More Than Friends

Baby Number Five.

Barri's POV

August had come. I woke up next to Michael. He woke up. "Good morning." Michael kissed me. "Good morning Honey. Happy Birthday." "Thank you. Let's go get the kids." We got out of bed and went to the kids rooms. "Good morning Dad. Good morning mom." "Good morning Isabella." "Good morning." Michael kissed Isabella's forehead. "Hi mama." "Good morning Violet." "Hi Dada." "Good morning Violet." The twins just smiled. Mom brought the kids to the table we had breakfast. "Daddy is it our birthday?" "It sure is." "Yay! How old am I turning?" "You're three years old. You're growing up so fast." We got the kids dressed for the birthday party. The kids starting playing. The guest started to arrive. We greeted them. "Hey Janet." "Hey. Look at you." Janet rubbed my belly. "How long before you have the baby?" "I'm due next month." "Auntie Janet!" "Hey birthday girl." Janet hugged Isabella. Then she hugged our other kids. "Hey Michael." "Hi Janet." Janet hugged Michael. I greeted the other guests. "Applehead!" All the kids ran towards Michael. My best friend arrived with her family. "Hey Bri." "Hey. Look at you." She pointed to my stomach. "Look at you." I pointed to her stomach. I greeted her husband and kids. "It's the other birthday girl. Happy Birthday Stephanie." "Thank you." I saw my mother-in-law. "Hey mom." "Hi Barri." I saw that she brought Joseph with her. "Hi." "Hi." The party started. We played a bunch of games. We all kept an eye on the kids, or at least we thought we did. All of a sudden I heard Isabella crying. Everyone stopped what they were doing. Isabella ran to her daddy. Michael picked her up. "What happened little one?" Isabella continued to cry. That's when I saw that she was covered in bruises. Michael must have saw them too. "Who did this to you?" "That scary man over there." She pointed to Joseph. Michael kissed Isabella on the cheek. "Go to mommy. Mommy will get you some ice. Okay?" "Okay." Michael put Isabella down. Isabella came to me. I was about to turn away. Suddenly, Michael started yelling. "WHY DID YOU DO THIS JOSEPH!" Michael had gone red in the face. I'm pretty sure that if he was a cartoon character, smoke would've came out of his ears. "She stepped on my toe." "It was an accident. I said sorry and everything." "So what? Teach your child not to step on people's toes." "SHE SAID IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" "I don't care. She got what she deserve." "SHE DIDN'T DESERVE THAT, BUT YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING THAT'S COMING TO YOU!" Michael launched towards Joseph, but his brothers grabbed him. "I HOPE YOU FEEL REAL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF, BEATING UP A THREE YEAR OLD!" I quickly got some ice. "Come on kids. Let's go outside." All the kids followed me. I grabbed my twins. We went outside. I set down on a bench. The kids ran around. I thought about what Joseph could do to Michael. I was broken out of my thoughts. "Mommy, why did the scary man do that to me? Is it something I did?" "No. I guess some people are evil or perhaps he's dealing with something. I don't know. Either way, he had no right to hit you." I put the ice on her bruises. Bri set next to me. "Hey Isabella. Are you okay?" "I guess." After awhile I saw Joseph being escorted away by security. I saw Michael come outside. "Hey applehead, can we get on the rides?" "Sure." The kids ran towards the rides. Michael was about to run off. "Daddy can I get on the rides too?" "No. You're to little. Actually there is something you can get on. Come on. Stephanie you can come too." "Can I mom?" "Sure." Isabella went to join her dad. Stephanie went with them. Bri and I followed them with the rest of our kids. Michael put Isabella and Stephanie on the merry go round. Soon it was time to eat. We ate some good food. Soon it was time for cake and icecream. We sang the happy birthday song. Then Michael and Isabella and Stephanie blew out the candles. We ate dessert. Everyone started leaving. "Michael and Barri, I'm really sorry for what Joe did to your daughter." "You don't have to apologize. It's him who should be apologizing. Do me a favor. When you're in my presence, don't speak his name please." "Yes son. Bye." "Bye mother." We both gave Katherine a hug. All that was left now we're Bri and her family. It got later and later. "Why don't you stay here the night. We know it's a long drive." "We don't want to bother you Barri." "It will be no bother Bri." "Well, if you insist, then we'll stay." We put the kids to sleep. Then we went to sleep. Soon breakfast time came. My mother brought the children to the table. "Michael, Barri, Isabella has been having nightmares all night. She's been tossing and turning." "I'll get her therapy as soon as possible if the nightmares continue." We all sat down to eat breakfast. Michael didn't touch anything. "Eat honey." "I'm not hungry." "Michael, please eat something." "I said I'm not hungry." The day went on and it was lunch time. We all sat down to eat lunch. Michael still did not touch any food. "Honey, you must be hungry. You didn't have any breakfast. Eat something." "I'm not hungry." Lunch time passed. Soon it was dinner time. Michael still didn't touch a thing. "Honey." "I'm not going over this again. I'm not hungry. Okay? I don't deserve to eat. I failed as a parent." "Honey." "Don't try to tell me that the situation was out of my control or unavoidable!" Michael started crying. I hugged him. "She's just three years old." "I know. Listen honey. It's not you're fault. Joseph will be Joseph one way or another. You can't blame yourself for what Joseph did." "I could have stopped it or prevented it." "Joseph shouldn't have put his hands on Isabella in the first place. Isabella loves you." "Yeah daddy. You're the best daddy in the whole world." Michael smiled a little. "Eat something." Michael filled his plate and ate all of it. "You guys are welcomed to stay another night." "Okay." They ended up staying two more nights. We all went to sleep. The next morning came. "Isabella is still having nightmares." "Guys, I think my water just broke." I looked at the wet floor beneath me. I screamed in pain. I heard someone else scream. Kevin came running up to us. "Where is a phone?" "I'll call. Barri sit down here. Take deep breaths." Michael ran to the phone. "Hello? My wife is going into labor. Yes, again. Another lady is going into labor too. Okay. Kevin, they'll be here soon." "Okay." Kevin went to help Bri get to the couch. You kept taking deep breaths. "Baby, you got this. You've done this like a million times." "Honey, I know you think you're helping, but you're not. Shutup." "Yeah, it's not like child birth gets easier just because you've done it a lot of times." Bri added. "I don't know. They say practice makes perfect." " Kevin, I need you to stop talking." Just then my mother came running to us all. "What's going on? I heard screaming." "Bri and I are going into to labor." "Okay." Soon the paramedics arrived. "They're here. Okay thank you. Bye." Michael hung up the phone. Kevin, Bri, Michael and I got into the ambulance. We arrived at the hospital. The contractions came faster and more painful. Soon I was taken into the delivery room. "Push Mrs Jackson." Michael was by my side, holding my hand." I pushed and pushed until I heard a baby crying. "It's a girl." I smiled. I was rolled into a room. A nurse brought my baby into the room. "Here you go. You have a beautiful healthy daughter, 7 pounds." She gave me the baby. "Thank you." The nurse left. "Hi Baby." "What should we name her?" Michael asked. "How about Kaitlyn?" "It's perfect, baby Kaitlyn." "Her middle name can be Janet." "That's perfect." "Do you want to hold her?" "Yes." I gave Michael the baby. He smiled at the baby. That's when Michael's family came. They gave their congratulations and held the baby. "What are you going to name her?" "Janet, we are going to name her Kaitlyn Janet Jackson." "I'm honored." Then they left. My mom came with the kids. "Daddy!" Isabella ran to her father. She looked like she had been crying. "Careful now." Michael gave me the baby. He picked up Isabella. "I was so scared." "Why?" "You left so, I thought that scary man might come back." "You don't have to worry about him." "She was crying from the moment she woke up and found out you were gone." "Is she still having nightmares?" "Yes." "Isabella come see your baby sister." Michael brought Isabella to me. "I already have a baby sister." "Yeah, now you have another one." Barri and I filled out the birth certificate. The nurse came and got Kaitlyn and the birth certificate. "She needs to rest now." The nurse left. "Come on kids." My mom said. "No, I'm staying with Daddy." "Isabella, you can't stay here. Go with Grandma." "No! That scary man is going to hurt me again." "Fine." Michael quickly kissed me. "See you later Baby." "See you later Honey." I fell asleep. I awoke to the sun shining in my eyes. A nurse brought me some breakfast. "Thank you." I ate my breakfast. The next day my baby and I was discharged. I put my baby in her car seat. Michael carried her to the car. We went home. I saw Bri. "Hey Bri." "Hey, we're just getting our things." "So did you have a boy or a girl." "We had a little girl and we named her Rose." "We had a baby girl too. We named her Kaitlyn." Bri and Kevin left with her kids. "Hey Barri, do you think it's time for Isabella to start school?" "Yeah." "She definitely isn't going to public school." "I agree. She can be homeschooled. My mom used to be a teacher." "Great. Let's talk to her about it." We approached my mother. "Hey mom. Would you mind being Isabella's teacher?" "I'll even increase your salary." "I don't mind at all. Some one has to watch the kids while I'm working with Isabella though." " Not a problem. Thank you." Michael and I both said. "Isabella, come here." She went to her dad. "Yes daddy?" "Would like to start school?" "What's that?" "It's when you learn so many wonderful new things." "Is that scary man going to be there?" "No." "Then I'll do it." Isabella started school the very next day. They grow up so fast.

------------------------------------------------------ Thank you so much for reading. I love you guys so much. I hoped you guys enjoyed. Stay tuned for more updates and as always HEAL THE WORLD.