With Michael

Chapter 15 - Under Pressure

10th of May, 1988
Brooklyn is 22, Janet is 21, and Michael is 29

Michael: "Are you ready?" I asked Janet and Brooklyn, who were sitting across from me.
They both nodded excitedly and took off their blindfolds.
"Michael, this is amazing." my sister said, gaping at the Neverland gates.
"You've seen nothin' yet." I chuckled.
A bit before Brooke and I got married I was planning on buying this ranch. It was so beautiful, and peaceful. Perfect for us.
As soon as I got the chance to buy it, I did. Later on I showed Brooklyn the house itself, and she loved it.
But, she had no idea of what I did to this place.
I watched my sister and my wife. They were amazed by every little thing they saw.
"You're unbelievable," Brooklyn smiled at me. "You made this a theme park?"
"Yeah, it's for us to enjoy."
"Steve, could you drop us here?" I asked, seeing that the amusement park was close.
My driver nodded and stopped the car.
Before I could even reach the door handle, Janet grabbed it and quickly opened the door. She took her best friend's hand, both of them running towards the Ferris wheel, laughing together.
I shook my head, and tried to catch up.
"Dunk, you took my wife!" I said to my baby sister.
"Well, you took my best friend." she winked at me. I rolled my eyes at her.
"Baby, can we please go on it?" Brooke said, looking at me with her big green eyes.
"Of course we can." I smiled at her.
"You two sicken me." Janet mumbled.
"I thought we were cute to you." my wife told her.
"You are, but right now I want to go on that Ferris wheel."
I snickered.
"Let's go." I said, taking both of their hands, pulling them towards the rides.

~

Janet: Brooke and I got off of the Ferris wheel, laughing in sync.
Michael stumbled after us, and thanked the operator. We took our set on a bench, sighing.
Ronda came to us with a couple of lemonade glasses.
"Thanks, Ronda." my best friend said. She took a sip and smiled at me.
"So," I told her, watching my brother speaking to the employee. "When are you two giving me a niece or a nephew?"
She choked on her drink, and looked at me, overwhelmed.
"What? You've been married for almost two years. Mother's been wondering as well."
"We're not ready yet." Brooklyn murmured. "And we're still not done with tour. We can't allow ourselves a baby right now."
"You can take a break from tour." I offered.
"I already took a break, remember?" she rolled her eyes.
"It's over soon." I teased her.
"Mike, your sister's annoying me!" Brooke yelled to my brother.
Michael excused himself, and shook his hand. He made his way over to us.
"What did she do?" he asked.
"I wanna know when I'm getting a niece or a nephew." I answered.
My brother flushed red, looking away. "You'll get one when we're ready."
Did they read each other's minds or something?
"Come on, let's go inside. I want to show you our new house!" Brooklyn said excitedly.

~

19th of January, 1989
Brooklyn is 23, Michael is 30

Brooklyn: I was wondering around the main house. There was nothing too special about today. Michael and I were recovering from tour. And recovering meant that Michael was in our home studio, writing and recording demos. I knew that he needed quiet to do that, so I let him be.
I walked into the living room, still being overwhelmed by the size of it . It took me some time to get used to this house.
As I was about to sit on the couch, the phone rang.
I sighed and went into the kitchen.
"It's Cynthia, Mrs. Jackson." Ronda's sous-chef, Victoria, told me. Her hand was around the phone.
I nodded in gratitude, and she left.
"Cyn?" I asked into the phone.
"Hey, Brooke. Um, are you and Michael free today?" Cynthia said.
"Yeah, we are." I smiled.
"Good. Could you come over for dinner? We have something to tell you."
"Sure, I'll let Michael know."
She hung up, and I started walking towards the studio.
I knocked on the door, gently, afraid to interrupt my husband. It opened quickly. Michael was looking down at me, and smiled.
"What are you doing?" I asked, looking over his shoulder at the piles of papers with lyrics on them.
"Trying to brainstorm. It's going nowhere." he sighed.
"Then take a break." I suggested.
"I can't, I need to finish at least three songs by tomorrow, with the demos and all." my husband said.
"Who gave you a due date?"
"I did."
Of course he did.
"Mike, you need to relax. Come take a walk with me, both of us could use some fresh air." I told him.
He gave in, "I guess you're right."
I took his hand, leading him outside before he would change his mind.
"It's gonna rain." my husband said, looking up to the sky.
"So?" I asked. "Afraid of a little bit of water?"
The next thing I knew I was flung over Michael's shoulder.
"Michael, put me down." I said sternly.
"You've been annoying me today, so no." he told me.
"Who called earlier?" he asked casually.
"Maybe if you put me down, I'll tell you."
He chuckled and put me down on my feet, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Thank you," I smiled. "Now, Cynthia called. She invited us over for dinner later. I think it's a great idea, you need to stop working."
My husband sighed, "Fine. But we can't be there too long."
I kissed him, and he smiled into the kiss. I pulled away when I felt a drop of water on my nose.
"Told you." Michael looked up, and smirked. I hit his shoulder lightly.
"Come on, let's go inside." he said, taking my hand.
We quickly returned back into the house, before either of us could get wet.

~

Michael: I hugged Cynthia tightly.
"How are you, Cyn?" I asked her.
"Couldn't be better," she answered. "You look tired."
"That's because I am." I chuckled.
I put my hands in my pockets when she laughed, and watched Brooklyn and Chris talking.
"When's dad getting here?" my wife asked her brother.
"Uh, he said he'll be here." Chris said, looking at his watch.
"Sit down, you two." Cynthia smiled.
I loved their home; it was very welcoming, and had that warm feeling about it.
Brooke sat next to me, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. We talked for a few minutes before there were knocks on the door.
Chris excused himself and opened it. The three of us got up to greet Joshua as he walked in.
Like everyone else, he had asked about a baby as well. I understood why they were pushing us to have one, but we just didn't want to deal with it all right now.
And, we just wanted to enjoy each other for a few years before becoming parents, even if we both wanted it badly.
"Who's hungry?" Cynthia asked as we followed her into the dining room.

~

"Okay, now that we are all here, it's time for our news." Chris announced after we finished eating.
We all watched them, wondering what they had to say.
"I, um... I'm pregnant. I'm nine weeks in." Cynthia told us, smiling.
"Oh my God. I'm going to be an aunt?" Brooklyn asked, her hand over her heart.
It took some time for her to actually react, but I had the same reaction when Tito told me I was going to be an uncle for the first time.
My wife stood up from her seat next to me, and hugged both of them. I did the same.
"Dad?" Chris asked his father.
I knew how my brother-in-law felt, since Joshua was protective of his kids.
It felt just like the first time Brooke and I saw him after our honeymoon. Three words: embarrassing, awkward, and exposing.
"It's about time one of you gave me a grandchild," my father-in-law smiled and winked at us. "God knows I'm not getting any younger."
"Shut up, dad." Brooklyn mumbled, making all of us laugh.

~

28th of August, 1989
Brooklyn and Janet are 23, Michael is 30

Brooklyn: I smiled at my new nephew, holding him tightly.
"He's so cute." Janet whispered to Chris.
"I know. I mean, look at his father." my brother said, proud of himself.
"Hi, baby Jason," I told the baby in my arms, and played with his little hand. "I'm your auntie Brooke. This is your uncle Mike, and your other auntie, Janet."
"He was supposed to be born tomorrow." Michael scoffed as I handed the fragile baby to him.
"Sorry, Mike. He just couldn't wait one more day to meet his lovely family." Cynthia smiled.
"That's no excuse," my husband said, "He's still adorable, though."
I rolled my eyes, and looked at my nephew again.
"You're next." Janet pointed at us.
"I'm gonna kill you." Michael told her.
"She's right, it's your turn now. I want to be an uncle, too!" Chris crossed his arms over his chest.
"Isn't one baby enough for now?" I asked.
"For now." my best friend winked.

~

Michael closed the front door behind him.
"He was just so amazing. Imagine that being us, holding our new little baby Jackson." I mumbled the last part.
My husband squinted his eyes at me.
"What?" I asked, biting on my fingernail.
"Nothing, nothing." he shook his head. He disappeared into the kitchen, laughing to himself.
I followed him. Michael was taking out some juice from the fridge. He poured it into a glass and smiled at me.
"Do you have any suggestions for tomorrow?" I questioned.
"I thought you're supposed to come up with ideas," he shrugged. "It's not even that important, anyway."
"Of course it's important! Your birthday is always important."
"Brooke, I'm turning thirty-one. There's nothing special about that. It's just a reminder that I'm getting older. Believe me, the party you threw me last year was enough for a life time." my husband said.
"Then what do you want to do? We can't sit around and do nothing." I told him.
"Let's do exactly that. Sit around and do nothin'."
I let out a small laugh. "Okay, whatever you want, birthday boy."
He put down his glass on the counter and came over to me.
"What was that before, about a baby?" Michael teased.
I sighed, "Michael, I'm a woman. We see a baby, it makes us want one. But, I'm good for now, I have Jason."
He shook his head again, pulling me into a hug.
"You know what? Let's have ourselves a baby. And, if we're lucky, he'll get your good looks."
"You just ruined an amazing moment."
Michael chuckled and pulled me into a deep kiss.