Third person POV

there is a trigger warning of a gun in this chapter. its a nonessential scene and I will put a TW before it starts and when it ends

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Hannah and Mike both get up and dressed the next morning. Hannah makes them both breakfast.

Its sort of a routine that they have fallen into whenever Mike stays over, they wake up a little earlier than usual and spend a few minutes in bed and talk. This morning they talked about their wedding. After they get up, Mike showers first while Hannah makes coffee and a quick breakfast. When Mike comes into the kitchen, Hannah goes to take her shower while he eats.

Its not ideal, what would be ideal is getting to eat with eat other, however, it is faster for them to eat separately. Both are fine with it though. It works for them.

After they have both eaten and are dressed, and Mike has checked Hannah has her phone, they head out. When they get to the bottom of the stairs, they kiss and walk to their cars.  Usually, Mike parks closer to the outside of the parking garage, so he pulls out first.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Hannah gets to work, she goes in the back door. And is shocked that Lisa was there this early, usually Hannah gets in first and starts the morning off.

"Hey, Hannah, I woke up early so I figured I would come in early and start baking. Right now, I have Raspberry Danishes, Molasses Crackles, and Chocolate Chip Crunchies cooling and I put everything from last night in the case," Lisa informs.

"Thank you. What is in the oven?" Hannah asks.

"Pineapple Crunchies and Cherry Chocolate Bars."

"Perfect. Do you want me to put the cookies on the cooling rack into the case?"

"That would be great!"

The rest of the morning until they open goes like that. Before Hannah knows it, Mike is knocking on the back door. She lets him in.

"Hey, darling," Mike greets.

"Hi, Mike." Hannah plates a few Raspberry Danishes for him and puts the plate on the workstation in his spot.

"By the way, darling, your mother called me. She said dinner is tonight at six." Mike informs as he picks up a Danish.

"At her penthouse?"

"Yes."

"She calls you and not me now." Hannah sighs, dejected.

"Maybe she thought you were busy," Mike tries to save his future mother in law.

"Maybe."

"Hey, she doesn't like me, remember?"

"She likes you as a person, just she doesn't like that Norman isn't around anymore. She thinks I drove him away. So if she doesn't like anyone right now, its me," Hannah explains to him.

"She doesn't know what happened that night, does she?" He asks, knowing Delores was missing something in the story.

"No, she nor anyone else, besides you, me and Norman do..." Hannah trails off remembering that night.

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~~~~~~~~TW STARTS~~~~~~~~

Hannah and Mike had a huge blowout fight a week prior and neither of her boyfriends were talking to her...

Suddenly, there was a pounding knock on the door, one that Hannah didn't recognize. She got up and answered the door. Norman was on the other side, looking very tense. She steps aside and allows him to come inside.

"Norman, what happened?" Hannah is confused. After a week of radio silence, Norman suddenly shows up on her doorstep.

"Everything!" Norman screams at her. He is annoyed, frustrated and angry, "You want him don't you?" He screams in her face.

"Who are you talking about? Mike?" Hannah is confused what he is talking about.

"You know damn well who I am talking about, Hannah."

"I would like know why after a week of radio silence you come here and scream at me" Hannah screams back.

"You. Chose. Him."

"I didn't choose anyone! In case you didn't know, Norman, Mike and I had a fight and we aren't talking!"

"Yeah, right. Like I would believe you!"

"Well you should!"

"Hannah. Its obvious to everyone that you love him." He screams louder.

"I never chose anybody, Norman!" Hannah emphasizes the 'never'.

"Not yet, but you will."

"You're right, eventually, I will choose. But not right now!"

"If I can't-" Norman is cut off by Mike walking through the open door.

"Hannah, are-" Mike is cut off when he sees Norman pull out a gun. Hannah dives behind the couch. "Norman, what are you doing?" He questions. Mike assumes that this has something to do with himself. More than likely, the relationship between the baker and himself.

Norman doesn't know what to say, if he admits he wants to kill Hannah, then Mike will arrest him. So he runs, he runs never to be seen again. Normally, Mike would go after him, but he decides Hannah is more important.

"Hannah, are you alright?" Mike walks around the couch and offers his hand to help her up. Hannah takes it and gets up.

"Is he gone?" Hannah is shocked that Norman would do that to her.

"Yes, he is. I don't think he will be coming back, either." Mike pulls her closer to his body and wraps his arms around her and holds her close.

"Why are you here? I mean we had a huge fight. I said a lot of mean things to you that I regret," Hannah allows herself to be held by him.

"I had a feeling something wasn't right. I figured I would come over and check on you."

"Thank you. You didn't have to save me, after all the things I said to you, I really didn't think that you would ever talk to me again."

"Hannah, I love you. I would never just let you die, not if I could stop it." Mike's chest starts getting damp and he realizes that Hannah is crying. "And, for the record, everything I said to you when we fought, I didn't mean any of it."

" I-I know. I missed you so much, Mi-Mike." Hannah sobs.

"I missed you too," Mike allows himself to start crying. He knows that if he hadn't shone up at the right time, he would never have been able to make things right between him and his girlfriend.

Mike holds her closer and tighter as his tears roll down his cheeks and into her hair.

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~~~~~~~TW ENDS~~~~~~~

No, no one in her family will ever know about that. No one needs to know besides Mike and herself.

"Darling, maybe telling everyone what happened that night will help things. Your mother might start to see our relationship in a new light," Mike offers.

"I don't think it will. She thinks I picked you to spite her. Which I didn't, you know I didn't."

"I know, darling, just think about telling her, for me."

"I will, Mike, I will. I just don't think that Mother will ever see our relationship as something other than to spite her and Michelle. Both of them liked Norman better. They both think that Norman would have been more stable," Hannah rubs her forehead, feeling a headache coming on, just thinking about what could go on during dinner tonight.

"You don't want to announce it tonight, do you?"

"I just don't think I am ready, its nothing against you, I swear, its all me and my family. Andrea and Bill will be happy, that's for sure. They have been rooting for us from day one." Hannah smiles, thinking about her younger sister and brother in law's views on her relationship.

"It is ok, darling." He gently runs his hand over hers.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." The couple shares a smile. Mike's phone vibrates against the metal of the workstation. He checks it and sighs. "There was an accident, I have to go," he apologetically tells her.

"Go, they need you." Hannah encourages.

"I'll call you," Mike promises, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Alright. Be careful," Hannah kisses her fiancee before he leaves.

"I will, darling. See you later."

"Bye." Hannah plays with the chain around her neck as she watches her fiancee leaves.

Soon, she snaps out of it, puts her necklace back behind her shirt and checks on Lisa to see if she needs a break. Which she does, so Hannah sits on Lisa's stool and watches over the café.

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Hours later, Lisa packed the leftovers and brings them to the back and Hannah tells her she can take whatever ones she wants, because she will be as well. Hannah spends the next couple hours experimenting with some recipes for new cookies and makes some more Lemon Bars.

Soon her phone starts buzzing against the workstation. Hannah looks at the caller ID and answers.

"Hey, Mike," Hannah answers.

"Are you on your way?" Mike asks her from the other side of the line.

"Um, no, should I be?" Hannah looks at the clock on the wall and sees it is six-fifteen. "Oh my goodness. I completely lost track of time. I need to put somethings in the cooler and turn off the stoves and I will be there in twenty minutes."

"Ok, darling."

"Mother and Michelle aren't being rude or anything to you right?"

"Everything is fine, Hannah, just finish whatever you are doing and get here," Mike tells her, not revealing anything.

"Alright, I will see you in twenty minutes," Hannah responds, knowing she won't get anything out of him.

"See you soon," Mike hangs up.

Hannah pulls the phone from her ear and packs up her Lemon Bars and shuts her kitchen down. She puts her dough in the cooler and double checks that the ovens are off. When she is sure, she walks out the backdoor and locks it behind her.

She jumps in her red cookie truck and drives to her mother's apartment building. She parks in the guest lot and grabs the box of Lemon Bars and makes her way to the complex. She decides that she doesn't have time to take the stairs so she uses the elevator. She takes that all the way up to the penthouse.

"What's going on with you and my daughter?" Delores' voice is heard. Clearly, no one noticed her.

"Hannah and I are just dating," Mike defends.

"Oh, really? If that is all that is going on between you two, then why did you sleep there again?" Michelle pipes up.

"We watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch." Mike explains, not completely lying, not telling the whole truth. Hannah decides to walk into the room.

"Aunt Hannah," Tracey, her five year old niece screams, running at her, tackling her in a hug.

"Hi, honey," Hannah greets.

"Where were you?" Tracey asks.

"I was making your favorite, Lemon Bars!" Hannah exclaims opening the box, allowing Tracey to see what is in the box.

"Really? Mommy, can I have one?" Tracey gasps, looking at her mother.

"Go ahead," Andrea gives her permission. Tracey reaches in and takes one.    

"You were late, Hannah," Delores states.

"I wanted to make some Lemon Bars," Hannah tells her.

"What is today?" Delores asks her husband.

"March thirteenth." Doc informs after thinking for a while.

"Hm, not Dad's death anniversary. Did you and Mike fight again? Is that why you were making Lemon Bars?" Andrea asks.

"No, Mike and I didn't fight." Hannah defends.

"Then why did you guys come separately?"

"Because he got off work earlier than I did."

"Ok, everyone, lets stop questioning them and eat," Doc interrupts. The couple give him a thankful smile. Everyone gets up and walks to the table. Mike and Hannah sit on one side, Doc and Delores sit at each head of the table and Bill, Andrea and Tracey on the other side with Michelle.

Under the table, Mike finds Hannah's hand and grabs it. Hannah squeezes his hand and he squeezes back.

Dinner goes smoothly until Delores notices something.

"New necklace, Hannah?" She asks. Hannah's head shoots up.

"Um, yeah, Mother, it is new."

"What is it?"

"Just a locket I found while I was cleaning." Hannah fibs.

"Really? What one?"

"The one Dad gave me just before his heart attack." Hannah hopes that her mother doesn't want to see what was in the locket.

"Oh, I remember that one," Delores accepts the answer.

"Tracey, do you like the mac and cheese? I made it with my own recipe," Doc asks his step-granddaughter.

"It isn't as good as Aunt Hannah's lemon bar cookie but I like it almost as much," Tracey smiles at him.

"Beating your Aunt Hannah's cookies is difficult. If you don't eat the rest, I will give it to your mom for you have as lunch tomorrow," Doc smiles back.

"Anything new going on, Hannah?" Michelle asks.

"No, you would be the first to know."

"You know, Hannah, I got a call from your neighbors this morning, Mike slept over again." Delores informs her daughter.

"We watched a couple movies and fell asleep on the couch. Nothing more, nothing less." Hannah is frustrated that her mother is all up in her relationship again. She gently squeezes Mike's hand for his support. He looks at her and squeezes back.

"Oh, Hannah, I checked with my mom and she said any day this week would be ok to go out there." Mike tells his fiancee.

"Ok," Hannah nods.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hannah and Mike are walking down the stairs to their cars.

"Darling, I was thinking we would go to my mom's house on Sunday because neither of us have to work," He runs his thought by her.

"That works." She agrees.

"I will call her tomorrow morning. Oh also, I have a few shirts for you in the Hummer."

"Ok. Are you coming back to the condo tonight or are you going to your apartment?" She asks, hoping that he will come back to the condo.

"If you want me to go back to the condo, I will," He grabs her hand and smiles at her.

"I want you to," Hannah smiles back.

"Its a good thing that I put my uniform in my car isn't it," Mike jokes.

"Yes, it really was." The rest of the descent down to the lobby was spent in a comfortable silence. Soon, they hit the lobby. Mike opens the door for Hannah and walks out behind her. They peacefully join hands and walk back to their cars. Hannah parked next to the Hummer. Mike opens her door for her and kisses her when she is settled in the driver's seat.

"I will follow you out to the condo." Mike tells her.

"Ok, I will see you then," Hannah tells him and steals a kiss before he closes her door. Mike gently closes her door and walks around his Hummer to the driver's side. Hannah waits for him to get in before she pulls out.

Twenty minutes later, they both arrive at the condo. Hannah pulls into her spot then Mike pulls into the extra spot which has unofficially become his spot. Mike gets out first and walks around to her truck door and opens it for her. When they are both out, Mike opens the backdoor and pulls out his uniform and shirts. He passes the shirts to Hannah and holds his uniform. He shuts the door and they head up the stairs.

"Are you going to take the other shirts?" Hannah takes Mike's uniform and allows him to catch Moishe.

"You were saying the shirts don't smell like me anymore right?" Mike asks, bracing himself as Hannah opens the door and Moishe flies out.

"Yes."

"Then I will take those and you keep these," Mike pets the animal in his arms. "You are hungry, aren't you, Big Guy?"

"Do you want to feed him or do you want me to?" Hannah asks. 

"I will feed him since I am already holding him."

"Alright, I will go put these in the bedroom. Do you want me to hang your uniform in the bathroom?" Hannah questions. Mike agrees and thanks her. He gives her a kiss and puts Moishe down to grab his food dish.

Dish in hand, Mike walks to the counter. He places the dish on the counter and unlocks the food cabinet, he reaches in and grabs the bag. Mike opens it and measures out a cup and a half of food. He places it in the dish and places the dish with the water. He checks that there is plenty of water in the dish before giving Moishe a pat and walks to the bedroom to see Hannah.

"Darling, can I talk to you?" Mike leans against the door frame.

"Sure, what's up?" Hannah turns to look at him.

"You know how Andrea was calling the lemon bars you made, your comfort cookies?"

"Yeah," Hannah isn't quite sure where her fiancee is going with this.

"What's been bugging you?"

Hannah sighs, "My dad's twenty-second death anniversary is April first. He died of a heart attack. The day Mother told him she was pregnant with Michelle."

"I am so sorry, darling," Mike pulls himself off the doorframe and walks closer to her and pulls her into his chest, gently rubbing her back in gentle circles.

"I usually bake those cookies every year without anyone knowing, last year you were busy with work and no one else in the family really checks up on me this time of the year. Michelle never knew him so she isn't effected and Mother and Andrea are always busy around this time of the year." Hannah explains.

"Well, this year I am not going to leave my girl to be on her own. April first lands on a Sunday this year, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

"Good, neither of us have work, we can stay here all day with Moishe and watch something on TV," Mike holds her close.

Hannah is once again taken back by how kind Mike is. Not many guys she knew would stay with his girlfriend on her dad's death anniversary. Meanwhile, Mike is constantly making plans around her and keeping her in on everything that he does. He always makes sure she is his top priority.

"Darling, do you want any cookies?"

"I'm fine, hun," Hannah hugs him tighter. Mike tightens his grip on her as well. He starts rubbing small circles on her back. "Thank you, for everything," She whispers into his chest.

"You don't need to thank me, darling." Mike whispers back, holding her tighter. They spend the next few minutes embracing in the middle of her- well, more like their- bedroom.

"I love you," Hannah tells her soon to be husband as they pull away.

"I love you too, darling," Mike replies. He kisses her cheek and pulls away. "What do you want to watch? I will put whatever you want on while you do what you need to," he offers.

"Lets just flip through the channels and see what is on?" Hannah suggested.

"Ok," He walks to the living room and sits on the couch. He changes the channel from the wildlife channel and just flips through them.

"Hun, do you want coffee or cookies?" Hannah asks from the kitchen.

"Both, please," Mike replies. Hannah plates the cookies and pours the coffee. She manages to carry all three items at once and carefully walks over to the couch. Mike jumps up to help her. "Darling, you should have told me you needed help. I would have carried the coffee while you carried the cookies."

"I know, but you do so much for me already."

"Darling, you can ask me when you need help and you know you can."

"I know." Hannah sighs. When they both sit down, Hannah takes the remote from Mike and flips through the channels.

"What are you looking for?" Mike asks before taking a sip of coffee.

"I don't know," Hannah leans against her fiancee. Mike smiles as he puts his coffee down. He leans his head against hers. Hannah finds a mystery movie so she leaves it on that channel. Watching mystery movies with Mike is always fun.

Mike grins, "Have we watched this one before?"

"I think we have, but I am leaving it."

"That works, more time for me to hold my girl," He tells her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Hannah takes a Lemon Bar Cookie off the plate resting in Mike's lap. She can say that she feels much better after telling Mike about her father. She feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

Mike ends up sleeping over that night.

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