Condensed, Evaporated, and Whole

How I Met Your Mother

[A/N: Going back to Lisa & Mickey and jumping a few years into the future 🥰 Hope you'll enjoy (and the different themes aren't too confusing yet!]

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With the proudest smile he watched the pony jump from the border of the riding area. Or rather – it wasn't quite a real jump, rather a slightly more spirited trot over a bar that was lying in the grass, but the little boy beamed with excitement nonetheless.

„Daddy, daddy, did you see me?! Did you see me jump?"

„I did, papi! ¡Fue fantastico! Now, come on, we need to get going! Mommy's waiting! Hailey?"

His older daughter on her horse nodded, trotting over to her little brother, saying something their father couldn't understand from a distance.

About twenty minutes later, as he was waiting at his car, he saw his two children came out of the stables, laughing, Hailey was tickling her younger brother which made him shriek and giggle, running away from her on his short legs until he could jump into his father's arms.

Mickey hugged him tight and felt a warmth inside his chest as it overcame him every time he was with his son. He never even knew how much his heart had been yearning to become a father again, until he had held his newborn son in his arms for the very first time, some six years ago.

But never was he prouder than when he saw both his children together and got to witness how sweet and caring his by now adult daughter was with her little brother. She loved him so much that even with her twenty years and being home from college for just a weekend, she'd rather spend her time going horseback riding with a six-year old than anything else.

„Hey, Miguelito! How was it? Did you have fun?"

„Sí, daddy! I even did a jump, did you see?"

He had to laugh at his little boy's enthusiasm and nodded. „Yes, yes, hijo, I did. You did so good!"

„He really did!", said Hailey, catching up to them, „And I'm not just saying that because I'm his sister and riding instructor. Hey, dad!"

She gave her old man a hug.

„Hey! Thanks for taking care of him."

„Of course!"

„He loves spending time with you."

„Oh my God, same! Right, fart-face?", she poked her little brother in the belly and he giggled again, before she helped him get into his car seat and fasten his seatbelt.

As Mickey was driving, his eyes found those of his little boy in the backseat, and he could see him start grinning from ear to ear. He raised his eyebrows quizzically and Miguel nodded eagerly as his dad pulled the car around.

As they were all happily munching away on their Happy Meals, Mickey was pulling into the parking lot where in the corner, over there in the shade of the trees, Lisa's food truck was parked. By now, at almost 4pm, the lunch rush was long over, while it was too early for the dinner rush. Her truck was an insanely popular spot, not just with the people living here in the area, a completely different part of town than where they were living themselves over in the Hills, not just geographically, but socially and economically as well. This truck was not a business for her, it was her heart's calling.

Once she had found out that she was pregnant, she finally decided to sell the ‚Elysian', in order to be able to be fully present for her family. But after their son was born, he was barely six months old, Mickey could feel that while she seemed happier than ever being a mother, something seemed to be missing for her. And so, he finally convinced her to open up a new place, in a much fancier part of town, and to call her restaurant a smashing success would be an understatement. A few years later, she opened up a second branch, until she eventually decided to hand over her chef's apron to someone else and go back to her roots, by opening a food truck. Quite the unusual move for a chef who was by now famous and well-renowned all across town, if not the country, with droves of foodies traveling far and wide to taste her food.