1st of May, 2007
Michael is 48, Angela is 43

Angela: I examined myself in the mirror, and wondered how AJ could've gained so much extra weight to make my stomach so big.

I was at the end of my sixth month now. Nothing went wrong so far, except for the atmosphere between Michael and I.

We weren't talking yet, and when we did, it was mostly fights that made a contraction start, so they ended pretty quickly. It's like AJ knew her parents were fighting.

It got me thinking about maybe divorcing Michael. No matter how much we would try to make it work, it would only hurt us. And the kids, they can't live a lie their entire lives, thinking their parents are happy together.

I sighed and covered my bump with my shirt again, then went into the bathroom to get my anti-stretch marks moisturizer.

Michael was out of town for the next 4 days. Actually, he was out of the country. He flew all the way to Germany last night, taking Prince and Eric along with him.

It was such a relief. I had a break from our occasional fights, and I could order myself a masseur without him saying that he's my husband and he won't let anyone touch me when I'm half naked.

I never realized how possessive he actually is.

My phone went off just as I sat down on the bed.

I smiled when I saw it was Danny calling.

We've been getting pretty close lately; for the last three weeks we've been texting each other non-stop. And when Michael was asleep, I went into the bathroom and told Danny everything that's happened.

"Hey, you." my smile widened as I put the phone next to my ear.

"Hey yourself," he chuckled deeply. "How are you? Better?"

"If by better you mean am I still a heavily pregnant woman whose husband cheated on her, then yes." I sighed, pulling my shirt up so I could start my daily routine of attempting to get rid of my stretch marks.

"I'm sorry, Angie."

"It's okay, talking to you has been helping me forget about it..."

"Aw, I'm happy to hear that," Danny said. "Are you busy right now?"

"Actually, I'm home alone. Michael's in Berlin with Prince and Eric, and the rest of the kids are at school or with my mom. I'm still grounded in bed."

"Right, I forgot you're in bedrest... Well, since Michael isn't home, you think I could come over?"

"I'd love that!" I told him. "But are you sure you want to drive all the way to Neverland?"

"Of course, I don't mind. You're not supposed to be out of the house, right? I can't let you risk your baby." I heard keys rattling from his end.

"Thanks, Danny."

"Don't mention it. I'll see you soon."

I hung up, smiling down at my bump. "We're having a visitor soon, AJ."

~

I was just trying to take a nap before Danny got here so I wouldn't be tired, but my husband decided to call.

"Yes, Michael?" I asked, annoyed.

"It's me, mom." Eric said.

"Oh, hey, baby..." I closed my eyes shut and prayed this was important. "How's Berlin?"

"It's great! Michael took Prince and I to meet his fans, it was awesome! And then we went to meet the German chancellor at her house!"

"Wow. I'm glad you're having fun, honey. Wait, you guys showed your faces?"

"Only at the meet and greet, there weren't a lot of people there, and there weren't any cameras at the chancellor' house, dad kinda made it a private meeting..."

Did he say 'dad'?

"Dad?" I questioned.

"Oh, yeah... I accidentally called Michael that yesterday, and he said it's okay to call him dad if I want to. So I am. Lily's been calling him dad for a while now, too." my son told me.

"Eric, give me the phone, please." I heard Michael say.

"Okay," my son sighed. "Bye, mom, love you."

"I love you more, baby."

My hormones took over as the thought of my son calling Michael his dad went through my mind. It made me tear up, and I felt selfish for wanting to leave Michael.

My kids love him and now they call him dad. He basically raised them.
Plus, I love him more than anything. If he's willing to work it out and go to counseling again, then maybe I could, too.

Again, as soon he gave the phone to Michael, AJ started kicking.

"Angie, hi..." he must've heard my sniffling because his tone got low and he sounded worried. "What's wrong, babe?"

"He called you 'dad'..." I said, wiping my tears.

"Yeah... But why are you crying?" he laughed.

"Can you come home? Please?"

"Did something happen? Angela, did you go into labor?"

"No," I shook my head although he couldn't see me. "I want to work it out between us. I love you, and my kids love you, and we have a beautiful family... I don't want to break that. I want us to go back to Dr. Avery as soon as possible, okay?"

"Yes, of course, baby... Of course. I'm so happy you feel that way."

It was now his turn to sniffle, and I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Thank you, Angie," Michael said. "Hey, we'll call later, the boys and I are heading out to eat. Tell the kids I love them."

"I will. I love you, Mike-"

A knock on the door interrupted me, "Mrs. Jackson, Danny Raymon is here."

"Tell him I'll be out in just a bit!" I told our housemaid who knocked in the door.

"Who's here?" Michael asked.

"My dad," I lied, not wanting to start a fight. "I'm gonna go see him. Bye, Mike, I love you."

"Me too, babe. Tell Jared I'll see him soon."

He ended the call, and I struggled to get out of bed.

Just before I opened the door, I got a message from Michael.

"By the way, we'll be home tomorrow."

I grinned, but it soon faded when I realized Danny was waiting for me.

I opened the door. Danny was standing at the begging of the hallway, his hands in his pockets.

"Danny!" I waddled over to him and opened my arms for a friendly hug.

But he didn't hug me like a friend would hug me. It was tighter, like he was waiting to do this for a very long time.

"You look great, Angela." he complimented when we pulled away, and held my stomach.

"Please. I'm huge. She's almost two pounds." I smiled.

"Oh," he gasped, and I felt the same movement he did. "Is she kicking?"

I nodded, "Wow, you're the first person after Michael who gets her going like this. Now it won't stop for another hour."

"Sorry." Danny bit his lip.

"It's okay, don't worry about it." I said, placing my hand on top of his that was still on my stomach. He intertwined our fingers.

We both looked down at our hands. It was like small sparks were flying around us right now.

Very, very, very small sparks.

This is probably just me missing Michael. It's stupid, I can't have sparks with someone who isn't Michael. That's ridiculous.

"I feel so bad," I sighed. "I haven't offered you anything to drink. Come on."

I led him to kitchen, and opened the fridge.

"What would you like, Danny?"

"Umm, just water would be fine."

I nodded and took the big water bottle. After pouring him a glass of water, I hold it out for him to hold.

"There you go- Oooh."

As soon as he reached his hand to take the glass, a sharp, contraction-like pain, went through my body and stayed at my pelvis area.

I dropped the glass so I could hold the counter behind me, and it shattered all over the floor.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked worriedly.

"I- I think I just need to sit." I answered.

He hurried to help me get to the living room. I carefully sat down and put my legs up.

And as suspected, the pain faded after a few deep breaths.

"That was scary." Danny sighed in relief and plopped down next to me.

"You don't remember that much from having a pregnant woman around, huh?"

He shook his head.

"Don't worry," I assured him. "This was a fake contraction. They get stronger as you get close to birth."

"I'm glad I'm done with having babies, I don't get how you do it. One kid is hard enough, but eight? That's crazy."

"Yeah, but I'm happy. And Michael's amazing with them."

He gave me a genuine smile. "So what's up between you two?"

"I rather not talk about it when you're here, this time is dedicated to friendship." I told him.

"Friendship? We're more than that, Angie," he scooted over to me. "You know we're more than that. And now you and Michael are breaking up, it's perfect timing..."

"For what?" I raised my eyebrows.

"For this."

Danny kissed me, passionately. He had his arms wrapped around me and held me so close.

"Want to make Michael pay for what he did? I know exactly how..." he kissed my neck.

"I don't know, Danny, we're-"

He cut me off, "You're on the verge of breaking up. You can't seriously want to to stay with him after he cheated on you like that, right? Come on, I'll show you how a real lover does it."

I had no time to disagree when Danny took me to the bedroom, locking the door behind him.

He kissed me, a little too hard for my liking, and pinned me against the wall.

"Wait, Danny, I don't think we should... Michael is coming back tomorrow..." I said.

"But you said he won't be back for a few days." his eyes got sad.

"I asked him to come back home, because, um, I want to work things out... So we really can't be doing this. I'm sorry."

I put a hand on his chest to push him away, but he only grabbed my arm, and his eyes showed nothing but rage.

"We're doing this, either way." Danny declared and dragged me to the bed.

"W- what? Danny, stop, what are you-" I was cut off by him tightening his grip on my arm to the point it hurt.

"Stop talking and get undressed. Now." he ordered.

I was scared of his cold tone, but didn't budge.

"What are you waiting for?!" he asked. Danny balled up a fist and before I knew it, his fist made contact with my stomach. I screamed, but he covered my mouth. "Be quiet, and get undressed, or you'll get another punch like that, but harder."

With shaking hands, I peeled off my shirt, then my pants, my bra, and lastly, my panties. And all this time, he was watching, with a smirk on his face.

"Even when you're pregnant you're beautiful," he whispered, coming closer. "Get in bed."

I shook my head, "Please, Danny-"

Another punch, but this time to my rib cage. Something definitely cracked.

"Did I say you could speak?! Get your fat ass in bed, Angela!

I obeyed, now knowing I have no choice but to listen to him.

I looked up at the ceiling as a naked Danny positioned himself on top of me.

"Want to know a secret?" he laughed, his hands touching everywhere on my body. "Me and my wife? We didn't break up because it didn't work out... I abused her, and eventually she had enough... But no one knows that. She's too scared I'll take Sam away from her, so she's not telling anyone... And neither will you, or else..."

I cried, begging him to stop.

"What did I say about talking?" he asked.

This time, he punched my stomach not once, but twice, and harder than his last punches.

"You better pray your baby lives after this."

Danny opened my legs. I felt his tip on my entrance, and hoped he wouldn't do it.

"What I don't understand is why you married that child molester," he rolled his eyes while fondling my nipple. "He's probably touching Eric right now in their hotel room."

"He's not a child molester-" I said, but his hands wrapped around my throat as he attempted to choke me.

I gasped for air while scratching his hands.

"You're making this harder than it should be, Angela..." he shook his head in disapproval, and let me go.

"Now, where were we?" he smiled sweetly. "Right, your husband. I hope he learns not to leave you alone anymore..."

Danny pushed himself inside me. "I've been waiting to do this since you lost your virginity to that stupid guy Lawrence."

I looked away as the tears streamed down my face. He just kept thrusting in and out of me, and it hurt.

"I'm so glad you invited me." Danny whispered.

~

2nd of May, 2007
Michael is 48, Angela is 43

Michael: When the boys and I walked inside the house, I expected Angela to come running into my arms.

But only Maria and the kids greeted us.

"Where's Angela?" I asked, placing a kiss on Rose's head.

"She's been in bed since yesterday at noon," Maria answered. "I assumed she wasn't feeling well so I let her be."

"I probably should go check on her." I sighed.

When I entered the bedroom, I had to cover my nose. It smelled like sweat and puke.

"Angela?" I said, turning on the lights. I was horrified by the state of the room. There was a big puddle of puke next to our bed, and clothes were everywhere.

"Michael, is it really you?" Angela was barely heard.

"Yeah, what happened here?"

She tried sitting up, but only a screech of pain left her lips.

I ran to her, and was even more appalled by the way she looked. She was pale, her hair was everywhere, and her arms had some bruises on them.

"It hurt too much to stand, so I um... I peed in bed," Angela put her head down in shame. "And I threw up on the floor, I'm sorry..."

I scrunched my eyebrows, "What happened?"

"I-I think I was raped."

"Raped?!" my eyes widened. "Baby, how? No one was here except for your mother and the staff..."

"D- Danny, I invited him over yesterday..." she choked up from saying his name.

Danny? That guy she almost kissed who went to high school with her? I thought she didn't talk to him.

She saw the confusion on my face, "I'm sorry, Mike... I thought he just wanted to come to keep me company, I didn't think he would do this..."

"It's okay," I told her, although I was still processing everything. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"I can't move, it hurts."

"I'll carry you."

But when I revealed the rest of her body from underneath the sheets, my face fell.

Her entire bump was full of black and blue bruises, along with her legs. Her neck was the worst, though.

"W- what are you d- doing, Michael?" Angela asked as I took out the phone and dialed 911. "He threatened that if I told anyone..."

"That man has to sit in jail for what he did, Angela." I mumbled, putting the phone to my ear.

"911, what's your emergency?" a woman said on the other line.

"My wife was raped." I told her.

I couldn't even believe the words that came out of my mouth. How could I let this happen?