Remember the Time

Chapter 66

August 1st, 1998

John sat at his post, dozing off. It was nearly four in the morning, meaning it would be another hour until someone relieved him of his duty. He stood up to stretch then took a glance towards the main house. All of the lights were off, signalling that everyone inside was asleep.

He yawned as he sat down and leaned back in his chair. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard rustling and giggling. He peeked out of the window and saw Katherine with a tall, thin man. His mouth dropped as the man leaned down to give her a peck on the lips. Katherine laughed again and pushed him out of the gate.

“Call me when your flight lands.” She said, waving.

The man turned briefly to blow a kiss but John couldn't make out the man's face. Katherine stood there awhile longer before going back to her guest house.

Gotcha.

August 1st, 1998

“Ugh, you’ve gotta get this damn room clean, Mike. There’s so much shit everywhere.” Mariah said. She and Michael were putting the girls to bed in their cluttered nursery. Michael had been ‘cleaning’ it for the past few days.

“Don’t cuss-”

“Shut. Your. Mouth.” Mariah demanded.

Michael grabbed Mariah’s hand and escorted her out of the nursery, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Mariah huffed. “Michael, I’m not playing with you. Figure out what stuff you’re gonna throw away so you can clean up. Their room shouldn’t look like a damn hurricane hit it.”

Michael sighed, his wife’s voice muffling in his mind while his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

I wonder if I can get Chris to come for my birthday. Hah. That guy’s hilarious. But I’d probably need to fly him out here. I think he’s doing a project...Rush Hour? Brett’s directing that one, I’m sure. I’ll probably go see that-

“Michael!”

Michael snapped back into reality. “Huh?”

“Are you listening to me?” Mariah shouted.

Michael put on a fake smile. “Yeah baby...that’s very nice.”

“What’s very nice?”

“What you said, I think it sounds great.” Michael replied.

Mariah folded her arms. “My brother possibly going to prison is ‘very nice’ to you?”
Michael frowned in confusion.

Prison? How the hell did we get on that?

“No...I mean...wait, can you remind me of the last thing you said? I was listening but then my ears went out.”

Mariah raised an eyebrow. “You ears went out, Michael?”

Michael nodded hastily. “Yeah.”

Mariah took a deep breath. “I was saying you need to get everything together around the house instead of having me deal with it all. I already have enough on my mind with Morgan possibly going to prison.”

Michael crossed his eyes, and was swiftly met with a smack on his hands. Michael giggled, backing away from his clearly irritated wife.

“Boy-”

“Listen, babe, we have nothing to worry about. Instead of driving me up the wall with cleaning up and the move and everything, let Fallon deal with it. That way you can relax too. All you need to do is lay back and take care of your uterus.” Michael explained.