#stevie close/stephanie foster

[methbayprisonblues]

I just hate time-travel-erase-your-memory because that makes me think of identity issues of like 'am I even me at that point'

- Anthony Burch

sorry Anthony but that exact thing is my bread and butter

art by @when-sanpape-arts

[briamichellewrites]

23

Stephanie was fast asleep in her new bed. It was a big girl’s bed with a canopy. Her baby doll was tucked under her arm. After a month of not seeing her mommy, she was finally reunited with her. Mike invited them to move into his house in Encino. The house came with three fireplaces and an outdoor swimming pool. He would not charge her rent. The only thing he asked for was help with housekeeping and groceries. She agreed and thanked him.

Together, they decorated a room for Stephanie. After doing a home inspection, they found out that they passed. After being cleared of any allegations of abuse, she was allowed her daughter back. It had been a very long and stressful month. She was not abusive. Child Protective Services were only doing their job. That didn’t mean it wasn’t frustrating and scary.

Stephanie was an active child, who sometimes got hurt. Her cast came off after her bones fully healed. Her foster parents had done a great job of taking care of her and they were thrilled to have them reunited. She seemed like she was doing the best she could as a very young single mother. Stephanie was scared about moving in with Mike, and rightfully so. He promised her he would never take her away from her mommy. She nodded. Okay.

He was giving her space to become comfortable with him. She was curious about him and she interacted with him. He was even put in charge of babysitting her baby while she went to school. That made him laugh. Finally, his house was filled with the sounds of a child playing and laughing. He brought the doll with him to his in-home studio. The office was closed, as Brad was on vacation with his family.

During a FaceTime meeting with the band, he told them that he and Brad were officially dating. They congratulated him! He laughed and thanked them. They saw genuine happiness on his face. It was like he had a little family with Brad, Bria, and Stephanie. He told them that Brad wanted to be referred to as William or BP and Stephanie wanted to be called Stevie, Bria’s nickname for her. Why did he want to be called William? Because he felt that Brad was a role he played.

William was more personal. It was also his real name. Bradley was his middle name. They agreed that made sense. It also helped them differentiate between Brad Delson. They laughed. Did Stevie know he was her grandfather? No, not yet. Bria didn’t want to overwhelm her with information, so they were letting her get comfortable living with him first. He said it multiple times but she was a great mother!

Children were curious about everything. That was how they learned. She made sure she didn’t get into anything she wasn’t supposed to and she made sure she respected that it wasn’t their house. He had nothing but wonderful things to say about her parenting. Good for her!

She posted pictures of the room they had decorated. It had a bed with a canopy and mosquito netting; a bookcase filled with books, a basket with stuffed animals, a waterproof baby doll that came with a bottle, a pacifier, a burp rag, and an extra diaper; four princess dresses and a mirror. Stevie’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning and her birthday at the same time! It was a little girl’s dream come true! She even had a window that looked outside.

“Thank you, Mommy!”

“You’re welcome. You should also thank Mike and Brad.”

“Thank you!”

“You are more than welcome. We are glad you like it”, Mike said.

briajo: Brad Pitt shall henceforth be known as William (his legal first name) or BP, as per his request. He also asked not to be identified as Grandpa but as Papa.

Papa Pitt. Mike wanted to have the band and their wives or girlfriends over for dinner to meet Bria and Stephanie. Bria helped him plan a menu with a vegan option. They would also get alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages since she was sober. She was also underage and couldn’t drink, anyway. He invited Brad (also known as William).

Yeah, he would be there. Mike made it very clear to them that Stephanie did not know that Brad was her grandfather. He asked them to please not mention it. They all agreed not to out of respect for them. Joe asked if he could bring his daughter, Lola who was twelve. Yeah, he thought she would get along with Stephanie. Was it Stephanie or Stevie? She went by both. Stevie was a personal nickname Bria used. That made sense.

Stephanie clung to her mommy as she didn’t know anyone. After being taken from her, she was more scared than usual because she never knew if someone was going to take her away again. Mike suggested taking her to a pediatrician to see if she needed to talk to a psychiatrist about her fears. She would make an appointment to discuss that.

They all said hello to her and she greeted them shyly while holding her baby. They gave her space to be comfortable with them while saying hello to Bria. She had just gone through something traumatic and was getting used to a new environment with people she didn’t know.

Her mother was the only safe person she knew, other than William. She gave him a big smile. After a while of observing the environment, she became more comfortable. They were not going to take her away. Lola wanted to play with her. After getting the okay from Bria, she agreed. She shared her baby with her. William stayed away from the alcohol since Mike was watching him. He had seven years of sobriety and he wasn’t going to throw that away.

He also didn’t want to embarrass himself by being drunk. Brad Pitt was the guy who could handle alcohol, William was an alcoholic. He also couldn’t do that to Mike or Bria. They were needing him to be sober. Phoenix looked around at everyone. For a moment, he imagined Chester talking to Stephanie. He would be playing with her and engaging with her while kneeling at her level.

Would he want to see her room? Yeah, he would love to! He would have loved to have been there. After seven years, he still had moments where he would wonder what he would be doing. Maybe he would have brought his twins, Lily and Lila to play with Stephanie.

He was there. They just couldn’t see him. He was being his goofy self and pretending that he was okay. Maybe he would have given Bria one of his famous hugs and made sure she was okay. We miss you, Chester. The party didn’t seem the same without him. Brad came over and quietly asked if he was thinking about Chester. He nodded.

“So am I. He would have loved being here.”

“He is here. We just can’t see him.”

He walked away without saying anything else. Phoenix sighed before going into the dining room, where everyone was sitting down for dinner. Bria and Heidi brought the girls over to sit down. Mike jokingly asked Rob and Brad if the food was vegan enough. Yes, it was. Rob sarcastically thanked him. They were welcome. The adults laughed.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia @boricuacherry-blog

[methbayprisonblues]

do you ever just think about the dads being girl dads first? because I do constantly

Introducing

Lauren *probably had a last name that isn't Stampler*: the most well adjusted girl, takes after her mother Samantha, she has the best social life of the group, is kind and friendly and is honestly just happy her mom is happy even if her new step-dad Ron is a little strange, she understands Terry Jr's resentment but is a lot nicer about it to ron's face, a wizard in the forgotten realms

Dove Oak-Garcia: Dove gave Henry and Mercedes a little false hope about all children being as well behaved as her, she has embraced the nature loving, hippie dippie lifestyle her parents have and is more laid back than Lark and Sparrow but does nothing to help stop their chaos, she didn't know it but she looks just like her grandma autumn, she is a cleric/druid multiclass, who tried so hard to help everyone that one day she just had to turn into a wolf and go live in the woods for a few years

Grace Wilson: Captain of the San Dimas High Cheerleading team, Grace is the epitome of Darryl's mini-me and a daddys girl through and through, does that drive a wedge between her and Carol? the world may never know, a good catholic girl through and through, sure hope no amount of forgotten realms trauma shakes that up, a paladin in the forgotten realms

Stevie Close/Stephanie Foster: nothing is more punk rock than being parentified after the death of your mother, Stevie is very used to taking care of her little brother and sees their dad in a lot harsher of a light than Nick does, before the forgotten realms she was a little jealous of the other girls for having normal dads, then she actually met the other dads, Stevie is, to her own chagrin, a bard just like her dad

gorgeous gorgeous perfect art done by @when-sanpape-arts

I genuinely can't praise it enough

[briamichellewrites]

21

Bria received follower requests from Joe’s wife, Heidi; Phoenix’s wife, Linsey; and his daughter, Regan. She accepted all of them. Phoenix, Joe, and Mike were already following her. They found her account interesting. Her latest post was an update about Child Protective Services taking her daughter due to false child abuse allegations. She had met with a lawyer, who was helping her get her daughter back. An agent had done a walk through her apartment.

She hadn’t found anything wrong. Stephanie had a private room, toys, clothes in her closet, and a bed. The kitchen was stocked with healthy food and the apartment was child friendly. Yeah, it was a little messy but that was to be expected with a four-year-old. She was told she had passed the inspection. Thank you. She walked her to the door.

briajo: Stevie is being well cared for by her foster family and I’m assured that her allergies are being taken seriously. I am working with a lawyer who specializes in cases related to CPS. Her removal was caused by allegations of physical abuse, along with allegations of my drinking during pregnancy. A CPS agent did a home inspection of my apartment. She found nothing wrong and I passed. Yes, I had a problem with alcohol but I quit drinking when I found out I was pregnant and I went through three months of rehab. Since then, I have been sober for four years. I’m rambling. I’m sorry. I just need to get this shit out to make sense of everything. Thank you to everyone for reading this.

Everyone thought that the situation was unfair. She cried when she got home because Stephanie wasn’t there with her. Her bedroom was empty. The apartment was quiet. Instead of the sound of a child playing, there was nothing. She wished she was there with her. Her mind wanted her to relapse but she couldn’t. Drinking would just prove that she wasn’t a good mother.

She felt alone because she didn’t have anyone she could talk to. Mike texted her and invited her over. He told her that he wasn’t her boss, but a friend. She accepted his invitation, so he sent her his address. He asked if he could hug her when she arrived. Yeah. He wrapped his arms around her. Thank you. He then invited her inside. Has she eaten dinner yet? No. He would make her something to eat. She followed him to the kitchen.

It was a nice home. He nodded. It was a little too big for just him but he liked being able to look out at the ocean. He also had a recording studio where he liked to work on music during his free time. What about her? What did she want to do? She didn’t know because she hadn’t thought about it. Her focus had been on her daughter. What about when she was younger? She wanted to be a performer.

She was also dancing, singing, telling jokes, or making up stories for attention. Wherever there was an audience, she wanted to be in front of them. He knew what that was like. She smiled. He had been making music since he was a child. His parents had to put up with him making music in his bedroom. Where were they? They lived in Agoura Hills. She knew where that was because she lived there for about a month when she was younger. When was that? She was maybe twelve years old.

“I remember they were an older couple and they could only have about three or four kids at a time. They were the kind of people who hated lying. Even if it was a white lie, like ‘Did you brush your teeth?’ they would lecture you about lying before sending you back to do whatever you were supposed to do. I think he was a retired army drill sergeant.”

He laughed. No, he likely didn’t know them. That was fine. During dinner, they continued talking. It felt nice to have someone to listen to and talk with. She was beautiful and if circumstances were different, he would ask her for a date. But, it didn’t feel like an appropriate time. They weren’t even friends, though he wanted to be. She wanted to be friends, too. Being a single mother was lonely. He could imagine. Did she have anyone close to her? No.

Her parents died in a car accident. He had to tell her the truth, though he didn’t want to come across as creepy. I feel like I know you. How? He told her about his dream. She auditioned for their label when she was fourteen years old. He and Brad thought she was too young to be signed, so they invited her to hang out with them. Then before he woke up, she was walking across the country by herself.

“That’s so weird. What about Stevie?”

He laughed. “She was six months old. This was back in 2002. You were fifteen years old. You were adopted by Brad Pitt when you were a baby and he was watching Stevie.”

“That’s insane. I don’t think I could walk across the country. Well, maybe I will when she goes to college.”

“That’s all I remember.”

A second life. Yeah. 2005 was the year she was born, so maybe something happened to her and she was reborn or something. It was possible. He was secretly relieved she didn’t think he was creepy. Maybe someday, she would walk across the country. He would love to see that. After eating and cleaning up, he asked her to stay.

She nodded and agreed. He kissed her forehead before asking if he could kiss her. Yes. He gently kissed her lips. She put her hands on his shoulders. They pulled away. Wow. She had never been kissed before but it felt nice. He kissed her again but he didn’t ask her to hook up because he didn’t want to cross that line yet. The next morning, she left because she had to change clothes. He told her not to worry about being late before kissing her forehead.

I’ll see you later. Okay. He felt conflicted because he was torn between Brad and her. It wasn’t because he was a huge star. He couldn’t care less about that. It was who he was inside he was attracted to. He felt a real connection with him and he wanted to be with him. At the same time, he was feeling like Bria needed him. Since he got to work before her, he told Brad what happened.

He also told him he kissed her. What about his boyfriend? He wasn’t his official boyfriend. But, that was what he was having trouble with.

“Brad is a hookup. He’s a million to one. Bria is one in a million.”

That put everything in perspective for him. Thank you. There were millions of guys like Brad Pitt but only one Bria. If he didn’t take his chance, another guy would. He wanted to wait until she was ready while being there for her as a friend. She needed that more than she needed a boyfriend. There was a knock on the door, so they looked to see who it was. Bria.

“Brad Pitt is here to see Mike. He didn’t tell me what it was about.”

He got up. “I’ll talk to him. Thank you.”

Brad had found the studio by googling it. He apologized for stopping by unannounced. Mike had him follow him into an empty conference room. What’s going on? He recently found out that he had a daughter. Her name was Bria Johnson. His mind stopped for a moment. The girl who just greeted him was Bria Johnson. Did he want to meet her? Yeah, thanks.

“You came here because I told you we hired a girl named, Bria and you thought it was the same girl.”

“Yeah, and because I want to talk to you but I can wait until later.”

“Thank you. I like you, Brad. Not because of your wealth or fame but who you are. I just don’t want to seem over-eager, so I’m waiting until I’m ready.”

He decided he would rather go out on a few dates before we decide what we are. He nodded. That’s what he wanted, too. They kissed quickly. He then opened the door and they went out to find Bria. She was talking to Brad, so they waited until they were done.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia @boricuacherry-blog