“Is this a problem?” Cid asked, concerned.
“No. But I’m kind of used to independent Mia, who needs no one to complete her.”
“She loves you, dude. She’s afraid of losing you.”
Ted put his hands through his hair. “I don’t see the attraction.”
Cid laughed. “Dude, I don’t see it either. Maybe it’s your big brain.”
“Speaking of which, Mia accidently started to read my mind, and she wasn’t touching me.”
“You’re going to have to run that by me again.”
Ted explained what had happened and waited for Cid to catch up.
“Whoa, that’s serious. Another gift?”
“It’s probably been there all along,” Ted reasoned. “Lying dormant, like the others.”
“Mia doesn’t like mind readers,” Cid said.
“I know. I think it’s probably the reason she got tipsy. She doesn’t want to deal with that right now.”
“Poor kid, she can run…” Cid started.
“But she can’t hide… from herself,” Ted finished.
Mia pulled on one of Ted’s Chiefs jerseys. It fell almost to her ankles. She brushed her hair until it shone and pulled on some footless black tights Ralph had given her on a whim. “May Susan Braverman never catch me in this outfit,” she said to the mirror as she was leaving. Brian was sleeping soundly when she looked in on him. He really was a new parent’s dream child. He had acclimated to sleeping through the night and took two nice naps during the day. This gave Mia and Ted time to accomplish tasks during the day and enjoy a full night’s rest too.
She walked down the steps carefully, still feeling a bit woozy from dinner. She stopped at the kitchen door and surveyed the men inside. Murph had come in and was sharpening his axe in the corner, Ted had a drawing he was working on, and Cid was doing the dishes.
“I think I’m the luckiest woman alive,” she announced. “I live in a house full of handsome men.”
The three sets of eyes that surveyed her didn’t find anything wrong with her either.
Chapter Four
“The downside is that you’re liable for a third of the expenses, and should you guys get sued, then you need to consider that too,” Alan said to Ted. “We can protect your personal assets, but anything earned from PEEPs is fair game. That includes all that computer and camera equipment,” he cautioned.
“I think the best course of action is not to get sued in the first place,” Mia said, propping her feet up on the coffee table.
“I’ll do my best, but you know how I roll,” Ted teased. “We’ve been taking care of the rent since the beginning…”
“We’ll put together a paper that will make that a separate affair, instead of grandfathering it in with the partnership. This way, if ever PEEPs makes any substantial money, you’ll recoup your present loss.”
“Or I could write it off as a bad debt?” Ted pondered aloud.
“That too,” Alan said.
Mia put her feet down and got up to leave.
“Where are you going?” Alan asked her.
“I thought I’d make myself scarce so you two could talk business,” Mia said.
“I think that Ted’s business includes you,” Alan stressed.
Mia looked at Ted, and he nodded.
“How do you mean?” she asked, fearing this was all a setup and she was going to be handed divorce papers.
“Mia, Ted came to me a few months ago and asked me to put your name on the deed to this house and property.”
Mia looked over at her husband in disbelief.
“I should have done it when we were first married,” Ted said.
“As it turned out, that was the saving grace when it came to the Other,” Mia said. “The loophole. Ted, this is your house. You paid for it yourself. You don’t have to do this for me.”
“Mia, you’ve shared all you have with me. It’s my turn to do the same. I want to take care of you and Brian. With your name on the deed, it will make sure that, should anything happen to me, you have a home to call your own.”
Mia took a deep breath, trying to stop the tears that were threatening. “I’m so touched.”
“Then you accept?” Alan asked.
“Yes,” Mia said, wiping the tears off her nose with her sleeve.
He pushed over the paperwork and showed her where to sign. Mia could tell that Alan, who was her lawyer too, approved.
“I’m going to hang around for the PEEPs meeting. Do you mind if I use the office to get my papers in order?” Alan asked, getting up.
“Feel free. Cid’s over there now,” Ted said.
Mia waited until Alan left before she flung herself into Ted’s arms.
Ted smiled. “I was going to do this right after the mall investigation, but you got knocked out and…”
“You were going to give me half the house when we were still at odds?”
“Yes.”
“You’re an amazing man, Teddy Bear.”
“That I am.”
“Well then, I guess I should share this with you,” Mia said, handing him an envelope.
“What’s this?” he asked, opening it. He pulled out a sizable check.
“My poster money from the international sales,” Mia said.
“That’s a lot of money.”
“It pales in comparison to your patent money,” Mia said. “I thought that, with your permission, I could rent a cottage for the three of us to vacation in. I think we need to get away and be a family, free of Murphy, PEEPs and even Cid.”
“That means we have to survive on our own cooking,” Ted warned.
“Ah, that’s what canned soup is for. Any other objections?”
“Will you wear that jersey and little black thingy while you’re there?”
Mia smiled. “Yes. I didn’t think you noticed. You fell asleep so quickly last night.”
“You wore me out, Mighty Mouse,” Ted confessed. “Where is this cottage?”
“Wolf’s Head Lake. It’s a family community. We could continue my rowing lessons, and you could try fishing.”
“That’s a recipe for disaster, but it sounds like fun.”
“There is a major downside to the trip,” Mia confessed.
“What?”
“No Wi-Fi, and it’s a cell phone black hole according to the people I’m renting from. We would be off the grid, internet-wise.”
“I could handle that for a while,” Ted
