Michael climbed the steps of the Lavender B&B very casually. He was off duty, out of uniform and, theoretically, on his way home. Asking Ryan about Steph's ring size had seemed like a good idea, but he was completely distracted by Jayla, which made sense, but didn't help Michael out much. So he decided to approach Anna. They were still friends and, maybe more importantly, Anna was also friends with Steph. So all he had to do was ask Anna for Steph's ring size.
Easy peasy.
Opening the door, he peered around to see if he could see Anna or not.
Anna was at the front desk ringing someone through as Bronwyn had to book off for a dental appointment. She could be heard down the hall talking to the customer though, giving directions for their next destination "And you want to get off the 99 before 16th so you can go west to route 15...which will take you right back up to the Trans Canada. Good luck in the mountains you guys and have a safe drive."
Michael heads down the narrow hallway and into Anna's sight, looking very casual and at his ease. He leans against a wall and simply watches her work. As if he did this three times a week.
Anna was making a little notation on a receipt and looked up to see Michael with a raised eyebrow "Well that's not creepy at all. Hi...." She laughs.
Michael straightens and can't help but look a little guilty. "Hi .. what?" he shrugs. "I can't visit a friend on my way home from work?"
Anna smiles "What are you up to Michael? I'm not opposed to a hello, but no text and you're lurking. Is Steph mad at you or something? Just so you know she hates carnations and poetry."
Michael tries to look innocent. "I am not lurking." he denies. "And I'm not in trouble. I figured that much. Just .. you know." he steps closer to her. "On my way home and thought I'd say hi." he reaches for her hand. "Poetry .. like I can recite poetry."
Anna looks at him reaching for her hand in confusion "You're being VERY odd. And for YOU that's saying something. Is everything alright?"
Michael snorts and tries to look nonchalant. "Everything is fine." he thinks. "I was just ... thinking ... " and he has to because he is working without a plan. "Thinking of maybe getting my mom a ring or something. You know." he shoves his hands in his jeans pockets. "But I think Steph might be closer to my moms ring size. You know what ring size Steph is?" he asks her casually.
Anna licks her lips and then traces in the air as she repeats what he's just said to her "So you want to get your MOM a ring......but STEPH has the same sized..... hands....so therefore, you're asking ME...about STEPH's hands? Do I have that right?" A tiny smile is fighting it's way to live on Anna's face but she's working to suppress it.
Michael shrugs, his eyes darting around the room. "Well.. I thought your hands might work. You know." he offers. "But ... yea ... I think your hands are too big. So .. I figured I would ask if you knew Steph's ring size."
Anna can't fight her smile any longer "Did it dawn on you to ask Steph? You know since she owns her hands and all.....just a thought."
Michael looks panicked for a minute. "Oh I can't ask HER." he backpedals. "This means you don't know, doesn't it?" he sighs and turns. "Know what. Never mind. I'll figure her ring size out somehow. Thanks Anna." he heads for the door. "Catch you later." his shoulders are slumped as he wonders .. where to next? Maybe Sakura? No ... he couldn't go there.
Anna giggles "Nope, I don't know. Have a good one Michael." She watches him go with a loud exhale and then grabs her phone and dials Steph the second he's out of sight.
"Pizza Hut." Steph answers as their standard joke "30 minutes or it's free."
Anna laughs "Are you busy? Because something interesting just happened..."
Steph seems to be clicking at something "No I'm just trying to reset the Apple TV....."
"Mom, you've got the wrong remote! Gimme that!"
"Oi manners.....you do it then. Sorry, Anna, what?"
Anna sighs "Maybe I shouldn't even say it...but your boyfriend was just here being really nervous and asking me if I knew YOUR ring size. Just a heads up on that."
There's a very long pause.
"Steph?"
Stephanie inhales audibly "Oh my god....I could give a shit about the ring part...but oh my god......"
Anna's grin can be heard in her speech "So it's a good thing?"
Steph sniffs "Yeah......oh god dammit I have to not be crying about this when he walks in the door. It's a very good thing. Thank you Anna. I'll text you."
Anna gives a little squeal and then says "You better. Can I call Tams?"
Steph laughs "Yes, now shutup....I gotta go stick my head in the freezer or something. Bye!"
Michael got in his car and headed home. His mission had failed, and as he drove, he wondered if he could to that string thing. Get it while Stephanie slept. He considers Vaughn's words from a few days back. Maybe it wasn't that important. Maybe he should just .. just do it. Stop trying to be clever and just do it. But he had always been under the impression that women liked things like engagement rings, even if he thought the whole thing was a racket. Finally, he makes it home, parks the car and heads inside, getting through the door and automatically taking off coat and shoes.
When Michael walks in Tristan yells out "MIKE! You gotta see this Minecraft playthough....it's so awesome!!!!"
Stephanie hears the greeting and finishes powdering her nose after fixing her eye makeup a bit. She hadn't worn tons today but it had gotten mucky. She stepped out of the bathroom and casually said "Oh hi, you're home. I was was thinking of chicken nuggets. Do you want chicken nuggets? I'll put them in..." She's sort of rambling quickly and then disappears into the kitchen.
Michael looks at Tristan. "One second, bud." he heads into the kitchen after Steph and takes her by the waist, nuzzling her neck. "I'd love chicken nuggets. Thanks." he kisses it, then heads back into Tristan. "OK, kisses given. Show me this play through, unless you want me to kiss YOU too." he teases.
Steph feels Michael's hands on her waist and kisses and has to fight to not just burst into tears. She hugs him lightly and fumbles through with a nervous laugh "OK then..." She closes her eyes and stands in front of the stove, getting her bearings.
Tristan is oblivious and makes a yuck face "No man! Don't kiss me!" He scooches away on the couch and hits play. "See it's starts out all dark......oooh..."
Michael snorts like whatever and leans back to watch. "Oh ... that's cool. I really need to practice more, I know." then he settles down to watch it, nodding in some places and sounding interested in the right places. It really was an interesting game, he had to admit.
Stephanie does manage to put the chicken in and a pan of fries and watches from the kitchen door to see when the video ends. She knows they're often short but left to their own devices Tristan will show Mike 10 more before she can get a word in.
Tristan laughs as the main point of the video happens and it all ends in a ridiculous amount of TNT explosions "Man....look at that....the whole island......oh no...the pigs.....oh the carnage...."
As the credits roll Steph intercedes "Hey, I'm stealing Mike for a second K Tris."
"Awwwww...."
Steph smiles "Just for a sec. Can I I check in with you in the bedroom?" She asks Michael, trying to sound casual.
Michael had settled in for the long haul, not expecting to get up until it was time to set the table or eat. He looks curiously at Stephanie and then back at Tristan. "Maybe two." he offers a smile and stands, heading into the bedroom and closing the door, looking at her curiously and trying to guess what the meeting could be about. "What's up?"
Stephanie takes one of Michael's big hands and looks at it "You know I was thinking of taking up....knitting and I had this idea that I might start with gloves. It would be far easier if I had your ring size...which might come in handy for other things. Unless you're like me and you don't really give a shit about that stuff and you're way more into the idea of just asking the questions and saying screw the knitting anyway. Do you know what I mean?" She's dropped her gaze from him but her face is suddenly wet with tears again and she can't stop smiling.
Michael understands immediately that he is busted as he listens to her. Her face drops and he reaches up to her chin and to tilt her face up to look at him. "In that case...." he rumbles and swallows hard. "And since neither of us can knit." he sighs. "Would you accept my apology for trying to be sneaky ....and marry me?" he searches her wet eyes, knowing he should know her answer but still a bit anxious.
Stephanie starts laughing through her tears and nods "Yes and yes." She throws her arms around him and kisses him fiercely, crying happily into the kiss.
Michael lifts her up and kisses her back. Finally he sets her back on her feet. "So ..... no ring, right" he grins. "I had a couple people tell me to just ask but ....." he shrugs. "So has Anna let everyone know yet?" he teases and pulls her close.
Stephanie lands and nods "No ring. We can do bands if you want but we already got the more permanent than a ring tattoos. And she was only calling Tams..." She thinks about it and laughs "Oh yeah...you might get it at work..." She laughs "But we could tell the kid down the hall?" She presses against him enjoying the closeness.
Michael groans. "We'll see." he laughs. "God. Tams. Yea ... I might get it." he looks at the door. "Yea ... lets tell him." but he holds her back a minute. "Not now ... because we probably have to be married first but ..." he bites his lip. "Would you mind ... or think Tristan would mind if ..." he pauses for a eat. "What if I adopted him?" it wasn't just marriage he'd been thinking about.
Stephanie had been just composing herself from her last round of tears and now totally lost it and fell into Michael's arms. She knew he was willing to raise Tristan with her but some part of her had been afraid he was in it for her but trying to make it work with the kid. She knew Michael cared about Tristan but this was an admission that he WANTED Tristan, that she was not longer a single parent.
Michael wraps his arms around her. He had come to love Tristan and the idea of adopting him had felt right. It was the one thing he had not bounced off of anyone, There was no need. "I love you." he rumbles into her ear. "Both."
Stephanie nods into him, unable to speak right away and just hangs onto him as years of uncertainty and loneliness in her life with Tristan wash away with her tears. Finally after catching her breath she says "I love you too....I want you to be his Dad. He has to want it too though, so we have to ask him."
Michael nods and offers a slight grin. "Well ... first you have to tell him why you came in here with me and came out crying." he tells her. "Come on. Lets tackle that first. Ready?" he can't scream it from the rooftops until then.
Stephanie wipes at her face and nods "Yes. Let's go." She takes Michael's hand and leads him to the living room and then taps Tristan and says "Bud, can you pause your video?"
Tristan does and looks up worried at his mother's tear stained face "What happened? You're crying....."
Stephanie lets go of Micheal and leans down, partly squatting "Not for sad reasons. Mike and I are going to get married. Would that be ok with you?"
Tristan looks between them with wide eyes and then beams and hugs his mother "YES!!!"
Michael watches them and can't help but smile. He really did love them both. And it was a relief that Tristan didn't object to their becoming a family.
Stephanie kisses Tristan on the cheek and then lets him go and then turns to Michael, not sure how to bring up the other question herself.
Tristan just grins at Michael about the first one.
Michael reaches for Stephanie's hand. "There's one more thing I want to do, T." he considers how to ask and looks at Stephanie for help. "After your mom and I get married ..."
Tristan looks between them, worried "We're not moving, are we?"
Stephanie shakes her head, holds Michael's hand and lets Michael ask it.
Michael shakes his head. "I don't think we need to move." he agrees. "But, I was thinking ...." he pauses. "Tristan, so you know what adoption is?" he asks, not wanting to talk down to the boy.
Tristan nods "Yeah, Jackson in my class is adopted because his mom and dad can't have babies." He looks a little put out "Aren't you supposed to try and have a baby first....you know...the OTHER way?" He's thinking they want a baby, which is the last thing he wants from this plan.
Michael smiles. He's got it more or less right, but then he holds up his hand. "Not always." he explains. "If you and your mother agree, I can adopt you as my son. You'd be Reinhardt too and I think my name would go on your birth certificate ... as your father."
Tristan is completely unprepared for this and just stares open mouthed at Michael for a long time and then says quietly "You....want...Me? To be your son?" He looks at his Mom for confirmation and she nods, with tears in her eyes. Tristan feels a lump in his throat and waits for Michael's answer.
Michael nods. "Yea. I do." he tells him. "I want to be your father."
Tristan inhales quickly into a small sob and just nods as he walks to Michael and hugs him hard. Stephanie bursts into tears quietly watching the two of them and her son finally feel a connection he'd missed his whole life, Micheal too from a new perspective.
Michael lifts Tristan off of his feet, hugging him hard and clearing his throat. He smiles at Stephanie. She was going to be his wife. Tristan was going to be his son. It was a life he never imagined for himself before Stephanie came along. Now, he can't imagine his life any other way.
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