrounded by trees?"
Jennifer was slightly amused and answered with a grinned, "It is. You love the woods, don't you?"
Tearra looked out her window again before saying, "Woods is my home."
"Tearra, it's great that you love the woods and that you feel at home while being in the woods, but you will be living in a house now." When Tearra didn't acknowledge what was said, Jennifer continued to say, "Tearra, look at me." Tearra turned and faced Jennifer. "Tearra, I have no problem with you exploring the woods during the daylight hours, but I want you home at night. In fact, if you go exploring, I want you home at least half hour before sunset. And I don't want you taking off your clothes and shape-shifting into animals either. Okay?"
"Why don't you want me shape-shifting?" Tearra questioned.
"It's not often that I do, but every once in a while I'll see hikers in the woods," said Jennifer. "Those hikers don't need to see you shape-shifting into or appearing as a threatening animal. So promise me that you won't shape-shift while exploring the woods and that you will be home thirty minutes before sunset."
Tearra said in a disheartened tone, "I promise."
Jennifer rubbed Tearra's arm while saying, "Sweetie, I do understand that shape-shifting is who you are and I do realized that I'm having you to go against your nature, but I'm doing it to protect you. Okay?"
Tearra grinned before saying, "Okay.
"Oh and there will be times that I want you at the house and not to go into the woods," said Jennifer. "In fact, once we get home, I don't want you running off into the woods today. For today, I want you to familiar yourself with the house and not the woods. Okay?"
Tearra continued to grin as she said, "Okay." She then turned to look out her window again.
Jennifer just grinned at the sight of how Tearra was looking out the window in a pleasing manner. She then said, "I get the feeling that by you coming to live with Doug and me is going to make living isolated in the woods more exciting and bearable."
Tearra gave Jennifer a confused look before saying, "I don't understand."
"What don't you understand, Sweetie?" Jennifer questioned.
Tearra thought for a moment before asking, "You weren't happy living in the woods before I came?"
"I do like living in the woods; the woods are pretty," Jennifer began. Tearra grinned. "However; I'm more of a people person. I don't like being isolated."
"Why are you living in isolation if you don't like it?" asked Tearra.
"The house used to belong to my grandparents," Jennifer began. "They're deceased now though; my grandma first five years ago and then my grandpa three years later. When my grandpa died he had left the house to me and the thought of anyone living there other than me, Doug and now you, bothers me more than living in isolation."
"So you're just living there because you don't want anyone else living there," said Tearra.
"Well, I have too many pleasant childhood memories in that house to simply sell it; so your comment was an over simplified statement," said Jennifer.
Tearra thought for a second before questioning, "So the house is a sentimental possession of yours… like with Cassie and the necklace that Sam gave her as a gift a few years ago?"
Jennifer grinned before saying, "Now that's more of an accurate statement." Tearra smiled. "However, I never met Cassie, so it wasn't necessary to use her for an example."
"She's Janet's daughter," said Tearra.
"Sweetie, other than the people I met earlier while being with you, I don't really know the people who work in the mountain," said Jennifer.
"You met Janet in the infirmary," said Tearra.
Jennifer thought for a second before questioning, "Do you mean, Dr. Fraiser?"
Tearra nodded as she said, "Her first name is Janet."
"Well, in any case, I never met Janet's daughter," said Jennifer.
Tearra thought for a second before asking, "When your grandparents were alive, did you live with them and not with your parents?"
Jennifer slightly grinned before answering, "I grew up with my parents. I just visited my grandparents for weeks at a time during my summer vacation from school. I had even explored the woods when I was a child, so I'm somewhat familiar with the woods."
Tearra looked at Jennifer with a grin on her face before looking out the window again. The remainder of the trip to the house was quiet. Once Jennifer parked inside a two-car garage, she and Tearra entered the house from a door that directly entered the house from the garage. Both of them were carrying a suitcase each that was full of Tearra's clothes.
Jennifer led Tearra into an upstairs bedroom that was once hers when she would visit her grandparents. The room was filled with stuff animals and collectable dolls. They were neatly arranged on the bed, dresser and shelves. When Tearra stepped in, she gave a curious look at the stuff animals before questioning, "Are all of those stuff animals yours?"
"They are," said Jennifer. "I started collecting them twelve years ago. If you don't want them in here, I'll box them up and…"
"I want them," Tearra quickly interrupted with. "Please don't box them up."
Jennifer smiled before saying, "I'll leave them for you."
Tearra grinned before saying, "Thanks."
"You're welcome," said Jennifer as she put the suitcase that she held next to the bed. "There are some of my clothes in the dresser drawers that I will take out so you have room for yours. So far now, just put your suitcase off to the side." Tearra put the suitcase that she had next to the other suitcase. "Now come with me and I'll show you the rest of the house." Tearra just politely grinned and nodded. She then followed Jennifer out of the room. "Tearra, I understand that you can remain awake for five days before you really need to sleep…"
"I can sleep when you sleep," said Tearra.
"I was told that too, but if you promise me that you will remain in your room at night and don't make any disturbing noises while Doug and I are sleeping then I'm not really concern of you sleeping once every five days," said Jennifer.
"What would I do in my room for eight hours while you and Doug sleep?" Tearra questioned.
"Well, I have no problem with putting a TV and a DVD player in your room so you can watch movies," Jennifer began as she started down the steps. "I know you love reading, so I have no problem with buying you books…"
"Cassie taught me how to use a computer and if I had one I could talk to her with it," said Tearra.
Jennifer gave Tearra an amused grinned before saying, "If Doug and I get you a computer with Internet access then there will be rules that you have to follow."
"What kind of rules?" Tearra questioned.
"You will be only allowed to go on age appropriate sites and I don't want you in any chat-rooms," said Jennifer. "And before you talk to anyone by email or by instant message, Doug or I will have to approve the person who you want to converse with."
"The only people I know are Cassie, Janet, Sam, Colonel…" Tearra was only able to get out.
"Sweetie, instead of going through a long list of names that I think you were about to do, just say the people who work with Doug," said Jennifer.
"I don't know all of them though," said Tearra.
Jennifer grinned before saying, "That's okay, Sweetie; I know better than to expect that you would know all of them. And if we do get you a computer, I would still want to know who you're talking with over the computer; even if that someone does work with Doug."
"I promise to obey the rules," said Tearra.
"Good," said Jennifer. "I will discuss it with Doug about you getting a computer and if Doug doesn't have any objections of you having one then you can have a computer." Jennifer then saw Tearra in deep thought. "Are you okay?"
Tearra nodded before saying, "I'm trying to think of what to say to Doug so he doesn't have any objections for me to get a computer."
Jennifer chuckled in amusement before saying, "You need to work on your poker face while devising a plan."
Tearra gave her a confused look before saying, "I don't understand."
"Sweetie, you were too obvious that you were thinking hard about something, and in this case a sale pitch to get a computer," said Jennifer. "I have no objections for you to have a computer so you should let me be the one to talk to Doug about getting you one. Okay?"
Tearra grinned before saying, "Okay." She then followed Jennifer from room to room as Jennifer showed her the house. The discussion they had during the tour had remained casual.
Once the tour was over, Jennifer had taken out her clothes from Tearra's dresser drawers. Tearra then put her clothes away while Jennifer searched for a new place for her clothes.
Once the clothes were all put up, Jennifer and Tearra went to the living room to watch TV together. When Jennifer turned on the TV, the channel first displayed was a Spanish network from the satellite TV.
Tearra heard a few words in Spanish before Jennifer could turn the channel to the TV guide channel. Jennifer saw the confused expression on Tearra's face and asked, "What's wrong, Sweetie?"
"What that person was saying didn't make any sense," said Tearra.
"He was speaking a different language then what we do," said Jennifer.
"There are more than one language?" Tearra questioned.
"I don't know how many there are, but there a lot of languages," said Jennifer. "The language you just heard was Spanish. I know Spanish and sometimes I will watch the Spanish network."
"I want to know Spanish too," said Tearra.
Jennifer smiled before saying, "Okay. Sometime in the next few days, I'll sit down with you and start you on Spanish lessons. I think my English-to-Spanish dictionary is in the study."
"What is English-to-Spanish dictionary?" Tearra questioned.
"It's a dictionary that translates the English words to Spanish and vice versa," said Jennifer."
Jennifer saw Tearra's face light up before asking, "Can I see that dictionary?"
Jennifer showed an amused grinned before saying, "I'll give it to you so you can flip through it and familiar yourself with a word or two. Do you want that dictionary now or do you want to watch TV with me?"
Tearra grinned before saying, "I want to watch TV with you."
"Good; I kind of want to watch TV with you," said Jennifer. She then noticed that 'Wizard of Oz' was about ready to start and turned it to that channel for Tearra to watch.
Tearra and Jennifer watched two movies together before sunset. Twenty minutes into the third movie, Tearra slightly rubbed her ears before questioning, "What's that weird sound?"
Jennifer lowered the volume on the TV and listened for a moment before saying, "I don't hear anything, Sweetie." Tearra stood up and looked around. "Sweetie, what does it sound like?"
"It almost like when another Crubis talks to me," said Tearra. "It's not that though."
Tearra walked towards the window and before she reached it, Jennifer asked, "Where does it sound like it's coming from?"
"Outside," said Tearra as she reached the window.
As Tearra was looking out, Jennifer asked, "Are you being hurt by this sound?"
While Tearra was looking out the window in every direction, she said, "The sound doesn't hurt, but it's annoying."
Tearra was looking out the window to the left, when a bat flew hard into it from the right side. The window slightly cracked. When the bat made a loud thump, Tearra jumped and let a quick yelp before covering her mouth. Before Jennifer was able to react to the commotion, Tearra busted out laughing from her spontaneous reaction of being startled.
Jennifer was trying to keep from laughing herself and as she was walking up to Tearra, she asked, "Are okay?"
Tearra nodded and as she was trying to get her laughter under control, she said, "A bird flew into the window and scared me. It was also the bird what I was hearing. That's a weird sounding bird."
"Birds don't usually fly at night," said Jennifer.
Tearra looked out the window and when she saw the bat, she said, "Where it's lying on the ground out there. I think it's seriously hurt. I'm going to go out there and help it if it is."
"Tearra stay here," said Jennifer. "I'll go out and check on the bird."
"I can help it if it's hurt," said Tearra.
"Sweetie, birds don't usually survive after flying into a window as hard as that one did," said Jennifer. "So stay here and I'll go see what kind of bird that was."
"Okay," said Tearra.
When Jennifer went out the front door, Tearra began to feel the crack in the window with her finger. After a few seconds of feeling the crack she had placed her palm against it. Jennifer was coming around and saw Tearra with her hand against the cracked glass. She was about to say something to her, but stopped herself when she saw a slight glow emanating from Tearra's hand. Seconds later, she watched the two halves of the cracked glass being fused back together into one piece. After the initial shock of witnessing what Tearra was capable of had worn off, she looked down to the ground and saw a bat with a broken neck. Jennifer looked at it long enough to make sure that it was dead before leaving it lay.
Jennifer went back inside and as the front door was closing behind her she said, "Sweetie, that was a bat and not a bird."
"Was it killed when it hit the window?" asked Tearra as Jennifer walked towards the window.
"It was killed," said Jennifer as she gazed at the unusual pattern on the glass that Tearra had created when she fused the two halves together. "Tearra, what exactly did you do to repair the glass?"
Tearra thought for a moment before saying, "I heated the edges of the crack until it was soft enough to run together."
Jennifer faced Tearra as she questioned, "You're able to liquefy glass?"
"Glass and metal softens when I make my hand real hot," said Tearra. "I can also make certain rocks glow real bright when I make my hand hot."
"Promise me that you won't touch anyone when you make your hand hot," said Jennifer.
Tearra gave Jennifer a concern look before saying, "That would hurt a person or an animal and I don't want to hurt anyone."
Jennifer smiled before giving Tearra a hug and a kiss on the forehead. She then said, "I'm happy to hear that you don't want to hurt anyone."
Tearra smiled back before questioning, "It was okay that I fix the glass?"
"What you did was fine," said Jennifer. She then looked at her watch. "Now since that commotion is over, I need to start supper."
"Can I help," said Tearra.
Jennifer slightly grinned before saying, "If you want I can find you something to do to help."
"I want," said Tearra.
"Then follow me," said Jennifer. She and Tearra then stepped into the kitchen.
Minutes later, they were close to being finished while fixing supper when Tearra turned towards the kitchen's entryway. Jennifer saw her action, but before she could question her, Tearra said, "I hear the garage door opening."
Jennifer grinned and as she looked at the clock, she said, "You're hearing Doug driving in."
Jennifer saw Tearra straining to hear just before she said, "Doug's not alone."
"Wow, I thought you had super hearing when you heard the garage door, let alone hearing that there's someone in the car with him," said Jennifer.
"He has an animal with him," said Tearra.
"An animal?" Jennifer quickly questioned.
Tearra nodded while saying, "It's making whining noises."
With a curious expression on Jennifer's face, she walked into the next room. Tearra followed behind Jennifer. They were midway to the door when Doug came in while carrying a box with holes punch out on top.
Jennifer looked at the box while questioning, "You went out and bought a puppy."
Doug gave Jennifer a confused look before asking, "Okay, how do you know that there's a puppy in the box?"
"Tearra heard it whining from the kitchen," said Jennifer.
"Wow, she has outstanding hearing," said Doug as he set down the box.
"Honey, I don't have anything against having a dog, but we do normally discuss things like this first," said Jennifer.
"You're right and I'm sorry for not discussing it with you first," said Doug as he was taking the two-month-old black Labrador retriever from the box. "Col. O'Neall was telling me that all kids should have a puppy and I agreed with him."
Jennifer smirked while sarcastically saying, "Of course you did,"
Doug picked up the puppy and said just as the puppy licked his chin, "Anyway, Lt. Sheldon overheard our discussion and joined in on the conversation. He had puppies to give away and I thought it was a good opportunity to get Tearra a puppy."
"You got the puppy for me?" Tearra questioned.
"I did," said Doug. "I realize that you're not use to being responsible for the continuous care of a pet, and until you get the hang of what to do, I'll help you out."
Tearra gave Doug a curious look before she questioned, "Animals provide for themselves, so what's there to know?"
"Wild animals can provide for themselves, but domestic animals like this puppy depend on the owner to feed them," said Doug. "Puppies and dogs like to play and to be petted. They also need to be bathed from time to time and groomed. To keep a puppy or a dog healthy they also need to see a veterinarian… a doctor who treats animals."
"Doug and I will be the ones to have the fun of doing that last part," said Jennifer as she went to check the sex of the puppy. "And since the dog is a female, she needs to be spayed."
Jennifer saw a confused look on Tearra's face, as Doug said, "Females was all he had left."
"You look confused, Tearra," said Jennifer.
"I don't understand, spayed," said Tearra.
"To spay a dog, means to have a female dog fixed to where she can't get pregnant," said Jennifer.
"Why would you do that?" asked Tearra.
"Well, like Doug was saying, dogs depend on the owners to care for them, and if there are too many dogs then some of those dogs will turn wild as they provide for themselves," Jennifer explained. "And wild dogs are dangerous to people and to other domestic animals. Because of how dangerous wild dogs can be they are normally destroyed when they're caught."
Tearra continued to show a confused look before questioning, "If all female dogs are spayed then how do dogs have babies."
"Dogs have puppies, Sweetie, and not all owners spayed their female dog," said Jennifer. "Some owners even make their living by mating dogs and selling the puppies." Jennifer and Doug both saw an idea popping into Tearra's head. Once Jennifer saw that delightful flicker of light in Tearra's eyes, she quickly continued to say, "We're not mating any dogs so you can forget about that thought, Young Lady."
Tearra looked at Jennifer in a slightly surprised manner before making the comment that sounded more as a question, "I need to work on my poker face?"
Jennifer grinned before saying, "Yes, your poker face gave what you were thinking away."
Doug gave each of them a curious look before saying, "Okay, I'll ask about that later." Jennifer just gave him a smile. "For now though, Tearra, would you like to hold the puppy?"
Tearra grinned before saying, "Okay." She then took the puppy from Doug.
As Tearra held the puppy, Doug stroked the puppy's head while saying, "Puppies love to be petted so don't be scared to pet her."
"I won't," said Tearra as she began to pet the puppy. "If I'm supposed to feed her, what do I feed her?"
"There's dog food in my car along with dog supplies," said Doug as he stepped up to Jennifer. He then gave Jennifer a kiss.
After the kiss, Jennifer asked Doug, "So does the puppy have a name?"
Doug shook his head as he said, "No; I figured Tearra would like to be the one to name her."
"Puppies get names?" Tearra questioned.
"Pretty much all domestic animals get a name," said Doug. "While I was growing up I had a solid black dog mixed with Labrador and Great Dane. Her name was Black Magic; of course everyone called her Magic for short."
Tearra gave Doug a confused look before saying, "Black Magic doesn't sound like a name."
"Of course you wouldn't name an infant Black Magic, but people do get creative with names when they name their pets; like Butterball, Bandit, Cotton or Scout," said Doug. "
Jennifer and Doug saw Tearra gazing at the puppy while in deep thought. Before Tearra thought of name, Jennifer said, "Dogs are often named by what color they are, or by their sex. For black dogs I've heard, Pepper, Black Girl…"
Tearra interrupted with, "Can I name her Midnight?"
Jennifer grinned before saying, "Midnight is good too."
"So is that her name? Midnight?" Doug questioned.
Tearra stroke the puppy's head and said with a grin across her face, "Yes. Her name's Midnight."
"Okay, well the first priority for Midnight is to train her not to go potty in the house," said Doug. "So she needs to be taken outside regularly so she can go potty. And if she acts as though she's looking for a spot to go inside then you need to take her outside right then and there."
"Midnight will be sleeping in the garage at night until she's potty trained too," Jennifer added.
"Midnight hasn't potty for a while, so we should let her outside and see if she needs to go," said Doug.
"While you two are doing that, I'm going to finish fixing supper," said Jennifer. She then gestured towards the window. "Oh and there's a dead bat near the house, so don't let Midnight near it."
"Dead bat?" Doug questioned.
"Yeah, it slammed full force into the window and broke its neck," said Jennifer. "It cracked the window too, but Tearra has the ability to mend cracked glass."
"Bats don't normally fly into objects," said Doug.
"This one did," said Jennifer. "Tearra also heard it minutes before it slammed into the window."
Doug glanced at Tearra in a curious manner just before she said, "I was at the window looking out and it scared me."
"Okay, Tearra, go ahead and take Midnight outside," said Doug. "There are breaks in the fence that are big enough for her to get through, so you need to watch her closely so she won't get out of the yard."
"I thought you were coming out with me," said Tearra.
"I will, but first I'm going to get the dustpan and broom and dispose of that bat," said Doug.
"Okay," said Tearra. She, Doug and Jennifer then went their respective ways.
Tearra carried Midnight outside and once Midnight was put down, the puppy found a spot to relieve herself in matter of seconds. Doug came out seconds later with a dustpan and a broom.
Tearra and Doug were outside with Midnight for several minutes before Jennifer stuck her head out to call them in for supper.
Tearra again picked up Midnight and once she was inside, Jennifer said, "Tearra, put Midnight down so she can familiar herself with the house and then go wash your hands." Jennifer then saw Doug entering the garage.
As Tearra was putting Midnight down in the middle of the room, she said, "My hands aren't dirty."
"Before you sit down to eat, you are to wash your hands and especially after playing with Midnight," said Jennifer.
"I wasn't playing with her," said Tearra as she watched the puppy explore in the puppy's inquisitive and cautious manner.
"Well, you handled the puppy, so go wash your hands," said Jennifer.
Tearra said in a slightly bothered tone, "All right." Jennifer heard the tone and ignored it as Tearra walked away.
Doug walked in from the garage with a box that had the dog food and pet supplies. He put the box down near the door and grabbed the dog food and the two dishes from it. He then went into the kitchen and put out the dog food and water for Midnight.
When Tearra entered the kitchen she saw Midnight sniffing the dog food. Midnight then walked away from her food dish while sniffing the air.
Tearra gestured towards the dog dish and said, "If that's dog food, Midnight doesn't like it."
"Midnight just smells our food and is hoping to get table scraps," said Jennifer as she placed the food items on the table. "And don't be feeding her scraps during dinner either. All that will just teach her to beg for food while we eat."
"Okay, I won't," Tearra said before she took a seat.
Once everyone was seated at the table Doug said, "Before you and Tearra left the base, you mentioned to me about putting in your two weeks notice about quitting your position at school…"
"I haven't changed my mind; if that's what you're getting at," said Jennifer. Doug just grinned. "I'll put in my resignation tomorrow and until it takes affect, Tearra can go to base with you as we talked about. I'll then pick Tearra up each day after school."
"Gen. Hammond is expecting Tearra to be with me for the next fourteen days," said Doug.
"Good," said Jennifer. "Oh and when Tearra becomes disconnected with everyone she met on a regular basis, she's going to develop cabin fever very quickly." Tearra gave Jennifer a curious look. "I'm pretty sure I will too, but I think I can deal with it better than what she can."
"Because of the guidelines that we have to follow, I'm not sure what we can do about that," said Doug.
"Actually Tearra came up with a solution and I think it's a good solution," said Jennifer.
Jennifer and Doug saw a slight confused expression on Tearra's face before Doug asked, "What's this solution."
"Tearra wants a computer of her own with Internet access so she can stay in touch with Dr. Fraiser's daughter along with the other people she met at the base," said Jennifer. "And she knows that there will be rules that she'll have to follow while accessing the Internet."
Doug heavily exhaled before saying, "Sure, I'm not against the idea. And Tearra when we do get you that computer, I do want to be able to access your emails and files at anytime."
Tearra said in a tone as if she didn't know of another answer, "Okay."
"Okay," said Doug. "It may not be right away, but we'll get you a computer."
Tearra smiled before saying, "Thanks."
Jennifer smiled at Tearra as Doug said, "You're welcome." He then started a casual conversation while they ate.
Tearra was only eating for a short time when she heard a gnawing sound from underneath the table. When she glanced down, she saw Midnight gnawing on the table leg. She then glanced at Jennifer before she interrupted Doug and Jennifer's conversation with, "Midnight doesn't care for her food, but she finds the table tasty." Tearra then closely watched as Jennifer scolded Midnight along with watching Midnight's dismayed reaction.
Once Midnight was out from underneath the table, Jennifer looked at Tearra and said, "Tearra, if you catch Midnight chewing on anything other than her toys, stop her."
Tearra politely grinned before saying, "Okay."
Doug stood up while saying, "There's a rawhide bone in the box. I'll go get it so she can chew on that."
Doug was gone for only a minute and once he returned, he put the rawhide down next to Midnight. Midnight immediately began gnawing on it. Before Doug sat down again, he washed his hands at the kitchen sink. Once Doug was back at the table, he picked up the topic of where he and Jennifer had left off.
The supper last a few more minutes. Everyone helped to clear the table. Once the dishes were soaking in the sink and the table was wiped off, Jennifer asked, "Tearra, have you ever played the board game scrabble?"
Tearra gave Jennifer a slight confuse look before saying, "No; I've played monopoly, checkers, uno, yahztee and rummy."
Jennifer grinned before asking, "Would you like to learn how to play scrabble?"
"Yes, I want to learn," said Tearra.
"Okay, I'll be back in a minute with the game," said Jennifer. "We can play here at the table."
"I'll join you two," said Doug.
Jennifer just grinned and nodded before walking away. The scrabble board was in the study and while Jennifer was in there, she grabbed the regular dictionary and the English-to-Spanish dictionary along with the game.
When Jennifer walked back into the kitchen, she said, "Tearra, I grabbed the English-to-Spanish dictionary for you."
Tearra grinned and said, "Thanks."
"You're going to teach Tearra, Spanish?" Doug questioned.
"I will be," said Jennifer as she placed the game and the two books on the table.
"I see that you two are going to force me to learn Spanish," said Doug.
"You don't have to learn it," Jennifer said as she opened up the game box. "Tearra expressed a desire to learn Spanish is the reason that I'm going to teach her."
"Yeah, but if I don't learn it, you two could talk about me in front of me and I wouldn't know what you two be talking about," said Doug as Midnight barked in her toy-dog sounding bark.
When everyone looked they saw her barking at a dust mop that was next to the refrigerator.
"Why is Midnight making that sound?" Tearra questioned.
"She's barking at the dust-mop," said Jennifer.
"Why?" asked Tearra.
"You will learn quickly that dogs can be dumb at times," said Doug. He then went to shoo Midnight away from the dust mop.
While Doug was away from the table, Jennifer held out a tile-holder for Tearra to take and said, "I'll tell you in a minute what this is for, but we each get one."
"Okay," said Tearra as she took the tile-holder. She then mocked Jennifer on how the tile-holder was placed.
Once Doug was sitting back down, he and Jennifer began showing Tearra how to play.
Jennifer was an amazed as to how quickly Tearra caught on to the game. They played a few games before Doug and Jennifer decided that it was time to go to bed. Doug and Tearra took Midnight outside before locking up. After they were back inside, Jennifer stepped up to the house alarm panel and said as she pressed the activation buttons, "Tearra, do not open the front or the back door and if you do, it will set off a burglar alarm."
Tearra was watching Doug as he carried Midnight into the garage. She then faced Jennifer while saying, "All I'm going to do is stay in my room and learn the words from that English-to-Spanish dictionary."
Jennifer grinned before saying, "I just want you to know about the alarm."
"Okay," said Tearra.
Doug made sure that there wasn't anything in the garage for Midnight to get into. Both cars were only a couple of years old, so there were no fluids leaking for Midnight to get sick on. A short time later, Tearra entered her room while carrying the two dictionaries as Doug and Jennifer entered their room.
Tearra stayed awake during the passing eight hours and during that time, she read both dictionaries while starting with the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Not too long after 6:00 A.M, Tearra heard Doug and Jennifer walking around and left her room. All three of them were dressed, and when they were outside the bedrooms, Tearra spoke Spanish while speaking in the English syntax as she attempted to ask, "Jennifer, can I have breakfast. I like cereal if you have it."
Jennifer gave her an amused look before blurting out, "Stop talking."
Doug gave both of them a curious look as Tearra said in English, "I learned the words."
"I see that," Jennifer said in a slightly amused tone. "Learning the words isn't enough though."
Tearra gave Jennifer a confused look before saying, "I don't understand."
"I'll repeat what you were trying to say and perhaps then you will understand," said Jennifer. She said in Spanish with the proper syntax, "Can I have breakfast. I like cereal if you have it."
Tearra again gave Jennifer a confused look before saying, "The words are out of order."
"For English it's out of order, but for Spanish it's the proper way to speak," said Jennifer. "When we sit down together to start your Spanish lessons, I'll teach you the grammar. So how many Spanish words have you learn?"
"I read the whole book," said Tearra.
Jennifer gave her a stunned look before questioning, "You read the entire book in just one night?"
Tearra nodded as she was saying, "I was midway of reading it again when I heard you and Doug."
Jennifer gave Tearra a prideful grin while saying, "Okay, I now know how you were able to read all those books that you were telling me about yesterday." Tearra just grinned. "Anyway, I was planning to fix bacon and eggs for breakfast. Would you rather have eggs instead of cereal?"
Tearra nodded and said, "Okay, I like eggs."
"Good," said Jennifer.
"Tearra, I'm taking Midnight outside to go potty if you would like to join me," said Doug.
"Okay," said Tearra. She then followed behind Doug and Jennifer as they walked down the stairs.
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