Michael felt empty.
He also felt stupid, because he thought that it was pathetic that he was moping around just because he wasn't with his kid for one weekend.
But mostly he felt empty, because Parker was a big piece of his life and when Parker wasn't there Michael felt like there was no point in anything. Parker was literally Michael's whole world, everything that Michael did was for Parker or because of Parker, and when he wasn't around things just didn't seem right.
This usually didn't happen to Michael, though, usually he could make it through the weekend without Parker. It was only two days, and it wasn't even every single week. Michael felt so stupid for being upset about this, but he couldn't help it. This was one of those weekends where he felt like he really needed Parker to be happy, especially because of the whole thing that happened with that dumb nanny on Friday afternoon.
So to fill the empty void in his life for the weekend Michael slept over at Luke's house, because his other friends were busy and Luke was always more than happy to help Michael out with whatever he needed.
The only downside was that Luke's girlfriend was there, and she was currently going through a bit of a baking phase, so she kept trying to get Michael to eat whatever she made. Michael didn't want to eat, he wasn't hungry, he was sad. All he wanted to do was drink and that's what he did all Saturday night until Luke cut him off. It was Sunday morning now, and Michael was trying to nurse a hangover so he'd be feeling better when Parker got dropped later that night.
"Here, Sara made coffee." Luke said softly, sitting down next to Michael, who was sprawled out all over the couch. Luke set the coffee mug down on the table, so it was there when Michael was finally ready for it.
"Thanks." Michael mumbled. He finally sat up, his head pounding.
"Sara's making a cake, I think, I don't even know. Something that has to do with chocolate icing." Luke shrugged. He leaned back into the couch next to Michael, patting his friend on the back.
"I don't want it." Michael said, shaking his head. Sara really sucked at baking, but no one wanted to tell her.
He loved Sara, he really did, despite her less than average baking skills. They'd been friends for years and she was the main reason why him and Beth got together in the first place. Michael really owed Sara everything, because without her he would have never started to date Beth and they would have never had Parker, and everything would be...different. Michael loved Sara, but she just couldn't eat another one of her cakes.
"I don't want it either." Luke whispered, nudging Michael with his shoulder.
"The last one was too dry." Michael added, in case Luke wanted to pass the message on to Sara so she could try to improve her cake-making.
"I know, I'm sorry." Luke sighed.
"It's not your fault." Michael chuckled, because Luke didn't have any reason to be sorry. He didn't make the cake, Sara did.
"She made these really great brownies the other day. I ate, like, four for breakfast." Luke laughed. He adored Sara, and that was the problem, because even though everything she tried to baked sucked he still loved her.
"They probably had weed in them." Michael scoffed.
"They did not!" Luke protested. He slapped Michael on the shoulder, appalled that Michael would even suggest that.
"I can't eat any more of her cakes, dude, they're too bad." Michael whispered, hoping that the next time Sara asked him to try some cake Luke would be able to get him out of it.
"I thought the vanilla one was the best, but now she's hooked on chocolate - " Luke mumbled, but he stopped talking as Sara entered the living room, looking beyond exhausted.
"Luke," Sara sighed, folding her arms over her chest.
"Sara, baby, how's the cake?" Luke asked, smiling as he stood up from the couch. Luke never wanted to disappoint Sara, he treated her like a fucking queen, he always had. Michael always thought it was kind of weird, and dorky, but after he and Beth broke up he couldn't help but think that maybe if he had acted that way she would have stuck around.
"I just - " Sara paused and let out another sigh, bringing her hands up to cover her face. Sara was also very emotional. She was an emotional baker.
Back when they were in high school Michael always used to make jokes about Sara being so moody all the time, because it seemed like there was always something she was freaking out about, and Sara hated him for it. That's how it had always been with Michael and Sara, though, it was always love hate. Most of the jokes were always directed towards Luke, saying he'd accidentally gotten Sara pregnant and that's why she was so moody. Those jokes all stopped when Michael accidentally got Beth pregnant, because they stopped being so funny.
"Shh, sweetheart, come here." Luke hushed Sara, who looked like she was about to cry, and pulled her into a hug, tightly wrapping his arms around her. Luke was the definition of a perfect boyfriend, Michael wasn't even afraid to admit it.
"We're out of baking soda." Sara sniffed, finally looking back up at Luke.
"I'll go get some." Luke said quickly, separating himself from Sara and turning to face Michael. "Come on, Michael, we're going to the store."
*•*•*
"Can I push the cart?" Michael asked, pouting at Luke. They'd originally planned to get only baking soda at the store, but apparently Sara had a whole list waiting for them as well, so now they needed to pick up a lot more than they'd expected to.
"No, I want to do it." Luke said, shaking his head. Michael continued to pout and crossed his arms over his chest, because Michael was very grumpy today and acting like a four year old.
"Let me do it." Michael groaned. He grabbed the cart and tried to shove Luke out of the way, but he just ended up bumping into a shelf and knocking down a ton of boxes of instant rice. Luke shoved Michael back, but then he finally gave in and let Michael have the cart.
"Sara wants us to get apples." Luke said, reading off of the list on his phone.
"Is she going to make a cake out of them?" Michael asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Luke shrugged. "Can you go get, like, four apples and then meet me over by the...bread."
"Fine." Michael sighed, rolling his eyes as he pushed the cart away from where Luke was standing and towards the fruits and vegetables.
He found the apples quickly and then spent almost five minutes trying to open one of those ridiculous plastic bags that you're supposed to put them in and by the time he'd finally gotten it there was someone standing next to him, but Michael pretended that he didn't notice and carried on with picking out some apples for Sara.
When Michael turned around to put the apples back in the cart he was met by the fucking nanny standing next to him, with her arms crossed and wearing a big frown like she usually was. She had her own cart (Katie was sitting in it and looking very interested in a pack of cookies) and was obviously waiting for Michael to finish before grabbing her own apples.
"Oh, it's you." Michael glared at her, trying to gracefully push his cart away without really saying anything else, because he didn't want to say anything else. Michael wasn't very good at cart driving, though, and he accidentally rammed it into a punch of boxes of tomatoes. That earned him a small laugh from Katie, but Melissa still looked unamused.
"Where's your kid, Michael? Did you forget him somewhere again?" Melissa asked, scowling at Michael.
"He's with his mom, actually." Michael snapped back at her, because obviously he was still bitter from a few days ago. He had really had time to get over it yet, Michael was a pretty sensitive guy and he didn't like to be yelled at the way Melissa had yelled at him.
"Good." Melissa nodded. Katie (who Michael thought was unusually quiet for a four year old) waved Melissa over to her before whispering something in her ear. Melissa turned back to Michael again. "I'm supposed to say sorry for the other day."
"Are you really sorry?" Michael smirked at her, because he didn't even believe for a second that Melissa felt bad about what she'd said.
"Kind of." She shrugged. "I mean, I'm not sorry that I said what I said, I'm sorry about the way I said it."
Michael didn't understand that at all, but he didn't care enough to ask Melissa to clarify. "Okay. Apology not accepted."
"Michael, come on." Melissa sighed.
"I'm not going to accept your apology just like that, you know. You have to work for it." Michael said, beginning to push his cart away. He bumped into another shelf.
"I said that I was sorry!" Melissa groaned, she followed after Michael, not even bothering to pick up whatever she'd needed to get back where they were standing before. "Michael, I'm serious. What I said was wrong and really rude, and I shouldn't have judged you like that when I don't even know you."
"Keep talking." Michael said over his shoulder, continuing to walk to whenever the bread was (he had no idea).
"I was just upset because I'd had a hard day to begin with, and then Katie asked if we could wait with Parker and of course I said yes, but then he just started talking and - " Melissa rambled for a few seconds before Michael'd had enough and cut her off.
"He told you what a bad parent I am, right?" Michael asked, turning around. At this point he'd given up on trying to find the bread, he could have Luke come find him later.
"I don't think you're a bad parent!" Melissa argued.
"But that's exactly what you were trying to say the other day." Michael said, rolling his eyes. "Listen, Nanny, I appreciate you trying to make things better between us, but I don't like you very much and I don't think that you just saying sorry once is going to fix all that you said."
"I said sorry, like, twice."
"Oh, right." Michael nodded.
"I just don't want us to be on bad terms." Melissa sighed, running a hand through her long wavy hair. Michael still thought that she was really attractive, and he didn't like that at all.
"Maybe you should have thought about that when you were criticizing me for one little mistake." Michael snapped. He felt bad about being so mean to her, because Michael was normally not mean person, but he felt that Melissa deserved this. She was mean to him, after all.
"Okay, fine. I tried to be nice but whatever." Melissa grabbed her cart again and began to push it away, in the opposite direction of where Michael was headed.
"If this what you consider nice then you're going to need some work." Michael said over his shoulder again as he watched Melissa walk away. He turned around and stood up on his toes to try and see the signs above each aisle, so he could locate the fucking bread and find Luke, but before he could really even try to do that he heard someone coming towards him again.
"Michael." Melissa said, making him spin around and face her.
"Nanny." Michael nodded, acknowledging her, before folding his arms across his chest and waiting for her to say whatever she needed to say.
"Can we, like, exchange numbers or something? Katie wants to set up a playdate with Parker." Melissa asked, seeming unamused by the whole thing. Michael was pretty unamused, too, but he took out his phone anyway, because he knew that this is what Parker would want.
"Are you sure Katie wants this? Or do you just want to see me again so you can yell at me for something else?" Michael questioned as he handed his phone to Melissa, who passed hers along to him.
"A little of both." Melissa shrugged, biting down on her bottom lip while she typed her name and number into Michael's phone. He really, really wished that she wasn't so hot, because it kept distracting him from the fact that she was a total bitch.
"Alright." Michael shrugged back. He quickly put his number into Melissa's phone and passed it back to her, taking his back as well.
"I'll just...text you or something." Melissa said slowly, backing away from where Michael was standing.
"Yeah, I'll reply to the text." Michael said, his mouth barely twitching up at the corners and into a smile. He was awkward with girls even when he hated them.
"Goodbye, Michael." Melissa gave him a short (and almost sarcastic) wave, turning around again.
"Goodbye, Nanny." Michel muttered to himself as he looked down at the floor, suddenly too embarrassed to even look Melissa's way.
*•*•*
"How was Mommy's house, Little Man?" Michael asked Parker, who had just been dropped of by Beth a few minutes ago.
Beth really wasn't one to stick around when she picked up or dropped off Parker, so her and Michael only exchanged a few words (and Parker) before she left. Michael didn't care, really, because of course he just felt awkward when Beth was around and he still felt pathetic about the fact that she knew about him crying because of what Melissa said to him on Friday afternoon.
"It was fun." Parker shrugged.
"What did you guys do?" Michael asked. He took a seat on the edge of Parker's bed, next to where he was sitting, and watched as Parker sat and searched through his backpack for something.
"We stayed home." Parker shrugged again.
"But what did you do at home?" Michael questioned, because he didn't think that it made much sense for Beth to just have Parker sit at home all weekend. That was a Michael thing, not a Beth thing.
"Well first Mommy made me mac n' cheese and then we watched a movie." Parker explained, then whined a little because he couldn't find whatever he was looking for. "Then yesterday she took me to the store and bought me some more toys to keep at her house."
"What movie?" Michael asked, trying to ignore the fact that Beth had a ton of extract money lying around to buy Parker toys and he didn't. Michael really needed a job.
"The new Spiderman one." Parker said, finally pulling his stuffed lion out from the bottom of his backpack and hugging it to his chest, happy that he'd found it. He dropped his backpack to the floor and then climbed onto Michael's lap.
"Did you like it?" Michael asked, letting out a small sigh. Michael had really wanted to take Parker to see that movie when it was out in theaters, but obviously he never got around to doing so.
"Yeah, it was good." Parker nodded. "Mommy didn't like it, she likes those girly movies."
"Girly movies are gross." Michael said, scrunching his nose up and making Parker laugh.
"I know." Parker giggled. He stood up on Michael's thighs and then place his hands on his shoulders, trying to steady himself.
"What are you doing?" Michael asked, grabbing onto Parker's waist so he didn't fall over.
"I'm taller than you now." Parker laughed, making a big point of looking down at Michael, who was really only a few inches shorter now that Parker was standing on him.
"You won't be if I decide to stand up." Michael said, and he tilted his head way back so Parker felt taller than he actually was.
"I'm never going to let you stand up again." Parker pouted. He put his hands on Michael's face, accidentally poking him in the eye. Michael didn't mind at the moment, because he was really just happy to be with Parker again. Parker was such a big part of his life, Michael really only felt like Michael when he was with his son.
"Will you let me stand up if I buy you ice cream?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow at Parker. Parker contemplated it for a minute, but then shook his head, saying no.
"You'll never be taller than me again, Daddy. I'm Parker and I'm the tallest person in the world." Parker declared, a huge smile on his face.
"Uncle Luke is still taller than you." Michael informed him, and Parker pouted.
"Then I'm the second tallest person in the world." He said, perking up again. He looked down at the lion, still in his hands, before shoving it in Michael's face. "Rawr!"
Michael fell backwards onto the bed and took Parker with him, so now neither of them were the tallest people in the world. "I feel so attacked right now." Michael frowned up at Parker, who was laying on top of him.
"Lion attack!" Parker yelled, before dropping his toy onto Michael's face again.
Michael flipped Parker over and tossed him onto the other side of the bed, before crawling across it and getting up on his knees, hovering over Parker, who couldn't stop giggling.
"You just attacked me with your lion." Michael stared down at Parker, trying to seem serious. He really wasn't being very serious at all, and was having a hard time holding back his laughter.
"I did." Parker nodded. He put his hands on Michael's chest and tried to push him away, but Michael away, but he was too big for Parker.
"Do you know what this means?" Michael asked, still trying to keep a serious tone with Parker.
"No." Parker shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked up at Michael, a very confused expression now etched across his face.
"I have to tickle you." Michael said, then his lips broke into a smile as his hands went to Parker's sides, and Parker erupted into an even bigger for of giggles.
"Daddy, stop it!" Parker squealed, trying to push Michael's hands away from him.
"No!" Michael laughed and moved his hands up near Parker's neck, where he was extremely ticklish.
"Stop it, stop it!" Parker giggled, squirming around underneath Michael as he continued to tickle him.
"Now the next time you want to attack me with a lion just remember - "
"I can't breathe!" Parker yelled, still laughing a little, and finally pushed Michael off of him. He sat up and started coughing and Michael's smile faded. "Daddy, I can't breathe."
"Yes you can, buddy, you're coughing. If you're coughing then you can still breathe." Michael assured him, because he wasn't sure what else to do. Parker seemed really scared, like he actually couldn't breathe, and Michael just didn't get it. Parker was talking and coughing, he obviously could breathe and was clearly fine, but it still worried Michael.
"Daddy..." Parker whined, biting down on his bottom lip like he was trying to stop himself from crying. Michael didn't blame Parker for acting this way, the whole thing was kind of scary. Parker crawled onto Michael's lap and Michael wrapped his arms around him, still unsure of what else he was supposed to do. He was sure that Parker was fine, though, this wasn't anything that he needed to worry about.
"You're okay, Pac-Man," Michael rubbed Parker's back as he started to cry softly, still shaken up from what'd just happened. "You were just laughing too hard, it's okay. You're fine."
"It hurts my throat." Parker said, sniffling a little. Michael turned and grabbed the sides of Parker's face, trying to wipe away his tears as they fell.
"You're okay, Parker. It just hurts because you were coughing so much. You're fine, I promise." Michael said quietly, trying to calm Parker down. This had never happened before and Michael was afraid that something was seriously wrong, even though that seemed unlikely. He felt like he should call Beth, although she would probably just say that Michael was playing too hard with Parker and that's why this happened.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Parker asked and clutched onto Michael's t-shirt with his hand, like he wasn't planning on letting go. Michael didn't really plan on letting go either, he wanted to keep Parker as close as possible for now, just because he was still feeling a bit uneasy about what just happened.
Parker was fine, though, this was just one of those one time things. It wouldn't happen again, it was just because he'd gotten so worked up by Michael tickling him so much. Parker would be okay, he just acted like this whenever he got scared, he made it seem like his whole world was crumbling apart and Michael was the only one that could save him. And in a way, that made sense.
"Yeah, of course." Michael nodded, and then he crawled off of the bed (still holding Parker) and went into the bathroom so they could both get themselves ready for bed. Beth had told Michael that Parker had taken a bath at her house before they left, so thankfully all they had to deal with tonight was Parker brushing his teeth and getting his pajamas on.
Michael and Parker both quickly brushed their teeth and Michael washed his face while Parker sat on the counter and had a little conversation with his lion (Michael pretended that he didn't even notice) and then Michael carried Parker back into his bedroom so he could put on his favorite Spiderman pajamas.
By the time Parker was all changed he was very sleepy, and he made Michael carry him down the hall and into his bedroom, which is where they usually slept. At times Michael thought that it was kind of silly that they even had separate bedrooms, because it was rare that Michael and Parker actually slept alone.
Parker sat on the bed and waited for Michael to change into a pair of sweatpants before he pulled the covers aside and they both slipped in, cuddling up next to each other.
Parker latched himself onto Michael's arm (like what he does with his leg all the time) and snuggled up against Michael, both of them feeling much better now that Parker had calmed down from his little coughing fit earlier. Michael rubbed Parker's back, continuing to soothe him as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Daddy?" Parker whispered sleepily, his eyes still closed.
"Yes, Parker?" Michael asked, closing his eyes as well. Michael didn't realize how tired he was until he actually got into bed.
"Can I stay home from school tomorrow?" Parker asked.
"No, buddy, I don't think you can." Michael sighed. He really wished that he could just keep Parker home all day, but he knew that he'd get in a lot of trouble if he kept Parker away from school for no good reason.
"But I miss you." Parker said softly. "I didn't get to see you all weekend and now I have to leave again."
Michael sighed, because he felt the exact same way Parker did and he really just wanted to give in and let Parker stay home, but he was afraid that Beth would find out and get mad about it. It was Beth's idea to make Parker go to school anyway, and she made it very clear that she wanted him to go; no exceptions.
"Please, Daddy." Parker begged, squeezing Michael's arm closer to his chest.
"Okay, fine." Michael sighed again, finally giving in. He'd just let Parker stay home with him tomorrow, even though he really wasn't supposed to do that. If Beth found out Michael would just say that Parker wasn't feeling well in the morning, and she'd most likely believe him. It could work. "But just this once, and don't tell Mommy."
"Really? Oh, Daddy, I promise I won't tell anyone! I won't even tell Kitty!" Parker asked, sitting up a little. Michael pushed him back down on the bed, forcing Parker to lay down again.
"Yes, now go to bed, we'll have plenty of time to talk in the morning." Michael said, kissing Parker on the forehead. "Goodnight, buddy, I love you."
"I love you, too." Parker smiled, closing his eyes again. "You're the best Daddy ever."
And a few minutes later Parker was asleep, and Michael was slowly drifting off as well. He kept getting distracted by this warm feeling in his chest that he got when he looked at Parker, something that he really hadn't felt all weekend.
Michael felt like himself again.
-
they're so fucking cute jesus christ I can't sTAND IT
this was kinda long oopsies
basically michael is still a dick that tickles his kid until he can't breathe anymore and then makes him cry
AND IDK ABOUT ANY OF YOU BUT I REALLY SHIP MICHAEL AND MELISSA AKA M SQUARED AND I DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS GOODBYE