A MILLION thanks to: Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto (You asked and here it is! More Lee and more Mickey), Violet201, Trickster707, xXBXx, D27427, VincesDirtyGirl (aww shucks, I inspired you? That makes me happy! :]), and Rue Dawn! I'm so appreciative that you all take time to review! You rock my socks! :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Alex, Mickey, and Ronnie

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 48: Reunion

By: LoveInk

Michaela was enjoying being home alone. Mia had gone to open the shop, Leon had gone to the garage to finish off the jobs that were still sitting there from before the heists, and Alex had gone to teach her classes, determined to do so until she was too big to. Mickey had 80s music blasting through the fancy speakers and was singing along as she cleaned the house, picking up after Leon and Alex. For such a little person, Alex sure left a big mess in her wake. She was just picking up another pair of Alex's colorful Converses when the doorbell rang. She lowered her music to make sure she heard it right. It rang again and she shut off the music.

Raising an eyebrow, she made her way over. She didn't bother checking the peephole, something her brother would've been upset about, and just opened the door. In front of her was a woman with brilliant green eyes flanked by three children. Her first guess was that it was one of Alex's sisters, but there was something in her jawline that reminded Michaela of Leon. "Um hi," Michaela greeted, awkwardly. "How can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Adrienne. Leo's sister," the woman explained, picking up the smallest child in her arms. It was a little boy with the same green eyes as his mother.

It took a minute for the sentence to sink in. "Oh! Oh my gosh! Hi, I'm Michaela," Michaela exclaimed, smiling brightly. She stepped back into the house, gesturing them in. "Come in! Come in! It's hot outside!"

"Thanks," Adrienne said stepping into the house and bidding the twin girls behind her to follow. She set Mattias down, her hand brushing over his head as he clung to her leg. "I'm so sorry to just drop in, but Leo didn't leave a house phone number and he forgot to give me his cell number. He just said to come by whenever."

Michaela waved away her apologies. "Don't worry about it! Any family is welcome," she said trying to sound as though she'd been expecting them when she really hadn't been. Leon had told her he talked to his sister, but he never mentioned that she was coming over. "Now who are these lovely kids?"

"I'm Leah," the taller of the twins announced, a wide smile on her freckled face. She was wearing a pair of torn jeans and a simple black tank top. Her russet hair was pulled back from her face in a loose ponytail.

The girl standing next to her was wearing a concert tee from Ronnie's band's last tour with a pair of skinny jeans and cute pink flip flops. Her dark red hair that hung down around her shoulders was being held out of her face by a sparkly pink headband. "I'm Hope," she chirped with a smile. She grabbed her little brother's hand chubby hand. "This is Mattias. He's three."

The little boy looked up at Michaela with wide green eyes. His brown hair was cut into a Mohawk, a look that was comical on such a little being. Michaela squatted down so she was even with the little boy. "Hi, I'm Mickey."

Mattias looked up at his mother. "Like Mickey Mouse?"

"Exactly," Michaela said with a nod. She ruffled his hair before standing up. "I hear you girls like to dance."

"Only Leah," Hope corrected quickly. "I'm more into horseback riding."

Leah rolled her eyes at her sister. "You're Uncle Leo's girlfriend, right? He said you danced in Vegas. I looked you up and got in trouble with my dad. He said you don't do the same style as me."

Adrienne scowled at her daughter. "Leah!" she chastised before turning to Michaela, "I'm so sorry. She's got no censor."

"That's okay!" Michaela said with a laugh. The girl was ballsy. She reminded her of herself at that age. "I don't dance like that anymore. I have a studio now and I teach ballet."

"Cool. I do ballet, tap, and hip-hop," Leah said with a bob of her head that was so like Leon it was scary. "Where's Uncle Leo?"

"He's at the garage right now. We can go surprise him if you'd like," she suggested with a devilish grin.

Adrienne looked intrigued at first, a hint of mischief shining in her eyes. "I don't want to bother him…"

Michaela rolled her eyes. "Oh please, he wants to be bothered. He gets bored there all by himself."

"Please Mama!" Leah and Hope begged at the same time.

Leon was tuning Ronnie out. The other man was going on and on about the financial books. Leon swore he hadn't stopped to breathe once. Though Alex had assured him Ronnie was perfectly capable of handling the financial stuff, Leon was starting to regret agreeing to let him do it. Especially since he insisted on giving him a play by play. He swore Ronnie had the biggest mouth of anyone he knew. Boy, could the guy talk. He just went on and on and on…

"Did you hear anything I was saying?" Ronnie asked, taking his eyes off the ledger to look up at Leon.

"No," Leon replied honestly without looking up from the engine. "You've been talking for like an hour. I told you, I don't care."

"C'mon Lee. This is serious. The garage is in the shit hole."

"I know. Why do you think we were doing…what we were doing?" Leon questioned, still paying more attention to the engine than to Ron. He knew Alex had told him everything about the heists so there was no need to explain anything more.

Ronnie snorted, his head shaking from side to side. "Whoever was the genius behind that idea was an idiot."

"That doesn't even make sense," Leon grumbled as he tightened a bolt with a grunt.

The loud sound of a bass along with some screaming made Leon look up from the engine and towards the parking lot. When he saw the dark silver Celica pull in, he smiled. He spotted Michaela in the driver's seat, another brunette at her side. They were laughing with each other.

Then he heard the high pitched screaming and saw the two girls as they sprinted towards him. "Tio Leo!" they screamed together. (Uncle)

He put down his tool and stepped around the car, extending his arms to catch them in a big hug. "Holy crap!" he exclaimed, squeezing them tightly before pulling away. They'd grown up a lot since the last time he'd seen them, three years before. He gently touched each of their soft cheeks, seeing a bit of his deceased sister in each one. He felt his eyes get misty and swallowed hard to control himself. "You girls grew up on me," he breathed, kissing each one's cheek in turn. "I'm going to have to beat the boys off with sticks."

Leah giggled as she bounced up onto the balls of her feet and started chattering excitedly at Leon while Hope's eyes fell on Ronnie who was leaning casually against a car. "Nice shirt," he commented, nodding to his own face on her tank top. Hope just stared at him, slack-jawed. He pushed himself off the car and took a few steps closer to her. "Hi. I'm Ronnie," he greeted, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"I know," Hope sputtered, her green eyes as big as saucers. She didn't move, just stood there. "I…I…"

"She's Hope," Michaela put in, smiling at the girl. She had Mattias perched on her hip; the small boy had already fallen in love with her, just like his uncle.

"No handshake, Hope?" Ronnie teased a small grin on his face. He loved the doe-eyed expressions the younger fans got when they met him. He remembered his own excitement the one time he got to meet his own idol, Paul McCartney. He stood staring in the corner for about twenty minutes before working up the nerve to go talk to him. Even then, he just tripped over his own tongue while trying to compliment Paul's amazing song writing skills. Alex had teased him then, saying it was the only time she'd ever seen him speechless.

He shrugged a shoulder before he beamed at her. "How 'bout a hug?" With that, he swept forward and hugged the girl, lifting her off her feet before setting her down.

Leon pushed Leah toward Ronnie so she could meet him too before he looked up, his eyes landing on his older sister for the first time in several years. She looked good for being in her late thirties. Her wavy, dark red-brown hair was streaked with highlights and hung down straight past her shoulders, her bangs braided out of her face. She was wearing what he could only describe as "mom" clothes; a white blouse and khaki cargo shorts. A pair of short leather sandals were strapped to her feet, making her just a little taller than Michaela. "Hey Mama Bear," he greeted, nodding to her.

She rushed to him, throwing her arms around him in a big hug. "Leo," she choked out, squeezing him tighter "I missed you so much."

He felt tears fall from his eyes before he could stop them. Since he'd left, he hadn't thought about his big sister or his nieces or nephew. He'd lived happily as though they'd never existed. As though the life he had left behind in Arizona had never happened. Now that he had his sister in his arms, he regretted that. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed his family. How much he genuinely cared about them. "I missed you too," he said pulling away slightly. He smiled when her small hands reached up and brushed away his tears, a motherly move she'd done often when he was growing up.

"God, look at you," she breathed, a proud smile on her face as she wiped away her own tears. "You're so handsome! What happened to my little scrawny brother?"

Michaela laughed loudly at this one, trying to picture him even a little bit scrawny. "Adri, please tell me you have pictures."

"I do, actually," Adrienne confirmed with a nod giving Leon a mischievous grin. He narrowed his eyes at them, wondering how they'd become so chummy in only a few hours. No doubt they bonded over him. He wondered just which stories they'd shared with each other. "I made sure to put a few in my suitcase. He was a precious baby. He looked just like Mati."

Leon's eyes fell on the little boy who currently had his head resting in the crook of Michaela's neck, his thumb in his mouth. He took a few steps toward him, putting his face level with the little boy. "Hey, little man," he said, brushing his hand over Mattias' Mohawk. "You remember me?"

Even though Leon was almost positive the boy didn't, Mattias nodded and stretched out his arms toward him. Leon took him from Michaela, hugging him close against his check. "Tio Leo," Mattias said before pointing to the car. "Car?"

Adrienne smiled as Leon took him over to the car and started explaining things to him. "My husband is a mechanic too," she explained to Michaela. "Leon got his start in his shop."

Michaela barely heard her. She was too entranced watching Leon with little Mattias. He was the picture of happiness; easily balancing the little boy on his hip while he pointed out different things to him in the engine. She could picture him doing this with their own children. Perhaps a blue eyed child instead of green eyed one. Maybe twins. She'd love that.

The girl's screaming pulled her out of her fantasy. She glanced toward where Ronnie had a girl on each arm and was lifting them off the floor using his arms. All of the awkwardness of the first meeting was gone. Hope and Leah were both talking his ear off as he swung them around. "You're not the pregnant one, right?" asked Adrienne.

She shook her in head in response. "That's my sister-in-law, Alex."

Adrienne studied the younger girl. She had seen her wince at the mention of pregnancy. "You had a scare though?"

Michaela shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as she scratched at her elbow. "Miscarriage."

"I'm sorry," she said softly, setting a hand on Michaela's shoulder. "Was it Leon's?"

"Mm-hmm," she said on a nod. "He wasn't too upset about it. Not as upset as I was, at least."

Adrienne grimaced at this. Her brother had never been good at showing his emotions. He took everything and bottled it up. Usually, Essie would be the one to get everything out of him, make him let go of some of it, but now that she wasn't around, Adri could only imagine the kind of shit he was holding onto. "He was probably more upset than he let on. The fool internalizes everything. Essie was the only one who could get him talking."

Michaela nodded, her eyes still focused on Leon and Mattias. "He talks to my sister-in-law, Lex."

"Why's that?"

"Don't know," she answered on a shrug. She had to admit, their relationship bothered her. Though she would never say it aloud, she resented Alex for it. The girl not only got all of Vince's attention, but she also got to hear Leon's innermost thoughts; stuff he'd never shared with her. "They've got this weird brother-sister thing going. You'll see."

When Leon caught her staring at him with that look in his eyes, a jolt of panic rushed through him. He quickly set Mattias down, getting him a crate to stand on instead. Clenching his jaw, he prayed the conversation wouldn't be brought up that night. He couldn't handle it. He needed more time to think.

"I'm hungry," Ronnie announced loudly. "You girls hungry?"

Both girls nodded emphatically. "Yeah!"

"I know of a place with some good sandwiches," he said, rubbing at his stomach. "Free too."

Michaela grinned. "Oh Mi's gonna flip when she sees the kids. She loves miniature people," she explained, already excited to see Mia's reaction. Adrienne, Ronnie, and the kids headed off to the different cars; the girls opting to go with Ronnie instead of Michaela. Leon didn't move. He was still staring at the engine, his gaze unfocused; he was clearly thinking of something else.

Curious, Michaela headed over to him. He jumped when she set a hand on his back. "You comin', Lee?" she asked, her eyes holding concern.

He shook himself from his thoughts and looked at her. Really looked at her. She was beautiful. Her bright blue eyes seemed to see straight through him, something that always made him uneasy. Her dark hair was a mess, as it always was hanging all the way down her back in a tangle of waves and straighter strands. He knew the waves were a result of her constant indecisiveness. She'd put her hair up for five minutes and then take it out, wrap it in a bun, plait it into a thick braid, and then take it out.

But that was Michaela. She went with her impulses. If she wanted to do something, she did it. She'd once told him it was easier to apologize for something than ask for permission and from the way Vince talked about her younger years, he believed she stayed true to that motto. That was the side of her that scared him. What if she decided she didn't want him anymore? She'd leave him without thinking twice about it. It wasn't as if she hadn't done it before.

"Yeah, Princess," he answered after a minutes, leaning over and kissing her lips. "I'll meet you there."

Confusion registered in her eyes as she gently rubbed at a spot of grease on his cheek with her thumb. "You okay?"

He nodded, giving her a half-hearted grin. "It's good to see them," he said by way of explanation.

She smiled then and he felt his heart flip-flop as it usually did when she smiled at him. "They're an attractive bunch. I can see where you get your good looks from," she stated as she skipped away from him. "Can't wait to see your awkward growing up pictures though!" she sang on her way out the door.

Leon groaned, shaking his head as he closed the hood of the car. "I'm going to kill her," he swore glaring at his older sister who just wave at him from her seat in the car, a sneaky grin on her face as though she knew exactly what he was saying.

Not sure if I like this chapter or not...do you like it? Let me know in a review! :)

Disclaimer pt 2: I don't own Paul McCartney (of Beatles fame, just in case you didn't know ;) ). But I love him and adore his music. "Hey Jude" is my all time favorite song. ;)

~Love Ink