dearly beloved | scömìche

37; support

Early the next morning, Mitch was making breakfast in the kitchen, tear stains on his cheeks. He hadn't been able to sleep the whole night, and every time his thoughts roamed to his missing Alpha, he had to fight back tears.

Mitch moved each pancake from the pan onto a larger plate and set it in the middle of the table before he went to wake Jake up. However, halfway to his room, his eyes landed on a picture of him and Scott staring into each other's eyes, smiles on their lips, Mitch in his wedding dress and Scott in his suit, and he began to cry once more.

"Alph-pha..." he sobbed softly, pulling the sleeves of the sweater of Scott's over his hands and burying his face in the fabric. "P-Please come back to me, Alpha... I n-need you." He slowly sank to sit against the wall and cried as quietly as he could, as he didn't want to wake up Jake. He didn't know how to explain to their son that his father was gone and it was all his fault.

He cried for a while. Eventually, he heard Jake rustling in his bedroom, so he forced himself to get up and wipe away his tears. Sniffling quietly, he shakily made his way into the bathroom and stared at his reflection. He hated how he looked, but he knew that Scott would tell him he was beautiful. He swallowed the lump in his throat and rolled up his sleeves, splashing his face with water in an effort to make himself look like he hadn't cried all night. He couldn't let Jake see him like this. He would think he was even weaker than he already did.

As soon as he looked somewhat presentable, Mitch left the bathroom and pushed open the door to Jake's room. The little boy was lying in bed with his eyes closed, but they opened when he heard the door and a small smile formed on his lips. "Hi, Momma."

Mitch's heart ached, but he forced a smile in return and sat on the edge of the bed, setting his hand on Jake's leg. "Morning, baby. Did you sleep okay?" he asked softly, running his hand along his side.

Jake nodded. "Mhm. Did Daddy ever come back last night?"

Mitch felt a pang in his heart and a lump immediately formed in his throat, but he swallowed it and smiled through the tears brimming in his eyes. "He's on a business trip, sweetheart. I completely forgot about it last night, but when I called him, he reminded me. He'll be home-..." He cut off, sighing shakily in an effort to get his voice to stop shaking and furiously blinking back the tears. "He'll be back soon."

Jake appeared skeptical, but he nodded anyway. "Okay, Momma." He pushed the covers off of himself and stood, and Mitch followed.

"I made pancakes," he told him weakly, and Jake grinned, his entire face lighting up. He looked painfully like Scott, and Mitch's heart tightened.

"Really? Thanks, Momma!" Jake squealed, hugging him briefly before running to the kitchen. Mitch took a moment to rub his eyes, trying to will away the urge to cry, before he followed him.

While Jake ate, Mitch called Connie again. "When are you coming, ma'am?" he asked weakly, wrapping his free arm around himself. "I- I'm supposed to go to the police station with a picture of Alpha a-and I don't want to go alone."

"Don't worry, Mitchy." Connie's soothing voice came through the phone. "We're about to board our flight. We'll be there around twelve, okay? And Lauren's with us too, she was able to get some time off when we told her what happened."

"Y-Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much."

"You don't need to thank us, sweetie. Scott's our only son, of course we would come. Everything will be okay."

+++

A little after noon, Mitch was on the couch cuddling with one of Scott's sweatshirts while Jake played with his trains on the floor in front of him. In Mitch's hand was the picture of Scott he was bringing to the police station, and tears glistened in his eyes as he gazed at it.

He jumped when the knock sounded, blinking a few times to refocus as he sat up. Jake looked at Mitch curiously, so he pulled on Scott's sweatshirt, slipped the picture of him in his pocket, and braced himself before he went to get the door.

Relief washed over him when he saw Connie, Rick, and Lauren standing there, but he forced a smile and turned to Jake. "Look who it is, baby. Your grandma and grandpa and aunt came to surprise you." His voice broke, but Jake grinned and scrambled to attack Connie in a hug.

"Grandma!" he cheered, squeezing her tightly. Connie smiled and hugged him back, but she met Mitch's eyes in confusion. His smile fell and he wrapped his arms around himself, and she could tell that he would explain later.

Rick hugged Mitch while Jake moved on to Lauren, and his embrace felt so similar to Scott's that Mitch almost broke down crying again. He had to pull away before he could, but he was swept into Lauren's arms as soon as Rick let go.

Mitch thought he heard voices talking, but he didn't care enough to try to listen. He allowed himself to lean against Lauren and close his eyes.

When Lauren pulled away, Rick and Connie had gone into the living room with Jake, but she cupped his cheeks and stared into Mitch's eyes. "I'm so sorry Scott got taken," she whispered, brushing her thumb over his cheek, "but he's strong. I need you to trust that he will get out of this. He loves you more than anything, and he will come back to you. To us. Okay?"

Mitch sniffled and nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he whispered barely audibly. She smiled sympathetically and kissed his forehead. Mitch thought he could see red around her eyes too.

He followed her into the living room, where Jake was excitedly showing his grandparents his trains. They both had smiles on their lips, but he could tell they had also been crying. He suspected everyone in that room besides Jake hadn't been able to get to sleep the previous night.

"You guys have had a long flight, I'm sure you're tired," Mitch said softly. "Can I get you anything? There are still some leftover pancakes from breakfast this morning."

Jake grinned and looked up at Rick, whose lap he was sitting on. "Momma makes the best pancakes!" Mitch smiled weakly and shrugged a bit, his arms making their way around his stomach again.

Lauren smiled and reached over to ruffle Jake's hair. "Alright, well, if they're the best pancakes, I guess I have to try them," she teased, before looking up at Mitch. "May I have one?"

He nodded and whispered a small, "Yes, ma'am," before he went into the kitchen.

He heard Jake start chattering again, but he was grateful to be alone. He carefully took the picture of Scott out of his pocket and smoothed it out on the countertop with trembling hands. Tears formed in his eyes almost instantaneously. However, this time, he didn't stop them, and tears flowed freely down his cheeks as he got Lauren her pancake.

He forced himself to stop before he took it out to her, and though he knew that Rick, Connie, and Lauren could tell he had been crying, Jake was luckily oblivious.

Since no one else needed anything, Mitch sat down with them and watched silently as Jake played with his grandparents and aunt, feeling like there was a hole in his chest where his beloved used to be.