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Mick grinned. “That’s the plan… did you put the announcement thing in the newspaper?”
Lena nodded. “Yes. We have to wait eight days.”
“Then we will have wedding,” Maria said automatically.
“No, Mama, we want a civil ceremony,” Lena protested.
“We can have civil wedding,” she said firmly, glancing at Mick.
“I want whatever Lena wants,” he responded.
Dimitri chuckled, shaking his head. “This is smart. Many men do not learn this.”
“I had no idea what my mother had done,” Mick said, reaching for Lena’s hand and holding it between both of his. “I have a lot to make up to her.”
Dimitri frowned so Lena translated and the older man nodded. “We have many questions for Lena, but maybe now is not best time for this. Much bigger problem is with Giorgios. For him to give up Mihalis I think will require much money.”
“I have money,” Mick said. “Whatever it takes. Mihalis is my son, not his, and I’m willing to pay him to give up custody but if he’s greedy, we’ll just let the courts handle it because I can prove he’s mine.”
“We don’t want it to go that far,” Lena interjected.
“How much do you think he’ll want?” Mick looked at Dimitri.
“Maybe seventy-five or one hundred thousand Euros.”
Lena winced. “Baba, that’s crazy!” she hissed in Greek.
“Do you want your son now or do you want to spend that much money on lawyers and in court for many years?” he responded blandly.
“Don’t worry about that,” Mick said. “We’ll handle it.”
“I will do this,” Dimitri said quietly. “Giorgios is not easy and he will try to take advantage of you.”
“I can handle him.” Mick didn’t even hesitate.
“Is not because you are weak…” Dimitri glanced at Lena and spewed a torrent of Greek.
“He said it’s because you’re not just new to him, but to all of us. He’ll fight you just because you’re someone he doesn’t know. If my father goes to him, with his parents there too, they’ll be embarrassed and want to get this over with as quickly as possible.”
“He’s still been their grandson for three years,” Mick said. “Will they just write him out of their lives because of a DNA test? I mean, that’s good for us, but as a human being, how do you do that?”
“Giorgios doesn’t care about anything but himself,” Lena said, “so yes, he’ll walk away. His mother might be reluctant, but she’ll do what he and his father tell her to do.”
“If you think it’ll be easier for your father to handle it, it’s fine with me, but understand that I’ll step in—with lawyers and anything else I need—if he tries to make trouble.”
“Did you speak with Sophia?” Maria asked softly.
Lena nodded. “Last night. She’s okay with everything. She’ll sign the papers as soon as she gets them. There’s a consulate in Tampa where she can have them notarized.”
They talked for another hour, discussing the upcoming marriage and what Dimitri would say to Giorgios. When Dimitri and Maria went to lay down for a little while, Mick and Lena retired to her room, even though they weren’t thinking about sleep.
“I need to ask you about something,” Mick said as they reclined on the bed facing each other.
“Okay.”
“I have money but I still plan to work.”
“I assumed so.”
