Mia clapped her hands.
Ted opened the bathroom door and guided Mia to the sofa. He walked into Brian’s room and thanked Audrey.
“My pleasure, he and I have been having a nonstop conversation,” she teased. “I need a glass of wine.”
Ted picked up his son and took him over to his mother. Brian was overjoyed and hugged Mia, giving her kisses.
“Ah am Ah am,” he said.
Orion slid off his stool and walked over and said, “Brian, Aham Brahma Asmi?”
Brian pointed to Mia.
“Interesting.” He spoke to Brian again in a language no one in the room understood.
Brian babbled back, ending with “Gee Pop.”
“Your son is very smart.”
“He can call most everyone by name, but calls me Ah am.”
“Your child is speaking Hindi, Mia. He has given you a shortened name. Like Theodore is Ted, Michael is Mike, etcetera. Aham Brahma Asmi is a chant that brings about a feeling of ‘oneness’ with all creation. It denies confinement of the body and the mind. In Brian’s mind, he can see all the creatures inside of you. He can see you move in and out of your body. Just like Ted affectionately calls you Mighty Mouse when you are fierce and Minnie Mouse when you are vulnerable, your son calls you Aham.”
“Whoa,” Mia said, stunned.
“How is this possible?” Ted asked. “I can understand repeating words, chanting Aham Brahma Asmi, but understanding the concept?”
“He takes after his godfather,” Cid called over.
“I guess that answers everything,” Mia said. “I’m hungry. Is anyone hungry?”
~
Burt couldn’t help but feel Ted’s eyes on him all evening. He thought it might have had something to do with the three painkillers he gave Mia, but he wasn’t sure. Mia was walking slowly, but she was walking. Orion said that he had an idea of how to speed the healing but kept it to himself. He would talk to Mia later. Burt was amused to find out that Orion and Mia were related. The more he looked at the two, the more there were little tells. The eyebrow lifting was one of them. Mia and the small birdman also moved both hands when they talked. Otherwise, they looked nothing alike.
“What are you being so quiet about?” Mike asked, handing Burt a beer.
“I was just observing.”
“Mia and Gee Pop?”
“Yes.”
“She gets her looks from the other side of the family, thank God.”
Burt laughed. “You are a horrible human being.”
“I am, aren’t I?”
“But you saved Mia this afternoon.”
“I only did it so I could torment her later. I live to see that eyebrow go up and the abuse she gives me.”
“Careful, that sounds like you’re smitten.”
“Nah, my ship’s not going to be docking in her space port. We’re just nemeses.”
“I would feel sorry for you, but it is more torture having been docked and no longer allowed entry, than to never have been there.”
Audrey sat down. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Space,” Mike said.
“Oh. If Mia’s better, are we going to try the house again tomorrow?”
“I’d like to,” Burt said. “At least finish the house. The kitchen and cellar are all that’s left to investigate.”
“What about the elemental?”
“Orion thinks Mia can handle it with her sword.”
“Seems kind of mean to send her in there to kill it,” Audrey said.
“Murphy could do it,” Mike said.
“No, Mia, wants this. You could see it in her eyes,” Burt said.
“She’s a complex lady. If you only heard her talking to Mark like we did,” Audrey said.
“We did,” Mike confessed. “Cid, Burt and I were under the deck.”
Audrey laughed. “Ted, Glenda and I were in the living room.”
“It was fortunate that he was here before the painkillers I gave her hit,” Burt said.
“Why?” Audrey asked.
“Mia can’t lie when she’s drugged up,” he said. “Me neither. It takes away the part of you that says, ‘you shouldn’t say that, and you shouldn’t do that.’”
“Don’t tell me any more,” Audrey said, putting her hand on her forehead.
“One time…”
“Oh God, he’s telling us,” she groaned but didn’t cover her ears.
“It was after the hollow. We were both drugged to the gills and we…”
Mike looked over at Mia and swallowed hard. Audrey flushed.
“And we ended up in the bathtub because…”
Audrey made several attempts to get up, but curiosity kept her butt frozen to the couch.
Cid stared at Mia who was washing dishes with him. “Burt’s telling Audrey and Mike a story about…”
Mia looked up at Cid. “Does it have anything to do with painkillers?”
“Yes.”
“Try to think of it as a cautionary tale,” Mia said weakly. “Where’s Ted?”
“He’s outside with Orion and Glenda.”
“Phew. Um, was I any good? I don’t remember much.”
Cid leaned down and whispered, “Burt said he’d rate it as the all-time best…”
“K. I think I’m going to sneak out. Mike’s going to start staring at me and…”
“Go, I’ll listen for Brian.”
“Thank you,” Mia said and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
Cid was glad she left. He didn’t want to be forced to defend Mia’s honor. He took his friendship with his best friend’s wife very seriously.
“Here she comes,” Glenda said. “We were talking about you.”
“I also seem to be a popular subject amongst the drinkers upstairs.”
“The painkiller story?” Glenda asked.
“How do you know about that?” Mia asked mortified.
“That’s Burt’s favorite story after he’s drunk his fourth beer,” Glenda said.
“You know, I could have ripped that memory out of his fucking head when I was in there, but no, I thought Burt was a gentleman.”
“Look at you being outraged. It was sex, fantastic sex, and probably the best sex he’s ever going to get.”
“Nah, he’s an excellent lover,” Mia said. “He’ll have another story soon to tell.”
“There you go. He’ll have another story, and you’ll be out of the
