All I Didn't Say ✧ Michael Jackson

Chapter 45 | Iconic

~the next morning~

"Hm," Michael yawns, stretching his arms towards the nightstand to turn off the alarm.

Before he's able to turn around, Aria locks her arms around his waist. "Morning," she greets. "I missed waking up next to you."

"Is that right?" Michael yawns once more and manages to free himself from her grip. "Good morning, honey." He smooches her lips.

"Really?" Aria frowns. "You've been out for five months and that's how you choose to kiss me?"

"Come here," he groans and starts to make up for his 'mistake'. "Happy now?" He breathes heavily and so does she.

"Very," Aria smirks. "Are you excited for today?"

"Oh, I can't wait. Janet put a lot of effort into this, didn't she?" Michael takes his hand to her left arm and rubs it, making her shiver as she nods.

"She also knows the sex." Aria confesses.

"What?!" Michael looks up at her.

"You know her... Last week we went to the doctor's appointment and she read the papers."

"That Dunk..." he shakes his head. "You?"

"Do you think I would know before you? No way!"

"I'm very mad at you," Michael lowers his head down on her body. "You let me down yesterday."

Aria laughs, "Who? The baby or my vagina?" Michael limits his response to an 'are you for real' glare. "I had to ask, sorry."

When Michael arrived yesterday, the baby stopped kicking and his excitement was thrown out the window. "I'm really, really mad," he kisses her stomach. All of a sudden, Michael feels a pretty strong kick hitting his lips.

"Ouch!" Aria sits up on the bed.

"Did you feel that?" He asks in amusement.

"Huh, yeah. It hurt." She frowns as she caresses her belly. "You can't talk to him like that!" Aria finally lets out a laugh.

"Him?" Michael grins and sits up as well. "Are you hoping for a boy?"

"Well, I don't have a preference but a boy would be... interesting." Aria smiles, looking up at him.

"And easier." He responds, lifting his eyebrows.

"Are you saying that women are difficult?" Aria crosses her arms, biting her lower lip. "Because I'm very fond of the idea of us having a girl."

"No! Girls are very intelligent. Therefore they're a challenge when it comes to raising them. Boys... they're dull."

"Are you implying that if we have a boy my son will be dull?" Aria continues.

"See?! You're proving to be a very difficult woman..." Michael gets closer to her and kisses the back of her neck.

"You keep drowning yourself, Jackson." Aria leans her head to the side as he keeps kissing her soft spot.

"And you keep proving my point." Michael's lips meet hers again. "Oh- wow," he whispers as he feels the baby kick again - the most amazing feeling in the world.

*

"Can I feel it? Can I feel it?" TJ jumps up and down next to Aria.

"Sure," she smiles. "Give me your hand, here."

The 13-year-old boy's face lightens up. "WOW! Taj, come here! Feel this-"

"Boys, auntie Ari needs to eat. You've had your meal, go play outside." Tito approaches and leads his sons to the backyard.

"It's okay, Tito." Aria takes another piece of broccoli to her mouth. "They're just as excited as I am. Anyway, I thought Dee Dee was coming!" Michael, who is sitting next to her, immediately looks at Aria. "What?" She mouths silently.

"She...We..." Tito sits down as well. "We're not in a very good place right now."

"I'm so sorry I asked, Tits." Aria tries to cheer him up with the nasty nickname she uses on him since they were kids. "Ahhh, you didn't see that coming did ya?"

Tito laughs hard. "I'm going to torture that kid of yours as soon as it comes out."

"Hey," Michael says, still chewing. "No need to bring my innocent unborn child into your revenge."

Aria keeps laughing until she feels a cold hand on her shoulder. She looks up to find Jermaine holding a little bag with his other hand.

"Hey," he says. "I-I didn't know what to get you, but I tried my best."

"I'm sure you did," Janet comments from the other side of the table and Tito shoots her a serious glare, making her stop smirking.

"Aw, thank you, Jermaine. It's beautiful! I love it," she sincerely thanks him and shows Michael the little yellow colored Adidas jacket.

"Wow," Michael says, holding the tiny piece of clothing. "Thank you, brother." Michael gets up to hug him. Although they have their differences, Jermaine is still his brother and he doesn't want to cause a scene, especially not today.

"Well, since we're opening gifts, let's get right to it!" Janet smiles and leads everyone to the living room. 

*

"Okay," Janet stands up from the couch. "This gift is very special." She announces.

"Because it's from you?" Michael asks in a joking tone.

"I said it was special not the best," Janet responds and everyone laughs. "Here it is," she gives a grey box to Aria.

The Medusa printed on the box gave it away. "Versace?!" Aria gasps. "How did he-"

"Girl, I had to tell him," Janet explains, rushing her sister into opening the gift.

Michael rests his chin on top of her head as she opens the box. Inside, there are the smallest and cutest diamond socks. "Oh my god, Michael, look at this!" She holds them up for him to see and his eyes, like everyone else's, open wide.

"There's more." Janet smiles, softly hitting Rebbie's arm with her elbow.

Michael takes his chance and grabs the box, finding a hard paper card in it. Out loud, Michael reads the following words:

"Michael and Aria, I'm more than thrilled for you two.

Here's a version of the most emblematic socks in fashion history, so your baby girl can be as iconic as her dad and mommy.

With love,

Gianni."

"Baby girl?" He asks in a whisper and then it hits him. "We're having a girl?!" Both Aria and Michael stand up as Janet and Rebbie run towards them both.

"You're having a girl!" Janet screams and suddenly the room is filled with the most wonderful sounds of joy.