13th of June, 2005
Michael is 46, Angela is 41

Angela: I gasped as I saw the two pink lines.

Covering my mouth, I started tearing up. I'm pregnant...

I returned to the bedroom where the TV was blaring with the news so I'd see how Michael's court was doing.

Today the jury was supposed to decide whether Michael is guilty or not.

He was coming out with Tom and his mother by his side, waving, but he was frowning.

"No... He has to win." I scrunched my eyebrows as I turned up the volume.

But then I saw a fan release white doves, and another one holding a sign that said 'Free of all charges'.

I sighed in relief and waited impatiently to tell Michael the great news I had.

~

"I'm going to sleep." Michael muttered when he entered the house.

"I have something to tell you..." I said.

"Not now, Angela. I'm tired."

I sighed, following him upstairs. He basically collapsed on the bed, not even bothering about taking off his clothes and changing into something more comfortable.

"Are you sure you don't want to hear what I have to say? You'll like it." I told him.

"Yes, I've just been through hell and all I want is to get some sleep."

I frowned, "Okay... Goodnight."

I switched off the lights, leaving the bedroom.

~

Michael: I woke up in the middle of the night, and decided to take a well needed shower.

As I took off my shirt, I noticed a little stick with a box next to it near the sink.

I read on the box that it was a pregnancy test, and my heart started beating faster. She's pregnant?

I picked the stick up and matched the results to what was written on the box.

She's pregnant... That's what she wanted to tell me. I'm such an ass.

I crawled back into bed, and tapped Angela's shoulder.

"Mmhm?" she asked sleepily.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, coming closer to her. "For being so ignorant when I came home. How are you feeling? Is my baby giving you trouble?"

"No, but his daddy is. How did you find out?"

"You left the pregnancy test on the counter in the bathroom..."

"Oh, yeah, I was eager to watch you on TV and see if you won." Angela mumbled.

"Aw, you care about me." I smiled.

"I just wanted to see if my husband and the father of my child was going to jail or not." she snickered.

Ouch.

I heard her yawn loudly, "I'm going back to sleep."

She was soon snoring lightly, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face at the thought of becoming a daddy again.

~

20th of June, 2005
Michael is 46, Angela is 41

Michael: "I fucking hate you. You just had to pick her, right? How can someone be so perky all the time?" Angela muttered as we entered Dr. Stevens's clinic.

"How can someone be so grumpy all the time? Cheer up, we're gonna see our baby for the first time."

"But she gets on my nerves."

"Everything gets on your nerves." I rolled my eyes.

Angela scoffed and entered Dr. Stevens's office.

~

"Oh, my God, I think you should see this!" Dr. Stevens gasped with a wide smile.

"Not again..." Angela sighed.

"Again?" I asked.

"We're having twins. That's how Lily's and Eric's first ultrasound looked like." she answered.

"We're having two babies?"

"You're having two babies!" Dr. Stevens chirped. "See? That's baby A, and that's baby B."

I looked as she pointed on the screen and slowly started seeing the two little beans.

"Oh, wow..." I felt my smile getting wider and wider.

"Thank you." I whispered to Angela and gave her forehead a kiss.

~

3rd of July, 2005
Michael is 46, Angela is 41

Angela: I hated dragging Michael to court again. But just like Jake wanted, he was going to officially adopt our kids.

We decided it should be after I get pregnant, so we could have another reason for the judge to let Michael adopt the children.

I was a bit scared, even though our attorney assured us this is just a formal step.

Unlike the last judge I had unfortunately met in the allegation case, this judge was the nicest person ever.

"So, I understand you're pregnant, Mrs. Jackson?" he smiled as Michael and I sat down.

"Yes, sir. With twins."

"Congratulations. Can you bring the children to the stand, please?"

Both Lily and Eric entered the courtroom, and went up on the stage. They made a pledge to tell the truth and only the truth, then sat down.

"How are you, guys?" the judge asked.

"We're okay." Lily said shyly.

"Yeah? And how do you feel like if I told you that Michael wants to adopt you? Would you like that?"

Eric nodded excitedly, "Michael's the best. And his children are, too. I always play with Prince."

"That's great," the judge said. "I guess I have no choice, huh? They love you, Michael. Adoption approved."

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding, and hugged Michael.

"Were you afraid?" he asked quietly.

"Just a little. I didn't know if he'll approve it." I confessed.

"Well, he did, and they're officially mine. Just like Jake wanted."

~

15th of March, 2006
Michael is 47, Angela is 42

Angela: Michael has been cold to me for weeks.

We barely talked, only when it was about the kids or the babies.

He hasn't given me a smile since our anniversary, and it honestly drove me crazy. He always smiled.

And he was sleeping so far away from me now that I was scared he'd fall from the edge of the bed in the middle of the night.

"Angela, Rose is hungry!" I heard him call from the nursery.

"Give her a bottle, I'm not up for it!"

I crossed my arms over my chest.

I'm done playing games. He wants to be a dick, so I can be a bitch.

"What's wrong with you? Your daughter is hungry and you know damn well she won't take a bottle into her mouth." Michael had an angry look on his face as he came into the bedroom.

"I said I'm not up for it. My nipples hurt." I said.

"Get your ass up, Angela, and feed our baby girl." he ordered.

"No. She's brutal, and I need my nipples."

I saw the rage in his eyes, and he grabbed me by my upper arm, making me stand up.

"You better watch the way to talk to me. I've had it with you and your bitchy attitude! Go. Feed. Our. Daughter."

"No." I refused again.

Michael's nostrils flared as he tightened his grip.

"Ow, Michael, you're hurting me!" I tried getting out of his hold.

"I don't care. You deserve it for talking to me like that. I've done everything I could for you. I fulfilled your husband's wish, I took you and your kids in, I supported you! And all you did was wreck me, emotionally, physically, and mentally!"

The tears burned my eyes as he pinned me to the wall so hard, I heard something crack.

I whimpered as the pain hit my shoulder.

"You're so ungrateful! You just keep hurting me over and over! I'm not you damn puppet, Angela! You can't just want me, and a second later tell me our marriage isn't real!"

He was crying now. The tears just poured out and didn't stop.

Michael let me go, looking more defeated than ever.

"Michael..." I reached my hurt arm out for him, until I realized how much he actually hurt me.

"Get out, and leave my kids here. If you try to take them, you're dead."

"They're my children." I scoffed.

"No, they're my children. You're just a surrogate I stupidly married. Get out."

I had to admit that hurt a little. Just a surrogate he married? I'm much more than that.

"I won't go through this without a fight, you know that." I told him.

Michael rolled his eyes, "You can try, but you know damn right that I'll win."

"I'll take Lily and Eric and go." I said quietly, not wanting to admit he was right.

"No, they're staying here, too. They are legally my children. Remember? I adopted them a few weeks after we found out you're pregnant. Exactly like Jake wanted." he smirked.

"Why are you like this?" I asked while wiping my tears.

"I'm being defensive. I can't let you hurt me or anyone else I love. Especially not my kids." he answered.

"Now before I get even more mad, get the fuck out and don't bother taking anything. Just leave."

~

Michael: A tear rolled down my cheek as I tried making Rose take the bottle into her mouth.

But she refused by moving her head around and screaming.

Since when am I not able to calm down my own child?

"Baby girl, come on. Your mom is gone, she won't be able to feed you anymore. You're gonna have to get used to a bottle." I cooed.

My daughter screamed louder, and I felt so useless.

"Michael?" I heard Eric. I lifted up my head and saw him at the nursery doorway.

"Hey, buddy." I smiled, bouncing my leg up and down to try and calm Rose down.

"Where's mom?"

"Um, she's not here."

"Yeah, obviously, but where is she?" he rolled his eyes just like his mother does.

"She's gone." I told him.

"Gone? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you'll be living with me for a while. Just me, you, your sister, Paris, Prince, Blanket, and the babies."

"But what about mom?" Eric looked worried.

"She left for a while." I sighed.

His face turned sad. I knew that for my own kids hearing that Angela was gone would only be a disappointment, because they were already used to being without a mother. But to Lily and Eric, Angela was all they knew. They barely remember Jake as they were so little when he died.

"When will she be back?"

"I'm not sure, buddy. But, hey, we're gonna have fun together, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, a smile making its way to his lips. "We're gonna have fun."

He hugged me, careful with his sister that still lay in my arms.

Rose looked up at her older brother, and stopped crying.

So it is me.

~

"Daddy, where's mommy?" Blanket asked suddenly at dinner.

"She's not here, Blanket. Now eat, please, before the twins wake up and I'll have to go take care of them." I answered, playing with the food on my plate.

"I want mommy to put me to bed tonight." he said.

I sighed.

"Yeah, dad, where's Angie?" Prince joined his brother's curiosity as well.

Paris asked the same question, and I couldn't take it anymore.

I took out my phone, dialing Grace's number. I told her to come over and take care of the older kids while I went to spend time with my babies.

~

Angela: The doctor that treated me smiled as he put a sling around my shoulder and arm.

"How did this happen, again?" he questioned.

"I fell down the stairs." I lied.

"And there are no other bruises in other body parts? Odd, don't you think?"

"I guess I'm just lucky."

The pain I felt from my shoulder after I left Michael's was too much, so I decided to check it out. Apparently, I had a dislocated shoulder.

I got scared. Since when is Michael so violent? I couldn't have pissed him off that much, right?

"So, congratulations on your two babies. You haven't published their names yet, right?" the doctor cleared his throat.

"No, we're waiting for them to grow a bit more before exposing them to the world." I explained.

"Well, we're all done. Just don't move your arm too much."

"Thanks."

I left his office with a heartache.

I was not sure what to do next. I had a place to stay, and still, all I wanted was to go home to Michael and our children.

~

I opened the door to mine and Jake's old house.

Going inside just blew the air out of my lungs.

This house has so many memories.

I went over each room. I only left a little over a year ago, but it seemed like I haven't been in here for almost a decade.

When I reached my old bedroom, I sighed.

We had a few pictures lying here and there, and on Jake's nightstand was a picture of him and Michael from 1998. Michael was holding Paris who was a little over a month old, and Jake was holding Lily and Eric who were just born.

I smiled sadly, now realizing how much I missed Michael.

My phone rang loudly, and when I took it out I saw Michael's name.

"What?" I asked.

"Rose won't calm down. I've tried everything. Please come home." he begged.

"Why should I, after you kicked me out like that?"

"Because I need you. Please, I'm sorry."

He needs me?

My heart was beating so fast in my chest that I barely heard him beg again.

"I'm coming." I told him, hanging up.

~

"I only came for my kids." I said to Michael as he let me into the house.

"I know. Thank you," he sighed. "Did I do that to you?"

I looked at my shoulder, nodding. "You dislocated my shoulder."

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened to me. I was so blinded by being mad that-"

He was cut off by Rose's screeching.

I hurried to run to the nursery where she was moving around in her crib, her small face red from crying.

"Shh, mommy's here..." I cooed and picked her up.

She calmed down almost instantly. I took a seat on the rocking chair and started feeding her.

Her black curly hair grew a bit since she was born, and her caramel skin was a little darker. Jared had the same skin tone, but looked a lot more like Michael.

I wiped Rose's tears and let her eat as much as she wanted.

"You're so amazing. Thank you." Michael said.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere." I rolled my eyes.

"I know..."

"You actually scared me today. I've never seen you like that... It's like you were a totally different person."

"I told you, I was being defensive. I- I don't want to get hurt, Angela. I've been hurt so many times before. And you turning down my anniversary gift kind of triggered something I can't even explain..." Michael mumbled.

"You sounded jealous when you said that you're not Jake. What was that all about?"

"I feel like I have to compare to him, you know? You're always saying how much you love him and how good he was..."

"Why do you need to compare to him, Michael? We're not a couple. You don't have to prove yourself to me." I told him.

Michael sighed, "I wish we were..."

"What was that?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Nothing. Just feed her, I'll be in the bedroom."

~

When Rose was done eating and fell asleep, I went to the bedroom.

Michael was leaning against the window, talking.

He didn't notice me coming in.

"Is this what you wanted? For me to fall in love with her? But you knew she's never going to love me back, because she's so deeply in love with you. Such a best you were. Thanks, Jake."

No... He can't love me. We don't get along, this just doesn't make sense.

"Now she actually hates me, after what I did to her. I'm so stupid," he continued. "No, actually, you are. Why the hell did you think this could ever work out?"

I cleared my throat, "Michael?"

"Is she asleep?" he whispered, wiping his tears.

"Did you mean what you just said? Are you really in love with me?"

"You heard all that?"

"Every word," I smiled a little. "And I don't hate you... You were upset, these things happen."

"But I still hurt you..." he sighed.

"I'll be fine, Michael. I promise." I reassured him.

Michael nodded, "I don't know what I'm feeling, but I'm far away from hating you... When you left today the kids asked where you were and I told them that you were gone for a while... I felt like someone was squeezing my heart when I said that. I don't want you to go. I want you here with me, to hold me, to kiss me... To make love to me. All those times we had sex, that wasn't only sex. That was true love between two people."

I couldn't believe my own ears, but somewhere my heart was telling me to go to him and give him a kiss.

And when I did, all of our problems seemed to disappear.

~

Ooh, a little action for you.

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~ShoamEmily