by Alexie Aaron
“Cid says I’m having my first childhood.”
“Well, if Cid says so…” Ted said and hugged Mia tight. “Now, it’s time to fool the parents and torture my sisters.”
Chapter Two
Mia curled up with Ted on Glenda’s couch. They sat watching the fire while Audrey teamed up with Glenda to take on Burt and Mike in a game of Euchre. Earlier, Father Santos had told Ted and Mia something in confidence that they had yet to process. Father Alessandro was dying. He wasn’t as sharp as he once was. It was during one of these lapses that he was influenced by, who Mia called, the purgatory priests to have Sangria for lunch with her. Father Alessandro didn’t consciously deliver the trigger to her. Father Santos did not tell him of his part in the Judas Hex. Alessandro had figured it out for himself, and he was sad.
“I’ll go and visit him when we get back,” she promised. “I’ve made so many mistakes these last few months that I can’t hold him responsible for a very clever Roumain con.”
“You’re a good example to all of us, Mia. You forgive so easily. Even I have held on to some grudges in my time,” Father Santos said.
Mia looked at her husband. “If Ted had left me, then I fear I may have not been so agreeable. My husband is my greatest strength. He brings out the best in me. He supports me and laughs at me when I get too full of myself.”
“Mia, you give me too much credit,” Ted said, blushing.
Father Santos took both of their hands and blessed them and their marriage. This time he added mentally, “May no human, demon, or birdman come between Ted and Mia.”
“Crap on toast!” Glenda exclaimed. “How in the world did these two get the better of us superior females?”
“I may have let you down,” Audrey admitted. “I’m not as alert after that wonderful supper, Glenda. My eyelids are feeling heavy.”
Burt looked at Mike and said, “Couldn’t it have been our prowess?”
“At games, my friend. We are good game players,” Mike said, glancing at the couple on the couch. “Ted, Mia, would you like to take us on?”
Ted leaned over and whispered something in Mia’s ear that gave her a fit of giggles. They got up and came over to the table. “What are we playing?” Mia asked.
“Euchre.”
“K.” She sat down opposite her husband.
“No mindreading,” Mike said, pointing at Mia.
She started laughing. “K.”
Audrey moved around the lower floor, glancing at the pictures Glenda had placed on every surface. Audrey picked up one that looked a lot like Mike, but his eyes were slightly closer together.
“That’s Mike’s father,” Glenda said. “He was a handsome man.”
“Yes, he was,” Audrey admired. “You were lucky to find your love so early in life.”
“What’s going on with you, dear? I thought you had that doctor hogtied and ready for the spit?”
“It hit a snag. Matt wants a commitment with conditions attached. I want my freedom.”
Mia let out a giggle as Ted smacked the cards on the table.
“I’m not sure we have what those two have,” Audrey said.
“Mutual immaturity?” Glenda asked.
Audrey laughed.
There was a knock on the door before Cid let himself in. He waved at them before walking over to watch the card game.
“What about that one?”
“Too young.”
“You two seem to have a lot in common.”
“Too much. I’ve decided to not rush into things. If I miss my time to have kids, I’ll adopt.”
“Judy could help to keep you viable,” Glenda said. “I’ll foot the bill if the treatments are too dear.”
“Thank you, that is very kind, but I’ve always believed in fate.” Audrey drew Glenda into the kitchen. “I have a dirty little secret, Glenda.”
Glenda leaned in.
“I’m kind of interested in an older man. Not for forever mind you, but for right now. My mother would disown me if she knew.”
“Does this man know?” Glenda asked.
“I’ve been picking up a vibe,” Audrey admitted. “He’s related to a friend of mine, so it’s complicated.”
“Well, maybe you better not tell me. I blab when I’m in my cups.”
Audrey nodded.
Burt and Mike won again. Mia bowed out, and Ted and Cid took the champs on. Mia walked into the kitchen and took Glenda’s hands. “Would you walk with me outside?”
“Sure, let me get my coat.”
“Please excuse us, Audrey,” Mia said. “I’ll explain later.”
“No problem. I’m going to take advantage of the upstairs bath. Have you seen the size of that tub?”
“It’s a tub for two. Rub a dub dub,” Mia said. “Lock your door or you’ll have a PEEP or two offering to wash your back.”
“Mia!” Audrey said, outraged.
Glenda walked in sporting a new cloth coat.
“I like this,” Mia said, fingering the rich blue material.
“Mike says I’m going to get red paint tossed on me if I wear my fur before January.”
“Could be.”
They walked outside, and Mia linked her arm with Glenda’s.
“Now what’s all this about?” Glenda asked.
“Murphy came across something I think you may want to see. He was checking out the apple trees when he discovered something.”
“Do you think you could be a little more vague?”
Mia laughed. “Murph!”
Murphy appeared and walked with the women to the trees. Mia pointed to one particular tree. “I see where you and Mike senior carved a heart into the tree, but it’s what Murphy found grown into the limb that has us puzzled.”
Mia took off her coat and unleashed her wings. She picked Glenda up gently and rose with her ten feet off the ground. Resting on the top of the limb was a locket.
“See how the tree grew around the chain?”
“Yes.” Glenda reached forward and flipped the weathered locket open. There were she and her husband on one side and a small boy on the other.
“It’s us. I thought I had lost the locket. How it became part of this tree is another matter.”
“Murphy wants to clip the chain and release the locket, but I wanted to ask you first.”
“This was my husband’s favorite tree. Let the locket stay,” she said.
Mia lowered Glenda. Glenda looked around and asked, “Where is Stephen?”
“Murph, please come here,” Mia asked. She took his hand and put it in Glenda’s warm grip. “His hand will feel tingly in yours,” Mia said and stepped away.
“Listen, you rascal. I thank you with all my heart for finding my locket. Mike Sr. gave it to me when we were sweethearts. When I lost him, I was in a fit of grief. I ripped the locket from my neck and tossed it. Later, I went back to find it but never did. I forgot about it until now. Those trees were his idea, you see.”
“Ask her if his passing was hard?” Murphy asked Mia.
“Murphy wants to know how Mike senior died.”
“It was quick. He caught a bullet when he was overseas. It shattered, and they never got all of it. A piece moved into his bloodstream and into his heart. He died in my arms.”
“How old was your son at the time?” Mia asked.
“He was in high school. It changed him. He became someone I didn’t recognize.”
“At that time in our lives, we all change, Glenda,” Mia said. “I had Murphy to see me through the worst of it. He listened. I think Mike is a wonderful man. It took us a while to stop sticking needles in the other, but when we did stop, I could see a very special person before me,” Mia said honestly.
“When I leave this earth, will the two of you look after my son?” Glenda asked.
Mia looked at Murphy. He nodded.
“Yes, Murphy and I will watch over him. He will never be alone,” Mia promised.
Glenda wrapped her arms around Murphy and Mia. “You t
wo will no doubt play a prank or two on the boy, but he needs it.”
Murphy laughed, and it filtered through the veil.
Glenda released the ghost and the girl. She looked at Mia and asked, “Tell me what he looks like? In your own words.”
“I take it, it’s Murphy you’re asking about?” Mia clarified.
“Yes, please.”
“When I look at Stephen, the first thing I notice is his eyes. They are gray with blue flecks in them. He is a handsome man of thirty-five, but he looks older. He has weathered many a winter so his skin is tough, but he has laugh lines, and when he’s not paying attention, a dimple right here,” Mia said, touching the corner of her mouth. “His hair is chestnut with some gray. He wears a hat and work clothes. He’s kind of dusty. Now, that axe he carries, whoa. It’s cast iron but well cared for. It’s always sharp.”
“Tell me more about his face.”
“He has a Roman nose, like Mike’s. His lips aren’t full nor thin. His jaw is strong, and his chin chiseled. He has a permanent four o’clock shadow.”
“I can see why he was such a temptation.”
“Don’t get me started,” Mia said, winking at Murphy.
“Bad Mia,” Murphy scolded.
“So that’s what he sounds like,” Glenda said, putting her hand to her chest. “Thank you, it’s nice to know what the scamp looks like.”
The three walked in the house together. Mike had his head in the refrigerator. “Ma, I’m hungry.”
Glenda smiled indulgently. She squeezed Mia’s hand before she started to make Mike a sandwich.
“Mama’s boy,” Murphy said to Mia.
“You’re all mama’s boys,” she sent back silently. She walked back over to the card game and watched the men play.
Each man was so different, yet they were all the same. They cared. Mike was the oldest, but Burt had taken the position of leader again and again. Mike seemed to understand his friend’s need to be in control of something. Mike had his natural charisma and good looks. Contrary to his fears, Mike grew more handsome as he aged. If he continued down the path his father had, Mike would be breaking hearts for decades to come.
Burt was softer. His penchant for holding on to weight had put a smooth blanket of skin over his muscled body. Mia watched his hands, still fascinated by the strength there, but they could be gentle and loving too. Mia felt heat and pushed the memories of their time together away. Somehow the feelings she had seemed disloyal to Ted.
As if he sensed her presence, Ted looked up and over at her. She smiled. She loved the tall, lean, auburn-haired man. His youthful freckles and sharp eyes may have been shadowed by a large Roman nose, but Mia thought his face was handsome, although not in the traditional sense. Mike was classically handsome. Ted was more interesting. Mike had four practiced expressions, but Ted’s face was capable of a dozen or so. When he and Cid were doing voices, Ted’s face took on the character of the aped being. Presently, his Chiefs hat was on backwards. He wore his comfortable and worn football jersey over a crew-necked undershirt. Ted had on jeans, white socks and sneakers. Her husband was capable of looking quite handsome in a suit, but Mia preferred Ted this way. It was this man-child she had fallen in love with. The grownup-company Ted, she didn’t warm to.
Cid turned his head and winked at Mia. The handsome dark looks of Ted’s best friend complemented the quartet of males. Cid was physically strong. The hard labor of construction had sculpted a body that turned heads, but Cid didn’t see what others saw. In the mirror, he was still the chubby boy with the overly thick glasses being made fun of by the other kids. His shyness with women was charming, but Mia sensed it was more of a protection. She knew that his courtship with Marta had fizzled, but she didn’t ask why. Sometimes the best-suited people didn’t last past a dozen dates.
That’s what had happened to her and Whitney Martin. He was her childhood crush. He was the popular boy who took pity on her and rescued her when it suited him. When he returned to Big Bear Lake with an artist wife in tow, Mia’s heart broke. But they did manage an odd friendship. There still had been an attraction on both sides, and Mia had survived on the scraps of attention he gave her. She risked her life to save the soul of Sherry, Whit’s wife, who had been murdered by the hanging man in the hollow. The evil hag of the swamp had used Sherry’s ghost and refused to let the woman see the light that had come for her. When Mia, with the help of PEEPs and Father Santos’s group, released Sherry, Whit left.
“He should have stayed gone,” Mia thought to herself and walked over and sat back down and stared at the fire.
Whit did come back and moved in on a hurting Mia when her relationship with Burt was fizzling. Mia had her crush in her arms and in her bed. She was proud to be on his arm, and she supported him. Unfortunately, it was one-sided. Whit demanded the spotlight, and he chafed as Mia’s powers grew. He complained that she wasn’t there for him, but he wasn’t there for her either. She was still a bit too weird for him. She had matured into a beautiful woman, but she was still Crazy Cooper to his childhood friends. All except Tom Braverman, who was younger than Whit but more mature.
When Whit slept with former PEEP Beth Bouvier, Mia ended the relationship. Truth was, she had seen the writing on the wall long before. Mia wasn’t in love with Whitney. The betrayal by Beth deliberately sleeping with a drunken Whit had hit Mia hard. Not only did she lose her lover, but a woman whom Mia had considered a friend. To make matters worse, Beth had campaigned to have Crazy Cooper committed. She saw Mia as a threat and wanted her out of PEEPs and away from Ted.
Mia didn’t consciously go after Ted, but fate and PEEPs put them together a lot. He always seemed to be there when she needed a shoulder or a laugh. He had understood her love for Stephen Murphy, which had to have been hard. He watched Mia evolve and wasn’t cowed or horrified when it became very apparent that Mia wasn’t totally human. He saw her as a superhero and not a freak. With every change, he was there to help, admire and love her. It took a Judas Hex to put any doubt in Ted’s mind that Mia wasn’t the one he should be spending the rest of his life with.
Mia fought for him. She had won, but the cost had brought forth unwanted wings. Mia, above all, wanted a normal life. She wanted Ted, Brian and future children. She craved being part of a community and accepted. That would never happen now.
However, she was accepted by PEEPs.
Mia heard the water draining from the tub upstairs and thought about the woman who was in the bathroom. Audrey McCarthy came into Mia’s life right after Ted and Mia had become a couple. Audrey was an independent consultant who assessed buildings to see if they would be viable to the charities they were donated to. She had become PEEPs new researcher, more than overshadowing Beth. Beth was good, but Audrey was better. Her Nancy Drew doggedness rooted out information that made PEEPs investigations easier. Plus, Audrey was a joy. Her bouncy red curls and smiling face picked up the tired investigators when they needed it. Her enthusiasm was catchy. Audrey believed in the good of mankind even after they had left their earthly bodies. She was brought up in an Irish Catholic household and still quaked when a stern nun walked by.
Audrey had made an understandable error early in her life. She had fallen for and married a controlling man. He had isolated her and beat her. She escaped and, in doing so, found her vocation, but the scars were still there. Mia saw again and again how Audrey would come close to a committed relationship but veer away before committing. Mia still thought that their lawyer, Alan Jefferies, and Audrey would have been a good match, but Audrey had burned that bridge long ago.
Audrey had become dear to Mia and Ted. She was given the honor of becoming Brian’s godmother, a position Audrey took very seriously.
Mia’s head started hurting. She walked into the kitchen in search of an aspirin when she saw Glenda at the sink comforting Mike who had just thrown up. She ran to Ted. “Evil is near,” she said, seeking protection in his arms. “Mike’s stomach, my head…”
“I can hear a car in
the drive,” Cid said.
“Murphy, stand by,” Burt requested as he walked out on the porch with Cid.
Mike recovered quickly and followed the men out onto the porch.
“What’s going on?” Audrey asked, coming down the stairs wrapped in Glenda’s flannel housecoat over her pajamas.
“Something wicked this way comes,” Mia said, burrowing her head in Ted’s chest.
Audrey looked at Ted.
“I’ve never seen Mia this way, unless it’s lightning,” he said. “Come on, Minnie Mouse, we’re here to protect you.”
There were raised voices in the yard. Audrey walked to the door and looked out. “There is a woman shouting abusive language at Burt and Cid,” she reported. “Mike has asked her to leave… Beth, is this Beth?” Audrey asked.
Ted froze. He closed his eyes a moment and then gently moved Mia away from him so he could see her face. “Mia, I have to stop this. Do you trust me?”
Mia looked up at him. “Yes, Ted. Be careful. I get the sense she is ramped up on some kind of drug. She has company, and both have violent intent.”
Ted moved out onto the porch. He walked over to Mike. “Mia needs you,” he said. “Take care of her.”
Mike was surprised by the steady look in Ted’s eyes. He nodded and went back into the house.
Beth stood there with something wavering and black behind her. Murphy sensed an elemental of some kind. It seemed to be attached to her. She wasn’t being controlled by it, but it by her.
“How dare you come back here to Kansas and not visit me,” Beth said, walking towards Ted.
Burt put himself in Beth’s way. Ted gently tapped him on the shoulder. “I can’t put this off any longer, Burt. Beth, why are you here?”
“I’ve come to bring you home, Teddy Bear.”
“I’m not your Teddy Bear,” he said icily. “I’m nothing to you. You’re nothing to me. Go home, and leave me and my family alone.”
“Oh yes, your family. Where is that whore and her spawn? I heard he looks a lot like Mike. Doesn’t that bother you, cuckold?”
“You have no right to spread lies, Beth. Mia has been loyal to me, and I to her. My mistake was thinking that you needed a hand of friendship. I am sorry if you were misled.”
