Stay the Night

Chapter 29

March 24th, 2003

Michael laid on the bed, sneakily catching glimpses of his wife getting dressed. Mariah had an appointment with Dr. Powell that morning, so they decided to call Joseph and Katherine to watch the kids for a few hours. He was also planning to surprise Mariah with lunch after the appointment so they could relax together for her birthday. They hadn't been on an actual date in a while, and he wanted to bring some romance back into their relationship.

"Why does nothing fit me?" Mariah mumbled, exasperated.

She was in the mirror,  desperately struggling to pull a striped sweater over her growing bump and even Michael had to admit Mariah was a little big for her to only be four months pregnant. She gained almost twice as much as she did with Elizabeth and Carey.  

Michael chuckled. "Babe, you having another set of twins on me?"

Her face paled. "Don't say that."

"Why?" He asked, innocently. "You wouldn't want another set of twins?"

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Boy, you better quit playing with me. I'm still trying to figure out how we survived with the first two."

He cackled, shaking his head. "It was not that bad."

"Yeah okay. You didn't  carry them for nine months." She peeled off the sweater and retreated back into their closet for another shirt. 

"You better not steal one of my shirts."  Michael called after her.

"They look better on me anyway." She shot back. "That's the only thing in  here I can fit."

"How have  you been pregnant three times and don't have any maternity stuff?" He asked, facetiously. 

Mariah flounced back out of the closet in one of Michael's button-downs, the front still open. "Because I either put it in storage or it's at the condo  in New York. Plus, I wasn't expecting to be this big at four months. Hell, I wasn't even this big with the twins."

"I feel like you should know to keep that stuff available since you're always pregnant." Michael said, resting his chin in his hand.

She ignored him, turning her back and doing a couple poses in the mirror. Michael, thoroughly amused by  her little movements, pushed himself off the bed and joined her. She cupped his cheek with her hand and giggled.

He wrapped his left hand around her waist, the right resting proudly on her belly. "You know what  I think?"

"What?" Mariah asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"That you should give me my damn shirt back before you stretch it out."

She shoved him away. "What the fuck ever. I wasn't gonna wear it anyway."

Michael giggled at her. "I'm just kidding!"

"Nah, no you weren't. Remember, you asked for this baby." She retorted as she slipped off the shirt. "Making fun of me."

Michael sat back down on the bed, observing Mariah. Her natural curls were resting on her shoulders, the nude colored bra she was wearing barely contained her swollen breasts, and her stomach gently rounded out from the new life she was carrying.

"I wouldn't keep asking for babies if you didn't look so good carrying them." He replied.

Mariah blushed, shaking her head. "Yeah, right. You're just saying that."

"Nah, you look good." He pressed, biting his lip.  "You wanna call Mother and see if she'll keep the kids until tomorrow?"

Mariah pursed her lips. "You're so nasty."