What might have happened when Mike and Lena meet for the first time?

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters Mike, Stef , Brandon or Lena, these characters belong to ABC Family, The Fosters.

Looking forward to your reviews

The first meeting:

As the morning sun rays broke through a crack in the curtains of Stefs' bedroom, she slowly blinked a few times to adjust to the light before opening her eyes. She glanced over at her bedside clock, 07h12. She let out a sigh; this was much too early to be awake on a Saturday morning she thought to herself. She slowly turned to lie on her back, expecting to find the world's most stunningly beautiful woman lying next to her, but to her disappointment the other side of the bed was completely empty. She sat up and looked around the bedroom; there was no sight of her. Stef pulled off the covers and grabbed the robe on the ottoman chair just at the foot of her bed; she slipped the robe on and made her way into the hallway. As she was making her way towards Brandon's' room she heard chatter and laughter coming from the kitchen. Stef slowly made her way towards the voices. As the voices got louder she stopped and stood at the threshold of her kitchen where she was greeted with a sight that made heart fill with so much joy she thought it might actually burst from happiness. There sat Lena at the table with her five year old son playing thumbs wars. The two of them completely lost in their little game.

"Your fingers are longer than mine" Brandon moaned.

"Your fingers are faster than mine" Lena countered.

"Ok are you ready..." Lena said with a giant smile on her face

The little boy nodded

In unison they said "one, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war"

Their fingers wagged uncontrollably as one thumb tried to dominate the other. Brandon had a determined look on his face, his little tongue sticking out of his mouth, desperately trying to get one up on Lena. Lena feigned difficulty as she wiggled her thumb around in an attempt to 'win' the battle. When she saw the look on Brandon's face she gave in and let the little boy trap her thumb under his.

"One, two, three, four, I win the thumb war" the boy shouted excitedly, giggles following suite.

"I won" he said throwing his hands in the air.

The giant smile spread across Stef's face made her cheeks hurt; she couldn't ever remember feeling this content, this happy. I could spend the rest of my life like this, she thought to herself.

"Stef" Lena called out. Stef quickly snapped out of her daze of happiness

"Hi mom, I beat Lena at thumb wars" the little boy belted out excitedly, pride beaming from his voice.

"You did?" Stef exclaimed

"He's quite the little thumb warrior" Lena pitched in, giving Stef a big smile.

Stef walked into the room, and ruffled Brandon's hair. "Good morning my sweet, sweet little boy" She said as she planted a big fat wet kiss on his cheeks.

Brandon was quick to wipe it away with a slight grimace on his face. Turns out kids that go to kindergarten don't think it's very cool to receive wet kisses from their mom anymore.

Stef walked over to Lena's side of the table and leaned down to give her a quick but passionate kiss. "Good morning my love" she said with a huge seductive smile on her face

"Morning" Lena responded, her smile matching Stefs.

"You guys are up and at 'em bright and early this morning, didn't you get the memo...it's Saturday!" Stef said walking over to grab some coffee from the pot that Lena must have brewed when she woke up.

"No sleep for the wicked" Lena said with a gentle laugh.

"What's a memo?" Brandon asked innocently.

"A memo...a memo is a letter that people send when they want to tell other people something very important" Stef said as she walked up behind Lena and gently squeezed Lena's shoulder. Lena lifted her hand and placed it over Stef's.

They had only been together for a few months, and while the process of coming out had been difficult for Stef, filled with many challenges, when you set that all aside it was almost freighting just how quickly and easily they had transitioned into a happy little family. When it was just the three of them in their little bubble, life was nothing but joyful bliss and Stef could never have imagined that she could be this happy. All the challenges she faced, her father, the divorce, Mike, her colleagues at work, seemed irrelevant in the face of this happiness she had found.

After they had finished breakfast and dressed for the day, they decided that they would head out to the store to pick up a few art supplies that Brandon needed for school next week. His art teacher, Mrs Brown, had sent home all the kids in her class with a note to the parents requesting that their kids bring a list of supplies to school next week for an art project they would be working on.

Walking through the art supplies isle at their local Target, the three of them looked a picture of happiness. Stef had the list in her hand, reading out the items that they needed to find, Lena and Brandon picking the various items off the shelves.

"Can I get the big glitter pens mom" Brandon said with a giant box in his hands

"Yes you may" Stef said smiling at her young son.

It didn't take long for them to fill the basket with everything they needed and headed to the checkout counter. As the cashier rung the items on the list, Stef looked at her son who had been so well behaved as they walked through the store, she decided maybe a fun little treat was in store.

"How about we get some frozen yoghurt after we are done here" Stef said as she looked at her son with big eyes anticipating an excited reaction.

"YEEESSSSS" the little boy exclaimed excitedly

Both Lena and Stef laughed at each other as they watched Brandon brim with excitement, they knew they would have their hands full with a little boy full of sugar this afternoon, but he had been well behaved all week and deserved the treat.

As they made their way out of Target towards the car park, Stef carried the bags filled with their goodies. Lena walked holding Brandon's hand. Lena and Stef were startled when they heard Brandon shout out.

"Dad!" The little boy said as he let go of Lena's had and ran across the parking lot.

Mike kneeled down and opened his arms as Brandon ran full speed into Mike's chest. Mike wrapped his arms around the little boy picking him up in the process and giving him kisses on his head.

"Hey big guy" Mike said as he hoisted Brandon onto his right arm. "How's my boy doing?"

"We going for frozen yogurt" Brandon exclaimed with jubilation

"Frozen yoghurt, aren't you a lucky little boy" Mike said as he carried Brandon towards Lena and Stef who were also walking towards them.

Stef's heart sank to the pit of her stomach as they met at the centre of the parking lot. She had successfully managed to avoid this situation for so long, she knew that at some point this would happen, but today was not the day she had anticipated this happening. Her mouth suddenly went dry and bile threatened to make its way up her throat.

"Mike" Stef said as soon as they were within a few feet of each other.

"Hi Stef" Mike said looking at Stef then across to Lena "Doing some shopping?" Mike said with calm but firm grit in his voice.

"Yeah" Stef responded, she looked over at Lena who was looking at Mike, she took a deep breath "Mike this is Lena, Lena Mike"

Lena politely extended her hand "Hi Mike, pleasure meeting you"

Mike cautiously extended his hand and gave Lena a firm handshake "Hi Lena"

Sensing the awkward silence that had fallen between them Lena decided to break the tension.

"I'm going to load the parcels in the car, Brandon I could use your big strong arms to help me?" Lena said looking at the little boy with a big smile on her face.

"Ok, look at my strong arms dad" Brandon said lifting his arms to flex his muscle before he tired to wriggling his way out of Mikes hold. Mike brushed his hand through Brandon's hair before giving him a kiss on the head and setting him down.

Stef gave Lena the key to the car. Mike and Stef stood in silence as they watched Lena and Brandon walk towards where they had parked, Brandon excitedly rambling about the flavour of frozen yoghurt he wanted. As soon as they were a safe hearing distance away Mike was the first to speak.

"Is that her?" his head turning to look at Lena walk hand in hand with his son before whipping back to give Stef a deathly glare.

"Not that is it any of your business, but yes that is her" Stef said gently as she looked down at the ground in front of her.

Mike starred at Stef with an expression of hurt, anger and disbelief. Stef had no idea how to react to this situation; she felt flustered, ashamed and she could feel her face go red in embarrassment. She didn't know why she felt embarrassed or ashamed but she was, and all she wanted to do was get out of there.

"Look Mike I need to go, I'm still dropping Brandon off with you tomorrow at 7pm, yes?" Stef said as she started to back away towards where Lena and Brandon were waiting in the car. Mike didn't say a word; he just looked at Stef with a look that Stef swore was disgust. Stef quickly made her way to the car and backed it out of the parking bay towards the exit. As they drove past Mike, who stood frozen in disbelief, Brandon stuck his head against the window and waved at his father.

"Bye dad" the little boy shouted from inside the car

Mike half heartedly lifted his hand to wave at his son as they drove out the parking lot. He stood in the parking bay, incomplete shock and utter disbelief for what felt like an hour after they had left.

When Stef had told him that she wanted to end their marriage he was crushed, he had such high hopes that they could work things out and mend their broken family. When he told her she was a lesbian he didn't see it coming, of all the things she could have said to him on that day, the fact that she was a lesbian was the furthest thing from his mind. But it was when she told him that she had met someone, that it felt like someone had sucker punched him in the gut, several times. Of all the ways he had imagined his life would turn out, he never in a billion years would have ever guessed that his wife would be leaving him for another woman. From that day Mike had tried to imagine the type of woman that Stef might have left him for, in his head he had imagined her to be unattractive, downright ugly, one of those gnarly butch looking lesbians he thought with tattoos and piercings all over her body, strange buzz cut...a girl that was desperately trying to look like a man, someone who he wouldn't think twice about sucker punching and feeling good about it. But Lena was anything but unattractive; in fact she was incredibly beautiful and angelic, feminine in all the perfect ways. If Mike had met her in a bar, he might have even offered to buy her a drink in the hopes that she would give him her number. That alone enraged Mike, his head spun, he felt nauseous. He barley felt the man patting him gently on his shoulder, as he came back to reality.

"Hey man, you ok...dude snap out of it" said a tall man in his 40's

"Ww-what?" Mike said with a puzzled look on his face

"Man you're causing a bit of a traffic jam here, you ok, you look ill"

Mike snapped back to reality, it took him a minute to find his bearings

"You ok man" the stranger said again "Do you need an ambulance or something?"

Aa-aah, no I'm good" Mike said as he gathered himself

Mike pulled himself together, patted for his keys in his pocket and looked around for his car. He felt as though his head was in a dazed fog.

"You sure you're ok" the stranger said

"Yeah I'm fine" Mike said waving his hands in the air, dismissing the strangers attempt to assist him, as he made his way back to his car.

As Stef drove the car out the parking lot straight past the frozen yoghurt shop, she was a thousand miles away lost in her own thoughts.

"Stef we just drove past..." Lena tried to grab Stefs attention but Brandon cut her off.

"Mom, you drove past, you promised we could have frozen yoghurt" he said loudly in a whiny voice filled with disappointment.

Stef didn't hear a word, her face focused on the road in front her, her mind racing, her heart filled with a million feelings she had no idea how to begin to process.

"Honey" Lena said putting her hand on Stefs' knee bringing her back to reality

"Moooom" Brandon wailed

"What?" Stef snapped unintentionally, catching both Lena and Brandon by surprise.

"You said we could get frozen yoghurt" the little boy said tentatively with a whimper afraid that his mom might snap at him again

Stef gathered herself realising where she was and who she was with. She took a look in the review mirror to catch her son turn his head to the window with a very sad and disappointed look on his face.

"I'm sorry B, Mommy didn't mean to shout" Stef said trying to ease her sons' fears. "There is a Smooth, just up here; we can stop there for some frozen yoghurt, ok B"

Stef looked back at her son in the review mirror, his expression had softened but clearly still taken aback by his mothers sudden out-bust. Stef turned to quickly look at Lena, who had a concerned look on her face. Stef stretched out her hand and placed it on Lena's knee in an attempt to reassure her that everything was ok.

It wasn't long until they pulled into the Smooth parking lot. They all got out and made their way into the store for some frozen yoghurt. They sat at a little table at the corner of the little shop enjoying the cold delight, which was welcome on this sunny hot California day. Brandon made quick work of his freeze and as soon as he finished he asked if he could go and play in the in-house playground just outside. Stef nodded at her son, who took off without saying another word.

"Stay where we can see you please Brandon" Stef said as he ran past them

Lena and Stef stayed behind, Lena could see the thoughts circling around Stefs brain. Stef had never been good at hiding her emotions, and Lena was becoming an expert at reading Stef even after only a few months together. Lena's stretched out her hand and placed it over Stefs

"Are you ok" she said as she placed her frozen yoghurt cup on the table

"I'm fine" Stef said unconvincingly looking at Lena and then back at her almost finished cup

"Well, that was unexpected" Lena said realising that if she didn't bring it up, they may never talk about it.

"Hhmmm" was all Stef could muster with a slight grimace on her face

"Oh it wasn't that bad...it was bound to happen at some point" Lena said trying to get Stef to engage with her

"No it wasn't" Stef said turning to look at Lena

"It's done we've met and now you don't have to stress about it" Lean said rubbing her hand over Stef's trying to reassure Stef that it was all ok.

Stef looked at Lena, seeing the concern on her face "No it wasn't that bad" she said letting a smile fall on her face.

Stef felt unnerved by the experience, she had this uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach as though something horrible had just happened. She didn't want it to happen this way.

The rest of the day had gone as planned, the three of them made their way home. They let Brandon run around the backyard for an hour to get rid of his sugar high; they played a game of monopoly before preparing and sitting down for dinner. After dinner they settled in for a movie, the three of them were huddled up on the couch under one big blanket, with Brandon in the middle. Neither of them could have been happier. Lena and Stef were both startled when they heard a banging on the door. They looked at each other with a questioning look on their faces. Stef looked down at Brandon who had fallen fast asleep.

"Are you expecting someone" Stef said with a concerned tone in her voice.

"No" Lena dead panned

"Stay here" Stef said as she pulled the blanket off her and made her way to the front door.

"Steefff...Stef open the door" a slurred voice said from the other side of the door.

Stef opened the curtain by the door and stretched her neck out to peer through the window to see who was standing on the other side. Her heart was beating fast when she peered outside to see Mike slumped over. Stef opened the door, only to have Mike fall over himself as the door gave way to his weight. Stef could instantly smell the bar all over Mike, there was no doubt he was drunk.

"I wanna see my son" the words came out almost in audible from Mike's lips

Stef took a deep breath, "Mike, what the hell, its 9pm?"

"I-wanna-see-my-son, where's-my son" the sentence came out as one word, as Mike tried to stand, swaying from side to side

"OK Mike you're drunk" Stef said with irritation in her voice.

"Where's-my-son, BRANDON" he said shouting at the top of his voice "BRANDON!"

"Mike, keep your voice down, Brandon's asleep" Stef said completely annoyed, trying to stop him from entering the house.

"BRANDON" Mike bellowed again at the top of his lung "You-can't-keep-me-from-seeing-my-son" Mike said staggering back and forth, barely able to stand

"Mike, your drunk, go home, you can see Brandon tomorrow when I drop him off" Stef said as she placed her hands on Mike's shoulder to try and stop him from falling all over the place

With all the shouting Lena had made her way to the front door. "Stef is everything ok" she said walking up behind Stef with her arms crossed.

Mike took one look at Lena and the anger and resentment he had been feeling towards her came exploding out like a volcano erupting. Violently pointing his index finger at Lena, Mike started yelling...

"You-can't-keep-me-from-my-son, I'm-his-father-do-you-hear-me-I'M-HIS-FATHER"

"MIKE" Stef belted out in anger, pushing him back from his attempt to confront Lena. "Mike go home!" as firmly as she could with her jaw clenched in anger

"DO-YOU-THINK-YOU-ARE-BETTER-THAN-ME; YOU'RE-NOT-YOU-ARE-NOT-BETTER-THAN-ME, I-AM-HIS-FATHER, I'M-HIS-FATHER-YOU-YOU-ARE-NOTHING, YOU-ARE-NO-ONE!" Mike spat out with hatred and anguish as he tried to make his way towards Lena. "YOU-ARE-NOTHING-DO-YOU-HEAR-ME-THIS-IS-MY-FAMILY...MY-FUCKING-FAMILY-DO-YOU-HEAR-ME!"

Stef stood in front of Lena, her natural instinct to protect Lena taking over. "MIKE, that's ENOUGH!" Stef was infuriated, Mike had lost his mind.

She turned to Lena, and as gently as she could ask

"Will you go inside and check on Brandon please" Lena shot her a look full of concern, but Stef responded calmly.

"I can handle Mike, go and check on Brandon please!" Stef said motioning her head towards the house

Stef knew there was no way she was going to be able to reason with Mike while he was in that state, she also wasn't going to try and get him to drive home, he was in no state to be driving a vehicle, the last thing she needed was Mike on the road causing an accident and killing someone or himself. Stef needed to try and get him out of here quietly and safely.

"Ok Mike, Ok, take a seat on the step and I will go and get Brandon for you" Stef said in a firm but calm voice

In hearing that he would get to see his son, Mike began to calm staggering towards the steps to sit down. "He's my son, this is my family" he mumbled to himself

Stef made her way inside and closed the door behind her.

"You're not going to let him see Brandon in this state are you?" Lena said with a concerned tone and look on face.

"No, I'm going to call Peter to come and get him" Stef said walking past Lena towards to the telephone.

Peter was Mike's partner on the force and his best friend; they had been friends since the academy.

Stef didn't have to wait long for the phone to be answered

"Hi Peter, sorry for calling out of the blue this late..., Mike is at the house and he's drunk as shit. He's causing a scene, disturbing the peace if we don't get him out of here, our neighbours are going to call the cops...Thanks Peter" Stef hung up

"Is Brandon OK?" Stef said looking into the living room where they had been watching a movie just minutes ago

"He's fine, he's asleep, I took him into our bedroom" Lena responded

"Are you OK?" Stef said as she reached for Lena's hand

"I'm fine, you?" Lena could see the anger and frustration written all over Stef's face

"I'll feel much better when we get him out of here"

Stef let go of Lena's hand and made her way to the door, thinking of a reason that would be acceptable to Mike as to why she didn't have Brandon with her. When Stef arrived outside she was greeted with Mike flat out on his back, passed right out. A sense of relief washed over Stef at the sight, it wasn't a pretty sight but at least he wasn't shouting at anyone anymore. Stef sat next to Mike and propped him on her knee making sure to turn his head to the side in case he threw up, so he wouldn't choke. It didn't take Peter long to arrive at the house. He jumped out the car and made his way to the front step where he found Stef and Mike.

"Hi Peter...thanks for this" Stef said with gratitude all over her face.

"Wholly shit, he's shit faced." Peter said as he let out a short laugh "Don't mention it, help me get him into the car will you?" he said shaking his head as he looked at Mike sprawled out on the floor looking like a drunken homeless person.

Stef and Peter tucked Mike's arms around their shoulders and tried to carry his dead weight to the car. They managed to get him into the back seat, without banging his head against anything

"Thanks for this, I owe you one" Stef said, patting Peter's shoulder

"Drinks are on you, Foster" Peter said as he made his way around the car to the driver's seat

"Friday" Stef said with an air of bravado in her voice

"Friday" Peter nodded in Stef's direction before getting into the car and driving off

Stef breathed a sigh of relief; she rubbed her hands over her face a few times, before she made her way back into the house and sat on the couch next to Lena. They sat together in silence collecting themselves from the events of the evening.

Stef was the first to break the silence

"Are you ok?" Extending her hand over Lena's knee and giving her a gentle squeeze

"I'm ok, promise" Lena responded putting her hand over Stefs

"I've never seen him like that" Stef exclaimed running her other hand through her hair before resting her head on the back of the couch looking up at the ceiling.

Silence fell on them both

"I'm really sorry, Lena, Mike should have never said what he said to you"

"Don't apologies for him, it's not your fault"

"I know, but still, I shouldn't have let it get that far" Stef said, feeling guilty and responsible for putting Lena in that situation.

"Stef, there is no way you could have know that was going to happen, don't be so hard on yourself" Lena said intertwining her fingers with Stefs'.

"So maybe this morning was that bad" Stef said with a slight chuckle in her voice.

Lena could only but laugh, "Let's go to bed and put and end to this day, I think we both deserve a good night's sleep?" Lena said, looking towards their bedroom as she rose from the couch.

"How is it that you're not freaked out by all of this?" Stef said as she was being dragged up from the couch.

"What can I say, I'm amazing" Lena said turning to give Stef a wicked smile

Stef laughed out loud this time "incredibly amazing!" as she leaned into to give Lena a kiss on the cheek

How did she get this lucky Stef thought to herself? The two women switched off the lights as they made their way to their bedroom to put an end to an unexpectedly eventful day.

I was inspired by questions posed to me by HYadamsfoster to extend this story. Thank you all for the positive feedback and request to continue the story. Please continue to review