Countess (Count Olaf x OC)

Part 15: Dr. Montgomery

"How exactly is Dr Montgomery related to us?" Klaus asked Mr. Poe as the four of us took in the house that would be our new home.

"Dr Montgomery is, let me see," began Mr. Poe, "your late father's, cousin's, wife's, brother. That probably explains why you've never met him."

Sunny leaned back in Violet's lap, speaking in her baby language, "But it doesn't explain why we're being sent to live with him" to which Violet shrugged in response.

The car pulled around the circle and in front of the house. Mr. Poe turned the car off and we all pushed open the car doors to exit the suffocatingly small vehicle.

"Come along, Edith," said Mr. Poe as I joined the rest of them on the other side of the car. We started walking towards the front door of the house, my heart beating in anticipation of what would be on the other side.

Unlike the run-down and grimy house that Olaf had, this place was neat, clean, and welcoming on the outside. Hopefully it wouldn't be like Olaf's house that only got worse on the inside.

"What do we call him?" Violet asked Mr. Poe. "I mean, he's not exactly our uncle."

"You can call him Dr. Montgomery," said Mr. Poe as we approached the pale yellow-green door, "unless he asks you to call him by his first name, in which case you'll call him Montgomery."

"His name is Montgomery Montgomery?" Klaus asked, confused.

"Yes, yes," Mr. Poe replied. "And I'm sure he's very sensitive about that, so please don't ridicule him. 'Ridicule' means 'tease'."

"We know what 'ridicule' means," I snapped irritably, although Mr. Poe didn't notice my harsh tone. He continued to reach for the door knob until he broke out in a coughing fit.

"I can... I can still smell that ginger!" He sputtered before ringing the doorbell.

"I hope Dr. Montgomery is a decent person," Violet whispered as we waited for the door to open.

I heard the footsteps before the door was swung open by an excited-looking man holding a platter of pie slices. He eyed us all as he said, "Hello, hello, hello."

The flashbacks of first meeting Count Olaf hit me like a steam train going three-hundred miles per hour. My stomach turned and I felt like I was going to be sick.

"You must be the Baudelaires," Dr. Montgomery said as he walked over to stand in front of my siblings and I. "Well, this is just perfect timing because I have just finished frosting this delicious coconut cream cake."

He hands each of us a plate along with a fork.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Montgomery," Violet greeted politely.

"Please, call me Monty," He insisted. "I don't like fancy titles unless they give me a discount at the movies." He gasps. "Do you like going to the movies?"

"Very much," I said, the nausea vanishing at the sight of the delicious dessert. "But our parents didn't take us very often."

"Well, we are going to go a lot!" Monty declared. "To some very important and very special films. What is your favorite movie?"

"Um, Dawn Patrol, the 1938 version," Violet replied.

Monty nodded. "It was your father's favorite, too. Well, let's not stand out here. Come in!"

We all entered the house to see the very interesting living room. There were many odd and unique things stored. I had only just met Monty but I could tell that it was him.

"You must be Edith, the artist. Violet, the inventor. And you are Klaus, the reader. Your mother was so proud of your voracious intellectual appetites," Monty told us as we settled into the room. He turned to my youngest sibling, Sunny in Violet's arms. "And you must be Sunny. Would you like a piece of cake?"