Slipping Away

Chapter 36

December 13th, 1995

Janet went into the kitchen to make her coffee. While she was waiting for it to brew, she glanced over and noticed that Michael was no longer on the couch. She raised an eyebrow. He couldn't have been in the bathroom because the door was open, but there was only one other place he could be. She crept towards the guestroom and leaned against the frame, smirking. Sure enough, there was Michael in Mariah's bed, one arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders and the other tangled in her honey brown tresses.

I knew it.

Michael couldn't stop himself from loving Mariah no matter how much he wanted to do. She had a hold on his heart that Janet had seen only one other time in Michael's life. Even then, Mariah brought out the protector in Michael, a side Janet had only seen with herself.

She gently tapped on the door and Michael cracked an eye open, putting his finger over his mouth to quiet Janet. He clearly wanted a few minutes more with Mariah, but Janet needed them to get up.

'Awwww' Janet mouthed to him, eliciting an eyeroll from him.

Janet tapped on the door once more, waking Mariah. 

"Morning, Janet." She yawned, sitting up. Michael sent a glare Janet's way from over Mariah's shoulder.

"Good morning, I was going to make breakfast but I didn't know what you guys wanted." Janet explained.

Mariah shrugged. "I'm not really hungry, you can make whatever you want."

"You need to eat." Michael chided.

"He's right." Janet agreed. "You do need to eat."

"I'll eat whatever you cook." She conceded, wrapping the blanket tighter around her.

Janet nodded. "Mike, what do you want?"

He smirked. "You know I'd love an egg white omelet, french toast lightly buttered, and some freshly squeezed orange juice."

"And you can get your ass up and make that yourself." Janet retorted playfully.

Mariah giggled and Janet noticed Michael grin at her. He was smitten with her all over again, leaving Janet to wonder what conversation they had in the night that would make them so close. Michael was absolutely glowing in her presence and Mariah even seemed to pick herself up a little bit.

"Mike, you wanna help me fix breakfast?" She asked.

Michael nodded and followed her into the kitchen.

"So what happened last night?"

Michael shrugged. "Nothing."

"Oh my gosh, you liar. You're blushing." Janet exclaimed.

Michael put his hands over her mouth. "Do you want her to hear you?"

"She probably already knows." Janet mumbled around his hand before pushing him away. 

He shook his head. "I needed to talk to you about something yesterday."

"What?" She asked as she started pulling eggs out of the refrigerator.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I was thinking about letting Debbie have my baby."

"Why would you do that when you've got a perfectly fine uterus in the other room?" Janet inquired.

Michael sighed. "Janet-"

Janet frowned. "Oh we're still pretending you don't want Mariah back, gotcha."