Um… hello? It's me. (Insert overused Adele meme here. Lol.). I deeply apologize for not being able to post a new chapter in so long but my promotion at work, helping with planning my brother's wedding, and just life in general have totally taken over my life in the past couple months. No one is more sorry than me since writing always brings me so much joy and not being able to have time to write and put other priorities forward has been kind of sad. Anyway, this chapter picks up after Tony and Kala's confession to Mikey and Irma. And will also include a blast from Mikey and Irma's past. ;) Enjoy!
15 minutes later
({No POV})
After a long explanation from both Kala and Tony, but mostly Kala, Irma and Mikey were both sitting next to each other in an equal state of shock as Mikey eventually put his hands on top of his head and was still trying to process everything like his wife about what their son and also their now technically 'daughter-in-law' just told them.
Everything from Kala getting her visitation privileges revoked by her parents due to their position in their town government, Dask and Zak smuggling Tony onto Neutrino to see Kala, Tony getting attacked and arrested by Kala's brother, the trial, Kala's role as a new member of the Colonization Coalition, and finally Tony and Kala's impromptu marriage that took place just before they returned to Earth. Tony and Kala were both now standing by the TV and not knowing what else to say.
It was so painfully silent for once in the house that the analog clock in the kitchen could be heard ticking ominously in the background.
After a moment, Tony gulped hard before saying, "M-mom?… Dad?…," while looking like a child who thought they were getting grounded for life.
Irma finally leaned forward, squeezing her hands nervously together in her lap, before saying, in shock but somehow calm like her usual self, "Um… Tony, would you and Kala mind going outside to the backyard for a few minutes, please?"
Tony and Kala exchanged an equally shocked look before just nodding in response since both of them were too shocked to even talk anymore. Eventually they both walked out and made their way out into the backyard.
After that Mikey slumped back into the couch and ran a hand through his hair, causing the bandana on his forehead to slide off as he said, still sounding shocked, "Dude…"
Irma looked to her husband and said, "You know, I'm shocked but… is it weird when I say that this actually explains everything? I mean, I always thought it was strange that we never met Kala's family or Tony never went to Kala's house ever, but I always just assumed that maybe she didn't have a good home situation or was maybe she was in the foster system and didn't have a stable family situation of her own but… this makes so much sense… Mikey?"
Mikey was almost on the verge of being catatonic, which Irma had not ever seen from her husband in her whole time of knowing him. "Dude… I'm such a bad dad."
"What?" Irma responded in total confusion at what Mikey just declared.
Mikey continued to pull on his hair between his fingertips as he continued, "I should have told him about me being a mutant, shouldn't I? After he went through all this stuff?"
She gave him wide eyes before resting a hand on his shoulder as Irma assured firmly, "Mikey, no, you're not. Besides then you'd be breaking your promise to Kaito and Molly. Also, it wouldn't help anything right now. Tony's been through enough already, he doesn't need anything else. But… what do we do?"
There was a beat of silence before Mikey commented, "I still really like Kala."
"I do too." Irma expressed honestly.
"Dude, it's just crazy! I LITERALLY saved you from aliens and the Kraang were the only aliens I even knew about. But… dude, look at her! She doesn't even look like anything like a slimy brain eh,… thing or whatever outta my old comics and how the heck can I even say anything or even say I get it?! She's more normal than me and probably thinks we're hardcore judging her right now even though we're not! I used to be a mutant turtle and had to live a sewer for like ever since people freaked out whenever they would see me! I tried to return a cat to some dude once and he flipped and then the cat attacked me! DUDE, HOW CAN I…?!" Mikey exclaimed, clearly in a zone of some sort.
However Irma was quick as she secured her hands on his shoulders and said, clearly trying to calm her husband down, "Mikey!…. Mikey, calm down. That's all in the past. Also, none of that matters. If it wasn't for any of that, I would have never met you. I would have never dated you, married you, had 4 amazingly unique children with you… and I would have never had that amazing guy to help me through my depression after our miscarriage by bringing me breakfast in bed every day for a month and trying to make me laugh even though you were also clearly upset by it too and I question every day what you even see in me and..." "Hey, whoa, what?!" Mikey said, snapping out of it when he realized Irma was now stressing out.
Mikey grabbed Irma's hands and now had a concerned look on his face about where this came from out of nowhere from his wife. Irma hung her head, both of them completely forgetting about the current situation for a moment.
Clearly both seeing that as honest as they are with each other … they have been holding back insecurities that spanned almost decades at this point.
Irma's eyes were tearing up slightly, fueled by the emotions and revelations as she said, sounding distressed and slightly down on herself, "Mikey, look at me, I'm boring. I've always been boring! I was a quiet, boring klutzy nerd in school and I'm a quiet, boring klutzy and nerdy accountant now. And you… you've always been so cool and so unique and so outgoing. What is it that you even see in me?!... Why do you even love me?"
Clearly feeding off the anxiety from Tony's situation, Irma finally let her deep rooted insecurities get the better of her to make her question everything.
Today just happened to be the day she finally acknowledged it.
Just then Mikey scooted even closer to her on the couch and squeezed her hands a little tighter in reassurance. Despite clearly being a little freaked out by both what to do about Tony's situation and also after what his wife just said, he knew he had to say something right now.
Irma looked up at him as he said, "Irma, where the heck did that come from? Why would you think you weren't cool? You've always been cool!"
Irma involuntarily sniffed before responding, almost like she wasn't believing him, "Yeah... Name one time I ever did anything cool or even interesting at all." "Everyday since I first met you." Mikey responded, sounding uncharacteristically serious but also with his usual genuine attitude, causing Irma to whip her head up and respond with a confused, "What?"
He turned even more toward her as he acknowledged, "Irma, to me you've always been cool! Until I met you, no one ever took me seriously. Not even my bros took me seriously. But… you. You never judged me or shrugged me off or thought I was weird… Irma you're like the most chill person I've ever met. I totally even saw that more when we had the kids. Dude, nothing ever phased you. Tony, Tommy, and Benji would be running around and destroying literally everything they touched as little dudes, but… you never freaked out and always remained so chill about it when asking them to cut it out. Or always watching out to make sure Sammie doesn't hurt herself without totally freaking out over it. Irma, you're literally like a superhero! As a person, as a mom… and as a wife."
Mikey brought his right hand up to touch Irma's cheek, brushing his thumb over her skin.
Irma was looking at her husband almost stunned by the most profound things she has ever heard him say.
She was at a loss for words, partially because she had no idea what to say… and also fearing if she did start to speak her emotions would choke her up.
Luckily it seemed like Mikey wasn't finished talking, as he began, "Irma, remember that first time I visited you at college… and what happened that one night?"
Irma didn't need to dig through her memories.
She remembered that night very well.
It was her third week on campus and when Mikey came to visit her when they were still dating at the time. And Irma thought it was the perfect time to break out of her comfort zone and try out a fraternity party on Greek row.
After all she was taking her boyfriend who was the ultimate party guy with her…
26 years ago
(Irma's POV)
I kept looking around trying to look for Mikey.
We'd been here for almost 2 hours and… I don't know? I know I'm quiet and reserved and not much of a party person.
But… this was overwhelming.
The music was REALLY pulsating and loud. They had cheap strobe lights going that made me feel even more disoriented. I didn't know what else to do since I had no idea how to have fun here.
Yeah… pizza and movies are definitely more my style.
I just kept standing in the corner and holding this cup of something that I had no idea what it is? Partially because it was just a cup dunked into a large plastic tub of red liquid called "jungle juice" by the guy at the front.
And the fact this came from an open container that I have no idea what was really in it at a fraternity house and the smell of alcohol was so strong that I wanted to throw up… I had no idea why I was even holding it anymore.
All I kept doing was awkwardly looking around trying to see if I could find Mikey. He left to scope the party out almost 50 minutes ago and I had no idea where he was.
He wouldn't have left me behind here? No way he would've… would he?
Then in another room I kept hearing yelling that was even louder than the music.
I didn't know what was making me do it, but I felt something carry me toward it. I kept trying to weave my way through the mass of humanity and almost tripping several times until I finally made it to the room. It was a group of mostly guys circling around something. I tried to squeeze my my through until I saw what they were crowded around. It was something I always saw in movies but never in real life.
It was beer pong.
The whole thing was set up on this old yet long kitchen table with red plastic cups set up like bowling pins. Each one of full of beer and you could tell since the whole room smelled like it. Which wouldn't have been so bad if the room also didn't smell like a gym bag.
It wasn't until I saw a ping pong ball land in one of the cups that I heard a familiar yet also unusually slurred, "Booyakasha! Ya got faced, bro!"
My body locked up as I looked over to the opposite end of the table.
Right there, I saw Mikey.
His backwards Knicks baseball cap still on his head but slowly sliding off the back at the same time and he was coated in sweat. Which wouldn't be so unusual since Mikey sweats a lot anyway, but his face was flushed red and his eyes looked… off.
Almost like they were totally glazed over.
Everyone cheered again even though I don't think anyone had any idea what he said. And it was confirmed when I heard some guy near me say, "Hey, what did short stack freshie say?"
Then I heard another guy respond, "Don't know, bro? But this guy's killing Stevie at pong right now and he's getting pissed." They both laughed and drank from the cups they were holding and I didn't know what I was doing anymore as I just went over to the other side of the table.
As I got closer, Mikey saw me and smiled, almost stumbling into the corner of the table and making me wince. I was about to respond, but then Mikey practically stumbled toward me and threw his arms around me as he said, slurring big time and only confirmed what I was thinking, "Irmaaaaaa! Weer'd ya go?"
I quirked up an eyebrow and responded, "Mikey, you left to look around almost an hour ago? I've been in the main room this whole ti…" "Irma….! C'mon, I'm," Mikey pretty much had to stop mid sentence to let out a hiccup before continuing, "killin' it at this game!"
He wasn't even listening to me.
Mikey stumbled a little and I had to keep him upright. Which was getting pretty hard at this point since I'm not nor have I ever been a very athletically inclined or physically strong person. He laughed and looked at me again and his normally bright blue eyes were glazed over completely.
And if there was one thing I was 1000% sure of at this point… he was drunk.
"Mikey, what's gotten into you?" I said, still completely confused.
Not that I've had any experience with drinking, but I was trying to wrap my head around how Mikey managed to get to this point only drinking beer. But, I looked at this fold out table in the corner with a bottle of flavored whiskey and disposable shot glasses and could immediately see how this happened.
Mikey leaned in closer to my face, practically almost giggling before hiccuping in my face, making me wince at how strongly his breath reeked of alcohol, before slurring, "What'd ya mean?! Erm just chillin' with the dudes! Thur cool guys!"
I quirked up an eyebrow again before saying, "Mikey, you don't even know these…"
"Hey, shortie! You still playing or what?!" I looked over at the other end of the table and saw what I assumed to be the guy, Stevie, that I overheard those two other guys talking about.
And as someone who knows someone like Raphael pretty well… this guy even kind of scared me.
He was a big, built football player type and like those 2 other guys were saying… he definitely didn't look happy with what was happening since his pile of empty cups kept adding up.
Mikey let out a pfft sound with his lips as he slurred, "Juss chill brah!"
He scooped up a ping pong ball on the side of the table he was standing near. He was swaying as I was still trying to keep him upright as I was trying to figure out how he was going to do anything with that ball.
Especially since he was standing and pretty much now relying on the table to keep his balance. He closed his left eye as he bit down on his tongue that was now sticking out of his mouth before tossing the ball at the center of the table.
The ball bounced and to almost my complete surprise the ball flew into one of the few remaining cups with astonishing accuracy as the whole room erupted into cheers again.
Sure if he wasn't clearly drunk I wouldn't be surprised but...
I didn't know what to feel? Confused… annoyed… upset…
Mikey threw his hands up in the air and stumbled backward as he smiled and let out what I think was a victory yell into the ceiling.
I felt my eyebrows furrow together for a split second before saw Mikey's whole body freeze up. His eyes practically rolling into the back of his head a little before his body started falling limp onto the floor.
"MIKEY!" I yelled involuntarily and I charged through the crowd of people without even thinking.
Present day
(Mikey's POV)
Dude as much as I really hated bringing that up… I knew I had to right now.
That is a night I totally wish I could've taken back. Irma took me to that college party and I practically totally ditched her when I got distracted by these frat guys doing beer pong in the kitchen. Then totally got smashed and the last thing I remembered was taking a couple shots of that flavored whiskey with some of the guys and then Irma talking to me a little, but dude even that was so fuzzy.
Ya know before I blacked out and Irma and one of the girls who lived on her floor had to take me back with them.
The next day I found out what it was like to have the most killer hangover ever and realized I totally got in WAY over my head. And dude… I didn't even need the killer headache and vomiting constantly to tell me that one. I knew the second after I woke up and Irma told me what happened that I REALLY screwed up.
But, not me… well yeah, I got drunk, but it was what I did to Irma.
I told her to hang in the main room while I scoped out the place and I'd be back to get her… and I totally forgot her just to hang with some frat guys I didn't even know?!
She could've hated me or even broke up with me for what I did that night! Heck after I also totally bolted on her at that dance that night I met her, I totally would've thought I deserved that!
But… she didn't.
That whole next day when I was puking my guts out and sweating buckets through that hangover, she took care of me.
She sat in the bathroom with me and rubbed my back and kept asking if I was okay. Heck man, I was even crying at one point cuz I felt so bad and kept telling her I'd never drink again ever.
Which I still haven't done since to this day.
But, mainly I told her because I never wanted to put her through that ever again.
I could tell she remembered that whole thing and I got to her quick as I grabbed her hands and said, "Irma, you always kept telling me how you always thought I was the hero after I saved you and your parents from the Kraang, but that night... you were my hero. And everyday after that you were my hero. You always do so much for me and the kids and I don't even think you realize how cool and strong you are when you do it. Irma… you're awesome."
Both of us didn't say anything for a couple seconds and I didn't even know what else to do.
But luckily she did it for me when she leaned in and kissed me. I tried to kiss her back after a couple seconds but she already pulled away and gave me a hug. I didn't even hesitate to hug her back but just ended up holding onto her.
I wasn't even thinking when I kissed her hair a little next to me before I heard her say, "I love you." It felt like my heart slowed down for a second after I heard her say that.
Seriously, I've known her for almost 30 years, practically forever at this point, but hearing her say she loves me like that is something I still can't get over. A lot of the time we hardly say it or forget to but, I feel like even if I did say it all the time it wouldn't be enough. I rubbed her back a little for a second as I said, "I love you… so much."
We didn't even do anything after that as we kept holding onto each other, almost like we couldn't like someone glued us together. Honestly, I still don't know sometimes how I got here. I get to live on the surface, I have an awesome job, I have 4 totally awesome kids, and I'm in love and married to the same girl I fell for when I was 15.
But now… my eyes whipped open and I backed away from Irma, my hands on her shoulders as I said out loud, "Oh crud, Tony."
Irma's eyes did the same thing as she looked back at me and said, "Oh right! What are we going to do with Tony and Kala?"
We both separated as we totally backtracked to where we started.
It was dead quiet until I heard Irma say, "I mean… Kala said her and Tony got married technically, right? On her planet?"
After she said that I could still tell she was mind blown like I was about this whole thing, especially saying that. I mean, even though it's killing me, I just know they're outside right now thinking we're mad or judging them, but… I'm not mad at them and I knew Irma wasn't either.
Its just… dude, this is A LOT. Honestly if I am a little mad about something, it's that they didn't tell us sooner.
I mean, sure, I don't blame them for holding back on us and Kala especially probably didn't know what Irma and I would think since to her we're just totally chill and normal and probably would've been scared or freaked out if she told us about where she was really from.
And honestly, Tony probably thought that too.
Ugh, as much as I really want to tell them Irma and I understand since we've both been through crazier stuff than this… Irma's right.
I can't break my promise to Molly and Kaito after I swore not to tell the kids and I know deep down it wouldn't help anything and probably just freak Tony out more since that poor dude has already been through enough just in the past week.
And I can't and seriously don't want to do that to him.
I was practically gripping my hair so hard with my right hand that I was almost ripping it out… or close to it. Don't know why, but I slowly leaned forward to look out the living room window.
I saw Tony and Kala sitting on the bench in the backyard. It looked like Kala had herself disguised again since her ears were back to how I was used to seeing them before now. But… I just stopped. Both of them still looked totally freaked out which made me feel bad, but I saw Tony lean forward a little bit and look at her. Again, he still looked freaked out, but I saw him smile and say something as he gestured with his hands to her that got her to smile and laugh a little bit until they both smiled at each other as they held hands.
Aw… so cute…
Look, I can't help it.
And as much as it freaks me out that my oldest son is literally an adult now… dude, he's so much like me it's freaky but cool all at once.
I still remember the day he was born. I still couldn't grasp that I was a dad yet but I was STOKED! I was so excited! It was like having this cute, tiny version of me and Irma!
Even though all the kids totally look like me, Tony to me, even though he's his own guy, is like literally talking and looking at myself.
It's crazy!
But… that's also something I see even more since he met Kala and they started dating. Just looking at them together… dude, it takes me back to when Irma and I were that age. And yeah, I'll admit I'm just as clueless now about girls and dating stuff as I was then… but, I can totally see how they feel about each other.
They totally are into each other and love each other that it's obvious.
Yeah, they're both pretty young but… so was I when I realized I loved Irma and I was only 20 and she was 21 when we got married.
And, dude, I don't know why I feel bad since it was a totally last minute thing from Kala's parents, but… man, I am bummed and feel so bad that I couldn't be at that wedding or whatever they called it.
I know there wasn't anything I could do about it or even knew anything that was happening but… that still doesn't mean I didn't wish I could've been there for it, been there for him. I looked back at Irma only to see her looking back at me.
We both kept looking at each other until we both nodded.
(Tony's POV)
Oh geez… oh geez… dude… I'M FREAKING OUT!
I keep on trying to think this is a dream. That I'm gonna wake up and none of this even happened and everything's gonna be cool. Again, not like I regret anything that happened with Kala since I don't at all!
But… But dude just waiting right now is literally killing me and probably Kala even more which makes me feel really bad.
And even though I'm freaked out I'm still trying anything I can to do what I do best and try to get people to laugh which I got once out of her since we walked outside when joked about how no one died when we told them.
And she was still holding hands with me so I hope that's making her feel better like it's weirdly helping me out right now.
I mean… I guess this could be good right?
My parents didn't totally explode or die when they found out the truth! That's something, right? Right?...
Oh man, I'm so…
"Well, if you're parents don't kick us out… got a back up?" I heard Kala asked, glancing at me.
I thought for a second before shrugging, still trying to stick to being me, "We could try to move into my student apartment… and if that doesn't work out and I can't afford my tuition, we'll become street performers at central park... or hobos?"
I heard her snort out a laugh before saying, trying to find this funny, "Can I be one of those bucket drummer people if we go for that?"
I remembered that was one of the first things she saw when I took her to central park a couple weeks before that first party we went to.
We were walking and there were these guys killing it drumming on these plastic buckets and Kala was literally obsessed when she saw it.
All she wanted to do was stand there and watch and kept asking me questions about it.
I smirked and said, "Oh yeah! You can drum and I'll break dance. Deal?"
We both actually started laughing like we used to before all the space stuff happened, forgetting what was going. Well, ya know, at least just forgetting for a second before all the awkward silence came back.
We kept sitting there until my dad opened the back door and said, "Hey, you guys can come back in? We just want to talk, okay?"
Kala and I gave each other a look and all I wanted to do was hurl. But, I got up and gave Kala a hand up. We kept holding hands again and that was probably the only thing keeping me from totally losing it. We got back in and sat back down, both of us were too freaked out to even look up at mom and dad.
It was scary quiet again until I heard my mom say, "So… you said you were in some kind of group, Kala? What's it about?"
Kala and I looked at eachother, wondering what the heck was happening.
But, I saw Kala clear her throat before saying, "W-well, it's called the Colonization Coalition. I'm still learning about it since I only heard about a couple days ago, but… I think its like that peace corps thing you have here. It's what some people my age from developed planets do if they don't plan on going to third tier, er, I mean college. Basically it's to help developing planets integrate. Besides, I didn't know what I wanted to go into or do anyway and it let me come back so…" Kala stopped, still looking as freaked out as I was right now.
I tried to step in and back her up as I said, "Yeah, besides, it'll be cool. Kala can do that and maybe live with me in my apartment at college, like move in early or something while she's looking for a job to have since she's gotta find one for the coalition thing."
"Why at the college apartment? Why not at home?" My mom said, tilting her head. My eyes went wide as I felt that I gotta hurl feeling coming back.
"Uh… what?" I said, totally confused as my jaw felt like it was gonna fall off.
"Yeah, dude, why do ya think you have to move out right now? You guys can stay here." Dad said, adding to my confusion.
I could tell Kala was feeling the same way as she said, "Say what now?"
Kala looked shocked and honestly… dude, same!
I thought mom and dad were gonna be so crushed and hate us, mostly me, for totally lying to them. But… DUDE, WHY ARE THEY BEING SO COOL ABOUT THIS?!
I think my mom saw that I was about to explode since she said, "Okay, let's just say, your dad and I have been through a lot in our lives so far. One of those things being in the middle of an alien invasion. But, unlike the Kraang, this is a completely different situation and we're not angry or judging you or anything. None of us have a right to do that, especially not to you Kala. To Mikey and I you aren't an alien, you are Kala and always will be Kala to us. Yes, this is… a lot and it'll take getting used to. We'll have to find some reason to give Tommy, Benji, and Sammie for now once they get back. But, we just want both of you to know that no matter what we support you two and whatever you want to do or have to do. And that includes making sure you don't feel unwelcome. As long as you're willing to be apart of this family, you will always have a home here… both of you."
My dad smiled and burst out, sounding totally like him, "Oh yeah, dudes! It'll be so cool having both you guys here. We'll work stuff out! Besides I always wanted another daughter… Hey, you okay?"
I was so in shock that I had to force my head to look at Kala. Until my stomach dropped when I saw her looking totally in shock like me, but… that wasn't what got me. All I saw were just tears practically flooding out of her eyes. I've never seen her cry before like this.
Actually… I don't think I ever saw her cry?
Well, not really, I think the only time I saw her cry was when I took her to see a romcom when I was trying to check off every Earth date that I could think of or afford since I am broke as a joke like every high schooler ever.
Then again no one my age has money unless its from your parents, a crappy paying job, or an allowance?
And we both laughed and messed with each other when we cried during the end of the movie. Which was fun! I know a lot of people rip on romcoms and Jimmy always says they're so stupid, but… dude, I know I'm not a tough, manly guy and I think romcoms are cool to watch even if they are totally corny and cliche as all get out.
But... her crying like this?...
I kept looking at her as she just stared in shock at my parents as she kept crying but before I could even move, my dad pretty much jumped up off the couch and hugged her as he said, smiling like he always does, "Hey, you're all cool. No worries. Just let it out."
I think both of us were past holding back everything since Kala immediately started almost full on sobbing.
But both of us I think had SO much anxiety and so freaked out over telling my parents about everything and then have them being totally cool about it?...
Dude, both of us were just so done and so confused and so relieved that we just lost it.
I almost didn't realize that I was crying too until mom walked in front of me and started wiping them off my face like I was 5 years old before she hugged me too.
Sure, I'm still freaked out over how the heck all this happened but… hey at least no one's mad, right?
Okay everyone, again, I apologize for how obscenely long it took me to write this. But, these past several months were a crazy busy rollercoaster of life things to work. I have one last chapter to complete the Tala arc but I want to continue the Kaya arc as well so that will be up in the next update. I hope you guys enjoyed reading my take on Michelangelo realizing that even he has limitations to himself and to me I've always seen him as the kind of guy who doesn't need to be drunk to have fun since come one… he's Michelanglo! He's the resident party guy by just being himself! I just wanted to incorporate a story that showed a time when he was still discovering himself in his younger years that also lead to both his and Irma's growth as both people and a couple. :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter and constructive reviews are appreciated as always. Happy New Year everyone!
Stay classy!
Dexter1995