The Morning After
Creak.
The bed shuddered.
Creak.
The bed shook.
Creak
Michael slowly, blearily, cracked open his eyes. Then quickly shut them again. The sun that shone through his window had blinded him instantly.
Creak.
The bed jumped.
Creak.
The bed rattled.
Giggle.
Michael's eyes flew open at the unfamiliar sound. His gaze immediately landed on a small angelic cherub with an impish grin infectiously spread across her face.
"Unca Miiicheal." She sang as she bounced, her pigtails flying wildly above her head, "wakey wake Unca Michael!"
"Wha-?" He blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings and the utterly unexpected scene that spun before his eyes. Unsure on how he got there, he shook his head, tiredly rubbed his eyes with his thumbs and grasped for the child's name. "Tammy? What time is it?"
"It's wakey time. Mamas cooking breakfas..." She smiled and sat comfortably crossed-legged on the edge of his bed, absentmindedly playing with her now loosened pigtails.
Michael blinked again at the surreal sight. "Okay, well how about you go downstairs and tell Mama I'm up yeah? I'll be down in a minute." She grinned again and he felt his mouth quirking in response. She sure is a cute kid, he thought to himself.
"Kay. See ya later alligator." And with that final remark she giggled once more and shot out of the room.
"Yeah, she sure is Alex's kid alright." Michael muttered into the sudden deafening silence. Running his hand through his hair, he sighed to himself and picked up the clothes that he had casually tossed to the floor last night. Last night. It suddenly hit him exactly what had happened last night. Maria. Married. Abused. Heartbroken. Car crash. Isabel. Tammy. A vivid image of Maria sobbing against his car door tattooed itself in his brain.
Like a sucker-punch to the diaphragm, the memories continued to hit him.
But before a swell of raw emotion propelled him into action, the distinct smell of bacon and eggs tantalisingly wafted into his room - beckoning him to come out. His stomach growled in reply. I guess I'm going to have to talk to Maria later, Isabel is not gonna let me go without breakfast. With another sigh, he yanked on his pair of jeans, an old Metallica top and trudged to the top of the stairs.
Voices rose up the stairway from the kitchen. Intrigued, Michael leant closer and listened;
"…I know babe I know. He does have the right to know but it's not for either of us to tell him is it?" That was Alex, speaking in those soothing tones of his, which Michael remembered he had always done when Isabel had one of her outbursts. They were so good together; it pained him slightly thinking of that could have been, had he stayed.
He sat himself down on the top step and listened harder, he knew they were keeping things from him. It seemed everyone was…which pissed him off to no end. What could be so bad that they thought he shouldn't know about it? Did they not trust him? He knew he had been gone a long time, but did they really think they couldn't trust him anymore?
"Why not? I AM his sister! Alex…what if Maria doesn't tell him? What if He comes back and Michael then finds out the truth. Michael would kill him."
Michael was shocked at the certainty in Isabel's voice, as if she didn't doubt that he would give a second thought to murdering another human being. It actually hurt him to realise that it didn't no matter how long he stayed away; he would always be seen with blood on his hands. A murderer. But then again, as painful as it is, he knew she was right. The man who had abused and scarred his Maria? Who had broken her into such frail pieces and removed the fire that made her his perfect match? Yes. He would kill him- if he was lucky.
Tired of sitting on the stairs and smelling the food, Michael trudged down the stairs and walked through the kitchen.
"Unca Michael! Sit by me!" Tammy enthused. Hearing him being greeted, Isabel spun in surprise and Michael could just feel the stressed vibes spark out of her body like an electric current. Alex nodded a 'hi' and then continued to rub Isabel's back, sensing her shock at seeing Michael standing there. Michael's presence was still slightly too surreal to digest.
Nervously scratching his eyebrow at the sudden attention he was receiving, he chuckled lightly and sat down next to Tammy, "Of course I will, how could I refuse?" She giggled again and then resumed to making a mess out of her cooked breakfast. Michael looked at the mat that was underneath his plate. It said 'Welcome Home'. He bit back a smile and an inward groan; he had known Isabel was going to make a big fuss about all of this. Not that he could blame her really.
"Morning Michael, did you sleep well?" Isabel asked pleasantly, as she placed the bacon onto his plate. Michael couldn't stop grinning at how much she had become like her mother, Diane Evans. He could just remember sitting at a table, only a bit older than Tammy's age and Diane asking him the same thing.
"Yeah Mom I slept fine." He said good-naturedly and laughed lightly at the bizarreness of the situation. She smiled as she remembered thousands of times before when he would say that to her– always teasing her about her mother hen qualities.
Alex chuckled too and sat down opposite Michael. "So what do you plan on doing today Michael? There are a lot of people who's going to want to see you." He said seriously, his eyes meeting Michael in a flash of sympathy. They all had known, those years before, that Michael was consistantly toeing the line of running away or staying there. After Pierce, well, it should have been fairly expected to find he had gone, but it didn't make the hurt any less, especially not for the three people who loved him the most. Maria. Isabel and Max.
Michael nodded slightly at the message Alex was trying to get across. There are people who will want to see him, who will demand explanations and answers, it will be a long, hard day for him and he wasn't looking forward to it.
tbc...
Sorry I know this really just a filler - but A-Levels have been crazy lately. Though, Christmas holidays is at least coming up so I promise big shiny interesting new parts for you all! And for all of my fanfics!
Twilight and Isis :- Sorry for making you wait so long. I know, the missing Liz is another mystery in this tale which will soon be resolved. :) Thankyou for enjoying this so far! I promise all will be revealed in due time.
Rabidbutterfly :- Heh yeah it is a long time, and you'll find out too what else he had been up to throughout those years. Btw actually he's 24 - left when he was 16. ;) thanks for reviewing!
Racheal :- I hope the Liz and Max chapter was okay, I'm not so practised at writing dreamer - but I did think they deserved a bit of background information too, since it's all very relevant to the plot.Not to mention Max did start the fic after all, I figured he shouldn't be so ignored throughout it. :D Yep things all went downhill for everyone when Michael left. I suppose the sad thing is that the more you love a character, the more as awriter you have to put it through so much angst and pain lol. Oooh yes and about Rath, well lets say things are not quite what they seem...Thanks for the feedback!
Hayley :-Aw thanks for your constant feedback, its always so welcome :) But don't worry most of this fic will be purely M&M. You just gotta love them.
Majikstruck :- Hey, I know the update isn't probably as soon as you wanted, but I will get better. I swear. lol. Thanks for reviewing!