10th of May, 2008
Michael is 49, Angela is 44

Michael: "Look here, Mr. Jackson." Dr. Moore said, moving his finger in front of my face.

I followed it with my eyes like he instructed, and he said everything was good.

"Your wife asked to see you." he smiled.

"Angela?" I asked, making him nod. "Oh, I don't know..."

It's so weird knowing we actually got married. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would ever end up together.

"You should see her, she'll help you put some pieces together. I'll get one of the nurses to take you."

"She can't come here?"

The doctor sighed, "She's not allowed out of bed."

"What's wrong?" I was genuinely concerned. She was carrying my baby after all.

"She's been admitted in the maternity ward for a week now. I don't exactly know what's going on. You should really see her."

I nodded. "Alright. Could you tell Javon to come in?"

"Uh, he's not here. There's another bodyguard outside."

I told him to call him in and I asked to be taken to Angela's room.

The bodyguard opened the door, revealing Angela in her bed with Javon next to her. He had his hand on her bump while she moved it up and down.

"Woah... How is this not hurting you? They're kicking so hard..." he laughed.

Angela's eyes traveled up and she noticed me.

"Michael." she breathed.

Javon cleared his throat, "Mr. Jackson, you're looking great. Here, sit."

Angela smiled at him when he removed his hand from her stomach. He said we should talk alone and left with the other bodyguard.

"It's so good to see you." she gulped.

"Are you okay? Dr. Moore said you can't get out of bed..." I finally took my seat.

"Yeah, kinda. My blood pressure is too low, I have partial placental abruption, my husband doesn't remember our marriage... Same old, same old."

I sensed how annoyed she was. I couldn't blame her, though.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "This isn't your fault. I'm just... I'm honestly done with all of it right now. This pregnancy was going so well and last week something happens... Everything just went downhill from there. I'm really glad you woke up, Mike."

"Me too."

It was awkward for a few minutes before I spoke again, "So how come we got married?"

She looked at me with sad eyes. "Jake had a wish. He wanted us to get married and have a child. Don't ask me why because I still don't know... I think we both felt so obligated to him we went through with it. That was right after he passed away... Then we fake-dated for a while and got married on February 20th, 2005. And believe me when I say that we did not get along..."

I smiled. Of course we don't get along. She never liked me.

"Wait, what happened with the charges?"

"Oh, you won that case. Free of all charges."

I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

"And that's my baby, right?" I looked at her round bump.

Angela giggled, "Yeah... It's our fourth child together. We have the twins, Rose and Jared, and our baby girl, AJ."

"Four kids?! That makes us-"

"A family of nine. I know."

I stared into the air. I have four kids with Angela?

"Is it too much?" she said.

I looked at her again. She was on the verge of tears.

"No, no... It's okay. When were our kids born?" I couldn't help but smile at the fact of having more kids.

"Rose and Jared were born on February 18th, 2006, and AJ on July 18th, 2007. This one's due in a couple of months." she ran her other hand over her stomach.

"How come we had more kids?"

"What do you mean?"

"If Jake wanted us to have a child, we would probably have separated by now, right? After our twins were born?"

She cleared her throat, "Oh... We, uh, developed feelings for each other..."

I felt myself blush. What? Impossible.

"I really missed you, Mike..." Angela was crying now. "Can I hold your hand? Please?"

Unsure, I put my hand out for her. She intertwined our fingers and sighed in relief.

It felt weird, to be honest. But also kind of right.

"I love you."

~

Angela: "I love you." I whispered to my husband.

I didn't really expect anything to be said in return, I honestly missed saying that to him.

Michael looked at our intertwined hands, "Do you know what we're having?"

"The baby?" I said, making him nod. "No, I wanted it to be a surprise."

Before he got a chance to stay anything else, the door burst open. It was Prince and Paris with Debbie.

"Daddy!" Paris attacked him in a giant hug. "I missed you so much..."

Prince joined their hug and both kids cried into their father's shoulder.

"Oh, my God... You're so big..." Michael gasped.

I looked at Debbie, confused. Her week wasn't up yet and I knew she wouldn't bring them back if I asked.

"Javon called, he told me what happened. I had to bring them back, I thought it would be good for him to see them." she told me.

I smiled gratefully at her and mouthed 'thank you'.

Michael looked between the two of us, obviously confused, "Bring them back? Wait, Debbie, what are you doing here?"

"I'll explain later." I promised.

"That's my queue to leave. I'll be in touch, Angela." Debbie smiled and kissed the children's heads before leaving.

"Daddy, you have to see AJ! She grew SO much." Paris excitedly said.

"How old is she again?" my husband looked at me, lost.

"She's ten months old."

I noticed it was all too much for him so I called Javon to take the kids.

"But we just got here, mom." Prince whined.

"I promise you can come back tomorrow, with the rest of your siblings. Your dad and I need to rest, it's been a long day."

They both hugged Michael again, very tightly, saying how much they love him.

"They're calling you mom?" he asked once they were gone.

"Yes," I grinned at the thought of my two step-kids. "This must be so weird for you, huh?"

He only nodded slightly, rubbing his forehead.

I then felt the baby move again. Without asking, I grabbed Michael's hand and placed it on my belly. "You should feel this."

His smile kept on growing as he felt the baby more and more.

We were in our own little world for a minute, making me feel like nothing changed.

"I forgot how this feels," he chuckled. "I haven't felt a baby kick since Blanket's pregnancy..."

That made me come back to reality, realizing he still doesn't remember anything.

"I think you should go," I told him. "This is probably not good for either of us."

Just as I finished my sentence, that cramp-like sensation started. Shit, not now...

Instinctively, I grabbed Michael's arm tightly.

"You okay?" he hurried to rub skin soothingly.

"Y- yeah, this should go away in a second." I groaned.

But the pain only got stronger and I suddenly forgot how to breathe right.

~

Michael: "Angela," I called, seeing how her monitor was going crazy. "Hey, breathe."

I made her look at me and guided her slowly.

Her grip on my arm loosened. It's good I remember how to handle pregnant women.

"Good..." I rubbed her shoulders soothingly.

She was crying a little so I wiped her tears. "Hey, it's over. Breathe, in and out. You did so well."

Just then, a doctor and a nurse burst in. They hurried to attend to Angela.

"We got notified about your heart rate and came as quickly as we could," the doctor told her, then looked at me. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Jackson. I'm Dr. Holden."

I nodded and shook his hand before he started checking Angela.

"I should probably go." I said, standing up, but Angela grabbed my hand tightly.

"Please, don't... I need you here."

This would've been a good time to tell her my head was hurting like hell. But I knew she really did need me, so I stayed.

~

They did a few tests on Angela before Dr. Holden got the ultrasound machine.

All I could do was sit next to her and hold her hand like she wanted me to.

Dr. Holden quickly found a spot on Angela's stomach and pressed the scanner on it. A heartbeat was heard.

"They seem... Healthy." he said.

I smiled at the image of our baby. I'm actually having a baby with Angela...

"Do you see that?" the doctor circled a corner on the screen. "It looks like the abruption has been reduced. It's only at around fifteen percent."

Angela closed her eyes and let out a big breath. "Why was my contraction so intense again?"

"I can't exactly say, but it's probably nothing. You're still not showing any signs of labor, so I'd say you're okay."

She squeezed my hand tighter.

~

Angela: Javon joined me once they took Michael back to his room, saying he needs to get some rest and have some tests done.

"How was it?" Javon asked while sitting next to me.

I shrugged, "I told him about the kids, how we got married, stuff like that... He's being very distant..."

"You can't blame him, though."

"I know," I rolled my eyes. "It was so weird... I held his hand and I could tell he felt absolutely nothing."

I didn't want to cry anymore but I couldn't help it. I was heartbroken.

"I'm sure he'll remember everything soon," Javon reassured. "Is the baby okay?"

I nodded and rubbed my bump. At least one thing is going right.

The bodyguard placed his hand on top of mine. "I'm always here if you need me."

"Thank you."

He proceeded to squeeze my hand, making me pull him close. I put my head on his shoulder, whimpering a little.

I needed some comfort. Javon was offering it to me, and I was glad he did. So when he wrapped his arms around me I didn't protest.

I could feel my heart clench in my chest again as the thought of Michael emerged again. It's so unfair.

"You're so strong, Mrs. Jackson. Don't forget that." he caressed my hair.

"I think we're past Mrs. Jackson already..." I smiled through my tears. "Just call me Angela."

He rubbed my arm soothingly and smiled back.

"Alright, Mrs. Jacks- I mean, Angela."

I sighed into his chest, praying everything will go smoothly from now on.