Chapter Text
As Mickey makes his first step out of the facility he’s hit in the face with fresh, cold air. It feels so light on his face, blowing the sparse stinky prison dust right off and away.
He spots Mandy engulfing cigarette smoke leaning on the jeep that’s parked just meters away right next to the musty-looking once white walls of the prison. The wind keeps causing Mandy’s hair to fly in every possible direction but she manages to keep the cigarette sealed tightly in-between her lips from setting the strands on fire.
Scanning over the white varnish and the lightly tinted vehicle windows he can make out two dearly-missed faces seated in the front and back car seat.
„Mickey! We’ve been freezing our asses off.“
His jacket gets tossed around softly by the refreshing winter wind as he makes his way over to his sister. It’s a nice contrast to orange pieces of sandpaper fabric sewn together and sold off as clothes. They defeat the original purpose of clothing, keeping a body warm, and make you feel all scratchy and cold inside instead.
Mandy tosses the cigarette just before pulling Mickey in for a hug. The now slightly unfamiliar Milkovich embrace feels like - home.
„Missed you, dickhead.“
The typical nicotine smell that she’s soaked in has a comforting effect on Mickey.
„Did too, sis.“
He cracks a minimal but sincere smile to assure his sister of his wellbeing.
The back-car door opens and an enthusiastic Svetlana hops out of the seat wearing a long, brown, pompous fur coat. Her lips are painted a deep red and her happiness is very visibly showing through in form of a smile.
She grabs Mickey by his shoulders and places a sincere kiss on his cheek, leaving a red lipstick stain on his face.
They don’t have a typical mother-father relationship or whatever, but through everything horrible Svetlana had been there for him the whole time he’d been locked up. She’d always made sure Mickey was doing „relatively“ okay and that he was able to see his son weekly during the time behind bars.
„It’s not your duty, you know that, right? S’not like we’re even married anymore.“
„So, what? Yevgeny is your child like he is my child. You have right to be father.“
Her morals might seem a little one-of-a-kind to outsiders but one of her biggest priorities is keeping her family safe. People like her don’t care about how fucked up a situation is, they work through it, they survive and they do it without complaining.
„Look who’s here, too!“
Mandy’s voice is soft as she says it. Svetlana takes a step towards the front of the car and opens the door leaving behind the scent of sweet-smelling perfume.
Yevgeny jumps out of the child’s safety seat and it’s like sunshine on a rainy day.
Wrapped in what seems to be about three jackets and a thick pair of trousers he stiffly walks his way over to his father and is immediately picked up by his arms. Mickey holds him up in the air, not having expected six year olds to be this heavy.
His glove-covered hands cling around the back of his father’s neck and onto his upper back and Mickey notices a bubbling, burning ache right in the middle of his chest as the little kid is in his arms for the first time in years, now not so little anymore.
„Papa!“
His expression of happy feelings for his father, in form of a warm shout, is muffled by Mickey’s jacket. The young boy’s face is buried in Mickey’s lower right shoulder, his snub nose is softly poking into the dent of his shoulder blade.
He starts patting over his son’s head and the soft dark blonde hair covering it with his right palm. When Yevgeny pulls back his head to look at his father the bright smile on his face and the front tooth that’s missing in the row of teeth makes Mickey’s heart physically warm up.
„I missed you, Yev.“
He kisses his son’s forehead without any stupid glass panels separating them and tugs his thumb over one of the cold flushed cheeks before carefully getting a better grip at holding him and looking up at the two females who had been contently watching the scene.
„Come on you guys, before I lose a limb in the cold!“
Mandy gives them a weak smile before making her way around the front of the car and getting back into the driver's seat.
Svetlana’s about to grab Yev out of Mickey’s arms in order to place him in his safety-seat again when the six year old makes a request.
„Mama, can I sit in papa’s lap until we get back home?“
All present adults think about it for a second until Svet gives Mickey a nod.
„Yes, lyubimaya.“
It’s russian, Mickey doesn’t understand it. Svet’s called Yevgeny by it before during the visits. He knows it’s loving.
She ruffles his hair as Mickey whispers thank you and then resumes to her spot in the back seat.
Mickey looks down at his son to see the grin on his face still hasn’t died down. It’s heartbreakingly captivating. There are no restrictions.
With Yev still in his arms he makes his way over to the other side of the car and carefully opens the door. He takes the backseat behind Mandy with Svetlana to his right and Yevgeny in his lap. He makes sure his son is comfortably seated and then fastens the seatbelt around the both of them.
The drive is long and Yevgeny falls asleep halfway through. Mickey nuzzles the back of his head and feels warm.
The car stops when they reach another traffic light and Mandy turns around from her seat to look at her brother and nephew. She looks proud.
They’re all here and they’re all safe.
Mickey is free.