Miller Family

Apollo woke up in a dense forest, and what greeted him when he opened his eyes was a beautiful sunset that is hidden inside the thick trees.

The ground he was laying on gave Apollo so much nostalgia that he began tearing up, he took a few handfuls of soil and hugged it like it was his lost child.

He laid on the ground on his stomach and rolled around like a crazy person.

As Apollo was isolated in space with no human contact, he got used to being naked so he rolled on the ground naked.

If people were to see Apollo doing this, they would instantly call the asylum to take him away.

Apollo got over his emotions and looked at himself, he was naked, dirty, and smelly.

He cleaned himself at a nearby lake and bought some clothes in that entity he named Atlas.

After he cleaned himself, he jumped above a tall tree and tried to find the way out.

As the earth's gravity was too low, jumping that high was as easy as breathing for Apollo. The gravity inside the black hole was multiple times greater than earth, as Apollo was unconscious at that time, rather than suffering; he instead got stronger because of the gravity.

He immediately found the exit because of the eyes he has, his eyes are upgraded to the point that it could be called a cheat. He could see an ants butthole clearly even if it's a few thousand kilometers away.

One thing dawned on him, money!

If you don't have money in this society, you are treated like a peasant.

'I wonder if I could exchange those points to today's currency.'

He didn't think too much about it and left the money problem for now.

When he got out of the forest, he found himself in a vast land filled with crops eg; Rice, Wheat, Potatoes.

The crops are fully grown and ready to be harvested but Apollo didn't care about that and walked towards a medium-sized house situated not far away from the crops.

He knocked on the wooden door and a man in his late 30's greeted him. The man wore a straw hat, grey jeans, and a long-sleeved checkered polo, the man looked quite fit and looked quite handsome with his clean-cut beard and a clean haircut that is barely seen. People would mistake him in his late 20's if they were to see him.

The man greeted him with a smile and said, "Hello, what do you want?"

Apollo answered with an awkward smile, "C-can I stay in your house for a little bit?"

The man was now suspicious of Apollo, he sized up Apollo and didn't find anything strange, Apollo was still 5'8 with a body size that was perfect for his age that was 26.

Apollo's body didn't really change much in the time where he was in the blackhole, he grew a few muscles but it was barely noticeable.

Don't let his body mislead you though, he could easily destroy a planet with only a flick of his finger.

The man named Liam let Apollo in, Liam has a wife and a 6-year-old daughter who was already in kindergarten.

Liam and Apollo sat on the dinner table while his wife and daughter cooked in the kitchen, his daughter doesn't know how to cook but she likes to help her mother cook and try to learn for her mother.

Liam took a cigarette from a small box and handed it over to Apollo who accepted it, Liam lighted his cigarette and Apollo's and started a conversation.

"What's your name kid?"

Apollo has never had a proper conversation after how many years in the black hole so he stuttered a bit when he replied, "I-I'm A-Apollo."

The man smiled, he's quite fond of Apollo even though their conversation has just started, "My name's Liam, my wife's name is Cristine and my precious daughter is called Anne." said Liam as he pointed towards the two girls in the kitchen.

Liam was very hospitable but he was still cautious because a stranger just knocked on the door saying he wants to stay in his house for a bit, who knows what he'll do.

They talked about all sorts of things until Apollo couldn't handle his curiousity anymore and asked what was on the paper in the table.

"What's that paper for?"

Liam forgot about the eviction notice on the table and immediately hid it, he gave Apollo an awkward smile and said, "It's nothing."

Apollo respected the old man's decision and just nodded in reply.

Apollo and Liam had small talks as they waited for lunch.

A woman shouted in the kitchen followed by a cute voice of a little girl trying to imitate her mother, "Dinners ready!"

Liam's stomach grumbled, he looked at Apollo and then laughed, "Sorry for being rude, my stomach is just hungry."

Apollo just smiled, what else could he reply.

Food was placed on the table by a woman also in her late 30's, the woman wore a brown skirt that reaches knee height and a black shirt that was tucked in her skirt. The woman was thin but not to the point of not getting nutrients, just right. Her face was above average, Apollo didn't even know if she wore make-up or not but he didn't really care, beautiful or not, a woman is still a woman after all.

A cute voice permeated the room, "Papa, papa, who's this?" she asked.

Liam looked at his daughter and smiled, "He's Apollo, you could call him big brother."

Anne's eyes grew bigger, and her cuteness became into a level that lolicons would worship her into a goddess of lolis.

She ran towards Apollo and introduced herself with a cute smile on her face, "Hi big brother Apollo, my name is Anne Miller, nice to meet you."

Apollo's fondness of the Miller family grew bigger, they treated a stranger that knocked on their door like family and that kind of heart is both a blessing and a curse.

They began eating after praying and did small talks,

"Where do you work, Apollo?"

Apollo lied and said that he got fired.

Cristine just nodded in reply and continued eating.

After they finished lunch, Liam began to harvest the crops and Cristine did the dishes while Anne and Apollo sat on the couch watching cartoons, Apollo didn't really watch and just enjoyed life for a bit.

The cartoon finished and Anne looked towards Apollo and asked with a huge smile, "Big brother, do you have a gift for me?" her mouth turned into a pout with her big and shiny eyes, seemingly praying that Apollo really has a gift for her.

Apollo smiled and replied, "What kind of gift do you want?"

Anne just tried her luck but she didn't expect that Apollo would really give her something, "Really?! Uhmm..." She thought for a bit and then said, "I want a big big teddy bear!"

Apollo bought a teddy bear from Atlas and took the teddy bear from the storage.

The teddy bear magically appeared in the living room, the bear was brown and its height was over 6'0 tall, taller than Apollo.

Anne's eyes grew big and her mouth agape in surprise, this lasted for over a minute and she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

She came towards Apollo and hugged him, "You're the best, Big brother!"

Cristine heard the commotion in the living room and walked out of the kitchen, she looked towards the living room and saw Anne hugging a huge teddy bear with an Apollo sitting in the couch smiling faintly.

She also had the same reaction as her daughter, she rubbed her eyes to see if she isn't dreaming and she really isn't.

She got her senses back and walked towards Apollo and asked while stuttering, "A-Apollo... Where did this teddy bear come from?" Her eyes still fixated on the teddy bear.

Apollo didn't reply so Anne replied with a huge smile on her face, "Big brother Apollo gifted it to me, Big brother is a magician!" she ran back to the teddy bear, hugging it like it was their last day and would disappear tomorrow.

Liam just finished harvesting and walked inside covered in sweat, "What's the commotion?"

Cristine looked towards the door and replied, "A-Anne said Apollo gifted this huge teddy bear to her."

Liam looked towards the living room his jaws dropped, "A-Apollo... W-We can't accept this."

Apollo just waved his hands, "It's just a small gift to your daughter, don't think much of it."

Liam just nodded and sat down on the chair in the table.

He looked at the papers, 'Worried' is written clearly in his eyes, "How could I earn $10,000 in the span of 2 months?" Liam muttered as he shook his head.

Apollo heard this and his eyes twitched, he is really fond of this family and wanted to help. He asked Atlas if he could exchange those points to USD and he could, what surprise him though wasn't that, it was the conversion rate, 1 point = $1,000,000. His eyes twitched again, 'Did I really pay $1,000,000 for a box of pizza and wings?', after he thought about it, that pizza and chicken wings tasted godly, heck, calling it godly is an understatement.

He decided to exchange and stood from the couch and walked towards Liam who was really worried about being evicted from the house.

He sat on the chair opposite of Liam and asked, "What's the problem?"

Liam didn't respond as he was thinking about what to do.

Apollo poked his right shoulder and asked again, "What's the problem?"

Liam noticed Apollo and smiled awkwardly, "N-no, nothing."

He really wants to help this family but Apollo didn't know how; should he just give Liam money or should he help them indirectly?

Apollo smiled and patted Liam on the back, "Just ask me if you need help."

Liam looked at him in the eyes and nodded.

Apollo went back to the couch and accompanied Anne watching cartoons, Anne caught the sight of Apollo and ran towards him, "What other gifts do you have for me big brother?"

He patted the little girl's head and asked back with a smile, "What gifts do you want? Big brother will get it for you."

"I want a big TV so I could watch cartoons and I want lots of toys but mom and dad can't get it for me." she frowned as she said the last sentence.

Apollo bought a 100' Tv and toys for girls from Atlas and got outside, "Come, let's go outside."

Cristine heard this and became suspicious so she followed them outside.

Apollo led Anne to an empty piece of land that was just at the back of the house and let out all the toys and the huge TV that was 20x the size of the Tv they were watching on earlier.

The toys that appeared seemed countless, from flying barbie dolls to those colored ponies that sized from a few inches to human-sized.

He patted the dumbfounded Anne on the head and asked, "Do you like my gift?"

The remote on Anne's small hands dropped to the ground, her mouth agape and she was still surprised but she, with difficulty, nodded in reply.

Cristine was also dumbfounded, 'Just what kind of person did my husband take in?!' she thought to herself as she stared nonplussed at the toys that counted to millions at the back of their house.

"Do you want to watch on the tv now?"

Anne nodded once again so Apollo placed all the things back in his storage and lead Anne back to the house.

He bought a TV stand from Atlas and placed it far away from the couch and set up the TV. He also had a TV when he was in the black hole but he didn't have cable or electricity so he couldn't entertain himself.

Once he set up the TV, he returned to his usual position and gave the remote to Anne who was like a person who just won the lottery.

Meanwhile, Cristine sat on the chair the opposite of Liam who was still trying to find a way to delay the eviction so he could earn the money.

Cristine poked Liam who got surprised at her presence, "Oh, what do you need?"

"You... Haven't you seen what Apollo gave to our daughter?"

Liam looked confused, "What things?"

Cristine shook her head, "He gifted her a huge teddy bear, an absurd amount of toys and a Tv that is even bigger than him."

He looked towards the living room and saw Anne sitting happily next to Apollo watching on a huge tv.

Liam looked back at his wife but stopped and looked back at the living room again.

He looked at his wife straight in the eyes and said with a low voice, "W-w-where d-did he get those things?"

"I don't know."

Liam asked Apollo to go to them and Apollo obliged and walked towards the table they were in.

He sat on a chair in between Liam and Cristine and asked nonchalantly as if nothing happened, "What's up?"

Liam fiddled with his fingers, sweat pouring down his forehead, he said while looking down on the wooden table, "Apollo... W-we can't possibly repay you for those things you gave Anne..."

Apollo just smiled and waved his hands, "I just did that to repay you guys for your hospitality, it made me feel like I was home and not just a stranger."

Liam didn't reply but he swore to repay Apollo one day because of how happy he made his daughter.

After a few minutes of silence, Liam had the courage to talk again, he leaned towards Apollo and placed his hands on Apollo's shoulder, he looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "If you ever need a place to stay, you can always come to us and we will welcome you wholeheartedly."

Cristine just sat there with a smile on her face, appreciating the bromance that is happening right before her.

Apollo just nodded and smiled at him before he got up and returned to the couch and accompanied Anne to watch.

...

In the evening, Cristine prepared a feist for Apollo, thinking that slowly but surely, they could repay him for all the kindness he has given them and their daughter.

The dinner table was filled with all sorts of things, from a roasted chicken, pasta, spaghetti which were bought by Cristine when she went out shopping for groceries in the afternoon.

Apollo liked this very much, although the food tasted bland to him because of all the godly food he has eaten when he was in the black hole, the taste of the food becomes meaningless if it's prepared with the purest of intentions.

The house became lively, laughter could be heard even at a distance, they talked about embarrassing stories, about how Liam and Cristine met and Apollo's childhood and past.

Dinner quickly past by and only Apollo and Liam were left in the dinner table with bottles of beer in the table and a cigarette in their hands.

They sat there, motionless, staring at the void and looking forward to the future that's just right in the corner.