Guides for the Pre-Engagement Life

Do you remember Janet? The one who said I would be the Godmother to her child? Well she gave birth on October 14th 2010, to a healthy and adorable little girl who looked like a female version of Luke. I held the baby the first time when I stood by her throughout the labour, and even though I felt like puking, the moment was too beautiful to run to the bathroom. Michael was there, but he wasn't exactly in the room.
"Oh my God, Anne," Janet moaned when she leaned back on the pillow and she stared at me with the baby in my arms. "Look at you," She smiled. "You look great already!"
I stared down at the baby, who fell asleep in my arms, and couldn't help but smile.
"Anne... Wow..." Michael walked in with a surprised, blank look. His mouth slightly opened and his eyes narrowed, he released the three pink balloons that I asked him to buy for the new Mom, and when I faced him, he stood there really blank.
"Michael," I called him - no response. "Michael!" I tried not to sound louder than I should.
"Sorry, I- Well- Eh- I just-" He stammered and got tongue-tied along the way.
"-Michael, meet my Goddaughter, Joy," I introduced as he shook his head and walked closer to me to look at the baby. He still looked stunned throughout the whole time in the Hospital, but we both left Janet and the baby when she explained that she was exhausted.
When we got to the car, I quickly turned to Michael and asked, "What happened in there?"
"You caught me in surprise!" He nearly yelled.
"What are you talking about?"
"Anne, I walked in and thought you were holding our baby."
I fell speechless to his comment. I covered my mouth and giggled.
"It's not funny," He whined.
I nodded. "I know it's not but you should've seen your face," I said in between my giggles. "I think you looked cute when you walked in with a really surprised face."
He began to rub his forehead and turned away from me. He also started laughing. "You scared me in there," He mumbled.
"You make me laugh, honey," I sighed as I caught up with my breath and gave him a tap on the arm. "We have many more months to go, Mr Phelps, before you become a Dad."
"I can't wait for that," He grinned. "I thought you looked perfect with the baby in your arms, and just imagine what it would be like when it'll be our baby you're holding."
"Not yet," I shook my head and gave the baby bump a rub.
I was 17 weeks pregnant, so there was a visible belly and everyone knew that I was pregnant, even the tabloids. It was funny how quick people decided to take notice of my grown belly, and it amused me that they wouldn't stop talking about it.

Sneaking Around

A week after Janet gave birth, she and her baby daughter was discharged after getting cleared of the unexpected sickness that came a day after labour. She called on me to take her home, and when I did, there was a guest waiting at her door.
It was Luke Edwards.
Janet told him about her pregnancy anyway, and he was okay with it and even joked that he didn't mind being the donor. However, when time grew closer and closer to the birth of their daughter, he began to call me and Janet on random occasions to ask how things were going. I thought he didn't want anything to do with her and the baby. I told him to back off if he didn't want to be part of the baby's life, but a week later, he actually returned to Baltimore and begged to be part of Janet's life. He disappeared a day later, explaining that he was afraid. He was the same age as Derek, so 26, and still preferred sleeping around than find a decent girlfriend after I rejected him. While Janet was 30, and she wanted nothing more than a baby, she much preferred a child over a man.
But there was Luke, pleading once more and promising once again that he would be part of her life. Before Janet rejected him, a moving truck arrived and asked what Luke wanted to do with the belongings at the back, and right then and there, Janet fell into the younger man's charms and accepted him back into her life. I was unsure of how I felt towards the whole situation; nonetheless, I was happy for them. They actually looked happier than ever when I saw them again at the park with Herman.
I overheard them wanting to do a simple wedding to make things official, and Janet showed off the 3-carat diamond ring Luke proposed to her with.

Which had me thinking, where was my engagement ring? When was Michael going to propose to me? 2010 was only a few months away from ending and still no sign of him bending down on one knee for me. Was it because of me getting pregnant? Did he want to wait for the baby to be born?
I wanted to ask him, but I never had the chance to because he had been out and about lately. When he wasn't in Baltimore, he wouldn't pick up or reply to my texts as quickly as he used to, and he wouldn't call me before bed or text me when I woke up. And when he was in Baltimore, he would disappear on the random hours of the days when he wasn't training, and when he had training, he asked me not to wait for him. He would be gone for most of the day and I didn't have a clue what he was up to.
It wasn't until I decided to listen into one of his conversations, and with a bright smile, he mentioned that he was excited to see whoever was on the other person on the line. I didn't understand that, but he surely didn't mean what I thought he meant, right?

"Anne, you're just being impatient, delusional and acting up again." Lia laughed. She was the ears I knew would listen to my obnoxious claims and would sort me out straight away, since she also knew Michael and would know what he was up to considering they trained under the same Coach. "Michael stays at the same time as me. We all go home late because Bob knew that there wasn't going to be any training again for the next three months due to Thanksgiving and the Christmas break. So he wanted to keep us in our top shape before he went somewhere with his Family."
I sighed and placed the clothing back in the rack. "I suppose so..." I frustratingly pushed away the clothes I didn't like from the rack and stopped at one. I lifted it up and imagined myself wearing it. It was the maternity line in the store, and Lia wanted to play dress up with me again. I had the baby bump and my clothes were no longer fitting me.
"And Derek is with him when they do those photo shoots. You know that Speedo hardly split them up considering they're like two peas in a pod in the swimming world, even though they're no swimming under the same length. Just don't worry about it, Anne," She tried to reassure me as she lifted a dress and placed it in front of me.
I was about to say something, but I caught sight of Michael walk by. I took the clothes and placed it back into the rack, grabbed Lia's hand and dashed out to follow my suspicious boyfriend. My best friend played along, she probably wasn't pleased with the way I acted, but she figured it was my hormones and my suspecting personality that made me become the way that I acted.
We followed Michael down the street, turn a corner, brush pass many people and enter a store. I pretended to do something opposite the window while Lia crossed her arms and stood out, well, she stared at me and criticized my motives. I peeked through the window and saw the Olympian peck a woman on the cheek followed by an embrace, and she rummaged through something in a drawer before she took out a few small boxes and had Michael sign a few things. I looked at the sign and saw that it was a jewellery store and it was one of the most expensive ones in Baltimore. I frowned and muttered, "Is he just buying the engagement ring now? I thought he had it all along!"
Lia rolled her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay, maybe he is, so let's just get back to the store now and get you some maternity clothing," She grumbled.
"He's walking again!" I exclaimed and continued to pursue the man as he walked through the crowd and to the car park, where he placed the boxes into the boot of the car before he disappeared back to the footpath and into another store.

Lia and I spent a good hour following him around. It wasn't until I got hungry that I stopped, since the baby inside me made me crave for a nice burger from McDonalds. We took a seat and I munched away at my burger.
"Are you happy now? We wasted a pretty decent afternoon following around your boyfriend, who, I may add, looked like he was doing some errands," My best friend ranted as she picked up a fry and nibbled on it furiously. She swirled her cup about before she took a big gulp and added, "I'm surprised he isn't telling you anything."
"I don't understand why he's acting this way, to be honest," I answered.
"It's called a surprise, Anne, and because you don't like the idea of not knowing things, you're acting up again and I'm sure he's going to be disappointed that you wouldn't be surprised with all this elaborate planning," Lia was right. She was always right. I took a bite of my burger and slightly furrowed my brows thinking more about what Michael may have been up to. I looked up from my food and noticed her beckon towards the side and said, "Speaking of your boyfriend... Look whose coming."
I turned my head and placed my burger down, grab the tissue to wipe my hands before I stood up to go and give Michael welcome a hug. "Hey," I greeted, pretending that I didn't do anything behind his back.
"I got a text from a friend saying that my girlfriend and best friend walked in here," He revealed as he took a seat beside me. "What were you two up to today?" He asked while grabbing my burger and taking a bite.
"We were supposed to be shopping for her maternity clothes, but-"
I quickly interrupted Lia while she spoke and cleared my throat. "-But, we got caught up doing some girly things before I got hungry," I cut in and glared at the woman opposite me.
"So you didn't end up buying anything?" He innocently went on.
We both shook our heads.
"I see," He smiled and happily ate my burger without me realizing it. "Anyway, I have something up, so I'll see you at home, babe," He grinned before he pecked my forehead and walked away, twirling the keys around his finger while texting someone through his phone. I waited until he was outside before I turned back to Lia and said, "Are you kidding me? You can't tell him we followed him!"
"For freaks sake," She sighed. "Anne, because I love you and you're my best friend, I have to put up with your pregnant personality, which I hope I won't get."
I looked down at my empty tray with a shocked expression. "Did he finish my burger?"
"Look what I have to put up with," She moaned as she stood up to go buy me another one.

I love Lia. She was the Sister I never had.

Pretending nothing is happening

Another day passed and I still couldn't get it out of my head about what Michael was up to. The boxes he got from the jewellery store were tucked away in the spare room closet, but he locked it, so I had no access to it. There were other things in the closet too. I knew that because I took a peek when it was unlocked one day. I was really frustrated with him, and I doubt it was my hormones because it felt normal.

Michael returned home around six in the evening, he brought home a box of pizza that I asked for. Herman took one pizza away once we opened the box, and I took one not long after. As I sat there on the sofa in my new maternity night dress, munching away at my dinner, Michael took a seat beside me and asked, "How are you?"
"I'm good. And you?" I casually replied, still pretending that I wasn't going crazy.
His arm wrapped around my waist and placed his hand on top of my baby bump. He leaned his head back as he stared at the TV. "Slightly tired," He yawned.
"I thought you didn't have training today? What did you do?"
"I went to the gym with the guys, and then I went to the Aquatic Centre to meet up with the kids," He listed down. "Oh, Millie's back. I invited her to come with us to the next ultrasound to find out if we're really having a boy."
"I can't wait to see Millie!" I excitedly fidgeted about as I finished the piece in my hand. "But don't change the subject, what else did you do today?" I returned back to what we were talking about before he changed it.
He let out a chuckle. "What's up with you lately? You've been a bit edgy. " He asked as he sat up properly to reach for the remote and turned off the TV so my attention was back to him. "Is something wrong?"
I shook my head, quickly denying the truth. "I'm fine. Maybe it's just all these random changes with my body. I mean I have a belly now, my boobs are sore and I am always craving food, and I mean it, always." I rambled, my hands waved about just to make it sound convincing that it was really my problem.
"Are you sure, Anne?" He asked. His brown eyes burned into mine as though he stared right through my lie and bad acting.
I gulped and nodded.
"So, yesterday, you weren't following me around Downtown?"
Oh crap.
"And you weren't making up lies last night that you weren't trying to break into the closet?"
I groaned and pushed myself up to my feet. "Alright! I admit that I followed you around yesterday afternoon!" I shouted in defeat. "I wanted to know what you were doing lately, because you've been acting weird!" I confessed.
"I'm not acting weird, you are," He debated.
"Why am I acting weird? You're the one acting dodgy and suspicious."
He laughed. Why would he be laughing at me? That was a serious comment!
"Anne, why are you always suspicious of the little things, can't a guy surprise his girlfriend with anything?" He stood up and pulled out a box from below the sofa on the way up. I frowned at the fact that I didn't notice the things he hid around the house. "I bought this, thinking it'd be a good way to surprise you, but heck, you're already going on a hunt," He commented as he handed me the box.
I didn't even wait to open it. As soon as it was in my grasp, I lifted the lid and saw a note on top that said, "Hah, Anne, you're so impatient! Say cheese!". And once I looked up, Michael had taken a photo of my expression with his phone and grinned at me. I lifted the paper and found that there was still something else inside. I lifted that up and there was another note that said, "I was kidding, Anne, the real thing is inside."
"Michael, I'm tired of these games," I denied on going further, but Michael insisted with a small push of the box towards me. He pleaded for me to play along. I sighed in defeat and tossed the note on top of the other and reached inside. When I pulled out the last thing inside, it was map of Ann Arbor. I was more confused than ever. "What's this for?"
"Road trip," He revealed with a bright smile.
"We're going to Ann Arbor?" Wow, it's been nearly two years since I was in Ann Arbor, and it felt sentimental just staring at the map. There were so many memories there. "Why?"
"I don't know. I suddenly felt like going to visit the place again."
"What are you up to?" I whined as I waved the map around.
"Just trust me on this," Michael begged. His hands clasped together as he asked me to believe in what he planned. "Please don't overthink, let's go with the flow, okay?" He continued. I didn't know what to think anymore. I simply nodded and put everything down and sat back down with my arms crossed.
I looked like a kid sitting there, but I was definitely going crazy.

We were going back to Ann Arbor. What was Michael Phelps up to?