Ripped Tights and Late Nights → Muke

eleven;

Michael gets sick of work early and decides to pick up the kids from school. There's only two years between them, so he only has to go to the one school to pick them up. He sends a text to Brittany, letting her know that she has to find Jake and that they're not taking the bus today.

Michael's Mercedes Benz is the nicest car out of all the parents on pick-up duty, and it almost attracts too much attention. Jake opens the shotgun door, excited that he got there before Britt, but stops short when he sees Michael's briefcase and work papers littering the leather seat.

"Sorry, Jake Shake, take the back."

He shuts the door with a joking pout and joins Brittany in the backseat after throwing his school bag in the boot.

It's a half-hour drive back home, and Michael takes the time to interrogate his kids.

"You guys know how hard I work to provide a roof over your heads, right? And sometimes I may not be around much, because I'm working so hard." Working so hard translates to hitting up gay clubs to have sex with my favourite prostitute. "But just because I'm not around as much anymore doesn't mean I love you any less. I love you both very much, and you mean the world to me."

Jake rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone, assumedly playing a game, but Brittany smiles at him through the rearview mirror. "That's really deep, dad. We don't care you're not around as much, we still love you." She then prods Jake in the arm to get him to agree.

"You know, this case I'm working on is a big one. Lots of money. I'm running out of things to spend this money on, any offers?"

"A family trip to Hawaii!" Brittany says, the same time Jake shouts something about a $1000 bulk bundle of playstation and xbox games on ebay.

Michael laughs. "Done and done."

They both return back to their phones, seemingly content. Michael frowns. He thought offering to buy them things would help them open up. He wants them to talk, to tell him about their days, to tell them school gossip like they used to.

"There's a um, a break in the case at the moment," Michael says. "And I'm off for a little while. Do you need me to take you places? Go to parties? Hang out with friends like normal teenagers?"

Brittany brightens up at the offer. "Actually, there's a party tonight at Tristan's house."

"Ooooh, Tristan," Jake laughs. Michael joins in, making kissy faces at Brittany and singing 'Tristan and Brittany sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G' with Jake.

"Tristan's got a boyfriend," Brittany retorts, pushing Jake's face towards the window. It's a soft enough push that he doesn't hit the glass, thankfully, and he just pushes her back.

Michael holds his breath and tenses. Jake shrugs, though, not noticing his dad. "So what? Tristan and his boyfriend sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"Exactly," Brittany says smugly, nodding. She's so open about everything and has always been very outspoken about feminist values, so Michael knew she wouldn't care that he and Luke were a thing. She would care the he's cheating on their mother, but not about Luke.

However, he was worried about Jake. No matter how well you raise them, 14 year old boys can be cruel. He is so, so proud of his kids in that moment and almost pulls the car over so he can hug them. Almost.

He's raised his kids so well. Brittany is a smart, beautiful young girl who works hard at dancing and still manages a social life and taking the time to go to pride rallies and speak out at every opportunity against racism. Jake is a little more secluded, but he's still smart and handsome and he may spend all of his time playing games and reading, but he's still educated. It could be because he's listened to too many of Brittany's speeches, but Michael's seen him call his friends out when they say problematic things.