Remember the Time

Chapter 14

December 20th, 1996

Bang, bang.

A voice called from the other side of the door. "Joker!"

Michael rolled over and rubbed traces of sleep from his eyes. He glanced around the room, which, despite being a Honeymoon Suite, looked more like a war zone: clothes were strewn about the floor, random pieces of furniture were displaced, and the top bedsheet lie damp on the edge of the bed. He raised an eyebrow, noticing that the mattress was slightly hanging off the box spring below. Pushing his curls out of his face, he looked over at his bride.

Mariah, still sleeping, lay naked underneath the comforter.

In spite of the scenery, there was a sense of calm that lay just beneath the surface of lust that permeated the air.

Bang, bang

"Joker, open up!" Bill exclaimed.

Michael looked around for the clock. Realizing it was four thirty in the afternoon, he jolted up, waking Mariah.

"What's wrong?" She asked, yawning.

The banging on the door grew louder. "Mike!" Bill shouted.

"Give me fifteen minutes Bill!" He called back. Michael then answered Mariah. "We're gonna be late for the show, it's already four thirty."

Her eyes widened. "Damn, what time did we go to bed?"

He laughed. "I don't remember. Let me go get in the shower so we can go."

Mariah yawned again and rested her head on the pillow. "I don't feel like getting up. My legs are sore."

He huffed. "But I want you to come with me. Get up."

He pulled the blankets off her, exposing her naked body and she glared. "Fine. I'll get up, but you're not getting any tonight. I'm tired."

"You know I won't be tired." He nuzzled up to her. "I'll be able to go on all night."

She pushed him off her. "I'm sure your left hand will appreciate the attention."

He frowned. "What's got you in a mood? We just got married."

"Mood?"She scoffed.

He nodded. "Yeah, a mood."

"I'm not in a mood. I'm just...you already know the media picked up the story and-"

"Mariah." He sighed, exasperated "Who cares about them? We're married now, isn't that what we wanted?"

Mariah gave a tiny smile. "You're right. I'm over thinking, this is a good thing."

"Right." He took her hand. "Think about it, we're married and hopefully by the end of next year we'll have a baby. Who cares what they have to say about us?"

Mariah continued with the fake smile. "A baby...if I can get pregnant."

Michael paused, trying to form an appropriate response to what Mariah said. They had already lost two children, one he felt was due to Mariah's own negligence and the other due to her fear of Tommy Mottola. Ironically, he didn't want to blame her for the miscarriage, but the abortion was harder to forgive.

He shrugged. "Hopefully, the abortion didn't mess up your uterus."

Mariah looked down. "Oh, so you're going to bring that up like it was something I wanted?"

"Well you did go along with it." He pointed out.

She opened her mouth, quickly closing it again and got up from bed.