As the TV flickered to another interview, the screen displayed Mia sitting confidently in a studio, this time talking about rules and regulations. The headline at the bottom read: "Mia Detain Discusses the Importance of Rules in the Workplace."

Duke, who was still seated with the family, leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at the screen. "This... could be bad," he muttered, sensing that Mia was about to drop some controversial statements.

Freya, sipping on her hot cocoa, watched with a mix of curiosity and concern. "Let's just hope she doesn't say anything too-"

But before she could finish, Mia's voice filled the room.

"Let me be clear: No one is allowed to drink on the job," Mia declared, her tone firm and authoritative.

The effect was instantaneous. Freya, caught completely off guard, choked on her hot cocoa, sputtering as the liquid sprayed out in surprise. "What did she just say?!"

Duke's eyes widened as he realized the implications of Mia's statement. "Oh no..."

The boys were equally stunned. Clemmons glanced over at Duke, unsure whether to laugh or panic. "Is she... is she serious?"

Duke looked at the screen. _ I don't think so."

Then, Allen let out a blood curling scream.

The room was in complete chaos. Allen was on his feet, clutching his head as he screamed, “NO DRINKING ON THE JOB? MIA! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

He spun in circles, a mix of panic and disbelief on his face, until finally he stopped and looked at Duke. “She can’t just outlaw coffee! That’s... that’s half my energy for the day!”

Duke, still watching the screen in horror, nodded solemnly. “I know, Allen. This is a tragedy. She’s about to set off a caffeine rebellion.”

Clemmons, now as hysterical as Allen, bolted from the couch and began sprinting around the room, hands flailing. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I can’t—I CAN’T HANDLE THIS!” he yelled, looping past Allen, who grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Clemmons, what do we do? Do we... do we stage an intervention?” Allen asked, eyes wide.

“An intervention?! She’s on LIVE TELEVISION!” Clemmons shrieked, breaking free and continuing his panicked sprints around the room. “It’s too late—she’s already caused a workplace-wide disaster!”

As Clemmons passed by him, Buster, completely unfazed, signed with a raised eyebrow, "What’s the big deal? It’s just cocoa and coffee."

Allen spun around, staring at Buster as if he’d lost his mind. “JUST COCOA AND COFFEE?! That’s how people stay awake, Buster! How am I supposed to stay alert on my shift?!”

Buster rolled his eyes and signed back with a shrug, "Maybe drink water?"

Allen gasped. “WATER?! Are you trying to make me faint on duty?!”

Meanwhile, Freya, still recovering from her hot cocoa mishap, was dabbing at the spilled cocoa on her sweater. “Oh, Mia,” she muttered, shaking her head, “she doesn’t know the chaos she’s unleashed.”

They all turned back to the TV, where Mia was still talking, now completely oblivious to the uproar she’d started.

“Rules are important,” Mia continued with confidence, adjusting her glasses and sitting up straighter. “For instance, no loud talking while working. Also, no excessive laughter. It’s distracting and highly unprofessional!”

Clemmons, still pacing, froze mid-step. “NO LAUGHING?! How is that a rule?!” His hands flew to his head as he looked desperately at Allen. “Did she just say we can’t laugh?”

Allen nodded, his face turning pale. “This is bad. Really bad. My whole sense of humor… gone.”

Buster, stifling a smirk, signed to Allen, "Looks like you’re going to have to become a serious guy now."

Allen let out a scream of despair and grabbed the TV remote, frantically flipping channels. “I can’t watch this anymore. She’s gone too far!” But every time he changed the channel, Mia’s interview popped up on another screen, like she was haunting them.

“Mia’s EVERYWHERE!” Allen moaned. “She’s like a rule-enforcing specter!”

Freya tried to stifle her own laughter, which Mia had ironically forbidden, as she patted Allen’s shoulder. “Calm down, sweetheart,” she said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. “Maybe she’s just being... you know, theatrical?”

Clemmons sighed, sinking onto the couch and covering his face with a pillow. “I can’t believe this is happening. Tomorrow, we’re going to get to work, and nobody’s going to dare drink or laugh. It’ll be like a workplace horror movie.”

Duke gave a deep sigh and rubbed his temples. “This is what happens when an eight-year-old starts issuing workplace mandates on live TV.” He shook his head and muttered, “This might be worse than the time she set the ‘no running indoors’ rule.”

Just then, the screen cut to the show’s host, looking slightly bewildered. “Uh… well, thank you, Miss Detain, for your… unique insights on workplace conduct. I think we’ve all learned… something?”

The host’s confused expression spoke volumes, and as soon as the screen went black, a collective sigh of relief filled the room.

Clemmons tossed the pillow aside. “Okay, crisis averted—TV’s off.”

Just as everyone started to relax, Allen’s phone buzzed. He looked down, then held it up for the others to see. “Guys... we’ve got fifty missed texts. All from our coworkers.”

Clemmons groaned, slumping back on the couch. “They’re all going to revolt tomorrow, aren’t they?”

Duke glanced around, taking in the expressions of horror, disbelief, and grudging amusement on his family’s faces. “Probably. But at least we know one thing...”

“What’s that?” Allen asked miserably.

Duke gave a dry smile. “Mia’s going to make one heck of a Chief someday.”

The room had just started to calm down from Mia’s TV chaos when Clemmons’ phone rang again. He checked the screen and groaned. “Oh, no. It’s the Captain.”

He answered hesitantly. “Uh… hi, Captain?”

“Detain!” The Captain’s voice boomed through the speaker. “What is this I’m hearing about a ‘no drinking on the job’ rule? Are you trying to give the entire force a collective caffeine withdrawal?”

Clemmons stammered, “I—I swear, Captain, I had nothing to do with it! Mia... she just, um… has her own unique way of interpreting things.”

“Unique?” the Captain huffed. “Try tyrannical! I just had fifteen calls from officers demanding I negotiate a coffee break treaty! I’ll need caffeine to deal with this level of insubordination!”

In the background, Allen facepalmed. “This is going to end in chaos,” he whispered to Clemmons.

The Captain sighed, sounding exasperated but oddly amused. “Get this straightened out, Detain. Or I’m coming to your house—with decaf. Understand?”

“Yes, sir! No decaf needed!” Clemmons assured, wincing at the thought.

No sooner had he hung up when his phone rang again. This time, it was the Mayor.

“Oh, fantastic,” Clemmons muttered, bracing himself. He picked up. “Uh, hello, Mr. Mayor.”

“Ah, Detain! Splendid to reach you. I simply must vocalize my consternation at the pervasive pandemonium elicited by your sibling’s proclamations. This has generated a considerable convolution in our municipal regulations matrix.”

Clemmons blinked, desperately trying to keep up. “Uh… what?”

The Mayor continued with gusto, “Such an edict as ‘no caffeination whilst on duty’ has culminated in multitudinous complaints, predominantly from personnel integral to our intra-departmental infrastructure. This is unequivocally untenable!”

Clemmons turned to Allen and whispered, “Translation?”

Allen shrugged. “Something about coffee?”

Clemmons took a deep breath and replied, “Mr. Mayor, I’ll get this sorted out, I promise!”

“Exemplary! Expedite rectification forthwith, lest this become a municipal catastrophe of unprecedented proportions!” And with that, the Mayor hung up.

Clemmons collapsed back on the couch, utterly drained. “I need a dictionary just to talk to him!”

Allen looked at him, wide-eyed. “You think he was serious about ‘unprecedented proportions’?”

Clemmons groaned. “If I know Mia, tomorrow’s coffee shortage might just make history.”

As the TV flickered back on, Mia’s face appeared, poised and calm, looking directly into the camera as she continued her list of so-called “workplace regulations.”

“Oh, yes,” she said confidently, “and let’s not forget: absolutely no eating on the job. This is a workplace, not a buffet!”

Freya, who had just taken a massive bite of chocolate cake, suddenly started choking, her mouth full and eyes wide. “W-What did she say?!” she sputtered, nearly dropping her plate.

“NO. WAY.” Allen gasped, immediately spiraling into panic mode. He started pacing, wildly flailing his arms. “No coffee, no food… What’s next? No oxygen?!”

Right on cue, his phone rang, and he glanced down to see “CAPTAIN” flashing on the screen. His face drained of color. “Oh no… It’s him!”

He answered, voice shaky. “H-Hello, Captain?”

“Allen!” The Captain’s voice came through, sounding both weary and bewildered. “What is going on with your sister? The station is in total chaos! I had three officers call in ‘hungry’ because they’re afraid to eat on duty!”

Allen started to respond, but instead, words tumbled out incoherently. “Uh, Captain, I… um… cats! Yes, cats! Lots of cats are loose, everywhere! It’s a total cat-tastrophe!”

“What in the world are you talking about, Allen?” the Captain said, utterly confused.

Allen’s panic mode only ramped up. “You see, Captain, uh… Mia said something about no eating, and there’s this… um…cat situation, and the officers are starving, and, and... Wait! You don’t think Mia could actually make a rule about food, right?!”

Clemmons tried to step in, taking the phone. “Captain, sorry about that. Allen’s… Allen. We’re working on reeling Mia in. I think she’s… going through a ‘power phase.’”

“Power phase? This is a full-on reign of terror!” The Captain groaned. “Get her off that TV before she bans oxygen next!”

Allen grabbed his head, looking frantically around. “She could ban oxygen! She could ban anything! We’re doomed!”

Clemmons sighed. “Allen, please. Let’s just get through this before Mia declares a no-sibling policy!”

Just as everyone thought things couldn’t possibly get worse, Mia’s voice on the TV dropped yet another bombshell.

"And finally," she said with utmost seriousness, "as a health initiative, I propose… no breathing in the workplace.”

The room fell silent, as if Mia’s proclamation had literally sucked the air out of it.

Then—absolute chaos.

Allen let out a high-pitched wail. “NO BREATHING?! WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!”

He began to gasp dramatically, as if he’d suddenly forgotten how to breathe properly. Clemmons started hyperventilating in sympathy, clutching his chest. “I think… I think I’m already breaking the rule! I… I can’t stop!”

Freya and Duke sprang into action, trying to calm them down. “Allen! Clemmons!” Freya shouted, patting their shoulders frantically. “It’s okay! She can’t actually ban breathing!”

“But what if she finds a way?” Allen wailed, clutching Freya’s arm like a lifeline. “Mia can do anything! She’s unstoppable!”

Meanwhile, Buster was practically buried under a mountain of ringing phones, desperately signing with one hand while picking up calls with the other. He looked like he was running a telethon instead of managing panicked officers.

“I know, I know,” he signed with exasperation to Freya while tapping, “Please hold!” into another receiver. “No, we are not officially banning breathing… Just keep breathing and calm down!”

But then, the dreaded call came in. Buster held the phone away from his face, wincing as he signed, “It’s the mayor.”

Freya groaned. “Oh, great.”

Buster answered, doing his best to follow the mayor’s string of incomprehensible vocabulary. “Ah, greetings, Officer Buster. I was simply perambulating through the recent telecommunications regarding one Miss Mia’s unique declaration. Would you mind elucidating the precise nature of this… air intake prohibition?”

Buster blinked, completely lost, and handed the phone to Duke. “I think he’s asking if she really banned breathing.”

Duke cleared his throat. “Uh, yes, sir. The no breathing rule was… uh, unexpected, to say the least.”

The mayor continued, seemingly oblivious to the chaos. “Ah, so this pertains to a broader regulatory schema aimed at enhancing occupational respiration management? I had anticipated as much!”

Duke looked like he was about to break. “Sir… we’re working on re-negotiating that particular policy.”

Allen, still clutching his chest and gasping, suddenly yelped, “But what if Mia makes it permanent?! Do we all just… pass out? Is that her goal?!”

Clemmons threw his hands up. “I’m too young to pass out on the job! How do you even not breathe on duty?!”

Duke finally snapped, shouting over everyone, “ENOUGH! We are calling Mia right now and telling her to cancel this insanity!”

Allen, practically sobbing, nodded eagerly. “Yes, please! Before she bans sleeping too!”

Just as they thought things couldn’t possibly get worse, the TV flashed another headline: "Mia Detain Announces Ban on Sleeping in the Workplace."

Everyone froze, eyes wide with horror. Then, Allen’s mouth dropped open.

"No… sleeping?!” Allen screeched so loudly that the entire room seemed to vibrate.

Buster, in a panic, slapped his hand over Allen’s mouth to muffle the scream. Clemmons, just as stunned, stumbled over and helped, each of them clamping down with desperate looks on their faces.

“Shhh!” Buster signed frantically with his free hand. “You're going to give the whole city a heart attack!”

Allen pulled Buster’s hand down just enough to gasp, “Did she say… no sleeping? EVER?”

“Apparently,” Clemmons replied, looking half-dazed and half-petrified. “I don’t know what Mia’s thinking, but if she keeps this up, we’ll all be walking zombies!”

Duke, meanwhile, was furiously trying to reason with the captain over the phone, who had gone from concerned to outright livid. “Look, Captain, we’re doing everything we can to… no, sir, I don’t think Mia is trying to ban sleep permanently… Yes, sir, I know how that sounds, but she’s eight! She doesn’t control actual city policy!”

The captain's voice blasted through the receiver, loud enough that even Allen and Clemmons could hear it. “Doesn’t control city policy? She’s banned eating, breathing, and now sleeping! What’s next, banning thinking?!”

Allen’s face paled at the very thought. “What if she actually tries that?!”

Freya was pacing, looking like she was about to explode herself. “Duke, hand me the phone,” she demanded, taking it from him before he could react. She squared her shoulders. “Captain, with all due respect, we’re doing our best here. Mia’s… testing her authority, and we’ll get this under control. For now, please just keep your officers… breathing. And eating. And sleeping. At least until we have a chance to revisit her rulings.”

The captain sputtered on the other end, “Revisit her rulings? Freya, I want this sorted by the end of the day! Or else!”

Freya hung up, exhaling in exhaustion as Allen mumbled, “Or else what?”

“Or else we don’t get to sleep tonight,” she muttered.

The TV screen flickered once more, and Mia appeared with her latest decree: “As of today, all firefighters and police officers must live on the streets and… beg for food.”

There was a split second of absolute silence.

Then, Allen let out a scream so loud it echoed through the entire house. Clemmons winced, clutching his ears, and Buster instinctively covered his head with his hands.

“What was that?! Did someone die?!” bellowed the captain over the phone, his voice frantic.

“No, Captain,” Freya answered, sighing as she rubbed her temples. “But it’s getting close.”

In the background, Duke was on another call with the mayor, who was practically seething, his vocabulary hitting levels of complexity that even a dictionary would struggle to keep up with.

“This preposterousness! This ludicrous, vexatious—preposterously audacious edict from… an *eight-year-old*!” the mayor fumed, throwing in a few more convoluted terms just for effect. “This is a veritable travesty to the good men and women who serve our fine city!”

“Yes, Mayor,” Duke muttered, eyes glazing over as he attempted to keep up with the mayor's verbiage. “But she’s just a kid! She’s not actually enforcing anything. Really, it’s just… hypothetical…”

Allen, still reeling, leaned over to Freya, whispering in a panicked tone, “Is she serious? Are we… are we actually supposed to… live on the streets and beg?”

Clemmons looked equally horrified. “And we’re supposed to ask people for food? Mia wouldn’t last two seconds like that!”

Buster, rubbing his temples, tried to answer the phone calls that were now flooding in from angry firefighters and police officers, each one demanding an explanation.

The captain, still on the line, growled, “You get this under control now, Freya, or I’m bringing her down here to beg on the streets with us!”

Freya took a deep breath and turned to her family, her face determined. “All right, everyone. We need a plan. Now.”

But Allen’s face had already gone pale again. “Oh no,” he whispered, voice trembling. “What if Mia bans… plans?!”

Mia’s voice blared from the TV with a new, shocking declaration: “Oh, and all officers must strip off their clothes and walk around like gorillas.”

For a moment, Duke and Allen stared at each other in horrified silence.

Then, Allen let out a scream so blood-curdling it rattled the family photos on the walls. “NOOOOO! I AM NOT DOING THAT! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!”

Duke’s face went through a range of emotions: shock, disbelief, and finally, resignation. “Mia, what on earth is going through that head of yours?” he muttered, sinking back into his chair, trying to calculate how he could possibly get out of this mess.

Allen was pacing in a frenzy, hands flying as he tried to process what he’d just heard. “This is… this is… this is cruel and unusual punishment!” He grabbed Buster, who was attempting to answer a flood of frantic calls from the precinct. “Tell them I’ve retired! Effective immediately!”

“Allen,” Buster signed back calmly, “you can’t just retire because of Mia’s ‘rules.’”

“Yes, I CAN!” Allen replied, his voice cracking. He turned to Clemmons, eyes wild. “Please tell me there’s a rule against… against… THIS!”

Clemmons looked ready to laugh, cry, and scream all at once. “There should be! Dad, can’t you… you know… override this somehow? You’re the… dad of this crazy girl!”

Duke put his head in his hands. “If only it were that easy…”

Allen, ignoring Duke’s distress, wailed, “I’m not walking around like a gorilla! And I am definitely NOT doing it without my clothes! I—this… No, I’m done. Done!” He stomped around the room, flailing his arms, ironically looking somewhat like the very gorilla he refused to imitate.

The captain, still on the phone, sounded like he’d lost his last shred of patience. “Freya, what in the world is going on over there?! I’m hearing that half the precinct is in chaos!”

Freya, struggling to contain her laughter, coughed and replied, “Captain, we… um… seem to be having some technical difficulties.” She looked at Allen, who was hyperventilating at the thought of Mia’s latest rule. “We’ll get this under control.”

“By ‘we,’ I hope you mean now, Freya!” the captain barked. “I do NOT intend to participate in Mia’s little… experiment.”

As Freya hung up, Duke finally spoke, voice heavy with determination. “We need to find Mia. Now.”

Allen sank into a chair, clutching his head. “Let’s hope she doesn’t add more rules before we get there. Otherwise… I’m moving to a cave in the mountains. A fully dressed cave.”

Clemmons, still reeling from the last rule, glanced at the TV where Mia’s voice was booming. “Dad? Look at what Mia said now.”

Duke, already on the edge from the chaos, squinted at the screen. When he heard Mia’s latest rule, his face turned a deep shade of red. “What in the world is that kid thinking now?” he muttered under his breath, barely able to process the absurdity of the situation.

Mia, in her usual tone of absolute authority, declared, “And from now on, all dads must eat another human!”

Allen’s reaction was nothing short of explosive. His eyes went wide in horror, and with a desperate screech, he lunged toward Buster and Clemmons, shaking them both violently. “DO SOMETHING! I CAN’T DO THIS! I WILL NOT DO THIS!”

Buster, though not exactly disturbed by the idea (he was used to Mia's eccentricities by now), looked at Clemmons, his expression silently pleading for help.

Clemmons, shaking his head in disbelief, backed away from Allen’s frantic grip. “It’s not our rule, Allen! She’s… she’s Mia, you know how she is!”

Allen, his voice cracking with panic, looked desperately at his mom, who had been quietly sipping her tea up until now. “MOM! You have to stop her! She can’t make this a rule! I... I can’t eat anyone!”

Freya, who was holding her cup with a serene but extremely confused look, finally set it down. “I don’t even know how we’re supposed to respond to that.” She gave Duke a look that said, Well, this is your kid.

Duke sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead. “I’m going to need a stronger coffee after this, but we need to get Mia under control, and fast.”

Allen’s cries continued, echoing through the house, “I’m NOT EATING ANYONE, MIA! I refuse!” He shook his twin brothers harder, as if he thought shaking some sense into them would magically reverse Mia’s strange rules.

“Allen,” Clemmons said, patting his frantic brother on the back, “Let’s just… think about this logically. Mia’s a force of nature. You yelling about it isn’t going to change anything.”

“Logically?! Clemmons! She just said I have to eat a person!” Allen screeched. He stopped shaking Buster long enough to point at the screen. “Look at her! Look at what she’s done to my life!”

Buster signed, "We’re going to need a bigger table for dinner."

“Not helping!” Allen snapped, glaring at Buster. “Do you want to be the next meal?”

Clemmons bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. He gave Duke a look. “Maybe we should try talking to her directly. Get ahead of this before we all end up on a plate.”

Freya, ever the calming influence, stood up, hands on her hips. “I’ll try calling her again, but you know Mia. She might just make another rule right after.”

As if on cue, Mia’s voice filled the room once more. “Oh, and one more thing—anyone who doesn’t follow this rule will have to run around the city with their shoes tied together. Bye now!”

Allen’s scream was so high-pitched it almost shattered the glass. “I CAN’T BREATHE—MIA, STOP! I’LL NEVER RUN AROUND WITH MY SHOES TIED TOGETHER!”

The door slammed open with such force that it rattled the entire room, making everyone jump in shock. Standing in the doorway was Captain Brennant, his face red with frustration and his uniform slightly askew, as if he'd been running across the city just to make it here.

Allen, whose nerves had already been frayed beyond recognition, shrieked at the sight of him. “THE WORLD IS ENDING!” he wailed, flinging his arms into the air in pure panic. “DO YOU SEE WHAT SHE’S DONE?!”

The captain, though clearly exasperated, didn’t seem as rattled as everyone else. He strode into the room with a deep sigh, looking around at the chaos and the frantic expressions of everyone present.

“Okay, okay,” he said, his voice calm yet heavy with the weight of this bizarre situation. “I need to understand this. Mia has—what? Banned eating? Ordered all dads to eat people? And now... shoes are involved?”

Allen didn’t even acknowledge him. Instead, he dropped to his knees in a dramatic fashion, his hands gripping his hair. “I can’t do it! I can’t eat anyone! And I can’t run around with my shoes tied together! This is it! We’re doomed!”

The captain looked at Freya, who was trying to stay composed despite her own confusion. “Freya, this is... a lot. Is this some kind of... family tradition? Or is Mia just really extra today?”

Freya, trying to recover from the shock, looked at Duke for support. He was equally baffled. “I don’t know anymore. She’s just... full of surprises.”

Clemmons stepped forward, his hand still hovering near his forehead in an attempt to stave off a headache. “Look, Captain, Mia has a way of making these rules up on the spot. She’s... she’s been very into 'rule-making', lately.”

Captain Brennant raised an eyebrow. “So, the end of the world... isn’t quite the end of the world?”

“Not yet,” Clemmons said dryly. “But give her five minutes. She’ll find a way to make it worse.”

Allen, who had been pacing and muttering about the impending doom, suddenly stopped. His eyes locked onto the captain, and he pointed a shaking finger at him. “You! You have to fix this!” he pleaded. “You’re in charge of this chaos! You’re the captain! You can make her stop!”

The captain looked at Allen, then at Freya and Duke, before shrugging in defeat. “I’m not sure I can stop her, Allen. But I’ll do my best to talk some sense into her.”

“Please! Do something!” Allen begged, his voice cracking.

With a resigned sigh, Captain Brennant pulled out his phone, muttering about how ridiculous this situation had become. As he dialed, he looked back at the family. “If this doesn’t work, I’m sending her to military school.”

Allen’s eyes widened. “Military school?!”

“Better that than... whatever Mia’s come up with next,” the captain muttered, shaking his head.

Just as he was about to press the call button, Mia’s voice echoed through the room once more, booming from the speakers as though she were standing right in front of them.

“One last thing! All firefighters, police officers, and anyone in a uniform will now... sing the national anthem backwards every time they enter a building! No exceptions!”

The captain let out a groan. “Yep. Military school it is.”

" One more thing!"

The entire room went silent. Captain Brennant froze mid-call, his phone still held up to his ear, his eyes wide in disbelief. Everyone else slowly turned to the screen where Mia’s voice boomed from the speakers, as if she were about to deliver the final blow.

“Captain! If you're watching this...” Mia's voice echoed, playful yet dripping with mischief, “Marry the mayor!”

The captain, still holding the phone to his ear, stared at the screen, blinking as though he had just heard the strangest thing in the universe. His jaw dropped. “Did... did she just say what I think she said?” he asked, looking around at the bewildered faces in the room.

Allen, who had been pacing in a circle with his arms flailing, froze. His head whipped around to look at the captain. “Wait. What?” he sputtered. “She wants you to marry the mayor?!”

Freya, who had been trying to process everything that had happened in the past few minutes, suddenly choked on her drink. “Marry the mayor?! But... but—Captain, you can’t—”

The mayor’s voice suddenly boomed in through the phone’s speaker. “Did I hear that right, Captain? Mia wants me and you to... to tie the knot?” His tone was smooth but slightly amused, as if he were already envisioning the headlines: "Mayor and Captain Brennant: The Power Couple of the Century."

The captain facepalmed dramatically, letting out a deep sigh. “This is... absurd. I don’t even know where to begin with this one.” He looked at Freya, his face grim. “Is she serious, Freya?”

Freya blinked, clearly at a loss for words. “I... I don’t know, Captain. She’s done some weird stuff, but this? This is a new level.”

Duke, who had been silent up until now, suddenly burst out laughing. “Well, this is one way to get out of being in charge of the house. Maybe we should all just run for mayor. What do you think, Clemmons?”

Clemmons, still processing Mia’s "rules," shook his head and groaned. “Mia’s really outdone herself this time.”

Buster, who had been quietly observing everything unfold, finally signed with a raised eyebrow: "Are you guys just going to stand there? Or is there a wedding to plan?"

Everyone turned to look at Buster. He shrugged, giving them a dry look. “I mean, the way Mia’s going, might as well prepare for a wedding.”

Captain Brennant, still reeling from the shock, finally spoke again, his voice full of exasperation. “I swear, I’m going to be having nightmares about this for the rest of my life.” He then turned to the mayor. “Listen, we don’t need to make headlines over this, okay? Just... tell Mia we’ll discuss this when she’s back from... wherever she is.”

The mayor, however, was not backing down. “I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. Think of the unity! The press! The voters!” He sighed dreamily. “And Mia is a woman with vision.”

Mia’s voice once again filled the room, as if to seal the deal. “Don’t forget, Captain! Rule 207-23-‘I Do’ states that if you ever find yourself in the middle of a crazy situation, just go with it...”

The captain rolled his eyes. “Okay, that's it! I need a vacation.”

Freya, still in shock, turned to Duke. “What do we do now?”

Duke simply shrugged. “I’m starting to think the whole family’s going to need a vacation after this... maybe an island. Somewhere far, far away from Mia and her *rules*.”

And as Mia’s voice continued to echo through the house, the room collectively groaned. It was clear that no one was getting out of this unscathed. The only question left was how long it would take for Mia’s wild “rules” to spiral even further out of control.