“Time to pull the trigger,” I murmured into the mic of my earbuds, and Bitsy Joon nodded back at me through my video screen.
“Three-two-one. Done! Congratulations, Sibsil Creed version 7. ‘Mafia Moms’ is live!” she grinned. “Now, go have a nice dinner and celebrate!”
“Bye, Bitsy,” I waved, and the screen went dark.
I took three slow, calming breaths.
There was no going back now. First shot fired. What would come of it?
Bong! Incoming message from Cora, who was at the cottage playing piano while I worked at Chopping Block.
Cora: You’re bringing dessert, right?
Sam: yep!
Cora: See you there!
Sam: love you!
Cora: love you back! ??
Sam: ??
I packed away my earbuds and pad, then a gust of cold air blew a dark man in a hoodie into the cafe. He jogged over, and I didn’t bother saying “Hi,” since I could see the earbuds plugging his ears.
He laid a stack of printed papers on my table, then trotted away. I blew a kiss to his retreating back, and a hand shot out and caught it as he darted back out into the cold evening.
Hmm.
Pitch looked. . . different. Mature. Longer hair. Facial scruff. Muscled. More man. Did I think of him that way now that I’d read some of his book? Or was it the running tights?
I grinned at the stack of papers he’d left on my table.
Unknown Cosmos.
We had more chapters to read tonight! Woo hoo!
I grabbed my to-go bag and headed for Rhoda’s townhouse.
“Oh my god, it smells heavenly in here!” I called, stomping the snow off my boots. Nineton had been transformed by winter in recent days, so I was bundled up against the cold.
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“Thanks for the dessert,” Rhoda said, taking my bags.
“There’s peppers for the mirkas, too,” I told her, hanging up my coat and hat and making a beeline for Cora.
“Your nose is cold,” my girlfriend laughed, pressing a warm kiss to my lips.
“You wanna do something about that?” I asked softly.
“Definitely,” she promised.
“Clem says thanks for the peppers, Sam,” Tyne told me as I took my seat at the dining table.
“Who made the pancakes? Not you, Nanna. There’s no chocolate chips in them,” I joked.
“You can thank Tyne for the breakfast for dinner. Ice berry pancakes are his specialty,” Nanna said.
I chowed down on link sausage and pancakes as the usual conversation went round the table. Everyone’s houses sold on Earth. Rhoda and Filly were doing well with business and preschool. The mirkas were happy.
Rhoda and Tyne?
Well, we didn’t go over that out loud, but he was a regular around the townhouse. And Nanna was a fan. According to her, Tyne was wonderful with kids, kind, smart, and funny. She had zero complaints about Rhoda settling into a rhythm with him.
I liked him too.
“So, babe, did your story publish today?” Cora asked.
I nodded to everyone at the table, “Yep. ‘Mafia Moms’ is on stream now, and Discordant starts publishing tomorrow.”
“Any news from HC?” Nanna asked.
Cora nodded, “Mm. Hmm. He said the web serial version of ‘Murder Pizza’ is taking off, building anticipation for the release of his book Shapeless Poetry after Thanksgiving on Earth.”
And, hopefully, for my own stories since he'd promoted me in his.
Rhoda cheered, “Hooray for Muriel and Harley! We’re gonna save the Cosmos with love stories!”
That got a laugh outta all of us. But Rhoda was right, wasn’t she?
“Perfect,” Nanna chuckled. “Everything’s lining up.” Then she sobered. "Is everyone ready for the storm all of this could unleash?”
“Ree says nothing suspicious has happened to my accounts. Wild and Wonderful is fine. So far, so good,” Rhoda said firmly.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Ree told me she’d ping me if there was an issue, so I was taking no news as good news.
Yes, that’s how we were doing cyber security: Ree Sloan, hacker extraordinaire, was protecting us on stream. Or really, using us as bait. If the cyber mafia tried to retaliate for ‘Mafia Moms' by going after our finances, they’d find Ree waiting for them. Hah!
Tyne nodded, “If you need an augment watching out for you, Ree’s a great one to know. Crazy as a loon, but as reliable as they come—for a Sloan.”
“The Joons?” Cora asked.
He waggled his brows, “Oh, we’re in great shape. You don’t have paranoid patriarchs without gaining a solid wall between you and the bullies of the world. My augmented cousins are twice the eagle eyes as Ree Sloan.“
Good, everyone was secure. I breathed a little easier. The Joon cousins watched over Sibsil Creed and Bitsy’s business, so all was well.
Once the breakfast was gone, Filly went to play with the mirkas while the rest of us cleaned up the dishes. Then Rhoda and Tyne settled onto the sofa to read the next story of Unknown Cosmos.
Cora and I followed Nanna to her suite, expecting to do the same. But when my grandmother volunteered to read first, we were surprised to find the story didn’t pick up where we’d left off.
“Pitch wrote a ton of new chapters!” Cora’s eyes bulged. “And they’re all about us!”
She was right. I skimmed through page after page, finding Pitch had done an excellent job of writing everything that happened to Cora and me after we left Shurwinn.
“So,” Nanna nodded. “Pitch is weaving together all the players. Like instruments in a band. We already know our side of the story, though. Everyone ready for me to dive into the next chapter from the other Cosmos? Looks like we get a new point-of-view character!”
“Perfect!” Cora grinned. “I always wanted to hear from the composer. Jump in, Marjorie.”
And Nanna got to read Ren Crieve-Madrano’s story of life on Blennelach.
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