The Old House

by Alexie Aaron

  “Why are you telling me this?” Beth asked, irritated.

  “Because contrary to your past actions, you’re not a bad sort. Examine your life. Make some changes, and get back on track…”

  “Will you help me?”

  “No,” Ted said firmly. “I’m not interested in ever talking to you again. You have no idea of the heartache you have caused. You almost lost me my wife, my child and my life. You planned and schemed. That’s not what a friend does. You’re no friend of mine, Beth. I will not be talking to you further,” Ted said and hung up.

  “That was cold, dude,” Cid said, getting up. He walked over and picked Ted up out of his chair and hugged him. “I couldn’t be prouder. How do you feel?”

  “Like a tremendous weight has been lifted. I should have set her in her place right away.”

  “We live and learn. Hard lesson though.”

  “I don’t think she’s done,” Ted said as the phone rang and her phone number was displayed.

  The new outgoing message played. “Hello, this is the Martin residence. We’re busy working on our happily ever after. Leave your message after the tone,” Ted and Mia’s voice said in tandem.

  “Argh, pick up, you moron. Come on, you stupid geek. Ah shit, you can go to hell!” Beth said, ending the call.

  “Isn’t it a pity that we don’t have handsets to slam anymore?” Cid said.

  The phone rang again. This time it was Mia.

  “Hello, Minnie Mouse,” Ted said sweetly.

  “Brian and I are on the south side of the hill, and we have found a veritable nursery of rabbits and chipmunks. Come and play, you won’t regret it.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I wrap up here,” he promised.

  “Good,” she said and ended the call.

  Ted looked at Cid. “I almost lost that.”

  “You came very close. No one was more surprised than me when Mia sprouted wings and flew after you. Just before she left, she said, ‘I’m getting my husband back. He’s got some misguided comic book idea of what a man of caliber is all about. He thinks that you sacrifice what you want in order to be a hero. Well, fuck that.’ Then she runs and flies. Murphy said she nearly crashed into the hill, but she kept going.”

  “She said that?”

  “Yes, I think she understood what you were going through more than any of us did. Mia loves you, Ted.”

  “Yes she does. And I’m going to go look at some baby bunnies. You can hold the fort, can’t you?”

  “I’ll do my best,” Cid said, holding the door open for Ted.

  Ted shook Cid’s hand on the way out the door. He followed the northwest trail to the hill and did his best to arrive as quietly as possible. Below him was Mia, sitting still with Brian on her lap. He was with them in seconds. He sat down behind Mia, and she leaned against him. They sat for a while watching Brian ooh and ah over the antics of the small creatures. Soon Brian tired and turned his head to Mia’s chest and fell asleep. Mia looked up at Ted.

  “He’s such a gentle boy. Were you like this?” Mia asked.

  “No, I was a hellion.”

  “Me too.”

  “I think the stork delivered the wrong kid.”

  “Can we keep him?” Mia asked.

  “I’m not trading this child in for one like us. We’d be crazy in hours.”

  Mia chuckled softly. “I think you’re right.”

  “Let’s take Brian home, put him down for a nap, and then you can tell me about your mystery date.”

  Mia nodded and waited for Ted to get up. She handed Brian to him as her legs were asleep. She walked a bit drunkenly until she got the feeling back. “I’m all about the grace, about the grace…” she sang.

  Ted watched the petite creature as he followed her to the farmhouse. Mia was a contradiction. Her best disguise was being herself. She was a bit clumsy and her social skills were improving but had a long way to go, but when they needed her, she changed. He’d seen her fight alongside Murphy, moving with a grace that couldn’t be choreographed. When she stood there in front of him, wings spread out to stop the car, he felt as if an archangel had come to kill him. She was small, but she was mighty. She had the biggest heart but could turn vicious when protecting the innocent. Yet, if asked, she would give it all up and just be Mrs. Theodore Martin.

  “Careful, Mia, there’s a gopher hole,” he warned her and laughed as she veered out of the way and walked into a small sapling. “Come here,” he said. She did as was asked, and he picked the leaves out of her hair, planting a kiss on the new bump on her forehead. Brian slept through it all. They finally managed to make it to the farmhouse where Susan Braverman stood on the porch talking with Cid.

  “I bet you forgot, didn’t you?” she said to Ted.

  “Oh my god, I did. Mia, I promised Susan that she could take Brian to a Blanket to Bear party today.”

  “Cool, let me gather his things,” Mia said.

  “Don’t bother, I have everything I need,” Susan said. “Even the most precious outfit.”

  “Take lots of pictures,” Mia said.

  Ted walked Brian over to Susan’s car. They managed to get him situated in the car seat, only waking him briefly.

  Mia sighed as she watched her husband. Cid put an arm around her and said, “You don’t have anything to worry about. He finally grew up and took responsibility for the situation. Beth will never be welcomed by him again.”

  “This has reminded me of something too, Cid.”

  “What?”

  “That the greatest adventure is family. Never take them for granted. Forgive them as they will forgive you. Don’t hold on to them with an iron fist, but don’t set them adrift either.”

  “You didn’t have a great example to follow.”

  “Ted and you did, and I’ll depend on you guys to set me right when I veer off the path.”

  “Mia, answer me truthfully,” Cid said, turning Mia so he could see her face. “Is my being here a problem? Because say the word and…”

  “No, oh no, Cid, don’t even think thoughts like that. You are so dear to us. Part of the fear of losing Ted was that I would be losing you. You’re the brother I never had. Don’t leave us, Cid. We would be lost without you.”

  Cid could see the sincerity in her face. Her eyes held his, and he was reluctant to blink. “Okay, I’ll stay, but while you guys are gone, I’m reinsulating your bedroom. Making it soundproof. There’s only so much a bachelor can stand to hear.”

  Mia blushed. “It’s me. Sorry but…” she turned and looked over at her husband. “Better put in double insulation.”

  Ted walked over, and the three waved at Susan as she drove down the drive.

  “Cid, I was about to tell Ted about my mystery date last night. Would you like to come in and sit with us, or listen outside the door?” Mia asked sweetly.

  Ted started laughing.

  “I’m in. Should I ring the bell? Murphy has far-out ideas on who you dined with.”

  Mia looked at Ted, and he nodded.

  Cid trotted over to the bell and rung it. They watched as Murphy moved down the hillside.

  Ted opened the door, and Mia walked in and on through to the kitchen. She was hungry. She picked up a frying pan, and Cid took it from her.

  “No sense in starting a fire. I promise to make you something to eat after you tell us.”

  Mia turned and looked at the three males and nodded. She smiled and announced, “I met my grandfather.”

  “Orion?” Ted asked.

  “No, Émile Neyer. He’s my mother’s father. He didn’t even know I existed until my aunt Aubree saw the Ice Queen poster. You see, I look just like my grandmother Adele at this age.” Mia proceeded to tell them all about the meal and the kind offer of the visit. When she was finished, she raised her hand and said, “There’s more. Grandma Fred came to see me last night while I was waiting for you, Ted. She said that Émile is to be trusted, and that if this battle between good and evil starts, that I’m to take my family a
nd my friends to stay with them in Alsace. That you would be safe there.”

  “In France?” Murphy asked. “With frogs?”

  Ted burst out laughing. Cid shook his head.

  “And I thought I was bad,” Mia said. “You need classes.” Mia pointed at Murphy.

  He smiled.

  “So there is to be a battle?” Cid asked.

  “I don’t know much about it,” Mia confessed. “But all this attention I’ve been getting has to do with recruitment. It may not happen for years, but evidently, sides are being drawn.”

  “Does this explain the ramping up of the incidents of live haunts?” Ted asked.

  Mia shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure. It would be nice to get a straight answer out of one of them, but no one’s volunteering any information.”

  “Have you chosen?” Ted asked.

  “Sides?” Mia asked. “I’m fighting for the human race. Last night, when I was floundering with my first flight, I promised my shield and sword to Sariel if he would get me to you. He wouldn’t accept it, as I was under duress. He stressed that he was there to help me, not recruit me.”

  Ted took her hands and looked down at her with tear-filled eyes. “You would have enslaved yourself to Sariel as long as he got you to me. I could have rejected you, but still you did this.”

  “Ted, when are you going to realize that you are the single most important person in my life? I’m nothing without you,” Mia said, embarrassed.

  Murphy put a hand on Cid’s shoulder and drew him away from the couple. They both left the house and walked out into the yard.

  “How do you feel about this Sariel?” Cid asked Murphy.

  “I’ve never had a conversation with him, but he has been good and kind to Mia.”

  “But so has Angelo,” Cid pointed out.

  “Angelo wants more than Mia’s sword,” Murphy stressed. “He wants to possess her. He wants something from her that she has already promised to another. Sariel just wants a solider.”

  “What about you?” Cid asked.

  “I fight with Mia on the ground. Up there, I don’t belong.” Murphy shivered at the thought. “Up there, I want the mightiest of angels at her side.”

  “Ted thinks Angelo will protect Mia because he loves her.”

  Murphy spoke plainly, “Love gets in the way of common sense. It makes us weak when tough decisions have to be made. Believe me, I know.”

  Cid nodded. “Well, starting the day after tomorrow, we are going to have the farm to ourselves. It’s just going to be us bachelors, no babies or women to mess with us.”

  Murphy smiled. “We ought to kick up our heels.”

  “Yes, we should,” Cid agreed.

  “You are truly amazing. Are you sure I’m the one?” Ted asked.

  “Why not?” she said. “You’re impossible to replace. I’ve looked in Heaven and in Hell for your replacement, and I could find no one that understands me better.”

  Ted looked at the vacated kitchen. “We lost the chef.”

  “Seems so, but I’m no longer hungry,” Mia said coyly.

  “You, you’re not hungry?”

  “Nope, not for food,” she said. A shadow fell across her face.

  “What is it?” Ted asked, concerned.

  “Last night, my grandmother took my ability to bear children away from me, temporarily.”

  “Can she do that?”

  “Evidently so.”

  “Well, we did want to wait, and I’m going broke buying protection. Let’s look at this as a good thing,” he decided.

  Mia smiled. “I was hoping you’d think so.”

  “Does that mean no PMS or visits from Bloody Mary?”

  “Ted!” Mia said, embarrassed.

  “Well, we’ll take it one day at a time. Right now, I think we need to investigate if you’ve got any more feathers.”

  Mia’s blush turned beet red. She picked up a tea towel and snapped him with it and took off running. She made the stairs by the time he caught up with her. He scooped her up and charged up the steps and into the master suite, kicking the door shut after him.

  Cid looked over at Murphy. “First, a trip to Home Depot. Come on, I’ll let you pick out a tree to plant in celebration of Ted getting his head out of his ass.”

  A shriek of outrage followed by Mia’s giggles rang through the countryside. Murphy looked at Cid and said, “Two trees.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  They passed the old house without seeing it. Mia was too preoccupied with Brian, who had to be convinced to stay in the car seat for another five minutes. And this five minutes was indeed just five minutes this time. Ted turned onto the long winding road that would take them to their rented cottage on the east side of Wolf’s Head Lake. He slowed the car as they left the pavement for the gravel road.

  Mark stopped and watched the approaching car. He waved shyly at the young couple as they passed. He saw the baby in the back. He would tell Gran that the new renters had arrived. She had baked a pie. Mrs. Mavis, the owner, asked Gran to welcome them. She had to take her hound to the vet and was worried she would miss their arrival. Mark ran down the lane and towards his grandparents’ cottage.

  He burst through the door. “Gran, they’re here!” he called.

  “My, I haven’t ever seen you so excited for the arrival of new renters,” she teased.

  “I can’t explain it either, but I looked at that car and could have sworn that I felt a hug as it passed.”

  “You and that fanciful imagination of yours. Then again, you could have a bit of the gift. You know, my mother had a way of telling a stranger’s worth without even talking to them,” she recalled “Would you like to come along?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mark said. “I can’t have you carrying that heavy basket up that hill. Grandpa would be sore with me.”

  Edie lifted up the basket and smiled. “I guess the extra jars of jam made it a bit heavy.”

  “I thought you were only going to bake a pie,” Mark teased his grandmother. He took hold of the basket and waited until Edie put on her sunhat. He thought that his grandmother was the most beautiful woman in the world. She had an old world grace to her, like Katherine Hepburn did in the old movies Grandpa Sam insisted he watch.

  Mia walked through the cottage carefully. She insisted that Ted let her go in first to make sure there wasn’t any ghost lurking before they brought Brian inside. She smiled and said a thank you prayer before sticking her head out the door. “All’s clear.”

  Ted ducked under the door and was pleased to see the high ceilings. He looked around at the warm décor. The landlord had put fresh flowers in the vase in the middle of a sturdy round table. “It’s so happy in here,” he said.

  “Yes, almost as happy as I am to be spending time alone with my two men,” Mia said as she stared out onto the lake.

  “We should have done this long ago,” Ted said.

  “We were too busy saving the world. There is a crib in the small bedroom as promised.”

  “Good, I didn’t want to share a room with Mr. Stinky Pants.”

  “Again?” Mia asked.

  “Food in, food out,” Ted commented.

  Mia grabbed her son from Ted’s outreached arms. “Come on, Brian, let’s get you cleaned up while Daddy cleans out the car.”

  “No fair, Mia.”

  “Ahem, at least this time I was around for the cleanup,” Mia said.

  Ted ducked under the doorway and down the steps. He gathered an armload of luggage and returned to the house. He heard Mia singing, in her out of tune way, some song he didn’t know. Brian was giggling. He deposited the bags in the middle of the great room and went back for the rest. He almost forgot to duck and scolded himself.

  He pulled out the big cooler Cid had filled with easy to prepare meals, not trusting Mia to satisfy the culinary needs of living entities. He set it on the deck and pulled out the canvas totes of groceries that they had stocked up on at the last town they drove through. H
e carried them into the house and set them on the counter. Mia showed up with Brian on her hip. She grabbed the milk out of a bag and opened the refrigerator to find a bottle of white wine inside.

  “Oh, how nice,” she said. She lifted it up for Ted to see.

  “Yup, it’s wine.”

  Mia shook her head. She found the coffee pot and proceeded to brew a strong pot of coffee while Ted went out for the cooler.

  “Minnie Mouse, we have company,” he called through the screen door.

  Mia carried Brian to the door that Ted held open. She moved shyly into the protective circle of his arm.

  An older woman and a boy were walking down the short drive from the road.

  “Hello!” Edie called. “Welcome to Wolf’s Head Lake.”

  Ted left Mia’s side to walk over and introduce himself. “Ted Martin, and this is my wife Mia and our son Brian. And you are?”

  “Edie White, and this is my grandson Mark Leighton. Ted, please accept our tokens of welcome. Mary Mavis was sorry she couldn’t be here to welcome you in person. She had to take Rufus to the vet. He’s having some digestive problems.”

  “Gran, too much information,” Mark said, making a face. He looked up and saw the second most beautiful woman in the world standing there, smiling down at him. He would tell his mother later that she looked like an angel, but he wouldn’t mention the wings that he could see behind her.

  Mia pushed herself to walk down the steps. She smiled and greeted the friendly woman and the boy. Ted took Brian from her arms, and she reached out and, forgetting she wasn’t gloved, took hold of Mark’s hand.

  The image of a man lying comatose in a hospital bed and the boy angry with him filled her mind. “Where are you? I need you, Daddy. Talk to me, please.”

  She gently let go of Mark’s hand and breathed slowly. She opened her eyes and said softly, “Mark, we’ll find a way to talk to him.”