Guides for the Pre-Engagement Life

Michael decided that we both went on a road trip to Ann Arbor, and it was quite a drive with a few stops for both sleeping and puking. I was exhausted when we got there, but what he surprised me with was the fact that he managed to rent out my old apartment that I lived in throughout the whole time I was there.
Apparently, we were there for two weeks. Derek and Lia were headed to Ann Arbor in a few days after their quick stop to North Carolina to visit Lia's Grandmother. It wasn't just those two, but there were a few people from the past too.
Remember Brunette A and Brunette B? Also known as Jessica and Tiffany, and they both still stuck together like glue, living in San Francisco. Tiffany married Lance in the end after a big break up that everyone knew about when we graduated, while Jessica managed to hook onto Jared the Quarterback, who played for the Green Bay Packers for three years after graduation, but was injured and now coached some High School team.
Then there was Jesse, remember him? The one who worked with Lia and I at the Ice Cream Parlour? Well, he travelled the world and settled on being a travel guide at various places in the world for a TV show.
Ah, the memories rolled into my head and made me dizzy when Michael parked the car. He led me inside, and when he opened the door, I couldn't help but imagine myself and him all over the place while we were still on the dating stage. I was amazed at how well-managed it was, and I figured it was because the new owners were a young couple who both chose University of Michigan to study so that they could be together - though they haven't moved in just yet due to delays in the applications.
I didn't know how Michael managed to rent out my old apartment for two weeks, but if I had known better, he probably used his name for the sake of it.

"You know we don't have to be here, we could stay at the hotel," I yawned as we entered into the apartment and saw that everything was left the way it was before, since Lia and I decided to sell our belongings for the sake of the new tenant and to keep the stress of all the moving trucks away from the Landlord. "Oh wow," I gasped as I dropped my bag on the same old sofa with the maroon colour and wandered deeper into the apartment, and I found that the few marks and stains that Lia and I left behind were there after two years.
"Anne, when we get back to Baltimore, we get to find out the gender of our baby, right?" I heard Michael call out as he dropped the bags off to the side and slammed the door. I heard his footsteps get louder as he found me in my old bedroom. "Did you hear me?" He asked as he walked in and his head turned about eying every inch as though he was reminded about the nights he spent in there.
"Um, yeah, I'll be 20 weeks along. It'll be important for me to go to an appointment to see how the baby is going, and I think it'll also be okay to find out what the sex of the baby is," I answered him as I took a seat on the bed and placed my hand on my belly. It poked out of my normal clothes, so I had to shop for the maternity ones or at least a bit looser, and the pregnancy made me gain a few extra pounds, which was said to be good because that meant that the baby was healthy. I let out a tired exhale and muttered, "I can't wait for this one to come out. I'm always getting sore feet every time I stand up. I don't even know what we're doing here, Michael..."
"You promised me that you'll humour me," Michael complained as he walked out to get the bags. I sat there and shook my head at the whole idea and swept my hand up and down on the baby bump. It wasn't that big yet, but it was visible and there were light movements in there, which always had the Olympian excited every time he was there to feel it.
"I may not know what you're up to, but I have a gist considering that there are certain people about," I spoke up as soon as he returned to the room. He placed our things on the side before he made his way over and kneeled on the floor, between my legs and he placed both hands on either side of the baby bump. He lightly pecked the top of my bump and whispered, "Hey, can you keep your Mom mentally sane for me for the next two weeks, please, because the moody side of her is going to be a heck of a ride and she won't want to cooperate with me when I already planned things out."
"You're only- Wa-" I touched my chest and felt my breath taken out of me. I felt the usual indigestion that the Doctor told me I would go through from time to time.
"Wow, did you feel that?" Michael had excitement and delight in his tone as he looked up at me. He was like a child who discovered something new. I smiled towards him and combed my fingers through his brown hair and leaned down as far as I can to kiss the top of his head, though he met my lips instead. "He heard me," He added in amusement as he leaned back down, closer to the baby and asked, "If you're a boy, you'll kick again."
"The baby won't know what the difference- Ah-" I felt the baby kick, though it was light, it was a different feeling when it was inside me. I watched Michael stand up and said, "There you go, the baby is a boy."
"And if it's a girl, what would you do?" I teased as I kicked off my shoes and lay down on the bed. "Would you still love her just as much as you would love a son?"
"Anne, I'm happy either way," He replied with a cheesy grin. He flicked off his shoes to the side and he climbed into bed. We both rolled to our sides and faced each other with no words coming out of our mouths, and we just looked into each other's eyes.

I wanted to ask him when he would pop the question.
I was growing impatient and frustrated. Michael, do I have to ask?

Complaints

That first week was spent catching up with the old Professors that taught us, and my Professors were pretty excited with the news of my pregnancy that they practically showered me with unnecessary gifts, as they thought they wouldn't see me again. They also made me appear in a class, introduced me and made me talk about the first book I published while I was a student in the Campus. I was approached by ex-classmates who were also around, but they didn't tell me why they were there either. I grew suspicious.
When I reunited with Michael, Lia and Derek at the Swimming Facility, they were talking to the new Coach, new Swimmers and the old Swimmers who also ended up in Ann Arbor - and as expected, they didn't tell me squat.

Lia decided to take me away when both men and the other male swimmers present that day had decided to take up a challenge by the new Swim Team. She took me to the Ice Cream Parlour that was changed into a full-scale diner. There were new staff and a new owner, but our marks on the walls were still there. We met up with Brunette A and Brunette B and Jesse, and the three of us decided to catch up and reminisce.

"So, let me get this straight, Lia and Tiffany are married, while Jessica is still in the process of decoding her retired-Quarterback and Roxanne is pregnant. All of you are the same age, and all this happened in the course of two years since moving out of Ann Arbor?" Jesse summarized the whole story that we told each other. He finished saying that he wasn't interested in settling down yet, but he'd had his eye on a girl who he kept contact with since they met in a conference in Australia. She was an ex-Gymnast before suffering a bad injury that made her become a Coach, and she was nearing her thirties, which made her older than Jesse by only two to three years.
"What's confusing me is why Michael announced that he would bring a wife to London when he hasn't bended down and asked you yet," Brunette B pointed out as she flicked her hair away from her face. She took a sip on the chocolate milkshake and added, "When do you think he's going to propose?"
"What I want to know is why everyone's gathered here," I murmured under my breath.
"Anne's a bit moody lately," Lia spoke up as she wrapped her arm around me and gave me a pat on the shoulder. "It's because she's 18 weeks along, and I can't wait to find out what the sex is of the baby. I'm betting on a little girl, but knowing the boys, they're hoping for a mini-me of Michael," She continued on. She completely changed the topic.
They were really up to something!
I put both hands on the table, which silenced them and I asked, "What's going on here?"
"What are you talking about, Rox?" Brunette A questioned with a cocked eyebrow as she bit on the straw. They all acted hostile at that point.
"Why would you all gathered here? I didn't get an invite, or is this a reunion for the popular people and I'm just being brought along because I'm in a relationship with a famous person?" I ranted on. I sounded bitchy, but I didn't like the way people were acting. "This is unfair on me, you know. It just proves that my status is still looked down on."
"Anne, we-" Jesse started to speak.
I shook my head and stood up. "-No, it's okay, I get it." I turned away and walked out on them. I know it was rude of me to do so, but it really did hurt my feelings in a way that I thought it would. I mean, if Michael told me that he brought me there just because he was invited to a mini reunion with the popular group of people in the campus, then I wouldn't have followed him to Ann Arbor. But the weird thing about the whole situation was why Michael kept begging for me to play along. Play along to what?

I practically wondered around Ann Arbor on my own for a while. When I got tired, I went to the park, sat down and just sulked. I didn't want to cry, but I was feeling really down about the whole thing. I didn't want to talk to anyone anymore.
"My God," I moaned as I buried my face into my hands as I was on the bench.
"Anne, there you are!"
My head jotted up and narrowed my eyes.
"Lia called me that you walked out on them and disappeared," Michael panted. He looked like he ran around town, searching for me. "What's wrong, Anne?" He sighed as he took a seat next to me, his hand rubbed off the loose sweat on his face.
I remained silent, my head back into my hands as I refused to look at him.
"What's wrong? I can't read your mind."
I shook my head and leaned back next to him. A light exhale as I crossed my arms.
"Anne," He sternly called my name. "Come on, you have to tell me."
"People are acting up. You, especially, and I don't know what you're planning."
Michael chuckled.
"Ugh, see, you're always laughing at me!" I complained.
"Listen, Anne, there's nothing going on, can't you just trust me on this," He sounded quite upset with me. "Maybe you're just exhausted and tired. Do you want to take the rest of the night off? Stay home? Everyone understands that you're exhausted since you're pregnant, so we'll see them tomorrow again."
"I guess I'm just moody," I admitted, but I flinched at the fact he said that we'd see the others again the next day. Why? What were we doing?
"Come, let's go home." Michael pushed himself up and reached his hand out for me.
I looked up at him with an apologetic stare. I weakly smiled and accepted his hand to help me to my foot. I was being overdramatic, made me feel horrible towards everyone.
"I love you, remember that," He whispered into my ear and gave me a peck on the cheek as he held onto my hand tightly.
I think I was going insane.

Reassurance

I sent everyone a text of apology when I got home, and all of them gave me a call that they got worried about me thus the reason they all approached Michael earlier than expected, since they said they couldn't find me. Lia was the last one to call me, and she threatened to kill me if I ever acted like that again because it made her worry to death. Brunette A and Jared stopped over to drop off a late birthday gift that she mentioned she bought when she went to Los Angeles and was quickly reminded of me when she saw it. Brunette B claimed that she cried when I walked out and sobbed through the phone that she wanted to make it up to me when she saw me again the following day. Then there was Jesse, who felt guilty about the whole mess that he accidentally told me that he would see me at a party the tomorrow evening. What party?
What was everyone talking about?
Gah!

"Monkey, I hope you'll be okay tomorrow," Derek spoke as he helped me put the fruits into the bowl. Lia told him to drop off the fruits because she thought that I needed some in me, since she somehow thought that it was what I was missing from my diet. He stayed longer than he had expected due to the fact that Michael asked him to keep an eye on me while he stepped out a bit.
"Gorilla, if you were in Michael's position and Lia was in mine, what would you do?" I asked innocently as I lifted an apple and rinsed it under the tap before I took a big bite.
The man stood there quite surprised with my question. "I never really thought about it," He muttered under his breath. "Well, if it was this way, I would've told everyone to back off and we figure out a way to solve everything without anyone butting in," He began. "Though, if I had to put it on your position and I had to look at it through your eyes, then I would be as stressed as you considering people are hiding shit from me."
"See!" I nearly dropped my apple when I reacted to his answer. "You know how I feel."
"But I suppose that it's because we're both impatient," He sighed. "Anne, we're both impatient, even when Lia tries to surprise me, I get suspicious or overly frustrated," He confessed as he picked up an apple from the bunch of fruits and took a bite.
I never realized, after six years of knowing Derek, that we were surprisingly the same in our own funky way. I supposed that was how we got along well with each other.
"Anyway, Monkey, why are you being weirder than usual?"
"Maybe because Michael hasn't proposed to me yet..." I leaned against the counter and took another big bite of the half-eaten apple. "2010 is nearly over."
Lia's husband tapped the apple against his lips and combed his fingers through his hair with his free hand, and he looked away for a second as we both heard the door slam and my significant other's voice call for the both of us. Derek tilted his head towards the gap that led towards where the voice came from. "Don't you think you should really be telling Michael Phelps this? Not me?" He suggested with a serious tone. He gave me a light slap on the arm as he walked out without another word.
He was right. Maybe I shouldn't hold in my thoughts anymore.
I should tell Michael.

Well, I tried but I lied to you. I couldn't tell Michael as every time I wanted to bring it up, he distracted me. It lasted throughout the rest of the night, and he tried his best to keep me distracted that I always forgot to ask him about what the plan was and why people were talking about some party. It drove me crazy that he wouldn't tell me about what the plan was, and it drove me crazier that everyone acted really suspiciously. Even more crazy when all the media could talk about was getting engaged and how things never happened between Michael and me. At one point in our evening, I went to the bedroom, grabbed a pillow, pressed it against my face and screamed.
I shouldn't be stressed because it would trouble the baby too.
So when the Olympian saw, he tried harder with trying to cheer me up. He took me out to watch a movie, treated me to dinner and went for an evening stroll. Michael thought it was a good idea to walk around to let the fresh air settle in and help me cool down from my episode that day. I admit that I had an episode and it made me realize how odd I must've looked and how emotional I must've gotten.
"I'm sorry Michael," I apologized to him as we made it back to the apartment.
He walked in after me and closed the door. He led me to the sofa and sat me down, his hands held onto mine as his left hand fiddled with my left ring finger while he stared me right into my eyes and said, "Babe, I will marry you one day."
"One day, that's what you always say." I grew impatient.
"Because it's true," He happily responded.
"I'm getting impatient because 2010 is nearly over and you haven't gone on one knee yet. I am in as much pressure as you when it comes to everyone asking me when you'll propose and how come it hasn't happened and if it's the baby's fault that we're delayed. Then they all made me think differently because people are saying I'm not your type and that I am just dragging you down!" I finally revealed my thoughts, which I really didn't intend to. I covered my mouth and muttered, "I didn't mean to say it like that."
"Anne, you have to stop getting pulled in by everyone else's opinions, you know that I don't care what people say when they're all negative," He complained. "You have all these whacky flaws that probably would drive anyone crazy, but not me. I'm not just anyone, Anne. I'm the guy whose last name will be yours one day. I love those flaws of yours, to the point where I find it normal for me when you to act this way."
"You're calling me crazy?" That was all that I processed with what he said.
"No, Anne, ugh-" Michael leaned in and kissed me. It was out of the blue, but it was a forceful one, rather fiery and made me shiver from the touch of his lips against mine, and I felt his teeth nibbled lightly on my lower lip. I let out a moan after a while, which was also unexpected. Something inside me spiked up from there that we managed to make it to the bedroom and spent some time pressed against each other's naked body, our arms around each other. We lay there in bed, under the sheets, cuddling when we were done. Michael held me tightly as I lay on his chest. His thumb caressed me as I listened to the beat of his heart. It was calm and relaxed me as it had a slow and steady beat.
"Anne," He whispered.
"Yes," I murmured as my I opened my eyes and blinked, waiting for him to continue.
"Will you be patient for me?"
I didn't reply.
"Would you hold on another day?"
I heard his heart race faster against his chest, it thumped harder that I felt the thud each time it pumped. I closed my eyes and pulled myself closer to him as I started feeling scared. I didn't know why, but I got frightened.
"I hope you will. I'm only asking for one more day, Anne."
"If you say so," I said in defeat.
"Good," Michael smirked as I felt his grip around me tighten. "You won't regret it."

I hope I wouldn't regret it Michael Phelps, or you will.
I was tired of playing his games. It was no longer fun waiting for him.