Intertwined

Michael

A/N: Hello all you amazing people. Hope this chapter finds you well. I really wanted you all to learn a little more about Michael, Mia's Dad. He was a special character and I have really loved including him in the story.

TW: homophobia.

For most people who would be at his service Michael was a man who had only existed for around four months. Mia wanted to make sure they knew about more than just four months.

In those four months Michael had been a wonderful friend, father and Poppa. Someone who had lived to his full potential in every moment. Someone who had been kind, funny, honest and loving. The kind of person his family could be proud of. Mia knew that's what he wanted. He wanted her to be proud to call him her Dad.

She was.

He wanted her to know that he loved her.

She did.

He never expected anything from her, but she had given him everything she possibly could in the short time he had been back in her life. Mia had wanted him to know she loved him with her whole heart.

He did.

Now she wanted to give him something else. The gift of sharing who he was, with others. She wanted to give people a lesson on Michael Roberts, so they could know how wonderful a person he really was.

'Sweetheart?' Mia asked, her pitch a little higher and she spun her chair around. 'Char?' She asked again a little louder but trying not to shout. She couldn't see Charlotte who had been cleaning in the lounge nearby a moment ago.
'I'm here Mia,' Charlotte put her arms around Mia who was sitting at her desk, and instantly relaxed at the contact. Mia put Charlotte on her lap and gave her a sweet kiss.

'Sweetheart,' the redhead sighed with relief, 'fiancé of mine,' Mia smiled as she drew out the word 'fiancé' and Charlotte smiled with a little shake of her head. Mia called her fiancé as many times a day as was humanly possible.

Mia turned, with Charlotte on her lap, to face her computer and begin typing. It wasn't the most comfortable way to type but Mia didn't care. She wanted Charlotte near her right now. Well, all the time really and when her fiancé tried to get up, Mia said, 'Please stay Char'.

Charlotte smiled and touched Mia's cheek gently, 'How about I get another chair and stay beside you so you can reach the keyboard properly?'
'Ok,' Mia conceded, but even as Charlotte moved away to get a chair she felt an ache at the distance. When her fiancee sat back down beside her she put Charlotte's hand in her lap. She needed the contact to help focus. To not feel so heavy with the weight of grief.

Some people need more space when they're grieving. They need to process things on their own, not be touched as much, maybe be silent and not speak as much. Since Michael's passing Mia seemed to need close contact, need more communication. She didn't feel the ache of her grief as much with Charlotte near her.

Truthfully she was scared of getting lost in her grief again. She was scared if she experienced it fully, she might disappear. She might forget to be happy and forget the wonderful life she had. So when she was with Charlotte she felt the constant need to be close to her, to have her touch. Distance between them made Mia feel anxious and when Charlotte wasn't nearby Mia found it difficult to be alone.

***

I could tell she was struggling to process that her father was gone. Yesterday, Mia said she would be fine when I went in to do a four-hour lunch cover. It was only three days after Michael had passed away, and I told her I could cancel, 'No sweetheart I will be ok. I'll be fine,' She tried to reassure me. She wasn't fine.