Page 13 of Making It Up

“Ten more minutes.”

Despite the sandwich and banana, she had enthusiastically agreed we should raid the freezer and make a frozen pizza and tater tots.

I love a girl who likes to eat and doesn’t turn her nose up at perfectly good snack food. Tater tots are one of my favorites. Another point for Mia Hansen. A point she absolutely does not need to accumulate.

Then she happily took the turtle I handed her without even blinking.

Yes, I handed her a live turtle. Well, I handed her the turtle’s aquarium with him inside.

You can’t leave the pets upstairs during a tornado. That is a dick move. And yes, I handed him over to test her.

But her eyes lit up, she took Rex without a word other than ‘ooh’, and now she’s lying on her side on the sofa with a turtle on the floor next to her, watching him and tossing him bits of lettuce.

From the recliner, I can see the TV and pretend to watch this show about elephants while holding Tim and Donna’s rabbit, Murphy. And steal glances at Mia. I’m also keeping track of the weather alerts on my phone. Kind of.

Okay, mostly I’m stealing glances at Mia.

Who seems equally enamored with the show about elephants and the turtle beside her. Though she keeps glancing my way as well.

She’s probably just watching the rabbit.

How does uptight, rule-follower Hansen have a laid-back daughter like this?

“Do you want to hold Murphy?” I ask. I should go check on the food in the oven upstairs.

Her smile is quick and wide. “Sure!”

I start to stand. I know the pizza isn’t done, but if she wants to hold the rabbit, then who am I to deny her?

I take a step toward the couch but a second later, the room is plunged into darkness.

“Fuck,” I swear.

“You okay?” Mia asks.

“I’m…the power went out.”

She giggles. “Yeah. I noticed.”

“That’s not a great development.”

“Means the storm is close.”

“Yeah. And our pizza isn’t going to be fully cooked.”

There’s a pause, then she groans. “Or the tater tots.”

Yep, I like a girl who has her priorities straight.

I fumble with my phone and manage to get the light on with one thumb. It’s incredibly bright in the completely dark basement.

She hasn’t moved. She doesn’t seem upset by the sudden power outage.

“Are you okay?” I ask anyway.

She tosses a bit of lettuce to Rex. “I’ll be honest, I was really craving tater tots. But I’m fine otherwise.”

I hand her the rabbit. She immediately cradles him against her chest.