Guides for the Pre-Engagement Life

I stared at myself as I stood in my undergarments opposite the mirror after my shower. I turned to the side and focused on my stomach area and tapped onto it. I was worried because I had been four days behind my scheduled "time of the month", and the more I thought about it, I realized that the time when Michael and I made up last month, I ran out of birth control pills since I wanted to abstain from any bedroom activity, and I also forgot to get more since I was distracted by all the problems we had. I started to worry about the idea of pregnancy, I mean, I wanted children one day, but I was only 23 years old and haven't gotten hitched yet.
I supposed the right thing to do was to tell Michael.

Preggers

I wandered into the bedroom where Michael had been getting dressed for the day. I ogled at his flexed muscles as he pulled a shirt over his body, and couldn't help but stare as he fiddled his fingers through his hair and the stubbles along his jawline.
He made me swoon just by looking at him.
"Is something troubling you, babe?" He asked as he glanced at me through the mirror.
"Oh, just staring at my lover. Is that wrong?" I swayed from my actual thoughts as I walked to the closet and took out my outfit for the day.
I pulled a pair of denim shorts over my black underwear and matched it with a white singlet and covered that with a loose red blouse, because Michael didn't like it when I exposed too much skin. I flicked my slightly damp hair to the side and couldn't help taking a peek at what he was doing, since he suddenly went quiet.
"What are your plans for today?" I randomly questioned as I turned to face him.
He had been staring at me the whole time.
"Was planning to go be a celebrity and go hang out with the usual ten to twelve kids at the Aquatic Club," He replied.
"I see that you'll be putting your status to good use," I joked while I made my way to him and wrap my arms around his torso.
"What are you going to do today?" He gave me a peck on the forehead.
"Hmm... I'm not sure, but I'll find something to do." I really wanted to tell him, but I didn't know how to. It was troublesome.
"What's wrong?"
Wow, did Michael notice?
"I know that look, Anne, you're thinking about something."
I sighed and grabbed his hand and led him to the bed, I sat beside him and wanted to blurt it out, but the words were clogged up in my throat and I wasn't sure on how to start it. I even began to fiddle with my fingers and avoided his gaze.
"Spill it out, Anne," He urged.
I slapped my hands onto my thighs and nodded. "Alright, Michael, uh, you know the night when we had makeup sex?" I looked at him as he simply gave a nod. "I realized that I didn't have any prescription pills and didn't get any until the week after," I confessed. "And you weren't wearing any protection either. So-"
"-Are you saying you're-?"
I shook my head followed by a shrug. "I'm not exactly sure, but I'm late."
Michael looked away for a moment before his lips curved into a smile. I really thought he would get angry or be worried like I was, but he was smiling.
"I'm going to buy a test today and see, because I don't really know if I am or not."
He grabbed a hold of my hand and said, "I'm coming with you."
"What? No! You don't have to!" I debated. "It could just be a false alarm."
"Anne, I want to," He insisted as he stared right into my eyes. Although it actually felt like he was staring right into my soul. "I'll take you." He still had a bright smile on his face.
I began to wonder what was up with him. I turned my body towards him and placed both hands on the side of his face. "Michael Phelps, why are you smiling so widely?" I quizzed while I pinched his cheeks. "Are you actually happy about all this?"
"I'm worried, but at the same time, I'm happy." He replied as he grabbed my hands and gave each one a light peck. "I would've preferred that you waited to get pregnant a few years from now, but if it can't be helped, then I'm glad that a little kid is on his way."
"There are two problems with that sentence," I said while pulling one hand away from his hold, I closed all my fingers but one and continued, "One, it takes two people to get pregnant, so you're to blame too."
I lifted another finger up. "Two. Why does it have to be a boy? What if it's a girl?"
Michael began to chuckle. "We never really talked about this topic before," He pointed out, which was true, considering that whenever it came up, we either avoided it, changed the whole topic or someone interrupted us when we actually wanted to talk about it.
"That's true," I muttered. "Then let's talk about it now. No one's around."
"Alright, Anne, what's your verdict?" He asked as he leaned back to lie on the bed.
I followed along and lay on my side to look at him as I answered, "Um, I want to have kids, honey, but not at this age. Maybe after we get married."
"I want to be married first too." He reached over and caressed my cheek. "I'm planning to retire after London, so, that'd be okay, right?" He chuckled. "Actually, it doesn't matter to me, just as long as you're the Mom."
"I want to have at least one before I reach 30."
"How many are we planning to have?"
"I want a boy and a girl, that's it."
"I want three... Hah, imagine if we had twins." He found that comment amusing.
I rolled onto my back and motioned the possible size of a pregnant belly. "Michael, it'll be around this big. I'll be bloated and moody and have to push two babies out of my body, and you think that I'll be fine with that?" I slightly got annoyed for some reason.
"You're moody either way," He teased. He knew I would be bothered by what he said because he automatically pulled me into a hug and apologized. "I'm joking, but I love you."
"You can't use 'I love you' to save you, Michael Phelps."
"Maybe you are pregnant, you've been a bit moody lately," He teased as he sat up and beckoned to the door. "Come on, I want to know if you are or not."
"Why are you so excited?" I laughed as I got up to my feet and being dragged to the door.

For some reason, Michael was ecstatic about the idea of me being pregnant.
He drove a bit too fast to the store too, and to think that he was the one who kept telling me to wait until we get married a few years back. That man confuses me sometimes.
We dashed through the grocery store once we got there, and we tried to be subtle in paying the two boxes of pregnancy test - even buried them amongst a whole heap of other things so that it wouldn't be obvious. However, the elderly cashier gave us a certain grin and wished us luck when she handed over the receipt. I hoped she wouldn't tell anyone.

"Okay, so I just have to pee on this and we wait ten minutes," I summarized the instructions as I took one from each box and went to the bathroom. Once I was done, I left it on the side of the bath tub and walked out, the door closed behind me as I saw Michael had been pacing back and forth, nibbling at his finger.
"How long do we wait?"
"Ten minutes," I answered as I stopped him on the spot and asked, "If it turns out that I am pregnant, what do we do?"
"We'll get it checked at the Doctor?"
"I know, but do we keep it?"
"Of course," He didn't hesitate to say. "I don't want you to abort."
I leaned my head against his chest and mumbled, "I'm getting worried."
"Maybe it won't be that bad," He tried to cheer me up. "Like you said, it takes two."
"I'm going to go find something to eat," I groaned as I wandered away from him.
Throughout the whole ten minutes, it felt like it was slow and it was killing me as I ate a packet of potato chips. Michael kept reminding me that it'll be alright, but even then. I became more uneasy. When the clock ticked right on the dot, I dropped whatever I held on to the sofa and rushed to the bathroom, and Michael wasn't too far behind either.
I focused on both sticks before I reached for the boxes and read what it meant. When I realized what the both read, I narrowed my eyes because both tests came out...

Baby Daddy

To cheer me up, Michael took me with him to an event at the Aquatic Club, because he said that I needed to see something. He wasn't meant to go, he had no training, but I knew that whenever he didn't have training, a few kids were there learning to swim and he always went to hang around those kids. I followed along to those types of events because he prompted me to be more involved, though I do and I donate to charities and go to events with or without him, it was more because I didn't know how to make a difference.
The children that Michael always took care of were the ill ones, they were part of the "Make a Wish" Foundation that Michael happily volunteered for, and he planned to open his own one day. He loved helping out children, and every time I saw him with children, he would always become more attractive.
I guess, one day, Michael Phelps would be a great Father.

"Michael!" All the children cheered as they splashed about in the water. And when they took notice of me, they called for me too. I knew those children. I played along with them whenever I was available to visit.
"Roxanne, you came to visit us!" A young girl, she was about twelve, called and hugged me, she was slightly damp because she had just gotten out of the pool. Her name was Millie, and she was diagnosed with a heart problem, but she remained strong.
I crouched down to her level and gave her a proper hug. "My how you've grown, Millie," I smiled as she cheerfully nodded and beckoned me to the pool.
"I don't have swimming gear," I apologized. "But I think Michael can swim with you."
The young girl looked at him with pleading eyes, and so did I. He wasn't prepared to swim, he didn't have proper gear on, nonetheless, he agreed and while giving me a certain look, he said, "Luckily, I keep spare things around in the locker room. I'll be right back."
I giggled at the way he wandered off. He didn't plan to swim.
"Roxanne, are you and Michael going to get married?" Millie asked out of the blue.
I looked at the girl, confused at her random question.
"I mean, everyone's been saying that you two aren't married yet. I thought people who are in love get married?" She sounded so innocent and naïve, but I was baffled.
"Um, well," I didn't know how to answer her. I brushed the strand of from her face and placed my hands on her shoulders. "Well, Millie, I guess you'll have to ask Michael when he'll ask me to marry him."
"He hasn't asked you? But he said that he was-"
"-Hey, you two can't talk about that. That's my secret with Millie!" Michael interrupted.
I pushed myself to my feet and gestured for him to hold onto the young girl's hand.
"That sucks. Millie, I thought you said that you can't keep secrets from me?"
She giggled, it was so cute. Although what made me smile and feel that maternal instinct was when Michael held onto the girl's hand and they went into the pool.

The more I watched Michael and the children, the more I felt maternal. While I sat on the benches, he swam around and played with the kids, they rode on his back while he did laps and he let them sit on his shoulders. Though it wasn't just him swimming around, there was another Swimmer who joined in half an hour later.
I knew very well that Michael Phelps was a keeper, but after the whole thing that occurred earlier that day, I was certain that he was a keeper.

"I've noticed how well you fit right in with those kids," I teased Michael as he took a seat beside me, the towel wrestled around over his head to dry his hair. "You're like a big kid in there," I continued to tease as I handed over his clothes.
"Millie really likes you. She wouldn't stop talking about you since you met," He commented.
"Yes, she told me," I revealed. "She also asked me about why we're not married yet."
"I told her I was going to marry you last year and she thought I already asked."
I shook my head and giggled. "You don't know how much I wanted to jump you when I saw how great of a Father you'd be," I confessed in a whisper which caused him to chuckle.
"Is that so? Did I pass the test? Am I'm Father-material enough?" Michael mocked me as he wrapped his arm around me and kissed my cheek. "I'll have to set up some sort of test for you then, just so I can see that you're Mother-material," He continued to kid around.
"I passed a long time ago," I announced. I giggled at his expression and his persistent questioning. I reached for his towel and covered his head as I told him, "I automatically passed when I began dating you, silly."
Michael's laugh echoed. Everyone looked our way as they made their way out of the pool, and I knew what I was going to get. I tried to escape his hold, but he began to tickle me and I wasn't able to get out of it. I took his shirt from his lap and used to cover my mouth as I let out my odd laugh. I continued to wriggle and squirm before he stopped and swept the towel off of his head. He then looked at me affectionately.
"So, did I pass?" I asked, mimicking his voice. "Am I Mother-material?"
"If you didn't pass, we wouldn't be here right-"
"-Michael, Roxanne, thank you for today," Millie interrupted as she stood opposite us in her cute dress. Her Mother waved at us a few steps away by the door before she called her daughter. I motioned for the young girl to give me a hug, to which she happily did and added, "Are you two going to have a baby one day?"
I heard Michael slightly choke in the midst of his chuckle. I could only smile as I parted from Millie and replied, "One day."
"I want to meet them one day."
I nodded. "Promise, Millie."
The twelve year old then waved and skipped happily to her Mother.
I sat there and felt sad. I knew what was wrong with that cheerful girl, and it was her Mom that told me that I wouldn't see her anymore because she was getting worse. That was, apparently, her last session at the pool. Michael gave me a pat on the shoulder and asked if I was okay. I wasn't, but I nodded anyway.
"That's why I asked you to come with me today, because she'd been begging me to bring you with me since a long time ago." He revealed.
I looked at him before I leaned on his shoulder. "It's just not fair how they get sick at such a young age," I muttered as I tried not to feel too upset.
"Is that why you didn't want any before?"
"Well, sort of," I sighed.
Michael reached for my hand and intertwined our fingers together, he gave the Promise Ring wrapped around my middle finger a tap and said, "We should start producing a mini-me if you want Millie to see him."
"Why does it always have to be a boy first?"
"Because I'm the youngest and I'm a boy, I want a boy first," He tried to reason with me.
"I want a pretty little girl like Millie." I sounded quite motherly right then and there, it sounded really weird when I thought about it, but Michael only smiled and responded, "With a beautiful woman like you as the Mom, we're bound to end up with one."
"I told you, it takes two." I reminded him as I stood up and tugged him with me. "Besides, you're the other half of the process, so I need you around."
"What, so I'm just your baby daddy?"
"Pretty much," I teased as I quickly made a run for it.

After the visit at the pool, Michael left to meet with a few of his friends to the bar, while I went to meet with a co-worker, Janet, for dinner. She and I worked under Fulton and were often paired up when travelling around, and she recently revealed that she had major news to tell me, which I found rather random since we weren't really that close outside of work.
People told me that she didn't particularly like me because of my relationship with a certain someone, but you know me, I'm never the one to judge unless they did something bad to me or anyone close to me.
"Anne, I have big news," Janet greeted me once I arrived to the table.
"Oh? What's up?" I replied, half-enthusiastically as I sat down opposite her.
"You remember Luke?"
How could I forget? I nearly fell for him.
"Well, after you two had your little affair thing or whatever that didn't really work out, and just before he left, he called me and we had a few drinks, and guess what?"
"Um, what?" I already had a hint of what she wanted to say.
"I'm pregnant!" She nearly screamed at the top of her lungs. I couldn't blame her, that woman has been trying to find herself a decent man to impregnate her since she turned thirty last month, and she didn't like the idea of being a single mom, but she had no other choice because the men she usually dated were douchebags who hit on me and other co-workers in the office. They even cheated on her.
"No way!" I really tried to sound surprised. "Congratulations, Janet! I bet you'd have a very gorgeous baby, since you and Luke are blessed with good looks. But have you told others yet? Or am I the first person you're telling?"
"I had to tell you, since you and Luke were all attached by the hip, and I think you're the only one I can confide in," She explained. "Besides, when I went to buy a pregnancy stick earlier today, I saw you and Michael rushing through the aisles and picked out two boxes pregnancy tests... So is there anything you want to tell me too?"
I grasped a hold the glass of water and began to drink. I shook my head and shrugged.
"Oh come on now, I'm sure you two are all wild and naughty in the bedroom," She egged on. "You're bound to have made yourselves a little Phelps."
I let out a fake laugh. "Oh Janet, not yet, I'm too young for that."
"So no big news?"
"I don't want to steal your thunder." I smiled. "No baby Phelps in my belly."
"The other thing, Roxanne, we're not close and all, but since you're the only one I can confide in, I want you to be the Godmother of my future baby," She added.
I touched my chest and felt my heart skip. That was quite a big honour.
Janet held onto my hand and softly said, "I know you'll be a good Mom one day."
I couldn't help but feel teary and instantly told her what Michael, Lia and I found out about that made me upset, and she spent most of the night cheering me up, though I tried my best to cheer up and make the moment go to her. Janet was genuinely being a nice person, not like how everyone explained her to be.
I was going to be the Godmother of her child. That was really a big honour.

Well, after we found out the negative results earlier that day, I wanted to find out why I was late. At first, I wanted to go to the Doctor on my own and had a proper check-up, but Michael followed along so that the both of us could see whether or not we were healthy in the fertility department for future reference when we're ready. Michael was healthy, but I, on the other hand, had problems with one of my tubes, thus the reason I was actually late on my time of the month and was fortunate to have had it detected.
I was set for surgery later that month to remove the problem.

When I got home from the dinner with Janet, Michael was already home. He saw my upset expression and instantly pulled me into a hug as I wept. I'd been playing an act since I found out that there was a small chance of ever getting pregnant after surgery.
"You know, it'd be really fun trying though."
"Talking dirty to me isn't going to work right now," I grumbled against his chest.
"Yeah, but it won't stop us from trying." He was so hopeful. "You'll be able to get your own little Millie one day," He added as he cupped my chin and gave me a kiss.
"You're just happy that you still get so much action."
Michael made a confusing notion, shrugging his shoulders and nodding yet shaking his head. I wasn't sure what he was trying to imply.
"I know that it'll fun trying, but we don't need a baby yet, you still have to take care of me. Though first things first, we'll get your problem fixed."
"If we ever get a baby-"
"-When we get a baby-"
"-Ah yeah, when we get a baby, I'm probably not going to pay attention to you anymore."
"What? That's not fair. I was here first."
I giggled and wiped my loose tears. "See, I've always been Motherly."
"Come on, I want to try something," He suddenly lifted me off my feet and tossed me over his shoulder. He gave my butt a tap as he headed to the bedroom.
"What are you doing? Where are we going? Ah! I don't like it up here," I complained as I pleaded for him to put me down, but he ignored me and kept going.
"We'll see when we get there," He chuckled as he closed the door.

One in a Million chance of ever getting pregnant with a little Phelps, ah, but like what Michael said - it'll be fun trying.