by Alexie Aaron
“I honestly didn’t think this far ahead when I asked you to come stay with me. He normally leaves me alone.”
“It’s fine. I’m glad he likes me enough to come see me, even if I get chilblains as my mother calls them.”
Matt didn’t correct Audrey. He just enjoyed that she was there with him. He could not believe his luck that this positive, vivacious, gorgeous, redheaded paranormal investigator was his. “Here’s the books. A lot of dry reading, I’m afraid.”
“You have a copy of Burke’s Peerage?” Audrey asked as she adjusted the heavy tome one-armed on her lap.
“Evidently so. Don’t ask me how or why, but it’s here.”
“I think we should be investigating your heritage,” Audrey teased. “I come from canal-digger stock. My ancestors wore Brown’s work boots.”
“Hearty folk. I have no pedigree. Remember, Uncle Simon was a butler. I think I’m taking a large step up by courting you.”
“I’ll have to remember that when I’m feeling underdressed and outclassed by the other doctor wives.”
Matt studied her. He couldn’t believe that she would feel outclassed by anyone. He made a promise to himself that he would make a point to praise her accomplishments. Self-esteem was such a tricky thing.
“I think you’d be surprised by the humble starts many of my colleagues and their spouses had. Student loans gave a lot of people a leg up. All they had to do was work hard.”
“Now that’s something we have in common. Speaking of which, I better dig in and get started,” Audrey excused herself.
“Do you mind if I just sit here and stare at you?”
Audrey blushed. “No, I don’t mind that at all.”
Chapter Seventeen
The snow continued to fall throughout the night. Sheriff Ryan cancelled leave and put Tom on the schedule, much to Tom’s delight. The snow plows gave up on all but the main roads in and out of the county. Being down a cell tower brought some operations to a halt. The deputies were asked to stay within radio distance if they could. The governor declared a winter emergency with most of the northern counties already under eight inches of snow, and more than another foot was expected to fall.
Tom breezed into the station with a robust attitude. The other deputies booed him when he shouted, “Isn’t snow wonderful!” They, however, stopped booing when Tom distributed the treats he had leftover from Mia’s hamper.
“You seeing that Cooper broad?” one asked, remembering her cookies from the county fair years ago.
“She’s Mia Martin now, and we’re friends, just friends.” Tom regretted his words because of the derogatory comments that followed.
“Is she still crazy?”
“Crazy as a fox. She’s making quite a nice piece of change with her brand of crazy,” Tom defended. “She’s a friend, so I’d appreciate your respect when you talk about her.”
Tom was valued amongst his peers. His request would not only be granted, but the word crazy would be dropped from all conversation about Mia amongst the deputies.
Deputy Chandler had already seen Mia Martin in action but was too timid to express his admiration until now. “She’s been very helpful to us. Also, I think she’s friends with the sheriff.”
“That she is,” Tom said, sitting down at his desk. “Okay, someone bring me up-to-date. Anyone find the vandals that took down the cell tower?”
The silence told Tom that no one even had a lead. Tom dug Tonia Toh’s business card out and tapped it. He got up and inquired with Ryan’s assistant whether the sheriff had a few minutes. He was given five. He walked into Ryan’s office and waited until the sheriff looked up.
“Glad to see you survived the mandatory time off,” Ryan said sarcastically.
“It wasn’t my idea,” Tom reminded him.
Ryan waved that thread away and asked, “What’s up?”
Tom explained his theory about the vandals and Mia’s suggestion regarding coincidences. “I was wondering whether we have any consultant cash left.”
“I think we could shift some CI cash your way. Call the bounty hunters, see what they have to say.”
Tom thanked the sheriff for his time and backed out of the office. He turned heel, walked smartly to his desk and started dialing.
~
Mia got up for an early morning bathroom call and made the mistake of looking out the window. Absent were the predawn stars lighting up the forest around them. Instead, a steady white descended from the heavily clouded sky. The light from the bathroom only pierced a few feet beyond the sill, but Mia could see the branches of the mighty pines droop under the weight of the snow. She walked out of the bath and into the nursery. There, the octagonal windowed room gave her a viewpoint that rivaled the bath’s one window. The snow was deep. Fortunately, there was no appreciable wind or the drifts would make navigating between the farmhouse and converted barn impossible. Mia gently rubbed her belly, more for her comfort than the child’s who grew from within.
She felt eyes upon her back and turned to see Ted standing in the doorway. “It’s beautiful in an over-the-top type of way,” she said, indicating the snow.
Ted padded over in his slippers. He took a moment to pick up an afghan from the pile of baby shower gifts. He put it over Mia’s shoulders. “I don’t know if it’s cold in here or looking at all that snow that has me chilled, but you better keep that over your shoulders, Minnie Mommy.”
“Thank you, Baby Daddy,” Mia said and leaned into Ted as he held her. “I’m glad I’m inside watching the snow with you, instead of trying to plow it off of driveways and parking lots.”
“Aren’t you glad you gave the Stanley brothers your clients?” Ted said.
“The money would have been nice, but I can’t do that job in my condition. As it is, it’s getting harder for me to reach the steering wheel. I can’t imagine dealing with the plow.”
“Don’t worry about money. I’m expecting a large dividend from the capital I had my mother invest for us,” Ted said proudly. “Plus, Murphy mentioned we could use the house fund if we needed it.”
“I know he means well, but I don’t want to be indebted to a friend, thank you,” Mia confided. “Look at what it did to me and Burt.”
“I suspect that had more to do with a certain flitch.”
“Could be. I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have given Bev that money. I just felt it was fair, considering she would have gotten it had my grandmother known she was alive.”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Ted said. “I have Cid living here rent free, and speaking of rent, we’ve not seen anything but utilities out of PEEPs for the last two months.”
“We’re doing pretty well though. No mortgages to pay, just the cost of day-to-day living. My father was able to get us covered under the university medical insurance. Baby Martin is covered.”
“Charles came through as he promised. I think he likes the role of future grandfather. Amanda on the other hand…”
“Don’t expect her to babysit,” Mia said. “Nor would we want her to. Look how I turned out.”
“Like you were raised by wolves,” Ted said, squeezing her shoulders.
Mia turned around and reached up to bring Ted’s face down to hers. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said and kissed her tenderly. “Do you remember the advice I gave you about having babies too soon?”
“Oh yes, I remember. We were sitting on the stoop at Homely’s. You sat down and articulately expressed yourself.” Mia thought back.
Ted blurted out, “I hear you’re on the rag.”
Mia had looked at him horrified.
“I have three sisters,” he explained, as if it would excuse his choice of conversation. “At least you’re not knocked up.”
Mia remembered being devastated.
“Oh no,” he said aghast. “You didn’t want to be prego?”
“I don’t know. I had a couple of dreams and thought, why not?”
“Honestly,
take a look at how big that guy is. His head is humongous. You will be split in two delivering his kid.”
Mia hit him on the leg. But he continued. “You’ll be covered in baby puke, and I don’t think Murph’s going to want to hang around you with a screaming kid on your shoulder.”
“I guess what you’re saying in your most elegant way is, to take my time. Make an informed decision.”
“Yes. Make sure both of you are ready,” he said seriously. “Plus, we have a lot of ghosties to wrangle before you settle down.”
Mia smiled. “I fear you might be right.”
“You mentioned the size of Whit’s head, but yours is far bigger. Will I be split in two?”
“I said all of that because I didn’t want you to have his baby. But in retrospect, I would have loved the child no matter the father. It’s yours, and that’s what is important to me. I will protect and take care of both of you, I promise.”
“The kid’s yours,” Mia reassured her husband. “If he looks like Mike, it’s just coincidental,” she teased.
He didn’t speak a moment. “I deserved that I suppose. I wonder what has gotten into me. I’ve been very immature and insecure lately.”
“I’ve noticed you’re not your usual overconfident, boorish self.”
“Thanks for that, pumpkin.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I think that I’m a bit scared that I’m not going to be a good dad or a good husband. I’m a bit, well, odd.”
“You’re perfect. After all, I’m a bit weird.”
“A match made in the Addams’s house.” Ted gently leaned his wife backwards and nuzzled her neck.
“Ah, Morticia and Gomez, they epitomized romance after having kids, didn’t they?” Mia said.
Ted gently returned his wife to the upright position. “We still have to figure out a name for Pugsley.”
“I think we have to name him after Cid and Murph,” Mia reminded Ted.
“Yes, but our child has to have his own name.”
“So you’re going to toss out Theodore?” Mia asked.
“Um, yes, do you want the kid to get a black eye in preschool?”
“That cancel clears the grandpas’ names too.”
“Most certainly.”
“So far we have Pugsley Cid Stephen Martin,” Mia voiced. “Kind of sounds like a comedian.”
“Let’s drop the Pugsley.”
“K.”
The two of them stood there, looking out at the falling snow for a while. Each of them running and rejecting names in their heads.
Finally Ted admitted, “I’ve got nothing.”
“Me too. Although, I love the name Paolo, but I worry it would hurt Father Alessandro’s feelings,” Mia said. “His birth name is Tomas.”
“That’s too close to Tom for comfort. I heard at the sub shop, you two were dating,” Ted said.
“Brian,” the two said together. Sabine’s late husband’s name had been in the back of each’s mind for some time.
“He was a knight,” Mia said dreamily.
“He overcame adversity and illness,” Ted said practically.
“Brian Stephen Cid Martin. That sounds very professional,” Mia said.
“I think we better write this down. Phew! I thought, when they ask me the kid’s name, I was going to blurt out Bruce Wayne!”
“We can’t have that. There is only one Batman,” Mia said, pulling Ted down for another kiss.
~
Murphy moved through the house, checking every window and door. He upped the thermostat, knowing that Mia would be awake soon and hated to bathe in a cold bathroom. Maggie lifted a sleepy head and thumped her tail as he passed her. He moved through the kitchen floor and down into the cellar where he contemplated the large sheet of marble over his grave. He understood why Ted thought this was the best way to protect his remains, but he found it strange. It’s not like the cellar hadn’t been used as a crypt before. Memories of the entombed body of his wife Chastity were still fresh in his memory, even though Cid had done an expert job filling in the recess and shoring up the wall. Why did his mother bury her down here? True, she was every bit the adulterer that was displayed on the plaque, but where was his mother’s humanity? She had always been a Christian woman who displayed her beliefs every day of the week, not just on Sunday, so her denial of a Christian burial for her daughter-in-law was uncharacteristic of the dignified woman.
Where were Chastity’s parents? Did they not mourn their daughter? Murphy wished that he had been more aware after his death. He took solace in the trees when life left him. Perhaps he should have tried to comfort the people left behind.
~
Cid woke to the diffused sunlight of the continuing storm. He noticed a twitch of curtain at the window of the guestroom. He assumed it was the soldier keeping watch. Murphy had given Cid the ability to see his spiritual form, but that didn’t translate to other spirits. Cid’s overdeveloped hearing helped him identify the muffled sounds that made their way through the veil. Sometimes, he could even hear them speak, not as clearly as Mia, but it was enough for him to be aware that he wasn’t alone.
“Good morning, Breeze,” he addressed the spirit with Mia’s pet name for it.
A slight tap answered him.
Cid sat up and swung his legs over the bed. “Hopefully, our friend Audrey is closer to finding out your real name. We’ll have to wait until the snow melts to give you a Christian burial though. We’re hoping to find your people and inter you close to your folks.
Another tap. For a brief moment, Breeze manifested himself and bowed his head in thanks before he disappeared again.
Cid was impressed. The extra energy had not only made manifestation possible but brought out the spirit’s gentlemanly manners. Those actions weren’t learned in the afterlife. This man was brought up a gentleman. Cid hopped out of bed and pulled on his clothing from the night before. He needed to get to the landline and tell Audrey of his observation.
Cid noticed that the house had a warm cozy feel to it as he descended the stairs. He stopped at the thermostat and chuckled as he saw that someone, he suspected Murphy, had upped the temp ahead of the programmed heat for the morning. It’s not that he disagreed with the ghost. No one wanted to hear Mia shriek when her bottom hit the cold toilet seat or deal with surly Mia the rest of the morning. Be it human or ghost, no one wanted that.
He waved his arm as he entered the kitchen to turn on the overhead lights. He grabbed the phone and dialed the number they had to reach Audrey at, which had been penned on the adjacent white board. Nothing. He bounced the receiver hook a few times and shook his head when there was no dial tone.
Cid picked up the iPad Ted had left on the kitchen table and noticed, to his relief, that the PEEPs Wi-Fi system was still up. He shot a question over to Jake and waited for a response.
NO DIAL UP AVAILABLE
Cid took the time to send a thank you.
IS THIS THE END OF DAYS?
No, just a storm related glitch, he typed.
THOUGHT RAPTURE MISSED ME, PHEW!
Cid set the iPad down and proceeded to put together a breakfast. He had all his ingredients for apple pancakes set out when Maggie whined at the back door. She pushed at the flap, but it didn’t budge.
“You really ought to learn to use the facilities,” Cid suggested to the dancing dog. “You’re not going to like it out there.” Cid walked over and unlocked the back door. He pulled inward carefully. The mystery of why the dog flap didn’t work was solved with the exposure of two feet of packed snow on the back porch. “It must have slid off the extension’s roof sometime last night.”
“I beg your pardon?” Ted’s sleepy voice asked behind him. “Brrrrr, shut that door.”
“I can’t, we have a dog with a full bladder and…”
They heard a faint whistle and the front door opening.
“Come on, Maggie,” Mia’s voice called. “That’s my girl,” she said as the dog bounded out of the ho
use, across the snowy porch and out into the yard where she immediately relieved herself before she hopped over the snow back up the porch and into the house. Mia rubbed down her coat with the beach towel she had hung inside the door for this very reason.
Cid tried to shut the door, but the snow had eased its way over the threshold. He and Ted tried to muscle the door closed.
Mia guided them out of the way. She cleared her voice. “Take the dustpan and jam it on top of the broom handle,” she described as she did so. “Voilà, we have a snow shovel.” She handed it to Cid. “Start digging. You geniuses really can’t think before coffee,” she stated, walking over to the empty pot.
Ted couldn’t think of a witty response, so he sat down and put his head on the table. Cid scooped up the snow and tossed it off the porch. “I’m thinking that we should build a roof here.”
“Didn’t Murphy suggest that already?” Ted mumbled.
Murphy, hearing the sound of his name, appeared in the kitchen.
Mia turned around, feeling his presence. “Good morning to you! The twins need your guidance when it comes to thwarting snow accumulation. Maggie couldn’t use the doggie door because it was jammed shut by the snow that slid down off the extension’s roof,” Mia explained.
“Twins?” he asked, fearing that Erdmut and Garrit Hoffman had come from the hereafter to visit - that’s all he needed, autistic spirits in a snowbound house.
“Oh sorry, that was sarcasm,” Mia said, pouring Ted a large mug. “The two of them can’t think unless they are caffeinated. Evil twin geniuses.”
“I think he gets the idea,” Cid grouched.
Mia handed him a mug of coffee. “What’s got you so grumpy?”
“No phone.”
“Well, that’s to be expected. Have you seen it out there?” Mia said.
“Didn’t happen last year with the blizzard,” Cid pointed out.