Just some drabble about a typical Saturday. Hope y'all enjoy!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Law and Order' and its characters. Callie and Tenniel are mine.
Rating: T, for language and some themes.
Category: Michael Cutter/Cyrus Lupo
Note: Slight 'Innocence' spoilers. (I still can't get over that episode. Michael Cutter was so hot!)
Saturday Morning
By LTP-girl
Connie Rubirosa flipped through the channels on the TV, but there was nothing on that satisfied her interests.
Her purring cat, Gato, jumped onto her lap.
"Hello pus," she said, stroking her fingers through his silky fur.
He meowed back at her.
"I've already fed you, I'm not giving you anymore," she said firmly.
He meowed again, and head butted her.
She suddenly heard the bell on her stove go off. The chocolate cake she had baked earlier was ready.
Michael and his daughter were dropping in to see her, so she had decided to make one for both of them to enjoy.
She picked Gato up, and placed him on the other side of the couch, and headed towards the kitchen.
Gato jumped off the arm of the couch and followed Connie into the Kitchen, his bushy tale erected and moving through the air, forming into the shape of a question mark.
***
Michael Cutter made his way down the stairs, wrapping his scarf around his neck as he did so. He stopped at the base of the stairs to put his gloves on.
He glanced over at his husband, Cyrus, who was helping their daughter, Callie, put her coat on.
He walked towards the coat stand, and picked up Callie's blue knitted hat off the hook, approached her from behind, and placed it on her head.
"It's a cold today, sweetie, so it's important to wrap up," Cyrus said, smiling up at Michael, acknowledging his presence. He then slipped her small hands into a pair of woolly mittens.
Michael retrieved his jacket from the coat stand and put it on.
Cyrus wrapped Callie's pink scarf around her neck, and stood up to take a look at her. "Okay, all ready for some fun at the park with Daddy Mikey?" he asked playfully.
"Yes," she replied, looking up at her two fathers. "And the squirrels."
Michael and Cyrus exchange amused glances.
"Oh, honey, I don't think we'll see any squirrels today," Michael corrected her. "They're hibernating this season."
"Oh." She looked down at her ugg-boots, a little disappointed, her feet turning inwards.
"But don't worry," Michael soothed, as he bent down to cup her face. "We're going to Aunty Connie's place afterwards, and she's got a kitty you can play with. You like kitties."
"As long as you don't pull his tail," Cyrus chimed in, with a note of humour in his voice.
Michael took Callie's hand, and opened the front door of the house. He leaned over towards Cyrus and kissed him before they left.
Cyrus stood with his hands in his jeans pockets. He watched as Michael and Callie headed towards the front gate, and made their way down the street.
"Have fun you two," he called out to them, before closing the door. He shivered as a cold winter draft filled the air.
***
Anita Van Burien rolled her sleeves up, and tightened the knot of the scarf she had on her head, which she wore to conceal her balding patches of missing hair.
"What shape are the cookies going to be Grammy?" her five-year-old granddaughter, Tenniel, asked, looking up at her.
"I don't know, baby, I thought maybe you could chose the shape of the cookies," she answered.
Anita opened the drawer in front of her, and pulled out various shaped cookie cutters, and placed them in front of her on the counter. She then lifted Tenniel onto the counter to show her the cookie cutter shapes.
A wave of exhaustion came over her after lifting Tenniel, and she had the sudden need to sit down. She pulled a tall chair over to the counter and sat down.
"Okay," she began, picking up the plastic cutters and handing them to Tenniel as she described each one. "There's a star, a heart, and angel, and a Christmas tree, although, we usually only use the trees for Christmas, and Christmas is already over."
Tenniel thought for a moment, deciding what shapes to use. "I think we should make.... angels and stars," Tenniel exclaimed. "Because angels help sick people, like you, get better, and they live in the sky, with the stars."
Anita was touched by Tenniel's little sentiment. "Nice choice," she agreed with a smile. She moved the other cookie cutters to the side and discarded them. She stood up from the chair, feeling a little better. She picked up a ball of cookie dough, which they had prepared together earlier, and placed on the cutting board, then started to flatten it with the rolling pin.
Frank entered the room, and approached Anita from behind. He spread one arm around her, and groped her firm behind with the other. "Hey baby, something smells go-od," he said, pulling Anita close.
Anita chuckled. "Keep it clean, Frank, my granddaughter's in the room," she warned him.
He smiled at the girl sitting on the counter. "Hey Tenniel," he greeted her. "Making cookies with Grammy, huh?"
"Yeah," she replied cheerfully. "And they've got chocolate chips in them."
"Oooh, well I had better get out of you two ladies way then," he joked, humouring Tenniel. "Or I just might steal the cookie dough and keep it for myself. And then Lieutenant Grammy will have to arrest me!"
The three of them laughed.
Anita felt blessed to have found such a compassionate and warm companion in Frank
Frank turned serious for a moment, and leaned into Anita. "Don't wear yourself out, hey Anita," he said to her quietly. "You need your rest."
He picked up the newspaper from the wooden table in the middle of the room, before heading into the lounge room.
By this stage Anita had completely flattened the dough. A second wave of exhaustion waved over her, more intense than the one she had briefly experienced earlier. She took her seat again on the tall chair behind her, and began to breathe heavily. She knew that this was all part of the chemo, and it was far milder than the bouts of exhaustion she had experienced in previous months.
"Are you okay, Grammy?" Tenniel asked concerned.
"Yeah baby, Grammy's fine," she replied reassuringly, between breathes. "I just need to rest for a minute. That's all."
***
The crack of sunlight that merged from broken clouds in the sky embraced the two figures dawdling through the park.
Michael held Callie's hand tightly, as they both continued to walk through the snow.
"This is nice isn't it?" Michael said, smiling down at Callie, noticing her quietness. "Just us two." He could detect a slight sadness about her.
She nodded nonchalantly in response, staring into the distance.
He got the sense that she was ignoring him. Well, he hadn't seen her much lately. He had to admit, the case load he had been given in the past couple of weeks was kind of ludicrous.
"I'm sorry I haven't been home much lately, to be with you and Daddy Cyrus," he apologised. "But you know, I have big responsibility in the community."
"I know, Daddy Mikey," she replied, dead-pan. "It's your job to yell at all those naughty people who break the law."
Michael was a little dumbfounded by her answer, although she wasn't entirely wrong about what his job entailed. He remembered a picture she drew of him, and brought home from pre-school one day to show him. It showed Michael in court yelling angrily at a stripy dressed offender, who was sitting in the witness box. The picture also showed the judge, the jury, the galley, the defence and prosecution, the stenographer, and even the bailiff, all placed in their correct places, like how he showed her. He knew she was gifted, no matter what her snooty teacher claimed.
"You know, I was thinking," Michael began. "Maybe in the summer, I can bring you out here and teach you how to play baseball."
A gleeful smile spread across her face.
They continued to walk.
A lone figure emerged in the distance, and at first Michael didn't recognise who she was.
"Hey Mike," the woman called out.
He looked up to see the middle-aged blonde woman approaching him and his daughter.
"Professor Ryan," Michael greeted her, a little surprised to see her.
They exchanged a friendly hug.
"Oh, please call me Emily," she insisted. "You're an established prosecutor now."
They both laughed.
She crouched down to greet the little girl who was tightly grasping onto Michaels leg. "Oh, and who might this be?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
"This is my daughter, Callie," Michael answered.
Callie clasped onto Michael's leg even tighter as Emily spoke to her, the look of timidity spreading across her face.
Whose this scary lady sticking her face at me. Callie sensed something not quite right about Emily, overwhelmed by her approach.
Michael smiled nervously, noticing Emily's confused expression in response to Callie's reaction towards her.
There was something oddly disarming about Callie.
"She's just shy," Michael assured her, as he tried to loosen Callie's tight grip around his leg.
Emily stood up to face Michael. "Since when did you get hitched and have a kid, Mike?" she enquired.
"Well, it's been a few years now," he responded.
"Who's the lucky lady then?"
Mike paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer her question. "She's not a lady," Mike corrected her. "He's a guy."
A look of surprise spread across her face, but her smile remained. "Oh," she replied, not sure how to react.
"So, um, are you still at Hudson University?" Mike enquired, changing the subject.
"Yes," Emily responded. "I'm head of the Innocence Coalition in the law faculty."
The three of them continued to strole along, until they reached an area of the park with playground equipment for Callie to play on.
Michael and Emily took a seat on a park bench facing the playground, as Callie approached a little boy with a toy truck in the sand-box.
"Oh look, she's made a friend already," Emily said, watching them play together.
They continued to catch up on each other's news.
Oh God, they grow up so fast," Michael said. "I remember it like yesterday, Cyrus and I were waiting with baited breath to here we had finally adopted a child."
"I know what you mean," Emily replied. "My great niece is turning eight this week."
"My husband, Cyrus, is staying home and looking after Callie," Michael explained. "And he's also studying law part-time himself."
"Oh, that's very impressive," Emily said, sounding quite pleased. "Do you hope Callie will follow in your footsteps, and takes on the bar like her two daddies?"
Mike chuckled. "I hope she one day takes on the bench."
***
Jack McCoy made his way through the crowd of people. He didn't like the mall, especially on a Saturday. But, he needed a new pair of slacks to wear to his daughter's engagement party.
He recalled at the Annual District Attorney's Dinner Party a week before, he bent over to tie his shoelace, and his old slacks ripped at the back. He spent the whole evening sitting down, desperately trying to hide his silky boxers from other guests. He especially tried to hide them from that young buck, Mike, who had taken his old position as EADA, as well as his beautiful ADA, Connie.
He stepped onto an escalator, which led him to a men's haberdashery store.
Once inside the store, he began to browse through a rack of trousers.
A spiffy dressed salesman approached him.
"Can I help you sir?" the young man asked.
Jack looked up at him. "Why yes," he replied intrigued. "I'm looking for a new pair of black slacks."
"Of course, sir," the salesman replied, leading Jack to the back of the store. "Follow me sir."
The salesman handed him a pair of Armani slacks. "try these on, darling," the salesman said.
Jack tri them on, a little sceptical about the fit of the pants.
Oh, dear God, I've put on wait....again.
"How you going in there, sir?" the salesman asked.
Jack paused with embarrassment. "I need a larger size," he replied solemnly.
"Not a problem, sir," the salesman answered. He placed a larger size of pants over the door of the dressing room.
Jack took them, and tried them on.
"Yeah, these seem to fit," he replied.
The salesman threw over a silken shirt. "Try these on Hon', it's divine," he suggested.
"Okay," Jack replied, a little cheerier. He felt happy that someone was paying him such a lot of attention for a change.
"You look fab," the salesman said to Jack. "Night on the town?"
Jack admired himself in the mirror. "It is quite nice," he replied. "It's my daughter's engagement party tomorrow night."
The young man, smiled. "Well, you do look rather fetching."
"I'll take it," Jack pronounced.
He changed into his regular clothes. He then gathered the clothes he Had tried on, and then paid for them at the checkout.
"$100, 500," the salesman requested.
"I'll take 'em!" Jack cried out, throwing the salesman his credit card. "You only live once, and I'm nearly on death's door, anyway."
The salesman laughed, swiping Jack's card.
Jack took his purchase, and headed out the door. He could have done with a coffee, but what he was really in need of was the bathroom.
Damn prostate! He thought to himself, rushing into the men's room.
***
Mike walked off the elevator, Callie's hand in his.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" he asked, looking down at her sallow face.
"Nothing, Daddy Mikey, she replied. She sighed. "That lady we saw in the park before. She seemed really mean. I really didn't like her."
A concerned expression spread across his face. "What do you mean, hon?" Michael was concerned.
They headed down the hall to Connie's apartment.
"Well, you like Auntie Connie, she's nice," Mike said, trying to cheer her up.
He really didn't understand what was going on with Callie. She was really an introverted four-year-old, but Mike had never seen her so distraught.
Mike knocked on the door.
"I don't like that blonde lady. She's abhorrent," Callie retorted.
Mike was shocked to hear his daughter use such language.
"Callie, don't say things like that..."
I knew she was gifted! What was that preschool teacher on about? He thought to himself.
Connie answered the door of her apartment.
"Oh, hey Mike," she said cheerfully, with a smile.
She looked down at Callie, who was grasping tightly onto her father's leg, as usual.
"Hey Callie," Connie greeted. She knelt down. "How's pre-school?"
"Good," she replied shyly. "I like octopi."
Connie stood up.
"Come on through," she said to Michael, opening the door wider, welcoming them both into her apartment.
The room was filled with the scent of baking.
Connie closed the door.
"What does she mean? Octopuses?"
"The correct word is octopi. It's plural!!" Callie cried out.
"Don't ask," Michael said to Connie.
The two adults took a seat at the dining room table, while Callie happily sat on the couch, with Gato in her lap, watching a documentary about Jupiter's most active moon, Europa.
"So, how have you been Connie?" Mike enquired.
She laughed. "Oh, Mike, I only saw you yesterday. You know how I am."
He paused for a moment. "No, I mean... health wise?"
She looked up at him. She sighed exasperated. She was sick of people asking how she was. Her mother, her brothers, her sister, her best friend. All these people enquiring how she was. She was sick of it.
"I'm fin Mike," she assured him. "My T-cells are up, and my physician feels that I may be off the cocktail in a couple of months."
She sighed.
Michael reached for her hand. "That's good to here, Connie," he said encouragingly.
She looked down at the shiny oak table. "But there's no way I'll get a man," she sighed. Tears began to prick her eyes.
Michael reached for her hand. "Hey, hey, hey, don't say that," he said softly. "In time, you'll meet someone."
"Yeah, who would want to date an HIV-positive frump like me?" she retorted.
Tears streamed down her face.
Michael held her close.
"Con' it was horrible what that man did to you," he said to her softly. "But...but..."
There was nothing he could say. What could he say?
She wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater. She broke from Michaels's arms and got out of her seat.
"Okay, who wants chocolate cake?" Connie called out, heading towards the kitchen.
Michael's face turned concerned. He could tell she was hiding her pain.
"I do!" Callie cried out.
Connie laughed, slightly superficially.
Michael got out of his seat, and took a seat next to Callie.
"What are you watching, hon?" Michael asked.
Callie looked up at him, her eyes wide and bright.
"Well, Jupiter has 28 moons, but the four most important ones are Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa," she began excitedly.
"Okay," Michael replied.
"And Europa has frozen ice, which scientists suspect contains traces of H2O, which means it may contain traces of life," she continued. "On Earth, about two miles down below the ocean, there are these tall vents that expel hot water, and they of course attract these living creatures, like white crabs, and giant tubular worms. Scientists use to believe that no life could exist in these conditions, but now it is evident that life can exist with enough warmth, and oxygen, and water."
Michael couldn't follow, but listened anyway.
Callie rambled on. "In the future, scientists plan on sending a space craft up to Europa to explore what primitive life-forms exist on the moon. But, the space craft has to be able to travel the distance of Jupiter's moon, Europa, to be able to crack through the thick layer of ice that covers it, and be able to travel through liquid. It also needs to be able to collect samples, for scientists to analyse."
Michael patted her on the head. "Don't ever get a boyfriend," he said to her, slightly jokingly.
Connie entered the room, laden with three plates of chocolate cake.
Michael looked up at her, as she handed him a plate.
"I was just telling Callie, don't ever get a boyfriend," Mike explained.
Connie laughed, handing Callie a plate of chocolate cake.
"Listen to Daddy Mikey, Callie," She said. "Relationships are nothing but trouble."
Both Connie and Michael chuckled.
Connie opened a bottle of Vino, pouring Michael a glass.
"Better get ready for next Thursday's trial," she said, Michael. "It's gonna be a big one!"
The end.
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