Author's Notes: I'm getting giddy. I so love the Tina and Mike pairing. I think because this pairing has so much potential in terms of story line and character development, that's why I am having a blast writing stories about this couple. That, and they just look absolutely look adorable together.
I'm currently bouncing around a few new ideas. A one-shot for the whole Tina and Mike at Asian Camp storyline. The way things were depicted on television left me a bit hanging, and it sounded rather off putting on some level. So I'd like to do a back story on that.
If you have special story requests for one-shots, please let me know. I'd love to write more.
Thank you for all the well wishers. It's been a week since my surgery and I'm without a gallbladder. When they cut me open, my surgeon said that my gallbladder was already necrotic – dead. It's kind of weird being anatomically less of a human being. I'm one organ less. I'm on a low fat diet for life now. Which is good though an incredible struggle.
That aside, we are moving on very nicely with our story. I'm hoping that you like the direction of this story and the pacing. I've written my stories up to chapter 11 already. I'm just so in love with this pairing.
Here's chapter seven. Please read and leave a comment.
Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Fox.
Dinner proved to be a challenge for itself. While the pizza dinner for Mike and Tina went smoothly (save for the awkward glances between the two since the 'You're great' bomb Mike had dropped earlier), getting Jay-jay the fussy baby to eat seemed like a loosing battle.
"Eeek!" Tina shrieked and laughed when a tiny spoonful of yellow baby food hit her in the face. She made a feeble attempt to take the plastic spoon from Jay-jay's sticky hands, but he simply refused. With a shrill baby giggle, another round of baby food hit Tina in the face and down the front of her sweater. "No, Jay-jay, no!"
"Is everything alright in he—oh, no," After throwing away their empty pizza box, Mike returned into the kitchen and watched with wide eyes as Tina hunched over his nephew in his highchair, trying to make him stop waving his spoon around. A smile grew on his face as he listened to Tina's giggle as the baby slapped his tray, which was filled with a puddle of baby food. The food spilled down the highchair, effectively covering Tina and the floor in yellow-orange baby goo.
"Mike!" Tina wailed, laughing in the process and straightening. Her ponytail had come undone, and now hair spilled over her shoulder. Her normally pink and black hair now had flecks of orange in them. So did her face and sweater.
"I thought you were an expert at this," Mike looked at her in amusement, stepping into the mess and easily plucking the spoon away from his nephew.
Tina huffed and crossed her arms. "I am. But this little guy just loves to horse around," She picked at her hair with a frown. "That, and he loves food. No wonder he's your nephew,"
"Hey," Mike grinned and held up a couple of sheets of paper towels. "Like I said, he's cute. Runs in the family,"
"Sure it does," Tina rolled her eyes, and turned to playfully frown at the baby. "As for you, buddy. You're getting a bath," Figuring that it really didn't matter anymore that she'd get any stickier from all the baby food, she picked up the sticky baby and held him to her chest. She sighed when two hands easily touched her cheeks with a resounding splat. "Great,"
"Oh, he does like you a lot," Mike laughed at her while mopping up the mess in the kitchen.
"Are you okay cleaning this up? I can give this guy a bath, if you want,"
"I'll be fine here. The bathroom is on the second floor, second door to the left. Jay-jay's baby tub thing is in there as well," Mike waved her off.
"Okay, we'll be back in a bit," Tina smiled and marched out of the kitchen with a babbling baby in her arms. For the past hour she had been trying to get Jay-jay to say her name. All they ever got was mama and papa. Not much, really.
"So then," Tina breathed, leaning over the bathtub and holding Jay-jay upright in the water. She had her sweater rolled up to her arms in hopes of not getting too wet, but it still seemed futile with the baby constantly wiggling around and sloshing water all over the place.
"Say, Tiiii-na," Tina grinned down at the baby, while gently running baby shampoo through his little tuft of black hair. The baby blinked in response and slapped the water, sending a small jet into Tina's face. Wiping the sod off her face, Tina chuckled. "Right,"
"Tiii-na," Tine repeated a couple more times while idly bathing the baby.
"Tiiiii"
"Hey!" Tina looked amused, hearing the sound. "You're almost there," she laughed, rinsed off the shampoo. She let out a little yelp as more water hit her around her neck, and slid into her sweater. "Mike should pay me for this," she muttered.
"Mike!"
Tina looked surprised, watching Jay-jay fiddle with his rubber ducky. "So you can say his name, you sneaky little thing," she looked at him with a bemused expression. Wiping the baby's face with a wet towel, she looked at him thoughtfully. "I think your Uncle Mike is nice,"
"Mike!"
Smiling in amusement, Tina rinsed of the baby. "And maybe," she began, now talking mostly to herself than the baby. She stood up, with the wet baby in her arms, and wrapped him in a fluffy towel. "Maybe just as cute as you are," she grinned at the confession, turning to the mirror and staring at their reflection. She kissed the baby in good measure. "Though you are still cuter by a mile,"
About 20 minutes later, Tina and Jay-jay reentered the living room, with Mike lounging on the couch and watching some old Disney cartoons. Two cans of soda and packs of junk food were on the table, waiting to be opened.
"How is it that even when I'm the guest, I turn out to be the messier and wetter one from the two of us?"
Startled, Mike looked over the couch and stared at Tina. He chuckled softly, taking in her wet form as she held onto his nephew, who now was in his Blue's Clues PJs. His grin widened when he easily spotted some orange clumps still in her hair. She looked absolutely adorable. "Hey, Tee," he breathed.
"Hey to you too," Tina placed the baby into his playpen. She frowned when she touched her sweater, feeling the sticky substance of baby food, water and baby shampoo. "I'm a mess,"
"I'm sorry," Mike looked sheepish. Standing up, he motioned for her to wait. "I'll get you a clean shirt to change into. It's the least I can do,"
Before she could even protest, Mike bounded up the stairs and disappeared into his room. He came back a few minutes later, with a small towel and a gray sweater. "Here. Uh, I hope you don't mind. This is mine, I think it might be a bit big for you, but it's nice and warm," he offered, looking at her with a tiny smile.
Tina felt her cheeks warm at the kind gesture and took the offered items. "Thanks," she whispered, before ducking out of the living room.
"I don't know if you're bad luck, or good luck, kid," muttered Mike, turning to the baby and picking him up after Tina left for the bathroom. Despite himself, he smiled and hugged the baby. While waiting for Tina to return, the two of them watched the Little Mermaid on television.
10 minutes later, Tina reappeared next to the couch looking fresher and cleaner without any traces of baby food in her hair. Feeling a little awkward, she hugged her torso, the sleeves of Mike's gray WMHS sweater hanging off her hands. "So, Little Mermaid, huh?"
Mike looked up at her, startled at her sudden appearance. He smiled at her appearance, looking quite adorable in the oversized sweater. "Ah, the sweater fits,"
Tina huffed. "It's like a dress," she commented, looking down and noting how it ended mid-thigh. She sent him a withering glare. "And don't you suggest that I start wearing it as one,"
"Hey, I'm the nice guy, remember?"
Tina smiled and nodded. "Right," she said, before sitting down next to him and his nephew. She grinned down at the baby, as he started to climb onto her lap. "Say, Tina!"
"Mike!"
"Okay, so maybe we will have to work on that," Tina smiled and pinched Jay-jay's cheeks.
"You have to be around him more often so that he'll get your name right," commented Mike absently, while sipping his soda. "It took him a couple of weeks before he got my name right. Before that, I was just 'Uncle Wike',"
Tina smiled down at the baby, waving his arms in the air in tune to a symphony of the movie. She looked at Mike, with an amused expression. "Do you want me to come over again?"
"Err," Mike looked at her, blushing. "Do you want to?"
Tina blushed and turned back to the baby. She smiled as the baby started playing with the end of the sweater she was wearing. "Sure, that would be nice," she said, before turning to him and offering him a small smile and turning back to the television while bouncing the baby on her lap. Ignoring the long stare Mike was giving her, she began to softly singly along "Part of your world" with Jay-jay gleefully squirming in her lap.
The three of them silently watched the rest of the Little Mermaid with Tina occasionally singing along to the music. Just as the movie was about to end, Mike sent an amused sent an amused smile at Tina but his smile instantly grew when he saw Tina fast asleep with his nephew asleep on her chest.
Shifting in his seat, he gently touched her shoulder. "Tee?"
Tina made a soft whimpering sound and lolled her head to the right. Slowly she cracked her eyes open and eyed Mike blearily. "Hmm?"
"You fell asleep," Mike whispered, smiling at her softly. He looked down at his nephew and smiled some more. "And looks like he did too,"
"Oh," Tina looked down and shifted in her seat. Very carefully she plucked the baby off her chest and cradled him. "Where do we place him?"
"There's a crib in my brother's old room," Mike directed as they slowly climbed the stairs. They entered the room, and Tina slowly placed the baby in his crib. Turning on the baby monitor, Mike picked up the other one and they silently left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.
"Thanks for coming over today, Tee," he said later as they returned to the living room.
Tina shook her head and smiled as she helped him clean up the living room, picking up empty soda cans and food packs. "It's no problem, your nephew is really sweet," she said. Frowning, she looked outside the window taking note how dark it looked outside. "What time is it anyway?" Checking her phone, she winced. "Shit,"
12:29 a.m.
5 missed calls – Mom
"I'm sorry," Mike looked worriedly between her and the window, finally realizing how late it really was. "I should have let you gone home earlier. I lost track of time, we were having fun, it's late, your parents! Oh no, Tee, I'm sorry,"
Tina waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't worry. It's okay, my parents are good friends with your parents, so they don't tend to worry too much," She looked down at her phone, trying to call her mother.
Mike shifted uneasily. "It's late. Do you want to spend the night here?" He blinked, faintly wondering if it sounded wrong on any level. "I mean, you didn't bring your car. It's too late to walk home. And it looks like it's going to rain. I would drive you, but with the baby, I –"
"Hi Mom?" Tina cut him off, rolling her eyes at him at his sudden frantic state. "Yeah, sorry. I fell asleep watching a movie with Mike and his nephew. I guess I lost track of time. Nothing's wrong. Mike just needs help watching over the baby, he's kind of clueless sometimes," She smiled at Mike. "I'm really sorry for not calling earlier, mom. I had fun watching the baby. Is it okay I just spend the night here? Don't worry about Mike, he's harmless," she eyed Mike in amusement. "It's late, I didn't bring my car. I'll be home tomorrow, is that okay?" Tina smiled softly listening to her mother on the other end. "Great, thanks, Mom. I love you. Good night,"
"Clueless? Harmless?"
Tina shrugged nonchalantly and stuffed her phone into her pocket. "I thought that was the best way to allow me to stay over,"
He watched her grin at him smugly and drop onto the couch. "But seriously, clueless?"
Leaning back and allowing her head to drop onto the couch's backrest, she grinned up at him. "Clueless is still cute," she said. She offered him a small smile.
Running a hand through his hair, Mike chuckled under his breath and silently tried to understand what was happening right now. Sparing her an amused glance, he straightened and sighed. "Do you want to watch television or do you want to sleep now?" He paused, trying to think of sleeping arrangements. The thought of them sharing a bed briefly crossed his mind. "I, uh, you—you can have my room, I can sleep on the couch, or my brother's room, or something,"
Tina curled up into a ball on the couch, and stared at the television, the opening credits of Beauty and the Beast started playing. "I'm not yet that sleepy, do you want to watch this movie with me?"
Mike slowly smiled, watching her silently as the light of the television played across her face. She looked serene and comfortable curled up in his sweater. He felt his heartbeat quicken briefly and he smiled. "Sure,"
Tearing her gaze away from the television, Tina looked up at him and smiled softly as he sat down next to her and settled in comfortably. She felt her cheeks warm and her stomach flip as his arm dropped just around her curled up form, casually resting on top of the couch's backrest. "Great,"
A/N: Thank you for reading. Share your reviews!