Page 20 of Hope After Loss

“They’re little green men,” Tucker states.

I cross my arms. “Superman was an alien.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Tucker cries.

“Oh, yes, he was. He was an extraterrestrial lifeform from the planet Krypton,” I declare.

Tucker wrinkles his nose.

“So were Alf, E.T., Doctor Who, and The Iron Giant,” I continue.

Weston gasps. “Hey, now, no need to get crazy,” he interjects.

“What’s an Alf?” Tucker asks.

“He’s a fuzzy pet alien that likes to eat cats,” Morris says.

“Ewww,” Tucker cries.

“I’ll introduce you to Alf. We’ll stream it this weekend,” Weston tells him.

“Even Thor is an alien.” I double down.

“Thor is a god,” Weston corrects.

I look at him.

“He’s from Asgard, which is one of the planets of the nine realms. Hence, an alien.”

“A planet of gods,” Morris insists.

My eyes snap to him. “Still not Earth.”

“Is she right?” Tucker asks Morris.

“She’s not wrong,” he mumbles.

“I’m just saying, aliens are cool.”

Tucker brings his wide eyes to Weston, and he shrugs.

“She’s right. I guess they are pretty cool.”

Tucker sighs. “They’d better put Superman and Thor on our team shirts and not Marvin the Martian.”

Weston laughs. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

He heads to his office, and I start to cover and put away the samples.

“What’s all this?” Morris asks.

“Just some new CBD products Weston is considering producing.”

He picks up one of the jars and reads the label. “Hydrating and de-puffing eye cream.” He raises an eyebrow. “Weed can do that?”

I nod. “It can do a lot of things.”

Weston steps back out with his keys in hand.