“Ted, I know that you never liked Beth that way,” Burt said. “Her inane chatter alone made her a bad fit with the team. I can only imagine what being married to her would be like.”
“But every superhero I ever read about sacrificed his happiness to do the right thing,” Ted explained. “I was going to fall on my sword and try to build a life with Beth. Except, standing there in the middle of the road was my wife telling me to come home. She told me that she needed me.”
“So you came home,” Mike said. “The best move of your life.”
“Yes, it was. I understand now that I don’t have to worry about Murphy or Angelo or Sariel. Mia loves me, maybe too much.”
“You don’t deserve her,” Mike said. “You fucking don’t deserve her.”
“Come on, Mike, he came back. It’s over,” Burt said, putting a restraining hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“No, it’s not. You see, Theodore Martin, she could do a lot better than you,” Mike reminded him.
“Don’t you think I know that? How the hell am I ever going to compete with archangels, Angelo and you?”
“Me?” Mike asked, surprised.
“You’ve been trying to take her from me from the start.”
“You over-caffeinated geek, if you only knew how much I’ve been on your side. I pushed you into making your first moves. I held her while she cried for you and didn’t take advantage. I’ve built up her self-esteem when your Bethy tore her down. It was me picking her up off the ground, holding her head over the toilet while her world was crashing down around her.”
“I didn’t realize,” Ted said. “In my experience, guys like you always got the girls, were voted class president and most likely to succeed.”
“So, what does that have to do with your and my friendship? Have I ever discounted your value to PEEPs?”
“No.”
“That wonderful woman flying around up there – damn, that’s freaky- she loves you. Burt and I know she loves you. It drives us nuts, but the facts are, you are the luckiest man alive. You have this beautiful son, giant brain, and a future that is only going to get better. You have the best friend in Cid that a guy could have. You come from a family of fun-loving people. You have it all, dude. Stop imagining that someone is going to take it all away. Just enjoy it. God, I would.”
Burt was proud of Mike. He had grown so much in the last few years. Burt knew that Mia had something to do with it. Mike probably had a few sleepless nights thinking of her. But he had Mia’s trust, and he showed himself worthy of that trust tonight.
Ted held out his hand to Mike. “I’m sorry for my insecurities. I would like to thank you for thinking of me when Mia needed help. You are a better friend to me than I’ve been to you, and I’m sorry.”
Mike grasped Ted’s hand and said, “I accept. But can you put in your will that I get Mia when you blow yourself up?”
“I’ll think on it,” Ted said, laughing.
Chapter Twenty-seven
“Mia, you’re working too hard.” Orion coached, “Birdman flying is all about letting the air around support you. There, that’s better. Now, when you have to stop suddenly, pull your upper body back quickly and your wings out so they are flat, like this.” Orion demonstrated.
“That is easier,” she said and laughed at the mistakes she’d made earlier.
“Each one of those feathers could hold a Burt off the ground if needed.”
“Like…”
“Dumbo. Oh, Mia, you are so bad. Burt is a healthy male and…”
“A wonderful lover,” Mia completed.
“Young lady, you are a married woman. You have to put memories like that away.”
“Did you stop thinking of your lovers?”
“No.”
“Orion, I can’t help but believe that Burt played a serious role in making me who I am now. When he found me, I had no confidence. I was hiding from the paranormal world. I was letting the humans take advantage of me. I thought that it was an honor to clean their fucking gutters. And all the time, they were calling me Crazy Cooper, the girl that screams in the graveyards, behind my back.” Mia looped back over her grandfather and flew upside down underneath him so he could see her face.
“He listened to me and loved me. There were major problems and hurt feelings later, but it was him who showed me how valuable I was.”
“Why didn’t it work out?”
“Angelo, a flitch, a kiss, and misunderstandings on both sides. I let it happen. I moved on to my high school crush, and he hated me for it.”
“Mia, I can’t blame you for beating Angelo up when you see him, but he really thought he was doing the right thing.”
“Actually, he did. No longer encumbered by the emotional baggage, I was able to see who I had been destined to be with all along. Funny thing was, Ted knew it before I did.”
“He is a smart but flawed man,” Orion pointed out.
“Flawed?”
“He is a hero.”
“Go on…”
“Ted tends to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He was raised on the higher ideals of Bradbury. He is Spock.”
“He thinks of himself as Batman.”
“The most severely flawed of the superheroes,” Orion said. “But he is who we need him to be, Mia.”
Mia grabbed Orion and pulled to a stop. “We?” she questioned. “Who’s we?”
“You, me, Angelo, Sariel, Murphy, the Council of Women. Ted was the reason you came here, yes?”
“I wanted to heal my marriage,” Mia explained.
“Mark Leighton is here.”
“What does Mark have to do with
