“Oh my, who’s this haunting beauty?” Ira knelt to hug Alida, adjusting her sparkly sunglasses after they were knocked askew with the force of her embrace. Ori was standing with a huge smile on her face, clearly enchanted by the little girl. Theo came charging in for a hug of his own, and while Ira complimented him on his charming “hattitude” Ori bent to greet Alida, laughing out loud to hear her brother addressed with the title of “mister.”
“I totally am!” She gave Alida an unprompted hug, drawing back to look at the girl’s quirky getup. “You’re Alida, am I saying that right? I f—I love your outfit. Stylish as h—stylish!” Ori beamed, not missing a beat even as she stumbled over the swearwords that Ira had warned would cost her. And then Theo was pushing to show off his hat to her, too, which she was happy to coo over until Staas shooed them all away from the door.
But then Theo went up into her brother’s arms to get a good look at Ira’s funny-colored hat, giving Ori the opportunity to receive Staas’ bear hug and giggle at his own close language slip. “Oh man, likewise, Mr. Mooren! I’ve heard so much about you, it was driving me crazy not to put a face to the name.”
She gave his lip ring and tastefully applied make-up an appreciative glance. “A pretty face. Don’t you think so, Ira?” She tossed a wink towards her brother, and Ira sent Staas a long-suffering look over Theo’s little cap.