A/N: I had a great time writing this one. Writing has been my escape from the stress, chaos, and other stuff lately. So, hope you enjoy more than once a week updates!
Chapter Nine: He Has A Way With Words
Micah never thought he'd be so nervous standing in the baggage claim of LAX, but he was. He stood in the same spot he stood in just a month before when the aca-family came in for Dani's trial.
He hadn't seen his sister since they had gotten split up when he was five, they exchanged letters, and had some phone calls once he landed at the Mitchell-Beale's, but nothing other than that. So he stood dressed in jeans, dress shoes, and button down with a sign that read:
Welcome home, Lieutenant Bailee Forrester
And when she came down, dressed in her Army class b uniform, a smile was brought on the face of the Army Lieutenant. She came up to him and he looked at her, then looked at the last name that was on her uniform that read, Forrester, and he all, but threw himself in her arms.
"Hey bear," she murmured his nickname from their childhood. "You got so big."
He let out a low chuckle, "Yeah, I'm the biggest one in the house." He said. "Which speaking of, my family can't wait to meet you."
She smiled big, "I can't wait to meet them." She said.
"C'mon then," he said. "We'll talk on the way home."
"Sooo, this is it!" Micah said pulling in behind the gate up the long driveway to the house.
"Holy hell," she said. "You live in Hollywood Hills now?"
"Yeah, I'm sure my moms will explain the whole story over dinner." He said. "Which I hope you don't mind my sister, Taylor's fiancé, his mom, and my sisters' godmother is joining us too."
"No, I don't." Bailee said. "I want to get to know your family."
"Well, they want to be your family too, if that's okay." He said.
"Let me meet them first." She said.
"Of course." He said. "We better get in though. My moms might burst of excitement if we don't."
"Sure," she said getting out of the car and grabbing her bag out of the trunk of his jeep.
They walked in and Micah said in a high voice, "Hello? I'm back!"
"What took you so long?" Chloe asked coming in from the kitchen.
"Traffic on the 110 was horrible. There was a bad accident I think." He said, hugging Chloe and kissing her cheek.
Bailee watched as the redhead held him close for a moment before Beca walked in, "Yeah, it involved four cars. Didn't you listen to the radio?"
"Uh not on the way back," he said. "Bailee and I did a lot of talking." He added gesturing back to the Army Lieutenant behind him.
Beca and Chloe looked from their son to the women standing in the Army fatigues behind him, "It's nice to meet you Lieutenant Forrester." Beca said. "And thank you for your service to our country."
"What she said," Chloe said nervously. "And also thank you for your service."
"So the redhead is my mom, Chloe. And the short brunette over there is my mama, Beca." He said introducing them since he won't.
"Mrs. and Mrs. -" Bailee tried.
"Oh please," Beca said. "I know we're mothers of an 18 year old, but no need to be formal."
"And you're not in the military, so you can call me Bailee." The younger woman said.
"Sounds good, come in, meet our daughters, future son-in-law, and aca-sisters." Chloe said.
"Aca-sisters?" Bailee whispered to Micah walking behind them.
"They were in an acapella group, like a sorority in college. I'm sure they'll explain later." He said.
"Okay, good." She said.
The four of them walked into the kitchen where, Taylor was sitting on Parker's lap on the bench, Dani was texting somebody at the table, and Emily and Aubrey were drinking a glass of wine at the counter.
"Okay, so, these are the aca-sisters," Beca said. "Emily and Aubrey. And those two lovebirds over there are Taylor and Parker, and that one right there is Dani."
"I'll try to remember all of that," Bailee said.
"We'll help you remember," Aubrey said softly.
"Can we get you something to drink?" Chloe asked. "Water? Soda?"
"Water, would be great ma'am." She said.
"I'll get it, Mom." Micah said, jumping into action. "You sit. You've been on your feet all day."
"Okay, baby." The redhead said, knowing that he was just trying to shake off nerves. "Bailee, come sit."
"Yes ma'am." She said sitting next to Chloe at the table.
Beca had gone into the kitchen to see if her son needed help and she saw his tense shoulders, she came from behind him and said, "Relax."
"Sorry Mama, I just want things to be okay, you know?" He said getting filtered water for his sister and a glass bottled root beer for himself.
"I love you bubba." She said watching how that relaxed him.
"I love you too, Mama." He said.
"Everything is going to be fine." She said. "Don't you worry."
"So, how'd my brother end up here?" Bailee asked over dinner. "It's a lovely home." Earning a thank you from both Beca and Chloe.
"He's one of my students," Chloe said. "And I realized that something was wrong with him. And he captured my heart and I couldn't do anything, but help."
"I was in an abusive foster home," Micah decided to really start the story. "I missed a week of school and next thing I knew I had her and my principal on my doorstep. I had never been more relieved in my entire life."
"I had to talk this one into it," Chloe said, "and we got our fostering licenses and we promised to at least foster him until he aged out."
"And then he wormed his way into our hearts," Beca said. "And I realized that if I didn't make him a Mitchell-Beale it would be the worst mistake of my life."
"You work at South Los Angeles?" Bailee asked Chloe.
"I do," she said. "I could've gotten a job at a better school, but why? When I can make an impact on the young people's lives that nobody has faith in?"
"I graduated from there." Bailee said. "Three years ago, now, I know why you look so familiar." Chloe looked at the girl, "I didn't take music classes. That took time of practice and after my emancipation, I didn't have time for that."
"You went through our foster/emancipation program, yes?" Chloe asked.
Bailee nodded, "That I did." She said.
"I knew you looked familiar," Chloe said.
"Yeah, so you brought him here, you adopted him?" Bailee said. "My strong willed, stubborn brother? The one who was on his way to emancipation?"
"I may or may not have made promises that first night that made emancipation sound like a dumb idea," Chloe said.
Micah looked at his sister and said, "She did."
"What made you crack the most?" Bailee asked. "Because I know you promises don't do anything."
Micah chuckled and said, "She gave me puppy dog eyes and I caved."
"Oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one that falls for that," Dani said from across the table.
"What are you talking about sissy?" Taylor asked. "We all fall for Mom's puppy dog eyes."
"It's true," Beca said.
"Yeah, when they first started dating I thought your mama was going to go broke with all the random that time of the month cravings that your mom had." Aubrey said.
"Gross," both Micah and Parker muttered, not wanting to think about that time of the month.
The women in the room chuckled, "Not gonna lie," Beca said, "I love you baby, so much, but your cravings were worse when you were pregnant with this one over here," she wrapped her arm around Taylor and kissed the girl's cheek.
"They were." Chloe agreed.
Bailee looked over to her brother, the last time they saw each other, he was three years before, when he was a freshman at South Los Angeles High, he was lost, confused about everything in life, and just needed somebody to take him in and love him. And by the looks on the faces of Beca and Chloe Mitchell-Beale, he found that and so much more.
Micah and Bailee found themselves in the backyard, everybody was out for a fire after dinner, one by one everybody went inside excluding Micah and Bailee.
"So this is homebase?" Bailee said.
"This is home base." Micah confirmed.
"You have a nice homebase," Bailee said.
"Thank you," he said.
"I'm sorry I agreed for them to split us up." The Army Lieutenant said. "I thought I was doing you a favor."
"You were at first," Micah said. "The Masterson's, they were great. They were going to adopt me."
"What happened?" Bailee asked.
"They were picking me up from school when they were involved in a bad car accident." He said looking down at the hands in his lap. "So it started the process over again."
"Was it really as bad as your moms were making it sound?" Bailee asked.
Micah looked up and looked deep into his sister's dark brown eyes and said, "I'm not sure it could be any worse than what it was." Bailee closed her eyes and let out a breath, "But, here's the thing, I wouldn't change any of that for the world, wanna know why?" The young woman nodded, "Because it led me here. It led me straight in the arms of Beca and Chloe Mitchell-Beale. Do I think back on all the shit that those people caused me? Of course. Does a day go by without thinking of all those times where I'd come home and be called a piece of shit? Of course not. But, it led me here. It led me home. And for that, I'd go through it all over again knowing that when I wake up in the morning, my mom has me in her arms and both of our morning coffees on my nightstand. Knowing that when I have a get a B- on an assignment instead of an A+, my mama will put it on the refrigerator, until my next grade comes in. Knowing that when I have a bad day, my mom will wrap me in her arms and tell me how much she loves me, and how much she's proud of me for making it through another day all the while my mama is making me my favorite meal. Knowing that I have two sisters who I'd do anything for and they'd do anything for me. Are the Mitchell-Beale's perfect? Not in the world's standards, but they're perfect for me."
"You really have your way with words," Bailee said.
"I know you do too," he said. "It's a Forrester trait." He smiled at her, they were sitting across from each other and he then opened his arms and said, "C'mere."
Bailee moved to her younger brother's arms, "Do they really want me in the family?" Bailee asked after a few minutes.
Micah nodded, "They know you can't live here or will ever call them Mom and Mama, but they want you to have some kind of family to come home to."
Bailee smiled, "I'd like that too." She said.
They sat like that for awhile little did they know, Beca, Chloe, Aubrey, and Emily were watching all with a glass of wine from the backdoor.
"They look peaceful together." Aubrey mentioned. "I don't think I've seen him that peaceful before."
"He's always like this around us," Beca said. "He's held Dani more times than I can count since Taylor's graduation day."
"Do you think he likes me?" Aubrey asked. "The last conversation we actually had that wasn't over text was that argument the night of the trial."
"You kind of scare the shit out of him, Bree." Beca said.
"I do?" Aubrey asked.
"You're different with him than you are with the girls," Chloe said softly, putting her hand on the lawyer's arm.
"I am?" Aubrey asked.
"He doesn't know what to do half the time around you," Beca said softly. "He thinks that you don't like him. He's always felt that way."
Aubrey turned around placed her glass on the table, sat on the bench surrounding it, and put her face in her hands, "Bree," Chloe said sitting next to her.
"He thinks I hate him?" Aubrey asked in disbelief. "Am I still that much of an ass?"
"Hey," Beca said, "you're not an ass."
"Your son is afraid of me," Aubrey said.
"Yes," Chloe said wrapping her arm around the woman, "it's a defense mechanism. We try not to yell at him because it bring up something from his past. You didn't know that. So it's fine."
Aubrey's insecurities rose and Beca saw it. Chloe saw it. Hell, Emily saw it. But, Beca was the only one to do something about it when she shot out of Chloe's arms.
Beca pinned the lawyer against the wall, not in a sexual way that she does with Chloe quite often, but in a way to let her know that she's not messing around. She made firm eye contact with the blonde, "Aubrey, I want you to listen to me, okay?" The lawyer nodded, "You didn't know what triggered him. You didn't know that you getting angry while sticking up for me would cause him to feel this way. He's working through that. His therapist is helping him through that. Chloe and I are helping him through that. I need you to stop beating yourself up. That's not good, Bree. You've come so far from that woman you were when Chloe and I first moved out here, don't go back to that place."
Tears developed in her eyes and she fell into Beca's shoulder and started crying. Beca wrapped strong arms around the woman and slid to the seated position on the floor to comfort her best friend. The music producer then made eye contact with her wife, who's eyes filled with tears gave her an appreciative smile and nod. Her eyes then looked over at her business partner, who was looking on the scene with awe. She's only seen Beca like this with her and even then she wasn't seeing it, but when she saw how it all unfolded, she was grateful for a business partner, a friend, a sister, who loved her no matter what.
The next morning, Micah woke up to pressure on his side that was bouncing on him, "Wake up, wake up! It's August 3rd," he heard Chloe say.
"Mo-om," he got out, "if you're here to cuddle then just cuddle, enough with your overexcited-ness first thing in the morning."
"You really didn't forget what today was, did you?" He then heard Beca ask. "If you forgot about your birthday, we haven't been doing our jobs right as your mothers."
He turned over in his half-asleep state to see his two moms and Bailee standing there with coffee mugs in their hands, "One of those better be for me," he mumbled to his mama.
"Yeah, like we'd wake you up at five-thirty in the morning without coffee," Beca said sarcastically.
"Better not," he mumbled with a smile as his moms got on one side of the bed and Bailee on the other.
Once the three of them got settled, Bailee said, "Happy birthday bear." She added a kiss to his cheek afterwards.
"Thanks Bee." He said.
"I know it's not much," Bailee said, "but I got you something from the JFK airport."
She pulled something out of her pajama pants and handed it to him, he unwrapped it, and said, "Bee."
"Remember when we were kids and Mom kicked us in the backyard to lose some energy before dinner and we'd pretend that we were astronauts flying through space?" She asked as she looked down at the small rocket ship model. He nodded, "It's a symbol of all the times where we found ourselves on Pluto, Mars, and throughout space."
He turned around more fully to give her a hug, tears filling both of their eyes, "We'll get through tomorrow," he whispered to her. "We'll say our goodbyes and we'll move forward."
"I love you bear." She got out through tears.
"I love you too Bee." He said. Beca and Chloe, who were honored to witness this moment, wiped tears from their eyes, when Micah turned back around to face them, he chuckled, "Sorry about that." He said.
"It's okay bubba." Chloe said kissing his forehead.
"So we did get you something," Beca said pulling it off of his nightstand.
"You two didn't have to-" he started.
"Hey, no." Beca said. "We talked about this. We are fully aware that we spoil you kids to some extent, but let us do it."
"Okay," he said. She handed him a box and he opened it and then asked confused, "A new phone?"
"The one you have is your mama's old one." Chloe said. "And we felt like you deserve one that you can actually call yours."
"I was fine with the one I have," Micah said.
"It's cracked." Beca said not believing what her son was saying.
"I just don't want you to feel like you have to spoil me because you spoil the girls." He said.
Bailee chuckled behind him, "Just live with it bear." She said. "They obviously want to."
Micah looked down a little embarrassed and Beca reached over from behind Chloe to lift his chin up, "We love you bubba." She said. "Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, I love you too." He said.
"Quite a little get together you got going on here," Aubrey said sitting next to the boy.
"Yeah," he said. "All my friends are busy today, but we're getting together next week to celebrate."
"That's cool." Aubrey said. "May I talk to you about something?"
"Of course," he said staring at his feet in the water.
"I'm sorry if I trigger you." The lawyer said.
"Aunt Bree-" he tired.
"No, no, let me get this out." She said. He nodded. "I never know how to act around you. I'll be honest, at first, I thought your moms took you in as a charity case." She saw his head drop. "And then I quickly realized that I was wrong." He made eye contact with her, "You were the missing puzzle piece to this family. You make the Mitchell-Beale family complete. I didn't know that until recently, until I found out that you were talking to your birth mom. Until Chloe called me and said that you thought that Beca didn't love you. Then it got me so angry until I saw your heart. Until I saw how every time you enter the house you kiss both of your moms on the cheek without them asking you to. Until I saw how protective you got the other night when Parker was being an ass to Taylor. Until I saw how you hold Dani when the world is too overwhelming for her to process." Aubrey wrapped a loose arm around him and finished with saying, "I'm sorry for triggering you."
A moment of silence washed over them while Micah was trying to find the words to say and when he did, they were beautiful, "Ten years. That's how long it took me to find home. When I was five, I was taken out of a bad situation and put into a good one. They were going to adopt me. They couldn't have kids of their own, but they knew that their were kids out there who needed parents. And then, they were hit by a person driving drunk before two in the afternoon. From there I was put into a worse situation then where I started. Five social workers. Four of them gave up on me because they couldn't seem to place me home. Until my last social worker said that she'd go through hell to place me home and if she didn't she'd take care of me after I aged out because that's how much she believed in me. One music teacher. That's all it took to help guide me home. Have I made my mistakes since getting here? Of course I have. And I know you were angry, hell, if I were you I would be livid. But, I had no intention of running away from my safe harbor. This," he said gesturing to his surroundings, "is homebase. This is my safe harbor."
Aubrey swallowed, "You sure have a way with words," she said when she figured out his was done.
He shrugged placing his head on her shoulder, "I've been told."
"I got you something." Aubrey said after a few moments.
"You didn't have to," Micah said.
"You're my nephew, of course I had to." She said. He smiled and took the box from her and he opened it to see a necklace, "I know you'll be wearing Army dog tags one day, but I saw it and couldn't help, but think of you." She said as he inspected it. "It's Japanese for-"
"Strength." He said knowingly. Aubrey looked at him not knowing how he knew that, "C'mon Aunt Bree, you know I'm like American Japanese or whatever. I learned how to speak it."
She smiled, "There's an English engraving on the back." She said.
Never give up - always keep dreaming! Remember that I love you! -Aunt Bree
His eyes watered and he looked from the engraving to his aunt and gave her a huge hug, "Thank you," he said. "I love you too."
"Happy birthday Micah," Aubrey said softly.
They hugged for another moment not realizing that Beca was holding Chloe from behind, both watching the scene unfold from their balcony.
There was a knock on the door after dinner and Chloe went to get it, "Oh hi Cody," she said.
"Uh hi Mrs. Mitchell-Beale, the gate was open when I got here," he said. "Is, uh, is Micah here?"
"Yeah just one moment." Chloe said. "Micah?"
"Yeah, Mom?" He said from the couch where he was cuddled into Beca.
"You have a visitor," she said.
Micah got up and walked into the entryway and when he saw the sight of his project partner, his heart sped up, "Oh hi Cody." He said.
"I'll give you two a few moments," Chloe said exiting to where everybody else was in the living room.
"What's up?" Micah asked.
"Well, you said it was your birthday," Cody said, "and I got you something."
"Oh dude, you didn't-" he tried before being rudely interrupted from the other room.
"I swear to god child," Beca called out to him, "you have to stop saying that."
Micah looked down embarrassed and said, "Uh, we can go talk up in my room to have a little more privacy."
The two walked up the stairs and what they didn't hear is Bailee asking the question, "Are they together?"
It made Beca spit out her beer, before Chloe saying, "They're project partners, but yeah, we think something else is going on between them."
"It looks like he really like him." Bailee said.
"I can see it," Emily said. "I can totally see it."
"Only time will tell." Chloe said.
"So should we start placing bets now?" Taylor asked. "Y'know like the aca-aunts did with you two?"
"No," Chloe said. "Let's let him figuring it out without placing money on him."
"Yeah," Beca said, "your mom was so mad when the other Bellas did that."
"Solely because betting on your friends or siblings love lives is not a thing to do." Chloe said.
"Yeah," Aubrey said, "your mom wouldn't talk to me for two weeks after she found out we were betting against the two of them."
"Because you knew I liked her." Chloe said curling into Beca.
"I did." Aubrey said. "I was the one who won the bet too."
Beca kissed her wife's temple, "Breathe baby." She then whispered knowing how this subject angered her wife.
"Sorry about that," Micah said. "My family can be intense most of the time."
"It's fine," Cody said, "I'd rather you have an intense family then not a family at all."
Micah looked into Cody's bright blue eyes and said, "Oh right."
Shortly after meeting each other, they decided to get to know the basics of one another, and quickly figured out why they were paired up.
Micah was in the foster care ten years before being adopted; Cody was in the foster care ten years before applying for emancipation. Micah was more athletic and Cody was more artistic. Micah was questioning where he stood sexually, Cody was proudly out of the closet. They both had eyes for West Point. While they seemed to be the polar opposites of each other, they were one in the same.
Micah found himself lost in Cody's eyes before he snapped out of it, "So, uh, your gift."
"Right," Cody said snapping out of his lost gaze.
Cody held a box in front of Micah and the boy took it and opened it. "Dude." He let out when he saw what it was.
"It's the original Batman comics from last century." Cody said. "You said you've been wanting to read it, I found it online."
"This must of cost you a fortune." Micah said in awe that his new friend would get him something like this.
Cody shrugged with a small smile, "Anything for a friend." He said. Micah spread his arms open for a hug and when Cody was in his arms, he oddly felt safe and it didn't bother him. So when he pulled away and looked into the boy's eyes again, he felt Cody feeling slightly the same way. He stepped back and took a deep breath and Cody then asked, "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Micah said honestly.
"Hey," Cody said trying to make the eye contact the Micah desperately wanted to avoid. "You can talk to me."
Micah took a deep breath and then asked, "When did you know for sure that you were gay?"
Cody smiled, the blonde boy figured that was the case, but didn't want to push it, and said, "It started when I was 13..."
End of the chapter a/n: I know that's probably not where you wanted me to end it and to be honest, this chapter wrote itself because this was not where I had it going at first.
Anyway, thought I should share that I got a tumblr account! I plan on sharing sneak peaks, taking questions, and suggestions about where you want this to go!
It's the same name I have on here, determined-or-something just with the tumblr stuff at the end. I'm still trying to set stuff up, but if you're on there and wanna talk and stuff, I'll be on there!
