January 15, 2027
To say that this year was off to a rough start was an understatement. After the Presses had Lola's funeral, they stayed off of social media for a while, and the next time the whole world actually saw them was during the premier for Glory Days in New York, planning on having Little Foot here as well since they wouldn't like to fly back to LA for that, plus everyone was here right now.
//
"How are you feeling?"
Christen stayed glued beside Michelle as they both sat on the couch in their New York Condo.
"I've been feeling good, Lola left me a couple of things from her Will so I have something to distract myself over. Some properties, businesses. She even left me the car we gave her a few years ago so I'm going to need to find someone who wants it cause I ain't keeping it."
Michelle turned to her wife in thought.
"You think Bella would want it?"
"It's pink."
"Hm... yeah."
//
Christen sat on Michelle's lap, her hands around her pregnant wife's waist to keep her from falling, while Chris did Michelle's make-up for her. Michelle couldn't help but stare up at her wife, watching her concentrate on putting make-up on her.
"Why are you staring at me?"
Mitch shook her head and leaned forward, giving her wife a peck on the lips.
"Thank you, for keeping up with me. I know I haven't been easy. Not just the past few weeks with coping with losing Lola and work and stuff, but you have been so supportive even before that. I feel like I've just been dragging you along with all of my shit."
Christen dropped the eyeliner on the table and cupped Michelle's cheeks and gave her a stern look.
"No, don't say that. I love you, everything about you, and that includes everything. We're partners now, we stick by each other's sides no matter what happens and support each other."
"We've just been doing a lot of my things."
"You support me too, with coaching and re inc. You have been super supportive since day 1, okay?"
Michelle nodded and leaned into Christen's touch. It was quiet for a while, both of them just staring at each other before Michelle broke the silence.
"Did you know Lola left Cecilia a bag of underwear?"
Christen snorted and leaned forward, resting her head on her wife's shoulder.
"Oh my god, she is so much like you."
"It's clean though... I think."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It was 5 in the morning, and Isabella was back in her apartment preparing some of her stuff before she would fly to New York for the premier that afternoon when there was a knock on the door. Her eyebrows furrowed, checked her phone to see the time, and went down to open the door."I'm coming!"
She opened the door and froze when she saw her ex-girlfriend standing there with her suitcase. Paige gave her a small smile and nodded. She looked different, with her new blonde hair.
"Hey uh... I kinda forgot my keys back in Washington so I flew here earlier to catch you since I know you're about to fly to New York. I just need my things."
Isabella nodded her head and stepped aside so that she could come in. She silently walked back up to her room (previously their room) and started putting all of her make-up in her make-up bag.
Paige stood by the door for a second, inspecting the room. Isabella changed a lot in the room over the past few days. The pictures they had together were down, some were replaced with pictures of The Presses, and some were paintings Isabella did to cope with grief.
"I like what you did to the place."
Isabella turned around and gave her a tight smile. "I like what you did with your hair I see you did the whole breakup thing."
The blonde-haired girl looked down and chuckled. Isabella put her weight on her other foot and tilted her head.
"I hope you don't mind that I took the pictures down and changed everything up a little bit, it was just... kinda hard."
Paige shook her head and smiled at her. "No, no, it's okay. This is your place now, my name is out of the lease so..."
The younger girl nodded and pursed her lips. "I folded your clothes already, they're in the box in the closet."
Paige nodded while Izzy went back to fixing her things while Paige went to their closet and started dragging the boxes out. Once she knew she had everything, she sat on the bed and watched Isabella hum to herself while picking the eyeshadow pallets she would be bringing with her.
"How have you been? I heard what happened with Lola, I'm so sorry."
Isabella hummed and looked up, bit her lip, and sat beside her. "We're all coping. I think it helps that we got to say goodbye this time. When Abuelo passed, we didn't get to say our goodbyes because he came out of the operating room brain dead and Mom had to pull the plug. Plus, she didn't have Ma. So I'm coping because she's coping."
She leaned over and grabbed a box from under her bed and placed it on her lap.
"Lola left this for me," she opened it and showed her a bunch of buttons. "She loved knitting, and she would add these buttons to whatever she knitted. It didn't matter if it was a beanie, a glove, or a sock, it always had buttons. And when I was younger, I would always steal one from her. Of course, she noticed. So she promised, with every piece of clothing she finished she would add a button and give it to me."
She rattled the box and smiled.
"These were all the buttons. I counted them a few days ago- 2,648 buttons."
Paige nodded her head, impressed. "That's a lot of buttons."
"She did a lot of knitting. All they did in that elderly home was knit." Isabella looked at Paige and gave her a soft smile. "How bout you? How are you?"
"I'm doing great, I'm thinking of moving to Canada in a few months but I will be spending time with my family before I do."
Izzy nodded and laid on the bed, Paige following beside her.
"You need someone to drive you to the airport?"
The dark-haired girl turned to Paige, who was already looking at her. It took her a while to reply, but she just hummed and shook her head.
"It's okay, I can drive to the airport myself."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Christen and the twins stayed in the condo while Michelle went to the airport to get Isabella. She already had her hair and make-up done so all she needed to do was put the dress on when they got back home.
She arrived at the airport 30 minutes earlier, so she grabbed some of the papers from Lola's lawyers. Her last will and testament. Her eyes scanned over the piece of paper, reading through the whole document for the first time.
She zoned out when the lawyer was reading it to them so she's reading through it instead.
"Damn, a house in Beverly Hills? When did this old lady buy all of this?"
A knock on the window caught Michelle's attention. Her head snapped up and she unlocked the passenger door when she saw that it was her eldest daughter. She gave Isabella a big smile, which Isabella returned. "How was your flight?"
"I slept the whole way through so it was great."
Michelle started the car and turned around so that she could see the roads clearer as she backed up.
"Paige got her stuff now. Officially moved out." Isabella blurts out.
Michelle glanced at her, both of her eyebrows raising, but kept her attention on the road. "Oh? And how was it."
"She's blonde now?"
"Did you ask if she was having more fun now? You know, since... yeah."
"Mom, please stop."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Red Carpet Looks
Michelle Press
Christen Press
Isabella Press
Aquila and Diana Press
Sanatana Lopez-Pierce
Brittany Lopez-Pierce
Quinn Fabray
Hailee Steinfeld
Zendaya Coleman
Chloe Grace-Moretz
Saoirse Ronan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pulling up into the venue, Michelle, Christen, and Isabella made sure that the twins had their earplugs and sunglasses on since there were going to be blinding. Mitch glanced out and saw all of the paparazzi waiting, already taking pictures of some of the celebrities that are arriving.
"Something feels wrong."
Chris looked at her wife and gave her hand a little squeeze.
"Everything will be fine babe, I promise. This is just some premier jitters. Now, are you ready to get out of the car? We could stay a little longer."
Michelle took a deep breath and closed her eyes, gathering all her emotions, before nodding her head.
"Let's get this over with."
The family of 5 (technically 6) stepped out of the limo, and everyone went wild. Mitch's eyes scanned the people and gave them a smile, holding Aquila's hand while Christen held Diana's, and the 5 of them walked down the red carpet. They greeted the cast, who were still there, took some pictures, took some pictures with the Unholy Trinity before they took family pictures.
They were told by one of the people to stay in a specific spot to get some pictures before she noticed another car pulling up. She didn't mind it, thinking it was one of her friends, but she tried to hide her shock to see 3 girls walk out of the limo, all three of them dressed for the red carpet.
Rosa Diaz
Amy Santiago
Nancy McKenna
And seeing them made Michelle feel like something was really wrong. It's been almost a decade since the last time she saw them, so seeing them here alarmed her.
Michelle observed the three of them, giving the paparazzi a huge smile while the three approached her. In order to make it look discreet, the 3 of them trudged over, and Rosa leaned over, pretended to kiss both her cheeks but stopped when her face was close to her ear.
"Don't be alarmed, stay calm, but there is an armed man around here."
Rosa discreetly handed her an earpiece, and Michelle worked with them long enough to know what to do. Amy gave her a sympathetic smile and gave her hand a squeeze.
Michelle looked at Nancy and smirked.
"I always thought I would see you in LA, I never thought I would see you back here."
"It's complicated. We'll explain everything later. Now, the place is surrounded by NYPD and some of my people. Act natural."
"Honey, this is not my first rodeo." Michelle turned to see her family posing for pictures before she turned back to the detectives and chief. "Who's at the other side of this?"
"Missed me, Martins?"
Michelle scoffed and shook her head, kinda missed the person at the other side of the earpiece.
"Jake Peralta, still as annoying as ever."
"I wasn't your favorite detective for nothing."
Michelle shook her head and turned to the three women in front of her.
"I'm going inside and I'll try to sneak out in a few minutes."
"Okay, meet us by the hallway."
She nodded her head and caught up with her family. Noticing that her wife was finally beside her, Christen looked at her with concern.
"Is everything alright?"
"I hope so."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Not even 10 minutes into the first movie, Michelle was able to sneak out of the cinema and meet the three of them in the hallway. Michelle gently closed the door behind her as she fixed the earpiece so it won't be removed.
"Someone please explain."
The 4 of them started walking to one of the rooms on the second floor, where other officers were going to be.
"Back in LA, there was an 18-year-old who bought a firearm illegally, shot at a man, and killed him. We traced his phone and noticed he was driving to New York so we alerted NYPD and came here as well. We didn't know he was going to be here until an hour ago."
Amy handed Michelle a Glock 19, but she shook her head.
"I'm not holding one of those, I already got shot twice, that trauma is enough for me."
"You have to protect yourself."
She grabbed the gun with a sigh before the 4 of them entered the room.
"So, what do we got?"
"His name is Gabrielle Brown, he's 19-years-old. He's not in the cinema so a couple of our people are guarding the premises."
Michelle gave Jake a pat on the back before she sat on the seat beside him. The door opened again, making her look up from the computer screen, to see another person who looked like a detective.
"I didn't think the person we were supposed to be protecting would be working with is."
Michelle smiled and put her hand out for a handshake.
"Michelle Press and I'm not the one you should be protecting. Everyone in that cinema is."
Nancy gave her partner a reassuring smile. "Mitch, this is my partner Sydney. Syd, this is Mitch. We would work with her for undercover things and she would be the doctor patching us up when something happened when I was still working here in New York."
Mitch tipped her imaginary hat. "I'm a doctor, it's my job to help them."
"But you did it for free."
She shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to the screen. And that's when it dawned on her.
"I know him." Everyone's head snapped at her. "His father was one of my patients... but he died. Car accident."
They all looked at each other.
"I need to talk to him."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Michelle and Rosa ran through the hallways, the detective back to her usual clothing while Michelle still had her red dress and heels on. "I swear this would only happen to me. Premier of 3 movies about the story of my life. Makes sense since this is the story of my goddamn life."
Rosa scoffed and let out a soft chuckle. "I missed you."
"Missed you too Diaz."
'Stop, he's right around the corner'
The two of them stopped and leaned their backs on the wall.
"I'm so sick and tired of this shit."
"I'm so sick and tired of this shit for you."
"For the love of God, I don't want to get shot."
"Third time's a charm."
Michelle smirked and clutched the gun before they both leaped out and pointed their guns out. They had him surrounded, with Nancy, Amy, and Sydney at the other side of the hallway. "Gabby, put your gun down, we got you surrounded."
Michelle and the 18-year-old made eye contact, and Michelle could see the anger and grief in his eyes.
"You."
"Me," Michelle answered.
"Her." Rosa chimed in.
Amy looked at the both of them with disappointment, while they could hear Jake laughing from their earpiece. They could see that it just made Gabrielle angrier.
"You killed my father." He brought out a gun and pointed it at Michelle. This just made the other detectives cock their guns. "I AM ALONE BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Michelle muttered a 'here we go again' under her breath before putting her gun down and her hands up. She looked at the other detectives and motioned for them to put their guns down. They looked at her like she was crazy but followed her.
Mitch gave Sydney a signal with her eyes, making sure that she was getting ready to tackle him on the floor. "Pull the trigger, and you would have committed a much larger crime than you have already. Plus, if you really want to kill me, shooting me in a building full of surgeons would not be the best idea."
"Look, I know what it's like to lose someone, especially a parent. My biological parents were not in my life, fuck one even tried to kill me, motherfucker shot me without a second thought, so my grandparents were there for me more than them and I lost my grandma 10 days ago. And I feel like I'm slowly dying inside, so I know how you feel."
They could see that Gabrielle was slowly letting his guard down.
"But your father? There was nothing I or any of the surgeons could have done to save him. He was debris that pierced through his heart and his injuries were too extensive, it was a miracle he stayed long enough to even be brought to the hospital."
"No... no! He was talking to me! You could have saved him! The car just came out of nowhere! And after she hit us she didn't even wait around and she just fucking left! My dad... I saw, I saw him breathing, then the ambulance came and you said you would do your best but he still fucking died!"
"Gabriell-"
"NO, YOU SHUT UP!"
He put his gun up and pointed it at Michelle making her put her hand back up. His screaming caught the attention of people inside the theater since the first movie just finished, and hearing that made Christen's heart beat faster.
A bunch of Mitch's co-workers started walking to the door to see what the commotion is about, but there were a bunch of police officers by the door, keeping them in so other people won't get involved.
They think that if Gabrielle sees any of Mitch's family, he would try to take revenge by killing one of them. They have no idea if it's true, but it's better safe than sorry. That didn't calm Christen though, as she started pacing back and forth.
Everyone gasped when they heard 2 gunshots ring through. The sound just made Isabella run to the door (and silently thanked the heavens above that she chose to wear pants) and tried to get past the police officers. They were not able to stop Isabella since she literally rammed her body against them, and when she opened the door, they were met with Gabrielle on the ground being cuffed and Michelle holding her upper arm.
Seeing the red (that was not her dress) Isabella rushed over to her Mom.
"Mom, oh my god."
She gave her daughter a reassuring smile.
"It's all good, the bullet just grazed my arm."
Before Isabella could react, Lexi and Meredith quickly rushed towards her with a first aid kit. Rosa, Jake, Amy, Syd, and Nancy started ushering people back to their seats to leave Mitch with her family. Isabella took the twins back inside after they made sure Mitch was okay, and the Greys decided to head inside to give Christen and Mitch privacy.
"You got shot again."
Mitch nodded her head and pulled Christen into a tight hug, Mitch comforting her wife as she cried into her shoulder.
"Shhh honey, I'm okay, we're all okay."
"So, that's what you were doing?"
"Yeah, tried to deescalate the situation but he accidentally pulled the trigger to Rosa shot him."
"Why does this keep happening to you?"
"I have no fucking clue, I can't seem to get a goddamn break."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After the whole premier, Michelle went up to the stage and gave everyone a smile while everyone cheered for her. She motioned Hailee, Zendaya, Saoirse, and Chloe up the stage so they walked up and checked if she was okay before giving her a hug.
They gave her a mic, which she gracefully accepted.
"So, this speech was supposed to be before we watch the movies, but due to the events that happened" She motioned her bandaged up arm. "We decided to do it at the end, which works out as well I guess."
She cleared her throat and adjusted the mic.
"I just want to thank each and every one of you for coming here and supporting the trilogy. Every single one of you in this room played a huge part in my life and I am forever thankful. There have been ups and downs, but you all still stayed for the ride. It was an honor to work with this wonder amazing cast and share this amazing moment with my family. Thank you for coming, and I hope you enjoy the afterparty!"
Everyone cheered as they went out of the venue, going across the street for the after-party.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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MichelleMartins: Glory Days, now available in every theater worldwide. And available on every streaming platform on March 4, 2027! Every project I do is close to my heart, but this would have to be the closest.
To everyone at the premiere a while ago, thank you for your love and support. And to my amazing cast and crew, this wouldn't have been possible without you. Literally the most hard-working and passionate people I know and it was an honor.
To Lola, I remember when you first saw the rough cut of the films during post-production and told me how much you loved it, I am sure you would have loved these more. I remember you telling me how proud you are of me, I will hold onto your words forever, and I will continue to do everything in my willpower to make you, Abuelo, Finn, and Stacy proud.
I hope you all enjoy these films! Love y'all!
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