Butterflies

Chapter 12

Somewhere during the night / A few hours later,

Michael woke up feeling someone resting on his chest, confused for a moment he thought he was still dreaming about Nina but once his eyes got adjusted to the darkness he realized it was Jasmine and figured they must have fallen asleep on her couch after they ate some cake and enjoyed some wine while talking about their daughters and the struggles of being a single parent

"Jasmine" He softly mentioned, he couldn't move without waking her up "Jaz" He tried, a little louder this time

"Ay Fernando silencio estoy cansado (Hush, I'm tired)" Jasmine mumbled in her sleep while she cuddled further into his chest

"I'm not Fernando, who even is Fernando? " Michael wondered, he'd never heard Jasmine mention a Fernando before, was he some guy she's dating and if so was he around when Nicole was also staying at her place?

"Solo déjame dormir (just let me sleep)" Jasmine mumbled in her sleep

"Solo the what?" Michael frowned

"Ay dios mio" Jasmine sighed and opened her eyes, ready to curse out her ex husband for waking her up in the middle of the night "Ay wait a minute" she mumbled once her eyes were adjusted to the darkness and she realized what year it was and her head was resting on Michael's chest "Oh dios mio" she gasped "I'm sorry" she apologized and carefully sat up, making room for Michael to sit up too

"I didn't understand most of what you said anyway but who is Fernando? " Michael replied once they both sat on the couch

"El cobarde que me dejó cuando le dije que estaba embarazada (The coward who left me when I told him I was pregnant)" Jasmine scoffed

"I don't speak Spanish, remember?" Michael reminded her

"Oh, sorry, Fernando is the coward who left me when I told him I was pregnant" Jasmine mentioned "He did come back a few days later with a list of places where they perform 'safe' abortions, I cursed the shit out of him and told him I'd want a divorce, two weeks later Fernando and his fancy lawyer made a divorce contract saying I was soly responsible for the unborn child in my womb, Fernando would give up any parental rights and won't acknowledge the child and if I would try to get him to pay child support he'd sue me and say I only got pregnant to get a better financial status since he was getting a new fancy job at Wallstreet while I was having a risky dream of owning my own bakery here in California" She explained "Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones or the fact I just never wanted to see him again that made me agree to the fact I was going to be a single mom who just found a location to open my own bakery" she continued "My dad helped me pay for it and by the end of my pregnancy the bakery was ready to open for bussines" she added

"I'm glad you didn't give up on your dream to open your own bakery" Michael told her "And that Fernando guy, he doesn't know what he's missing, a child is the most beautiful gift you can ever receive" he mentioned "I can't picture my life without Nicole, she really is the reason I'm still here" he added

"Wait, how'd you mean she's the reason you're still here?" Jasmine asked

"If I'd also lost her that day I don't think I'd be sitting here right now" Michael replied

"I-" Jasmine gasped, at lost for words, she didn't know what to say so instead of saying something she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him

"Thank you" Michael replied wrapping his arms around her

He held her close, he missed the feeling of holding his wife and Jasmine missed the feeling of being held too

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that" Michael mentioned once they let go of each other

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked

"About what I said if I had lost Nicole too I wouldn't be here" Michael answered

"Michael don't be sorry it's how you felt, I understand that feeling" Jasmine replied

"No- Not really that was me in a moment of weakness and grief, I have so much to live for, there are so many children in the world to help and with my gift of music If I can help them, then that's what I'm going to do, that's my mission to help the children and heal the world" Michael began "Of course my heart would be shattered if I lost my baby girl too, but when I see the smile of those children when I go to those orphanages and hospitals that would help and lift me up to keep working hard to carry on with my mission" He continued

"Ay Michael en realidad tu eres un angel (Oh Michael in reality you are an Angel), You are so generous and so giving" "Jasmine told him

" I try" Michael replied shrugging his shoulders

"No you don't try, you do it, God Bless you" Jasmine told him

"Thank you" Michael replied

"Michael can I ask you a question?" Jasmine asked

"Sure" Michael nodded

"Do you ever wished you had a different life?  Like if you were not The Michael Jackson aka The Thriller"Jasmine asked

"Um I never attended university or college, I'm pretty much self-taught and own lots of books of different subjects such as history, art, philosophy, science, literature ecertra" Michael explained

"Wow that's amazing and really cool to know but you still haven't answered the question" Jasmine mentioned

"Oh you caught that huh" Michael replied smiling a little

"Yep don't be sneaky" Jasmine smiled

"My bad, well I do love doing Charity work, writing music, dancing, creating concepts for short films, creating magic and escapism" Michael began "Also uniting different cultures and I have the means to help disadvantage children, so I wouldn't trade my life for a diffrent career" he continued 

"I guess it's true what they say the eyes are the windows to your soul, no wonder in most of your interviews your wear sunglasses" Jasmine mentioned

"That's exactly why, I mean some people do ask really redclious questions so they can't see my eye rolls either" Michael mentioned

"Can't blame you for rolling your eyes at stupid questions" Jasmine replied

They continued talk some more and once the sun rised Jasmine made breakfast for all of them and Michael helped her by making coffee, tea and fresh orange juice before they woke up their daughters