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As much as she hated to do it, Stef had to get out of bed and get ready for her day. She was brushing her teeth when her eyes caught on her wedding ring. She slipped it off with the intention of getting it cleaned. She showered and went about her usual morning activities before kissing Brandon and her Mom goodbye and heading into work.

She still had the previous day running through her mind and was still on a pretty good high. She sat at her desk with her phone out and stared at it. On a whim, she decided to send Lena a text. Had fun this weekend, can't wait to see what's on the schedule for next. She pushed send before she could talk herself out of it.

She didn't have to wait long for a response. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, I did too. Who said we had to wait for the weekend? What are you doing for lunch? Stef decided to be a little cavalier. Hmm… hard to say. I usually just grab something from one of the food trucks. You?

Well, Sanchez has meetings off campus today, I thought I'd actually try getting a meal from one of those places where you get to eat off of real plates and with real silverware.

A place with real plates and silverware? Do they let you sit down too?

Yep.

Well, that means there's going to be chairs for at least 2 at a table.

So where and at what time are we meeting? Lena went ahead and dove in knowing that Stef wouldn't be the first to ask.

As a cop, Stef knew the layout of the city well. She racked her brains for a place that was close, fast, not too crowded, and had good food. Do you know Luka's? It's a bakery but it's also a café. They have really great food. It's addy is 221B Baker Street.

OK. Meet you there at 12:30.

"YES!" Stef's solitary celebrating caused a few heads to turn. She shrugged and put her head down fast and went back to work but the ear to ear grin stayed attached to her face.

One of the heads that had turned was Mike's. Mike had noticed that Stef had come in grinning. Mike noticed everything about Stef every day. She unfortunately usually never noticed him unless he was standing directly in front of her.

Mike knew that grin and he didn't like it one bit. When Stef had taken Brandon and moved in with her Mom she had swore that this did not mean divorce. She was just giving him space to clean up his act. He didn't know what he had done because he was behaving as he'd always behaved but, he'd given her her space. They swore that they were not seeing other people and never talked about it as a possibility. It was just about waiting until she was ready to come back home to him. That was over a year ago. And it had taken one helluva toll on him.

Mike and Stef were both extroverts. They had become best friends pretty quickly. They both liked partying. They would usually end up closing the bar together and then going off to Lookout Point and drinking more then waiting until they got sober to go home.

Mike had always had a thing for Stef. She was beautiful, fun, smart, and funny as hell. They were best friends until one night when she had come back from visiting her Dad. She had tears running down her face and he couldn't resist going in for more. He knew that her Dad was pretty hard on her and he just wanted to help take the pain away. She clung to him and he let chivalry be damned. She was everything he wanted and she was there with him. They didn't talk about it afterward until she told him a few weeks later that she was pregnant. He was ecstatic. Him? A dad?! He immediately asked her to marry him. She looked shocked and said they didn't have to. After he told her he was completely serious, she then said that she'd think about it. She left it at that for a while and he was starting to get nervous so he did what he knew to do. He dropped by to see her Dad and asked him for his blessing for her hand in marriage. He figured all women loved that kind of thing. Her Dad gave his blessing with tears in his eyes. Then, he called Stef and told her that he couldn't wait for the wedding day. And that it had better be soon since he'd also heard about the little bun in the oven. But, all that mattered was that she had herself a fine Christian man who loved her and would take care of her. Even so, Stef accused him of going behind her back and forcing her hand. He was shocked until his friends told him that it was just the pregnancy hormones. She'd be fine after the wedding.

And things were. They were pretty great in the beginning. Except for the times that Stef would get moody about him not helping with the baby enough or staying out too much. There was no reason why both of them had to stay home. She was the one who never let him do anything with the baby anyway even when he was home. She wanted everything her way all the time. And so, he went out to keep from fighting but then they'd fight about the going out. Then they were fighting about everything. Even his breathing seemed to bother her!

When she said she was moving in with her Mom for a while, he was scared. But, she assured him that this was not goodbye. Just we need time and space for him to get his act together. He had no idea what it was that he was even doing wrong!

All he knew was that he missed his wife and son dreadfully. It ripped him apart inside. Most of his work friends were also drinking buddies and at first Mike would be the life of the party. But, inevitably, around the 6th drink, Mike would be crying into it about his wife and son. Though they tried to stay out of it, it made them feel really uncomfortable being around the two of them. Their job meant that they were automatically supposed to watch one another's backs. And a lot of them sympathized with Mike because he was their buddy and Stef stayed tight lipped about the situation.

Now, here he was on the outs with his family. He knew that he was missing time with Brandon but, Stef never wanted to go out with them when he suggested things and Brandon would get bored quickly after he planned something and then he would be wanting to go back home to his Mom and Grandma. Honestly, by the end of those times, Mike was just wanting to drink more to help numb himself up. Stef's refusal to spend time with him hurt.

But, now, seeing that smile Mike knew he had to act fast. Maybe he could try those AA meetings she had talked about. And maybe it was time to start looking into getting counseling. Yea. And he should start calling Brandon more. He could do this. He could be the man that she wanted him to be.