Footsteps for a Bride-to-Be

January 6th, 2012

Michael and I were busy throughout the Christmas and New Years that I never had the opportunity to sit down and write any of it down, and it happened too fast for me to even be able to recall a majority of the events that went on. At one of the few parties we managed to attend, I felt like I was really out of my mind with all the alcohol that was served, and if I could remember who ever hosted that party, I would happily go up to them and thank them for the lack of any memory of the evening. Despite noticing that we had a few pictures from both our phones, we absolutely had no memory at all.
Though what really kept us busy was the fact it was Baby Phelps' first Christmas and New Year celebration, which we took the effort to spoil him rotten and kept him up longer for the sake of him enjoying the company of his Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. He was very spoiled that day, and if he was old enough to know what went on, I swear he would've taken it to his advantage, so I was thankful he was still a baby. For my both my Parents and Michael's Family to have come all the way from their respective homes to our little abode, it made me teary inside. Everything worked out well for us as we didn't have to travel so much, well, except New York, where we watched the countdown from a rented apartment and welcome 2012 as a small family. Baby Phelps was actually asleep by the time the countdown started, but he was there.

7:20am - Four Seasons Hotel Room

"I can't believe last night was nowhere near as memorable as that other one in December," Lia managed to say throughout her yawn as she took a spot beside me, her head automatically leaning against my shoulder as her eyes slowly closed. I gave her a pat on the head and replied, "I'm surprised we managed to find our rooms last night. I mean, look at how high we already are and there are plenty more."
"Though my only complaint would be how we got separated from our lovely partners," She mumbled. "II like to sleep next to you, Anne, but I miss my Derek too."
"I feel the same way when it comes to Michael," I retaliated to her statement as I pushed her off so that I could stand without accidentally letting Lia fall flat on the bed. She was half-asleep, we only slept for three hours before the wake-up call from the front desk came for us to pack and check out to go to the airport.

Today was my bachelorette party, and my best friend took care of all the plans. She, the bridesmaids and our closest friends were going to meet in Miami, where they planned for me to enjoy my last few days before I became a married woman. I didn't know who was in the guest list because no one I knew would open their mouths and tell me about it, not even one hint. Though the fortunate thing was that Michael's bachelor party was planned for the same day, but their flight to Las Vegas didn't leave until a couple of hours later so he had babysitting duties before dropping Baby Phelps to his Mom's place while we were both away.

"I could only imagine what you had planned for me," I thought out loud so Lia could deliberately hear me as I started to pack the loose items into my luggage. "And knowing you, there's a lot to worry about."
"Don't worry," She said against the bed sheets.
"It was a bad idea that we attended that party last night." I rubbed my temple and sat flat on the carpet floor, the throbbing was irritating and the lack of sleep didn't help one bit.
A knock echoed at the door, neither of us moved for a few seconds before the knock repeated and I ended up being the one to open the door. I glared at the half-asleep Lia as she grinned, probably thinking I didn't see that she had her lips curved against the bed sheet. I wandered slowly to the door, my feet dragged along the carpet and my body slightly slumped, I found it hard to move one bit. There was one more knock and I merely groaned before pushing down at the handle and opened the door wide, meeting eye to eye with a blue eyed giant, who brushed me aside and disappeared to the bed to crash right beside his sleeping beauty. All the while I felt my lips being pressed on by another, I let out a giggle to greet the tired Olympian and watched him wander to the nearest chair. I closed the door before I went to sit on his lap, giving him a hug and leaned my head on his chest as we both looked at the other two on the bed.
"When you go tonight, please be careful," Michael's voice croaked, clearly sounding like he too experienced a decent night like we did, even though we were at the same party.
"I should actually be saying the same to you," I said as I tapped his chest and groaned. "I forgot how to get drunk, since it's been a while since we hadn’t had proper young people parties since Ann Arbor. Well, except for all those times we decide to turn up to Ryan's parties that is."
His hand stroke my back as he whispered, "I'm imaging our life to be exactly like this if we didn't have Mitch around. Parties here and there, which I think I am regretting so much after all these annoying headaches."
"We're getting so old now," I mumbled. "And we all regret the day after, but we'd still do it."
"Yeah, it definitely won't stop us from being able to do all this either way," He chuckled weakly.
"Will you two do me a favour and just shut up?" We heard a deep, husky voice growl from the bed, we both took a peak and laughed as we watched Derek sit up, his hands on his head and uttered a curse word out so faintly, and shook his wife's shoulder a bit to wake her up. "Babe, we need to go pack up," He gently spoke into her ear while still shaking her shoulder. It took a few time of calling out to her, but Lia finally sat up and let out a loud yawn.
She looked... Energized.
"Best power nap," She declared as she pushed herself from the bed, tugging her husband along and gripped on his hand tight. She smiled towards Michael and I and said, "I'm meeting the two of you downstairs in two hours, please don't be late." And with that, she walked out of the door without another word, dragging her exhausted husband out with her, leaving Michael and I in a state of confusion.
It didn't process so quickly.
"What just happened?" I questioned.
Michael merely shook his head and tossed his head back. "I have no idea, but I want the same power nap as she had," He sighed and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he fell asleep.

I joined him not long after.

An hour later, I woke up on the bed with the blanket over me. I groaned my way up to a sitting position, I saw and heard nothing the moment my eyes focused properly and my mind was as clear as day. Our bags were packed and arranged properly by the chairs, and I didn't think I finished packing earlier.
"Michael?" I called out as I flicked the blanket away from my body and slowly rose to my feet, being careful to keep my balance. "Michael?" I called out one more time.
"Yeah, I'm still here," He came out of the steaming bathroom with only the towel wrapped around his lower region, and he used another towel to wipe away loose water drops dripping from his hair. "It's your turn," He said as he tossed the same towel towards me, landing on my head.
My reaction was so slow.
"Hurry, babe, we need to eat breakfast and get you out of here," He sounded more pumped than earlier.
"I don't know what you swimmers do to get suddenly active, but I don't have that," I grumbled and peeled off the towel from the top of my head. "And why are you suddenly excited to get rid of me?" I questioned him with a hint of an annoyed tone.
"Don't be like that," He snickered and pulled me to an embrace. I felt little drops of water being soaked up by my own skin, but his scent was just filling up my nose and completely felt out of my head again.
I pushed him off and pouted, tossing the towel back at him and walked to the bathroom. I could hear him laughing as soon as I closed the door, even declaring his love from the other end of the door.
We were occasionally childish like that.
As I finished, I wrapped a towel around me and stared at the mirror. I inspected myself to see if I was prepared to be out in public without giving out the most obvious sign that I had a late night. I picked up a few techniques from Lia over the course of time we lived together.
"Hon, I am all done" I announced as soon as I marched out of the bathroom.
"Hurry," He urged me to hasten my pace even though he wasn't finished either. He was still putting on his watch and necklace and whatever else he needed to do before putting on a shirt. I've stayed over his home in Ann Arbor and lived with him for a long amount of time that I knew the routine he was doing today was the one where he got ready to go out and faced the crowd. If he was just home, it wasn't going to take long, and that was the same when we went to see his Mom and Sisters.
I didn't rush though, and looking at the clock, I didn't really spend a lot of time in the shower, so I had enough time to get ready properly before we met up with Lia and Derek at the restaurant for breakfast. But before that, I went over to my fiancé and gave him a peck on the cheek and wrapping my arms around him, which he responded with a kiss on the lips.
"What was that for?"
"Nothing," I snickered before I let go of him, although, just before I left his side, he pulled me back into a tight embrace and took a hold of my left hand. He tapped onto the engagement ring and reminded me that I was to keep the ring on at all times - even if there was no word coming from his mouth, I still understood the little gestures he made to get his message across.
"I love you too." I pat the side of his face and beckoned him to finish getting ready.
"You too," He replied with one pat on my butt and pushing me gently towards the bed where my bag was opened up. It didn't last long before he suddenly said, "If there's strippers at your party, then-"
I laughed knowing he'd eventually ask me about what I got up to while I was away from him, considering that I never actually asked him about what he was going to be up to either. "I won't be telling you what I got up to," I teased while taking off the towel from my body and quickly pulling up a pair of black jeans as it was still slightly chilly in Baltimore, but compared to Miami, I planned to change as soon as I got to the hotel.
"Why not?" Michael argued with a whiny tone. He tossed a blue long sleeve over his body and turned to me to ask for help. He got closer to me and I automatically began to button up the buttons from the bottom up, and as I did, he continued, "I don't know what's going to happen in Vegas, so if anything, I'm going to take as much pictures as I can without losing my phone... So at least show me the pictures afterwards, okay?"
"You are actually worried about me?"
"Because I know how you are," He finished the last button and took a hold of my hands. "Just be careful. I actually want a bride to walk down the aisle in a couple of weeks."
"I promise, Michael Phelps, I will be home as soon as you will."

He even made Lia promise the same.

2:30pm - Sorrento Penthouse, Fontainebleau Miami Beach

Touching down in Miami was a shocker, even though I've been to Miami before, being in that area again after a long time, it was amazing. Lia and I arrived at the penthouse the girls all pitched in to pay for, I knew they all placed a bunch of money into a jar to pay for each person's share in the accommodation, and it seemed like they also split the bill for me so I didn't have to spend so much.

I lugged my luggage after me as my best friend unlocked the door, opening it as soon as the beep could be heard and she didn't wait for me to get near her before she walked in. I could only sigh as I managed to make it to the door without any injuries, and as I looked up, my eyes narrowed.
"Congratulations Bride-to-be!"
Tiffany and Jessica were there, Janet managed to get away from her own little family, a four old faces from Ann Arbor that I kept in contact with, and Grace was a close friend from the newspaper I used to write for in Baltimore before I became a stay-at-home person. Seeing their faces made me want to cry, but Lia silenced my whimper by wrapping her arm over my shoulders and pulling me roughly to her side, she then said, "We need to take care of our beautiful bride-to-be. We also need to make sure to take her home or I'll get my head chopped by her fiancé."
"Oh, Anne, I can't believe you're getting married in a couple of weeks!" Tiffany squealed as she ran to me and nearly tackled me from her rough hug. She then tossed a sash over me that publically declared I was the bride-to-be. I was so overwhelmed I never really got a word in after everyone had been talking with me about the day, but there wasn't even any clear indication what we were really going to be doing.
I finally had enough and asked, "What are we going to be doing first?"
Everyone fell quiet. They finally listened to me. The other nine women in the room stared at me, all their attention my way. Then Lia finally answered me, she skimmed through her phone and replied, "Well we have a reservation at La Cote in a few hours, so we got time to spare and I was thinking we should go have a dip in the pool! Did you see it?"
"I cannot wait! I bought you something just for the reason, Anne," Grace giggled while pulling out a small box with a cute pink ribbon atop of it. She shoved it into my hand and everyone else gawked at me as I opened and pulled out a red bikini that was really going to turn heads. It wasn't skimpy, to say the least, but it was bordering the line between decent and skimpy.
"It's a good way to get a good tan," Jessica teased. "But match it with this," She added and placed a beach hat on my head, she took a step back, clasped her hands together and nodded. "It's perfect."
"You guys are so weird, I'm not even settled in and you are all changing me into an outfit," I commented without even thinking if it made sense or if it was too blunt. "Okay, we'll get on our way, but maybe we should get settled first? I need to catch my breath."
"It was from that party last night, don't blame her," Lia apologized in my behalf.
"Ooh, we got moody Anne today, this will be interesting," Janet said with caution, but everyone agreed with her and did what I asked them to do, and they scattered without another word. I apologized to my best friend as soon as everyone was out of sight, and she apologized for getting me too overwhelmed before I even managed to get settled.

We knew each other so well.

There were four bedrooms in the penthouse, and thanks to some cooperative people, there were no arguments and hassles as to who shared a room with who. I was with Lia in the two singles bedroom; one of the old faces from Ann Arbor got taken in with Jessica and Tiffany as there was a spare single bed in their family room; Janet took Grace as soon as she could and took the other two singles room; and the other three old faces from Ann Arbor took the bedroom with the same layout as Jessica and Tiffany.
"This is so much, Lia, I could only imagine how much planning went into this." I kept thanking her every time I could, and she would tell me to shut up and reminded me that being the Maid of Honour in the wedding meant so much to her and it was her way of thanking me of all the years we have been friends.
"And don't ask about anything else," She warned as she walked around our room in her green bikini, she was looking for her beach dress that she was certain to have packed. "I've got things sorted, and everyone else decided to chip in when I told them they could just buy me drinks and make the night fun."
I fiddled with my phone and nodded. "I'll try my best to let loose tonight." We shared a laugh before my phone rang for a video call. Lia took a seat next to me and looked at the screen of my phone with me, the two of us waited for a few seconds before the black screen was replaced with a view of Baby Phelps drooling on his Dad.
"Cutie Mitchie!" My best friend nearly screamed as she waved like a maniac to get his attention. "Over here, Aunty Lia is over here!" She kept calling, but then Michael's face appeared and told Lia, "He's busy."
"Damn, I wanted Mitchie, not you Mike," She replied with a hiss, but it was followed by a wink to hint that she was only teasing him. I shook my head at the both of them and waited for my best friend to leave the room before I turned my attention back to Michael and Baby Phelps.
"Look, Mitch, it's your Mom," He tried to get the baby's attention. Even going so far as taking the toy, but the little guy whined and took the toy from his Dad and taking a big, hard bite at it. Michael gave up and merely gave the baby a pat on his back and looked at me. A smile creeping at his face. "My flight is in half an hour, that's why I had to call from the airport."
"But you managed to get a quiet spot?"
"Surprisingly, not a lot of people are catching the same flight as we are."
Derek peeked in from behind and waved. "Monkey, we'll take good care of this fish," He reassured me and blew a kiss at me. "Pass that on to my wife, thanks," He instructed from behind Michael.
"Anyway, why is Mitchie there with you?"
"Mom wanted to him to send me off, she's here somewhere."
"That's good, I can't wait to see your photos." I winked at him. "I hope you have a blast in Vegas with the boys," I added. "Knowing Ryan and Derek being the main duo to plan your weekend, I think you shouldn't fight any of it."
"I'm more worried about you," He sighed, and I thought he was mad too because the screen disappeared and faced the roof. There was a thud, so I figured he dropped his phone, which is a common thing if you were carrying Baby Phelps and held an object on your other hand.
"Michael, I have to go baby, please give Mitchie lots of hugs and kisses for me." I decided to go so the two guys in my life wouldn't be distracted with trying to communicate with me and whatever else. Once they returned on screen, I sent them a flying kiss and said, "Bye my lovely Phelps boys. Behave yourselves."
"We will," I heard Derek reply on their behalf and ended with a laugh before the call ended.
I propped back and lay flat on the bed, my arms stretched out and my eyes closed as a relaxed sigh oozed from my lips. I could only imagine what the weekend had for me.

5:30pm - La Cote

For an early dinner, Lia reserved a table for us at La Cote. On the description, they were described as a sparkling French Mediterranean cuisine is presented in a chic, two-level restaurant situated beach and poolside, with sweeping views of the ocean and great sunset vistas. We were situated on the second floor facing the beach, and I took as much photographs I can for the sake of my fiancé having proof of what I did during the weekend in Miami, plus it was a good idea for me to keep in touch with what I did, especially if I already had my second glass of margarita. Knowing how long my night was going to be.
"Anne, cut it out with the photos, we need to do a group shot," Jessica scolded me and took my phone away from me, she called a waiter and asked for him to take a photo. I held up my sash and posed with the girls. The waiter took a couple of photos, each with different poses, and handed the phone to me.
"So then, I'd like to present a toast for our lovely Anne, even though she already acts like a wife, she'll officially be one in a couple of weeks. I can't believe it, buddy, but look how far we've gotten," Lia was the first to stand, the glass of mojito in hand and raised up. She stared at me and added, "I'm going to cry, so I think we should toast and get this bachelorette party started!"
Our glasses tapped against each other. We all giggled and shared stories with each other about our relationships. Everyone on that table had a respective significant other, they were all dating, only one or two had children of their own. Even though not all of them knew each other well, they all connected.

Well then, the topic changed out of the blue, changing to talking about me. Out of everyone, Lia was the one who had the most stories and were mostly of our teenage adventures in New Yorks.

"I have one story to tell," Janet spoke up. She had been quiet the whole time, and she was amused with all the stories people tossed around that she looked like she was out of place. She was probably the least I expected to be the one who would have a story about me.
Everyone stopped in their spot. Even I nearly dropped my phone in my glass on the table.
Janet brushed her hair, tapping on the glass as she felt the gazes her way. "Back when Roxanne worked in the Baltimore Sun, and whatever may have happened with her and Michael, she and Luke suddenly got a lot closer," She began to tell, and in an instant, I actually knew where she was headed. Only a few people knew about this because it happened in the office - after hours. Everyone was so intrigued.
I wanted her to shut her mouth, but Lia grabbed me before I could twitch a move. She held me in an embrace to keep me still.
"I wasn't with Luke at this time, but a lot of people figured something was going on between her and Michael that they were suddenly seeing the two journalist as a flirtatious pair. I didn't understand their little giggles during working hours, and the really memorable thing that happened during their run as a fling was what happened when five or six of us were staying late to finish a series of articles that needed to be done by the end of the day before printing the next day." She was so hyped up with the story, and as well as everyone else as they were all getting giddy at the thought of what was to come. "Well, around three hours in, the other journalists went out to go eat. I stayed behind with the two. They began giggling around for a while, but then, the two suddenly began to sound like they were panicking, and I got curious, so I naturally looked over my shoulders to looks at them and saw the two of them looking flustered."
"Holy crap, what happened?" Tiffany's voice screeched as she grabbed onto Janet with desperation.
"Let's her finish!" Lia hushed her harshly.
Grace covered her mouth and began to giggle as she was one of the few people that knew what happened.
Janet gave me a devious look, knowing I was guilty for having a flirtatious relationship with Luke. It was like she was doing it to deliberately remind me that he was hers? Maybe?
I gulped as she continued, "I stood up and tried to see why they were panicking and walking everywhere. I didn't want to go closer because they probably thought I went with the other journalists, but they noticed me when everyone else came back, which wasn't long after. Roxanne was slapping Luke on the shoulder as she unplugged the keyboard and mouse from the computer, and she tossed them to the ground before there was a spark from the computer monitor. I had a feeling they got too carried away with something to get so reckless. The computer was replaced and all, and they weren't blamed for it as it was an accident."
"And until this day, they haven't been caught." Grace ended with a laugh.
"Confess, what the hell happened?" Lia released me and poked at my cheek.
I fiddled with my fingers as I looked down in shame. "I," I gulped. "Well Luke and I were just flirting, then I nearly fell off my chair laughing at his jokes, hitting him near the sensitive area, which he reacted to help me up, but awkwardly touched a one of these two things on my chest and we both pushed each other away too quickly that we tipped the water bottle all over the keyboard and mouse and breaking a computer."

Everyone fell quiet. Followed by an echoing laugh.

I felt so ashamed that now a few more people know about what happened.
Not even Michael knew about that incident.

9:30pm - Unknown Location

As time went by so fast, I was dragged and blindfolded after being told to get changed. I didn't know where we were headed and why I was blindfolded, but I had a gut feeling what might happen once the bandana was taken off. I had a strong feeling that I would be seeing something that I would either be embarrassed about or be excited to see something.
I constantly asked over and over, but no one budged. I knew that Lia was the one who held my hand from the penthouse to the car to wherever the heck we are. Though my other hand was guided by different people, the first one was Jessica, she wanted to hold my hand and she confessed that she was seeing how it would be like to surprise me - knowing how I don't like the idea of being surprised.

"Sit down, babe," Lia whispered to me as she guided my butt to a soft cushion, I was hesitant to lean back, but with a rough push by my shoulders, my back was against another soft cushion. There was no music, no sound and no other sign of where I am or where I could be.
My heart raced as I heard giggles all around.
"Guys, please don't tease me," I sniffed and whimpered against my whim.
"Oh hush, this will be fun." I heard Grace beside me as she took my hand and placed a glass into it. I gripped the glass and noticed it was cold, there definitely was liquid inside. "So, let's take a big shot," She added as she guided the rim of the glass to my lips, it was really cold and I could smell the alcohol ease through my nose. I gulped and closed my eyes, I tried to push myself away from this knowing I would be one intoxicated woman by the end of the night, but deep down, I became curious. I didn't have a chance to consider the pros and cons as my body moved on its own, the liquid entered my mouth and oozed down my throat with one gulp. It was a strong flavour, there was no denying that it was a strong alcoholic shot.
"What was that?" I coughed as the glass was taken from my grasp.
There was no time to answer me as the music boomed loud, causing me to slightly jump from surprise and felt my heart just race in a hectic pace. I grabbed onto Grace's hand and pleaded for her to get rid of the bandana that acted as a blindfold around my head, but she merely giggled and told me to wait. The music started as a slow and mellow beat, then the bass boomed louder and the music completely turned to a remixed set of songs that were usually played in clubs.
"Am I in a club? Oh my gosh, why would you blindfold me and end up in a club?" I yelled to the other side where my best friend was. She didn't reply to me, instead, I felt the touch of her fingers at the back of my head, my hair tugged here and there as the blindfold got loose. The light slowly seeped through and my eyes were slowly adjusting to the lighting of the room. It wasn't long before the blindfold was gone and the entire room became clear in a few seconds, after a couple of blinking motions that is. I narrowed my eyes, my hands covered my mouth as I saw one muscular man, with oily tanned skin and wore nothing but a pair of jeans. He was blond, blue eyed, deep dimples, toned body and had a sexy smirk plastered on his face.
"Surprise!" All the girls in the room screamed, dollar notes at the tips of their fingers, waved around towards me as they all had flustered faces and cheeky grins.
I gulped, turned red and fell silent. "Oh dear God," I grumbled under my breath as the man got closer, his fingertips caressed my cheeks as he then trailed them down to my hands, grabbing me by the wrist and guiding my hand to the lining of his pants.
"I recognize you," He grinned, his lips curved and pursed together as he looked at me hungrily. I tried to avoid his gaze, but Lia and Grace were practically holding me on the spot and my head towards him as he continued, "You're that Olympian's fiancée, always on the magazines, but tonight, I will make you forget about it. No one needs to know what goes on here."
"I am- I don't- I'm-" I couldn't even gather the right words out of my mouth.
"Honey, this is the last guy you'll be able to look at before you get married and only look at your husband for the rest of your life," Grace gave me a pat on the shoulder, urging me on to let loose. "This guy is one hottie, so hurry up and share!" She added with a big laugh.
The man still held my hand, he squeezed them tight so I would look back at him, which worked instantly. I gulped and exhaled the last ounces of my thoughts out of the back of my mind. There was no way I wanted to remember this, so I tugged my hands away from his and begged for another shot. Maybe it was that last shot that could help me forget what I needed to forget. I think it was time to let loose anyway.

"Bottoms up!" I cheered, clinging onto the other glasses of my fellow friends before I guzzled down the alcohol. The bitterness of it took my conscience with it.

And my memory.



January 8th, 2012

7:50pm - Our Love Nest

I arrived home quite later than I expected, but after the constant nagging from Lia, I really couldn't get away until later in the day. I managed to slip away when Janet and Grace called me from the airport that there was a few spare seats and it was possibly waiting for me, and with a lot of pleading and fake sobbing, the other girls let me go. They felt pity on me for the attempts I was trying to do just to get away from the place, and they quickly assumed it was because I was missing my fiancé and baby. And it's true, I did miss them so much, but then again I actually wanted to get away from the amount of drinking and partying that was going on. As much as I enjoyed the fun times, lack of memories, youthful vibe and getting hit on before realizing I was engaged, I was just tired and needed sleep.
Michael was supposedly home too, he sent me a text that he had enough energy to text before he'd crash into the bed and collapse. His weekend was as busy as mine, and he also pleaded to leave the weekend getaway early so that he could catch up on his sleep, but used me as an excuse to get away from the constant drinking and partying. He returned on his own as Derek decided he'd stay an extra night.
Apparently, Baby Phelps wasn't going to be home until tomorrow, he was with Debbie and Hilary as they decided to go see Whitney and stay the night after the constant pleading from his cousins, Taylor and Connor, for a sleepover party. Hilary sent me pictures of their day and what the three kids got into during their time together, especially the time where they all took a swim at the local pool and the bright smiles all over their faces as though they really loved being there.

Arriving home, I had my luggage tugged behind me with both hands. I felt the weight double from when I left, but I'm actually not sure why and how since I was sure I didn't buy anything while I was in Miami... I was sure I didn't buy anything.
"Phelps, wake up and help me," I groaned, despite the lack of voice that came from my parched throat and exhausted body. "If only he wasn't in a coma-like state right now, he would-" I bumped right into something midway through my struggle of dragging my luggage from the front door to the bedroom. My head shuffled about as the clash made me feel like my brain was wriggling about inside.
"Damn, babe, you are so noisy," A croaky voice spoke to me in a mere whisper. Michael sounded as tired as I was, and he didn't seem so lively as I did. Both of us were letting out heavy exhales, the sounds of our breathing could be heard by anyone if they were in the room. I sensed his arm wrapped around me to pull me close, feeling the warmth from the embrace. My eyes closed with no second to spare, the smell of our bed sheets all over his chest. "You are so noisy," He repeated as he tugged at my hands to release the luggage, and a thud followed as the straps of my bag slipped off my fingers.
"Baby, take me to bed," I grumbled as his arms wrapped around me, pulling me off my feet, but my head remained on his chest and let my body lump at his hold.
Michael chuckled weakly, his lips pressed against mine. "Your wish is my command." His tone of voice lightened up in a snap, the door closed behind us as he led me to the comfortable bed I shared with him.

We didn't do much. We were practically asleep with no disruptions.

"I expect to see those photos when I wake up," Michael muttered into ear.

Aaahhh...