She Changed "The Game"

Learning Some New Things

After they were in the safety of their own guest room, Ariana and Michael sat in complete awkward silence on the plush canopy bed. Neither of them knew exactly what to say. Ariana couldn't tell whether Michael was upset with her or not, while Michael felt that she was indeed upset about the entire situation. He understood if she was. He still was a little unsure.

Breaking the heavy silence, Michael spoke. "I'm not mad, if that's what you're thinking."

Ariana let out a noticeably huge sigh of relief, which made Michael chuckle. She was about to express her relief before he spoke again, causing her to tense right back up.

"Well, I am upset, but not with you at least. You'd be the last person I would be angry with," he said. "It's Randy. He should know better."

She nodded and looked down at the towels that she was still wrapped up in. "I had no idea he would do that, it's so weird." She shook her head and began denying it. "Maybe he was looking past me at Amarissa, not me." she said.

Michael scoffed. "I wish. I don't care who he could've been looking at. The fact that it was you bothers me. I don't know what he might do next, now."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He sighed. "Ari, you've got to be kidding me. Quit telling yourself it's not true, because it is. Randy has feelings for you."

She turned deathly pale in the face. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "He has for a while. Since the first time I introduced you to everyone back in '83 apparently. Now, I completely understand if you don't want to spend our Christmas here this year anymore, we can go home right now if you'd like. Just say the word."

She shook her head. "No. I want to, Michael. I need Christmas time with a true family. I want this baby, you know this." she said as she got up and looked into her suitcase for a pair of comfortable clothes. "And besides, this is a once in a lifetime chance. What other year does your parents go away for some Jehovah's Witness thing during Christmas, babe? This'll be the first Jackson Family Christmas, we can't miss it for the world. We'll just work our way around him and the situation." She knew she had a good point. "And you need a break from filming that Captain RE movie."

He laughed. "It's Captain EO, Ari."

"Yeah, that too! Point is, we're not leaving. Got it?" she said trying not to laugh.

He watched her while smirking and nodded. "Okay, then we'll stay. But I swear, if Randy advances towards you, his fucking head is coming off and will be shipped to a little German orphan for Christmas."

This made Ariana laugh. "Why German? And geez, babe cool it. I'm sure after what happened today at the pool, especially in front of Amarissa, he won't even think about it." She threw the towels in an empty bin designated for dirty clothes and removed her swimwear.

Michael looked away out of respect while she did so, giving her the privacy he thought she wanted. "Tell me when you're done, sweetness." he sweetly requested.

"Already done, Pooh." she said with a smile.

"Pooh?" he said as he directed his attention to her again. She was wearing a tight fitting pain white t-shirt and had on a pair of light pink silk pajama pants.

She nodded. "Since I'm Pooh Bear, you're Pooh." she then smiled. "Short. Sweet. Simple. And to the point."

"You changed pretty fast." he commented, changing the subject.

She narrowed her eyes, "I used to be a stripper, it's a specialty of mine." she winked.

He laughed. "Shut up, Ari." he laughed. He began to think, then asked the question running through his mind. "Baby?"