This chapter contains material of the sexual nature, blood, and may be triggering to some individuals. Reader caution is advised. 18+

Lakeville, Connecticut

Interlaken Inn; Sunnyside House

Wednesday, April 28th, 1982

11:32 A.M.

Later

"This is us, Sunnyside House..." I read off the plaque next to the door of the house, who's porch we stood on. "You got the keys, baby?" I asked Ash as she admired the hanging plants with wild flower blooms in them. Turning to me, she nodded curtly and held out the keys we'd been giving by the receptionist earlier. "Thank you." I took them from her dainty hand, proceeding to unlock the door. Our luggage sat around our legs by the now open entrance. I stashed my keys in a pocket, eyeballing her again like a lion ready to pounce.

I didn't know why we'd been so insatiable these last couple days, it doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. But then again, it makes a lot of sense. We're gonna become parents - which I don't regret at all, I couldn't be more excited about the prospect - we needed to get it out of our system for the most part before our little bundle of joy came into being, ready to cock-block the hell outta me.

I grinned, watching her examine a geranium in its pot in the ledge of the railing. She's had this thing about botany recently, digging through hoards of books and scientific journals about naturopath medicine. The Chinese medicine men fascinated her to no end, making her tell me all about them and how they utilized various plant's medicinal purposes for local and far away villagers throughout their country's lengthy history.

My little smarty pants, just look at her. She makes my heart ache and yet she's only an arms reach away...

The white button-up shirt she has tucked in to her jeans had me up in arms on the plane ride over here; it was tapered to a woman's figure and the button directly in front of her breasts would strain when she moved a certain way, taunting me. With my hands in my pockets, I nodded my head to the doorway, speaking.

"Ash, come on. We got things to do and places to be." She turned, giving me a glowing smile before grabbing some of the bags and walking inside. I followed her in with more of our things in my hands. And as if this morning wasn't enough for me, I felt my thoughts wander as I watched her perky little ass move in front of me. Damn, girl. Stop it, I thought to myself as we walked up the stairs and found the room we'd be staying in for the next couple days.

The room was nice, spacious, with a king-sized bed set against the wall looking pristine with clean sheets and a pressed comforter. I didn't care much about the room however. The only thing I cared about was my baby and how much I wanted to peel her out of those denim jeans she chose to wear. But the doorbell rang, followed by the sound of the front door opening with footsteps sounding on the hardwood. It was Mary Anne. I groaned audibly and fell backwards onto the bed, feeling thoroughly cock-blocked.

Astoria figured out where my brain was fairly quickly, chuckling at my antics. She made her way over to where I was on the bed, making the mattress sink slightly as she sat next to me. Her lips pecked me on my cheek, making me blush slightly. I grinned at her, caressing her cheek with a hand. She smiled in return, putting a hand on top of mine.

"Before I go see who just barraged into our place, I should let you know something." She looked shyly at me, batting her dark lashes. My thumb stroked her cheek.

"And what might that be?" She leaned down to whisper into my ear.

"I'm not wearing any underwear, Daddy." I gulped. Shit, baby. She leaned away, grinning from ear to ear, fully knowing what she's done to me with just that single sentence. All this time... during the plane ride, at the airport, in the limo that picked us up and drove us here. Fuck, the missed opportunity!

"You're gonna get it later tonight." I told her, sitting up as she stood up from the bed.

"I better." Winking at me, she walked out of the room to go see who the hell just walked in our front door. I fell back on the bed, more sexually frustrated then I'd ever been in my entire life.

Astoria

I walked down the stairs and turned the corner, finding Mary Anne standing with the front door wide open. Her arms were full of clipboards, overflowing with sticky notes, highlights and business cards. Some were already on the hardwood floor as I approached her.

"Mary Anne, are you alright?" Some papers whirled through the air as she stumbled, trying to kick the door shut. "Stop, ok. I got it, I got it." I hurried and shut the door, rushing to help her with the giant load of dead tree in her hands.

"Oh, Ash. I'm in way over my head!" She confessed as I grabbed at least half the stack of papers from her.

"You couldn't have admitted that sooner? Brin and I told you we would help you, but no! You assured us it would all be taken care of, and then, THEN, your future husband - while trying to do something incredibly nice for you - hires a professional wedding planner. Not a newbie, not an assistant. A full-blown, professional wedding planner, who is more than will to act more like an assistant for you just to make you more comfortable." I slammed my stack of papers onto the round, wooden dining room table. Mary Anne followed suit, and I could finally see my friend. She looked like a tornado had hit her, spun her around a few times and spat her back out on Earth. "Oh, you poor thing... Come here." 

She looked on the verge of tears as I held my arms wide open to give her a much needed hug. Mary Anne crumpled in my arms, letting some tears fall and dampen my white blouse but I didn't mind at all. My friend needed consoling for now, so console I shall. One hand rubbed her back, feeling the long 'invisible' zipper on the back of her dress.

"I just wanna get married! How hard can that be?!" She cried, sounding and looking absolutely miserable as she came up for arm from her previous spot in my armpit. Good thing I remembered to put on deodorant this morning...

"Shh, it's ok. Everything is going to be alright, Mary Anne. You'll see." Just then I heard footsteps come from behind us, in the kitchen. It was easy to find Michael, who had made his way downstairs at last, over the breakfast bar and under the overhanging cabinets. I snapped my free fingers, getting his attention. His eyes quickly found mine as I held her. "Baby, can you find a kettle and put on a pot of tea, please?"

"Yes, of course." He nodded, opening and closing cabinets as he searched for a tea kettle. Once a kettle had been found, he mouthed to me, 'Is everything ok?'. Mary Anne's wailing had gone down; however, she was still crying with abandon and letting it all out. Lord knows she's been holding it in four a good four months too. I mouthed back, 'Too much. She's been doing WAY too much.' Michael gave me a knowing look while he filled up the pot with water from the sink. Mary Anne removed herself slowly form my embrace after another couple minutes, her eyes puffy.

"Honey, do you feel a little better now?" I asked her, sitting down at the table. I saw Michael lean against the breakfast bar on an elbow out of the corner of my eye, she nodded while wiping streaked tears from her face.

"Oh, it's just awful." Her head pivoted, looking for something. "Are there tissues anywhere?" I looked around, but it was my boyfriend that found a full box before I did.

"Here." He handed them to Mary Anne's outreached hand, looking slightly relieved. She had clear snot running down over her upper lip, but I wasn't going to say anything - she probably already knew.

"Thank you, Michael." She blew her nose, making a sound no unlike that of a baby elephant. "Such a gentleman..." She sighed, sniffing once more. I chuckled. "What'd I say?" She asked me. I gave Michael a look, and he immediately lifted his hands up into the air.

"Don't look at me. I'm just here to find some cups." I balled up a tissue and threw it at him, making his laughter fill the stale air between the three of us. "Hey!"

"Find those cups, will you?" I prompted. He got the message and went to search for some mugs, allowing myself to give my friend my full attention. "Ok, what is it exactly we need to accomplish in two days?" Mary Anne put her hands in her lap.

"Um, I need to confirm with the caterer for the entrees and dessert... All the suits need steam-ironed, the bakery needs called - something happened with the cake, I don't even remember what it was anymore. And there's a couple other small things, but it's all there in the paperwork." Trying to be as supportive as possible, I prevented my grimace from making an appearance on my face. There's no question, I was going to try and figure this out for her and I drag Brinley along with me too. No way I'd let her off the hook from this, she was gonna help me.

"Alright, that doesn't sound too awful." I drew in a breath, letting my chest puff up and fall down as I released the air from my lungs. My lips pursued. "Babe?" I called for Michael, turning around in my chair. 

"Hmm?" He hummed, his lips folded into his mouth.

"We're gonna be here for a bit it looks like. Do you have anything to do?" He thought for a moment, looking away as he did. Such a thoughtful look on his gorgeous features made the sides of my lips turn upwards, I could look at him all day. What a total model... Now there's a thought.

"Not really." He shrugged, meeting my eyes again. 

"Brian said he would be playing horseshoes with his dad and groomsmen outside by the garden, if you'd like to join them Michael? I'm sure they wouldn't mind your company." Mary Anne suggested, blowing her nose soon after.

"I don't want to be a bother, Mary Anne." He looked skeptical.

"Nonsense!" Came her reply. I smiled as he met my eyes.

"You don't have to, Michael. It's alright. We're just going to be going through all this paperwork, making calls and whatnot. I didn't think you enjoy it much is all." I shrugged. Surprisingly, he grinned.

"Anytime with my girl, is a good time." That made me chuckle. He walked around the breakfast bar towards me, opening his arms wide to wrap around me. He sat down gently on my lap, giving my cheek a big, fat, audible kiss. I laughed, wrapping my arms around his in return. Mary Anne watched on at the two of us intently. She's never seen us together, only me. Come to think of it, I don't think she's ever even met Michael. Weird. I craned my neck so I could see her as I talked.

"Mary Anne, have you met Michael yet?" She was resting her chin in her hand, her elbow on the wooden table. 

"No actually. Only if you count concerts, which are nice but not at all the same." Michael spoke, his voice alight with surprise.

"You went to one of my concerts?" He asked her. She smiled. Mary Anne's love for the Jackson 5 was unbeatable, as far as know anyway. She's showed me all her albums, magazines, ticket stubs, buttons. Hell! Her dad even managed to get her one of Tito's hats that he wore on a T.V. show debut... I wonder if maybe I could manage to swipe it from her so I can get Tito to sign it? Probably not, whatever. Mary Anne had that hat locked up in a glass display case with her other collectibles.

"Yeah! I first saw you guys perform at The Forum in 1972, my dad surprised me with tickets as a way to say 'Sorry for dragging you with me on a business trip'. It was great." Her face glowed with reminisced memories, memories that were special to her. "It was my first concert too."

"Really! Were you near the front? Would I have seen you?" He asked, excited. "Playing The Forum was such an honor, you know we made a new record that night with how many people were in attendance." She shook her head.

"No, I wasn't in the front row. Those were sold out! Ya'll owe me good seats next time you go on tour with your brothers!" The two continued to chat about this back and forth for over a solid hour, I simply sat there, listening on like I was listening to an audiobook read by my friend and Michael - only it was about his early life, traveling, singing, touring. All of it was something we hadn't touched on subject-wise very much, and maybe we should sometime. I'd enjoy swapping stories with him some more...

10:43 P.M.

"You come over here and let me hold you, dang it." I giggled at my girlfriend as she finished brushing her teeth in the bathroom connected to our room. She'd left the door wide open like she's been doing at home; I guess habits don't change where you're on vacation, if you could call this a vacation.

I'd stayed with her and Mary Anne for the remainder of the night, helping them figure everything out which had been much more interesting than I initially thought it was going to be. It's obvious a lot of planning goes into weddings, but the actual volume of people you have to hire for the flowers, the venue, clothes - everything just seemed to be put into reality for me as we'd delved into the thick of it. Learning everything that I had earlier today made me change my mind as to the kind of wedding I wanted. Something small would be perfectly fine, I decided. 

Why jump through unnecessary hoops ad spend frivolous money around like it grows on trees? Can I afford a lavish wedding? Sure. But what good is lavish when I already have everything I want right in front of me?

A flick of the light could be heard from the bathroom as an angel walked out, clad in one of my t-shirts and a grin that made my heart clench. From the bed, I sat up pulling back the covers for her so she could climb in next to me for the night. My hand patted the sheet-clad mattress, but she shook her head. Before I could question her she climbed up on the bed from the far edge, deciding to crawl to me. My lips curled upwards in response to her sexy, eye-locking stare.

"Ash, you serious?" I knew she was, but I asked anyway. She nodded. A heat rushed to my cheeks. How can she still make me flustered like this? Astoria crawled into the bed next to me, ignoring my blush and flipping the covers over herself. Sitting up in the bed next to me, she eyeballed me. "What?"

"Are you gonna hold me, or just blush like you weren't fucking my brains out earlier today?" I let out a laugh from mild surprise at her vulgarity.

"I'll hold you, of course. What else am I gonna do, girl?" Our bodies intertwined together in a familiar grasp, settling into a position we'd been in many times before. I had to unwrap one arm from around her briefly so I could pull the lamp-light off next to the bed. Her quiet voice reached my ears as I settled back, spooning her from behind.

"Me." Whether her words were for me to hear or not, I heard her all the same.

"Cheeky." I replied. She didn't speak, instead I felt her hand grab my right one. She brought my hand up into the air somewhat, threading her fingers in and out of mine once, then she simply traced the lines and grooves in the darkness. My left hand, which was somewhat trapped under her torso tried to find its way to her lower abdomen. I want to feel our baby. Our baby. I'm still getting used to it, but part of me feels as though I'm already there - ready to be a father, I mean. Like becoming a dad was my true purpose, the one thing I was actually supposed to do from the beginning...

I wouldn't have met this lovely lady if my life hadn't of played out the way it has, so I'm grateful.

Astoria must have felt my left hand trying and failing to reach, because she took my right hand in both of hers and placed it gently to the spot I wished to touch. There, in between her bellybutton and the apex of her mound, was a tiny bump that was only noticeable through touch. My heart swelled with pride and a loving I didn't know anyone - let alone myself - was capable of. My lips kissed her shoulder, meeting the fibers of my shirt.

"Michael?"

"Yeah baby?" Her soft voice rang through the comfortable darkness that surrounded us, the tone leading my mind to other intimacies we've shared. Her hand that held my right one gripped tighter, but not uncomfortably so.

"You've left me waiting for too long now..." I breathed in her scent as she replied, all while moving my hand downward between her legs. A small gasp left her lips once my long fingers touched her folds - she'd forgone the underwear again. Noticing this, I smirked kissing the back of her exposed neck with purpose as she continued to let little sounds escape from her.

Words didn't need to be exchanged in this moment between us, there was no need. The two of us knew everything that was running through our heads as I pleasured my girl. Astoria finished with a sensual moan, releasing it into the night like a dirty secret. We fell asleep like that, intertwined. We woke up apart on separate sides of the bed, facing away from each other.

Friday, April 30th, 1982

Lakeville, Connecticut

The Reception

Everything had gone off without a hitch, the flowers, the tuxes had been steamed even. And now here we all were, still in Connecticut at the reception of Brian and Mary Anne's wedding. They're married, and what a lovely thing marriage is. They look so happy right now, unable to keep their eyes off each other. It's too bad that someone was calling for me - a waiter had come over with his hands behind his back, looking professional. Apparently Randy had been trying to get ahold of me from the past two days, what a schmuck. Walking into a building, the waiter led me to a phone on the wall and gestured to it for me. I raised a hand in thanks, picking up the phone.

"Randy? What do you want, man?" I spoke into the receiver.

"Mike? Thank god, do you know how long it took to get ahold of you? Two days! Two whole days!" I cut my brother off.

"Why'd you call?" It was a bit odd that he'd been trying to call me for a solid two days, that behavior was out of character from him.

"Well, now that I have you on the phone it seems a bit childish... but I was wondering, as a favor to your little bro... If maybe you'd put in a good word for me with Ash's friend, Brinley?" He paused. My hand moved the phone from my ear so I could groan and rest my forehead against the wall. That's what he spent two days trying to contact me for? Dear god...

"Randall, I am -." I sighed into the phone, trying to think of what to say without chewing him out. "You made me think something bad had happened, like Tito fell into the river while fishing or something, or, or... I don't know! But you call me while I'm at a wedding, knowing full-well that I'll be back home tomorrow. What the hell?"

"I know, I know! But I can't get this woman out of my brain, Mike. She's... Well, you saw her." I rolled my eyes.

"You're horny. Get a girlfriend, or a groupie. I don't really care, but you leave Brinley alone Ran. Do ya hear me?" He tisked me over the crackly line.

"That's what I'm trying to do here!" He protested.

"Look, we'll talk more about this when I get home. Alright? Go buy a Playboy to tide you over, Ran." He cut me off.

"That's not what this is about!" His voice became defensive, "Yeah, she's gorgeous. But this isn't me chasing tail, Mike. This is me wanting to take a good-looking lady out on a date, ok? We good? Good. And yes, we'll talk more about this when ya'll get back home. Lordy!" I frowned, this time feeling like a bit of a dick for assuming that all Randy wanted was to sleep with Brinley. If it didn't work out