Chapter Text
Mike had just finished pouring the soap into the dishwasher when he, along with Lucy heard a knock at the door. Lucy moved to open the door, and once she did, she saw Tess standing on the walkway.
Tess was older now, and the pink dye typically in her hair was gone. She was wearing a tan power suit, and a blue tie, with high heels on her feet, adding to her towering stature. In her hands was a box of Pizza.
“Tess!” Lucy exclaimed, before shifting nervously when she saw what the tall cat was wearing. “Should we put on something nicer?”
Tess shook her head and replied, “Not needed, I was just coming from a political fundraiser.”
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as Tess walked in and Mike walked up.
“Hi Mike!” Tessa exclaimed, as she moved to hug him, only to be stopped by the fact she had a pizza in her hands.
“Hi Tess,” Mike replied, smiling softly. Then he asked, “Can I take the pizza for you?”
“Yes, thank you,” Tess replied gratefully, as Mike took the pizza out of her hands. Then just as Mike started moving, he was hugged from behind by Tess. “Can't escape your fate, you dork!”
The three moved to the kitchen table, with Mike putting the pizza down on the wood, as the two women took a seat. Once Mike sat down as well, Tess opened the pizza box and took out a slice of pepperoni pizza. “Want any?” Tess asked, waving her slice around. Despite serious new looks, it seemed like Tessa was the same as six years ago, disarming the young couple with her confident, casual demeanor and familiar warm smile.
Lucy said, “Yes please, haven't had junk food in a while,” and grabbed a slice.
“Same here,” Mike added, doing the same thing.
“Really? Not having junk food in college?” Tess asked, confused.
“Yeah, we, well mostly Mike, switched to regular cooking to save money,” Lucy replied, after taking a bite.
“Switched to cooking, huh? Wish I had anything other than pizza, coffee, and cheap ramen during college. So it's Mike's fault that you look so well rounded~” Tess lightly teased.
“It is... in more ways than one,” Lucy added.
“Oh?” Tess asked, raising her eyebrows as Mike cleared his throat.
“Yeah, I got Lucy pregnant,” Mike admitted.
Tess just blinked in abject shock, noting Mike’s wording of the news, before saying in a surprised voice, “Well, uh… this was unexpected… Well I mean not totally, I always pegged you two to have kids together someday, just not this soon…”
“Yeah,” both Lucy and Mike replied awkwardly.
Deciding to switch topics, Tess asked, “So I suppose both of you are studying at Steepdom State?”
“Only Lucy, I'm not a student,” Mike replied.
“Oh. Didn't expect that. Don't worry, I had few bright friends who still went through that, even if you didn't get accepted you can try taking entrance exams late-” Tess began.
She was cut off by Mike saying, “I didn't go to any college. Period.”
“...What... wait. Why? And what were you doing all this time?...” Tess asked, confused.
Mike sighed sadly, “Went to live with Sandy, and uh… it didn't work out, which is how I ended up here.”
“Okay I get that, but not going to college? Seriously?” Tess asked. “Where does Sandy live?”
“Richter, Washington,” Mike replied.
That's where Tri-River University is! That's a good college you could have attended!” Tess cried out.
“I suppose so…” Mike said, before realizing that would not have been possible due to how much they were traveling.
Tess leaned back into the chair and rubbed her forehead, before asking, “Well, what about you Lucy? I know you left Roseville for some reason, but what happened after? And why did you leave anyway?”
Lucy shifted nervously, looking at Mike, who simply nodded. Finally she said, “I left because… I went and…” Lucy’s body relaxed when the Korat cat placed his hand on top of hers. “...attempted suicide and my parents sent me away.”
The reaction on the tall cat's face was even more shocking than when Mike dropped the pregnancy news. “Wait… what… why?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ten minutes later, Lucy had finished explaining everything about her jump and events leading up to it to Tess, including some details not even Mike had been aware of.
In response Tess just stared at them blankly and stoically. She turned her head to look at the living room, thinking. The room was threadbare, with just some old couch and some TV that was a decade old. Outside that though, there were a surprising number of photos old and new, typically of just Mike and Lucy, but sometimes also of their families and friends. Tess was admittedly a bit miffed to see she was in none of the photos, not even the ones from the Silvershore trip.
Meanwhile Lucy and Mike were discussing among themselves.
“Wait, Augustus was the one to call the ambulance for you?” Mike asked in shock.
“Yep,” Lucy confirmed, “He was checking on me for a while, suspecting that it might happen.”
“Can't believe it… He never told anyone.”
Tess turned back to face them and asked in a low voice, “So Mike… is this why you decided to live with Sandy?”
“Yes,” Mike admitted. “When I learned what happened, I just felt so ashamed of myself, felt such intense self-loathing that I couldn't face our friends anymore, and just drifted away.”
Tess sighed and said, “I understand that part, been there and done that.” Shuddering as she remembered her time with Roger and her old friends. Mike on the other hand was stunned, not expecting to hear that. Tessa was never harsh on him unless he deserved it, yet instead of the rightful teardown that he feared of, he heard words of sympathy from her, and felt the embrace of concerned Lucy on the side.
“Well glad you two worked it out, even if it resulted in that happening,” Tess added, staring at Lucy's belly.
“Want to move onto a light subject?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah,” Tess confirmed, taking another slice of the now-cold pizza. After Tess took a bite, she asked, “So you're attending Steepdom State, right Lucy?”
Lucy nodded and replied, “Yep.”
“What course?”
“Business and accounting.”
Tess smiled and replied, “Ah, that's what I did as well,” before asking, “Is the British Buzzkill still teaching?”
“You mean Professor Thorn?” Lucy asked for clarification.
“Yep,” Tess confirmed, before asking, “Does he talk about me?”
“No, he doesn't talk about his past students, or his personal life in general really,” Lucy replied, before adding, “The only exceptions are mentioning his wife is a dog, and some student he had named Lucian, who was apparently a real piece of work.”
“Ah, Lucian Spencer, that bastard,” Tess said with a hint of fondness.
“You knew him?” Lucy asked as Mike thought, “Lucian… I think I heard that name before.”
“Yeah,” Tess replied, “I only knew him for one year, but he threw a huge party in the dorms that I attended, and Thorn broke it up with campus security, I just narrowly avoided getting arrested.”
“Wow,” Lucy replied somewhat shocked.
“Quick question, is Lucian the CFO of Wisconsin Robotics now?” Mike asked.
Tess nodded and asked, “How do you know?”
“I met him briefly at a fashion show in Chicago with Sandy,” Mike replied.
“Hm, interesting, wonder why he was there, he didn't seem like the type to be interested in that stuff,” Tess mused.
With no more to discuss about the person known as Lucian Spencer, Mike asked, “So, Tess, what have you been up to?”
“Not too much, been working at dads company, he plans to retire soon, meaning I get to inherit it,” Tess replied, “Been living in a penthouse in Manhattan, all in all life is good.”
“Seeing anyone?”
Tess shook her head and replied, “No, don't have the time.”
“Ah,” Mike said understandingly, “So then what are you doing here away from New York?”
“I was helping a college friend who is running for congress here, with a fundraiser,” Tess explained.
“What party?” Lucy asked.
“Democratic,” Tess replied, before adding, “Normally this is a safe seat for them but the midterms are looking to be absolutely brutal this year.”
And so the conversation went on, the three talking about their personal lives, politics, entertainment, and other such things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the end of the work day and darkness had fallen over the Roseville-Maraschino Metropolitan Area. The European Burmese known as Sue was in the parking lot of the Roseville Times building, having just opened the front door to her old car. Entering she saw Mike was already inside, sitting in the shotgun seat.
“Ready to go?” Sue asked, as she closed her door.
“Yep.”
Upon hearing Mike’s confirmation, Sue jammed the key into the slot and turned it, activating the engine with a rumble. Sue put the car in drive, and headed out.
As she drove, trying to get to the highway, Sue turned to the Korat and asked, “How’s Lucy doing?”
“Okay, she’s studying and working hard, morning sickness still happens but is less common now,” Mike replied. “Sleeping better as well.”
“Good to hear,” Sue replied, shifting her eyes back to the road.
Silence fell over the vehicle, except for the sound of the engine and tires on the road. Still in Sue's mind, a thought, a question was rolling through, making her think. It was about Mike and Lucy, specifically Mike's relationship to Lucy.
Finally Sue asked, “Mike, are you going to marry Lucy?”
Mike didn’t reply for a few moments and when he finally did he said, “I don’t know.”
“What the fuck do you mean, “I don’t know”?” Sue exclaimed, utterly baffled.
“I… I just don’t know.”
“Do you want to marry her?” Sue asked.
“Yes.”
“Does Lucy want to marry you?”
“I think so.”
“Then what’s the problem?!” Sue exclaimed, demanding an answer.
“I don’t deserve her,” Mike admitted, looking down in shame. “Lucy is so much better than I can hope to be, she's tough, she's compassionate, she has a bright future ahead… well at least until I fucked that up… and I’m not worthy of her. She deserves to find someone better.”
Sue snicked, before she started laughing uncontrollably. Mike cocked an eyebrow and asked, “What’s so funny?”
Sue was able to calm herself down enough to say, “No offense Mike but that is some of the dumbest shit I have ever heard.”
Then she resumed laughing. “Good lord,” Sue thought, “Those two cats would throw themselves under the bus for each other.”
When she finally calmed down, Sue turned to Mike and said in a serious voice, “Okay, Mike, you love her and she loves you, a lot, so listen to me very very closely. Marry. That. Girl. There’s no one better than you in her eyes.”
Mike turned to the side, looking outside the window, before saying, “I'll think about it.”
Sue let out a disappointed sigh as she turned onto the highway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike was walking up the outside stairs of his apartment. The sky was already dark and his clothes and fur were damp from sweat. “Good lord, I need a shower,” He thought.
Two to three minutes later, the Korat took out the key to the apartment and jammed it into the door knob and turned it, opening the door. “Lucy?!” He called out.
Mike heard a district groan, and a few moments later, the Khao Manee emerged, rubbing her eyes, tiredly. “How was work?” She asked.
“Tiring as always,” Mike replied. “How was class? How did the doctor's visit go?”
“Class went well,” Lucy replied, “Doctors visit was good, pregnancy is proceeding as normal.”
“Great to hear.”
“It’s a girl, by the way.”
Mike did not reply, not particularly caring about the gender of his child.
“So what do you want to name her?” Lucy asked.
“I don't know,” Mike replied.
“Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow, when we are less worn out,” Lucy said, tiredness evident in her voice.
“Yeah,” Mike replied thoughtlessly.
“I made dinner by the way,” Lucy said, pointing in the direction of the kitchen.
Mike smiled and said, “Thank you,” as they began walking together.