Jemma's Pov:

We walked in and Skip led me to a very pretty middle aged woman sitting in the waiting area. She turned toward us and a smile lit up her face.

Skip swooped her up into a bear hug and jiggled her around.

"What's poppin mama bear? Sorry I missed ya at the house the other day. Trust me, I had no idea you were planning on visiting me. See if you would have called me I would have been home instead of spending quality time with Mike and Muffin Butt!" He rushed out making her laugh and me blush at the use of his ridiculous nickname for me in front of her.

"Boy, I was born at night but not last night! I knew for a fact that your daddy would call you and you would run and hide at Mikey's!! That just makes it easier for me to see ya both at the same time! And why in the blazes do you call dear Jemma Muffin Butt? If I was her I'd box your ears because that could be offensive to a woman! Are you trying to imply her butt is huge? Because it looks just fine to me!"

"Damn, I must be getting rusty if you can predict my behavior so well. Guess I'm gonna have to change it up a bit. If you knew I was at Mike's why'd ya wait so long to pounce on us? Jemma wouldn't box my ears, she loves my goofy ass! Besides I don't mean it in a negative way. It's just that the second time I met her, we were all at the beach and Mike kept sneaking peaks at her butt in her bikini! He looked like he wanted to take a bite out of it. Hence the nickname Muffin Butt! Plus it irritates the crap outta Mike." He said laughing.

I scowled at him but he ignored it and pulled me to him to ruffle my hair. I rolled my eyes and silently laughed at the way mother and son interacted.

 It was silly and sweet and absolutely amazing to see a functional family's dynamic instead of my dysfunctional one.

Jessica laughed "Well I would have been here the day you got here but Mikey called and told me to wait because he was afraid the combination of me and you together would frighten his Jemma."

She looked at me and smiled brightly again. "Sorry Hun, I've been rude haven't I? Let me introduce myself. I'm Jessica, Skip and Mike's mom. I'm so happy to finally meet you!"

I smiled at her. She seems great, I don't see what the boys were so worried about. "It's nice meeting you Jessica. You've raised two very wonderful guys and I feel really fortunate to have them in my life."

She looked at Skip "Alright off you go! This is a girl bonding thing and unless you had a sex change since the last time I saw you, you're missing a few vital parts to qualify. Don't worry Jemma is in good hands. Tell Mikey and your dad we'll be by later and I expect you boys to have actually cooked dinner and not just sit around gabbing like a bunch of old hens. Give Mikey and your dad a kiss from me." She said.

I laughed at Skips disgruntled face.

"Mom we're men. We do not gab like old hens! And I'm so not kissing dad or Mike. I'd need years of therapy if I did."

She rolled her eyes at him and he winked back.

"I'll leave you two beauties to enjoy your girlie crap. Love y'all and peace out!"

He shot us the peace sign and left without a second thought. I shook my head. Those two really are very much alike.

"Alright sweetie, lets get some pampering done!"

She grabbed my hand and lead me to the counter. "We'd like to get the deluxe package each." She tells the receptionist.

We were led back to begin our manicures.

"So Jemma I've heard quite a bit about you from Mikey and Skip. They both love you to bits!"

I started laughing "They're great guys and I'm really fortunate to have found them. I love Michael very much and Skip is like an older brother to me."

She smiled and leaned closer to me. "I'm not sure if you're aware but Mikey and I had lunch today. Obviously we spent the entire time talking about you. I'm not going to lie. The few times I've talked to him over the phone the last few months and our entire lunch I spent pumping him for information about you." She wiggled her perfect eyebrows.

"Yeah he told me about the lunch, and Skip said it would be something like that." I smiled remembering Skips impression of her.

"Well he seemed concerned because you were worried I might not like you because of certain complications with the two of you." She said addressing my concerns in a head on no-nonsense way that both her sons must have inherited from her.

I nodded my head. "I would understand if you held that against me. I just want to assure you it's not some dirty scandalous affair. We love each other and I wouldn't do anything to cause him problems. I don't need a grade bump or his money or any other thing that people would assume given the circumstances. I hold an excellent GPA, maintain a full time good paying job and still manage to make time for my extra curricular school activities and spend quality couple time with Michael. I genuinely love him and in no way am I using him."

She laughed and shook her head "Darling I never thought that. I brought that little bit up to tell you it's of no concern to me at all." She looked at the nail technician and asked if they'd give us a moment. When they left she grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes.

"Mike is a grown man and way too smart to be duped by false accusations of love or someone with shady intentions. I may not know exactly what went down when he was in the army the second to last deployment but I do know it had to of been pretty damn bad. Because he changed. Not the usual change from super serious interrogator mode when he was working to his playful behavior on his down time. No he lost his spark, that impish grin of his and well basically any joy in life was just sapped the hell out of him. I know he deployed and when he came back I still didn't see him for several months despite mine and his father's pleading. Even Skip distanced himself for a while but that had more to do with him trying to keep us in the dark and protect us from whatever it was that went down with Michael. Before that he and Skip always came to visit as soon as they hit U.S soil after a long deployment. Whatever happened stole a part of him and he closed himself. Skip wouldn't tell us what it was, just that he had some crap happen. Anyway we've all been worried that he'd never get back to himself. It wasn't a huge difference but a mother can always tell when something isn't right with her child. He tried to hide it from us with plastic bland smiles and fake laughs and even faker enthusiasm but the light and true laughter were gone. That is until the first time he called and talked to us about you. He actually laughed, a real honest to god laugh. I had to mute the phone so he wouldn't hear me sniff the happy tears back. The point of my long winded story is that you could be a purple one legged five eyed giraffe and I'd still welcome you into my family and heart because you're what makes my baby happy. As for the teacher and student aspect of your relationship, I'll let you in on a little secret that even my kids don't know. Their father was my History teacher senior year. So I know exactly what you're going through and I know from first hand experience that It can be hard at times. So if you need someone to talk to I'm just a call away. Now let's finish our girl time." She signaled for the nail techs to come back and we carried on with lighter conversation.

We had our nails and toes done and were getting a neck massage while our facials set.

"You know Jemma I honestly like you. Not just because my sons are so gaga over you but you're a genuine person and you got spunk!"

I laughed "Thanks Jessica and I honestly like you too. You're what I wish my mother could be like instead of who she is."

She smiled at my compliment "I cant wait to start planning the wedding and helping pick out baby clothes!"

I laughed nervously. "Umm, I'm not sure why you think that. But I can assure you I'm not pregnant and Michael hasn't asked me to marry him."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I know that sweetie. I'm talking about the future."

I nodded. "I love your son, but it's not in the cards anytime soon. I'm not naive enough to-"

She placed her hand on my arm and squeezed it gently. I stopped what I was about to say.

"Listen here little darlin' I know my son, he's a smart boy. He's not going to let you slip through his fingers. I'll betcha within the next year, I'll be planning your wedding" She smiled widely.

I laughed and shook my head. "Jessica I don't think you should get your hopes up. A lot of things could happen that-" She sighed loudly effectively cutting me off.

"He loves you, you love him. That's all that matters. Answer me this, miss pessimist. If he asked you today would you marry him?"

I blushed and she laughed "Ha nevermind, your expression is answer enough my dear. Welcome to the family Jemma and I look forward to many, many grandkids!" She smiled triumphantly making me giggle because she really is just like Skip.

Three and a half hours after I got to the salon we pull up to the house. I unlock the door and before I can take a step inside Michael is wrapped around me and kissing me like I'd been gone a year. I giggled and pulled away as Skip and Jessica take turns dogging Michael.

"Good God Mike, Let the poor girl breath a bit. I told you she'd make it through meeting your mom. I don't know why you boys insist that she's so crazy. I think she's perfect!" A man that looks like an older version of Michael says as he pulls Jessica into his arms and drops a kiss on her cheek.

Skip gags, Michael rolls his eyes and Jessica just smiles.

He puts his hand out and smiles "You must be Jemma aka muffin butt! I've heard so much about you. I'm Dereck, these two knuckleheads dad. It's nice to finally meet the girl that has turned my son into a babbling weirdo! Seriously we had to stop him like three times from going to the salon and making sure you didn't run screaming for your life. And yes, those were his exact words. He's convinced Jess was gonna embarrass him and tell you all his awkward childhood moments. Not to worry though, we're saving all that for after dinner. We even brought the blackmail pictures!!" He laughed at Michael's horrified look.

"Oh I can't wait!! It's nice meeting you Dereck. I may need to borrow some of those pictures to make copies!"

Michael face palmed and we all laughed. 

Skip patted his back and whispered something like "at least this will be the one and only time you gotta deal with this bro"

Michael elbowed him and shot a quick look to me. I averted my eyes and popped off my flip flops. 

I looked up and everyone was looking at me. "Ready to eat? I'm starved!"

We ate and true to their word, Dereck and Jessica busted out with the blackmail pictures. Michael on the potty when he was being toilet trained. His 8th birthday party where he shoved his face into the cake. Him running around in spiderman underwear and a cape when he was 11. Him passed out next the toilet with his clothes half off when he came home wasted from his first drinking party when he was 16. Him asleep on the couch with permanent marker penises and dirty words all over his face and arms when he was about 17. Him in his army uniform and buzz cut at basic training graduation.

"Awe Michael you were so cute as a little boy!!" I cooed to him. 

"I know just think, how adorable y'all's kids will be!" Jessica exclaimed.

He was beet red and buried his face in my neck. "I need a new family!" he mumbled in my ear.

 I intertwined our fingers and kissed him.

"Well we better head out. It's getting late and you two have school tomorrow. We'll get together soon and discuss Thanksgiving and Christmas plans" Dereck said.

Jessica nodded and we led them to the door. Dereck hugged everyone then stepped out and waited for Jessica. She hugged the boys first then hugged me and whispered in my ear. "It's true love! He looks at you the way Dereck looks at me still to this day. Take care of him!"

I laughed quietly and kissed her cheek. "I'm really glad I got to meet you. I'll see you soon Jessica"

Michael closed the door and heaved a relieved sigh. "I'm so glad they left." He smiled tiredly and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I love your family. They're great. I don't know why you were so worried."

He kissed my lips and nibbled on my ear. "That's because you're so wonderful. You like everyone. Ready for bed, Love?"

"Hmm I'm not sleepy but I'm sure you could persuade me to come to bed with you."

I giggled as he threw me on his shoulder and ran for our room.

There was a knock on our door. "Yo, guys I'm gonna head out for a bit. My captain just called and I gotta be back tomorrow at evening role call. I'm gonna go see Tina. You two crazy kids behave and don't wait up. I'll see ya in the morning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure you have to go back?" I whined.

Michael laughed and Skip nodded. he wasn't his usual self this morning. "Don't worry sis. I'll be fine and I'll text and call you so much it'll be like I was still here. Besides I'm not leaving until after lunch so I'll see you at school."

I sniffed and nodded. I went to get ready and let the boys have their private time.

 It's gonna be so quiet without him here. I hope Tina is okay.

It's already lunch and Skip is gonna be leaving in a few minutes. 

"Come on kiddo cheer up! I cant stand that you're so sad. My favorite lil sis is always supposed to be happy!"

"I know, I am happy with life just a little sad about you leaving. I'll be okay, I've just gotten used to having you around all the time. Just don't be a stranger and stay safe. Now that you're back from medical leave I'm worried you'll deploy and all I can think about is Michael's ordeal" I sniffed as I had a flash of what Michael had been through.

He nodded and smoothed the tears from my cheeks.

"Come on now Muffin Butt, you worry too much. Even if I do deploy, I'll be okay. You just make sure you take care of my brother and yourself of course. I love you guys and I'll be back to visit soon and be out enjoying the perks of civilian life before you know it."

He softly pecked my lips and leaned to whisper in my ear "You're the best thing that's happened to him and if you need anything at all. I don't care what time of day or night it is, you just call your big brother! I'll miss the hell out of y'all Jemma. Take care of him for me." He pulled back from our hug and led me into Michael's class and took me to Michael's chair.

"I'm leaving. Take care of Muffin Butt for me. Umm she's a little upset right now so you may want to let her just hang back here."

Michael nodded and him and Skip shared a long look. "I'll walk you out bro." Michael said quietly.

Skip leaned down and smoothed my hair. "Love ya Jems remember what I said" He kissed my cheek and he and Michael walked out.

I know I'm over reacting but I have this feeling that he isn't just going back to the base. Plus the way he was talking and acting makes it seem like he'll be gone for a while. 

No I'm just spazzing because of Michael's history. That's all.....

Michael walked back in a few minutes later and all it took was one look in his eyes and I knew. He looked like I was feeling.

 Worried for his brother. Which means he is deploying....

He cleared his throat and looked away from me. His eyes blinked rapidly like he was fighting tears. "Today is a free day. Just uhh do whatever and try not to get too wild." He announced to the class.

"Jemma could I see you outside for a bit?"

I nodded and followed him out.

"I'm not imagining things am I? He was acting weird because he's deploying right?"

He nodded his head and a tear slipped down his cheek. I pulled him into his office and closed the door. I was worried about Skip because he was like a big brother to me. But he really is Michael's brother and his worry and pain trump mine right now. I pulled him down onto the couch next to me and held him tightly.

Silent tears made their way down my cheeks but I kept my voice from quivering. "So what do we know?" I asked the love of my life.

"He'll fly out tonight and should be gone until about Christmas time. In January he'll fly out again and be gone another 2-3 months. He's going to the same area as when I got-"

He cleared his throat and began again "I know its not rational but I'm freaking out because he's going to the same town I was in when I got captured and-" he stopped again and I squeezed him tighter.

"I know baby. That's been running through my mind too. But he'll be okay. I know in my heart he'll be back and finish his out his military contract with no problems. He's gonna be around to bug and annoy the crap out of you until you're too old to do anything about it!"

He chuckled a little and kissed my forehead. "I'm so damn lucky I have you in my life. And I know you're right. Logically I know that just because he's going to the same area doesn't mean anything. You probably think I'm an idiot. It's just...I'm being a big pus-" he stopped and I know what was running through his head.

I pulled his face to mine and kissed him with everything I had. "There is nothing to worry about and absolutely nothing to be ashamed about. I understand what you're thinking and I think it's absolutely normal for you to worry. You went through something incredibly horrible and you survived it and are the brilliant and wonderful man I love. You're not being a pussy, you're being a caring brother. I love you and just know that you crying doesn't make me think less of you. You're the best thing in my life and nothing could ever change that! "