Whenever, Wherever | Michael Jackson

Chapter 101-Private....No, Family Disscussion

Michael's eyes widened in disbelief, "They.....what?!" he sputtered, "Like—like the in a movie kind of 'switched bodies'?!"

"Yes!" Athena said, gripping her coffee mug tightly, "Kayden is Ellie and—and Ellie is Kayden!"

Michael stared at Athena in shock, his mind racing with the implications of this statement. They switched bodies? Like in a movie kind of 'switched bodies'? Could that even be possible?

"Like.....like Freaky Friday?! Okay," he said slowly, trying to process the information. "And how did this happen?"

Athena shook her head, still looking dumbfounded. She looked at her brother, who was in Ellie's body, "Tell him," she said, "My head is spinning!"

"Yeah, I know," Kayden, now in Ellie's body, said, looking just as confused as Athena did, "It's not like we planned for this to happen. One minute we were at home, and the next we were—well, we were each other."

"Okay," Michael said after a moment of thought, "So, what does this mean? Can you do anything differently now that you're in each other's bodies?"

"Look—so Kayden could sing when he was in his own body, does that now mean that Kayden can sing with Ellie's voice in her body?" Athena asked, "I'm trying to figure out how this works."

Ellie grinned, now in Kayden's body, "Well, Michael, what do you think? Do you want to find out?" she asked, her tone mischievous.

Michael furrowed his brow, unsure how to react to this unexpected turn of events. "Well, I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that," he said, shaking his head.

"Come on, Mikey, it'll be fun!" Ellie, in Kayden's body, pleaded, "Think of it as an adventure!"

"Hey! The only one that gets to call my husband 'Mikey' is me!" Athena glared, "You better cut that out right now."

Michael laughed softly, shaking his head in disbelief, "Wow, this is a real-life 'Freaky Friday', isn't it?" he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Athena stepped closer to Michael, "If you call him that again, we're gonna take this outside!" she glared at Ellie, who was in Kayden's body.

Michael widened his eyes and quickly wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her close and trying to calm her down. "Sweetheart, she's not gonna do it again," he whispered, kissing her temple softly, "I'm yours—not hers."

"Yeah, Ellie, don't call him that," Kayden, in Ellie's body, said, "My sister doesn't like it. She's not joking—she really will take your ass outside!"

Ellie widened Kayden's eyes, "She wouldn't fight me, would she? She's way smaller than I am!"

"You will find out, trust me," Athena threatened, crossing her arms with a smirk, "And I may be tiny, but I'm tougher than I look."

"Alright, alright!" Ellie exclaimed, holding up her hands in surrender, "No one's going outside. Sheesh!"

Michael let out a soft chuckle, "I think we've broken the ice. For now," he murmured, letting out a breath, whispering in Athena's ear, "Hey, I love you, okay? Ellie is just trying to be funny."

"Well, she's pushing her luck," Athena whispered back, "I really don't wanna have to slap the shit out my brothers face, but I will if she don't stop."

Michael slightly widened his eyes, wondering why she was so defensive, "Babe, are you pregnant?"

"No," Athena shook her head, "I'm on birth control."

Michael kissed her on the cheek, tightening his hold on her, "Period?" 

Athena closed her eyes, leaning into his touch, "I think it's coming in like.....two weeks."

"So, it's your hormones going a bit crazy?" Michael suggested gently, rubbing her back soothingly.

"If you'd let me get a hysterectomy, this wouldn't happen....." Athena grumbled.

"Baby, don't say that," Michael chided, "You're not having a doctor cut into you to remove your entire uterus just because you don't want to deal with your period cycle."

"But what if we don't plan on having kids?" Athena asked, "Then would you let me do it?"

"No," Michael frowned, "I don't see the need for that. And besides, you're young—what if you change your mind?"

"I had one miscarriage already," Athena scoffed, "Trust me, I don't want to go down that road again."

Although Michael felt her pain, not to the same extent that she did, he still couldn't let her undergo a major reproductive surgery like literally removing her entire uterus—to him, it seemed like too drastic of a measure. Even other forms of female sterilization seemed too dangerous or irreversible for his liking.

Michael sighed, still rubbing her back, "I would say to tie your tubes, but that also seems like a very permanent decision, and I know you're young and haven't made up your mind about having children yet."

"And maybe I never will," Athena murmured, her eyes distant, "I just can't stomach the idea of going through another loss like that one."

"Liam is a psychotic maniac that attacked you. That's why you miscarried," Michael pulled her closer, giving her a gentle squeeze, "I can't imagine how you feel, but I can understand the fear. You're allowed to feel that way, but—"

"Not only that, but pregnancy changes your body forever," Athena mumbled, "I don't want to get fat."

Michael tilted his head slightly, surprised by her sudden comment, "What are you talking about, sweetheart?"

"You know—stretch marks, weight gain, my stomach getting bigger, all those things that happen to women who get pregnant," Athena said defensively, "I can't go through that, Michael. You're a performer, I'm a performer, I'm constantly on stage, and so are you—how do you expect me to keep doing international tours pregnant?" she reasoned, "And besides that, because we're so, as the press would say 'rich and famous' as the King and Queen of Pop, neither of us are ever going to be home for that kid. Kids need lots of attention—what are we gonna do?—leave them with live-in nannies and babysitters until they're eighteen?"

"Sweetheart," Michael said, his voice gentle but firm, "While I completely understand how you feel about your body changing, I cannot—in good conscious—not bring children into the world with you. It's not about performing or fame; it's about love. If you're really that against getting pregnant, then we could always adopt. But I cannot agree to never having children with you or irrational surgeries to avoid pregnancy."

"You don't get it. You're not a woman—you'll never miscarry or have to give birth," Athena argued, "You body is not the one that will change. Mine will," she said.

Athena had always been insecure about her body—so she worked very hard to keep it as tiny as she could without it becoming unhealthy. And she wanted it to stay relatively similar to how it had always been.

Kayden and Ellie, who had been bickering on the couch, looked up—they were growing concerned with the nature of the discussion they had heard bits and pieces of.