Who would have thought that after a few years Taj and Angelica would be so close. Recently they had just become newlyweds and were enjoying the married life. They had a nice home to themselves and a great honeymoon. Who could ask for anything more?
"Come on Angel, we’re gonna be late!" Taj yelled up the stairs.
Angelica came down wearing an old pair of overalls and a white tank top. "I’m comin’ !" Ever since Angelica had revealed that she had once been an angel, Taj had insisted on calling her Angel.
As she met him at the bottom of the stairs, he gave her a quick kiss and said, "You look beautiful...even in that. Actually you look good in everything....or nothing at all." Then he gave a sly grin.
Angelica gives a surprised look then slaps him playfully, "You would think that wouldn’t you?"
Taj just gives a bashful look then says, "Seriously, we should get going. They are probably wondering where we are right now." Both of them were going to mutual friend’s of theirs to help paint and build a new room for their friends’ expected baby.
Angelica says, "I think they have a pretty good idea.." Then she laughs and says, "Yeah, I guess we should go."
Taj grins and they walk out to the car and drive to their friend’s house. Once they get there they see a note that says, "Come on in! We’re in the back of the house!" So they walk to the back of the house and as soon as they meet their friends they greet them.
"Hey my man!" Robbie said. Robbie was a major sports star but Taj had known him since he was a kid.
"Hey, Rob Dawg! Heh I see your making some progress here." Taj says.
"Yeah, it’s going pretty good." Robbie replies.
Not too long after, Robbie’s wife comes around the corner and says, "Angelica! I’m glad you two could make it. We need all the help we can get."
Angelica smiles and gives her a hug, "Hi Jenny! You know that’s why we are here. I’m surprised that you don’t need help walking, with the size of that thing!"she says patting Jenny’s stomach. "How much longer do you have?"
Jenny smiles looking down at her stomach, "Yeah, sure is getting big huh? I have exactly 2 months left actually. Robbie told me I shouldn’t help you guys, but I promised all I would do was paint a little."
Angelica says, "He’s right you know but a little painting wouldn’t hurt I suppose."
Taj suddenly comes over and wraps his arms around Angelica’s waist and kisses her neck, "And what are you two beautiful ladies talking about?"
Angelica smiles and links her fingers in his, "Ooh just girl talk."
Taj laughs, "That’s what I was afraid of!"
Jenny says, "What can we do to help?"
Taj says, "Well...you all could start painting on that wall over there."
Angelica says, "Good idea. Come on Jen, let’s show these guys how women paint a wall..hah!"
Jen laughs and they both start working on painting the wall.
As they start to paint Angelica says, "Jenny..um..Have you stopped to think that it’s going to be hard once the baby is born. I mean, Robbie is going to busy with his career and won’t be able to be home that much."
Jenny says, "Yeah I have actually. We haven’t talked about it much but I know that he’ll be there during the times the baby and I need him."
Angelica says, "I think you guys are going to be great parents."
Meanwhile, Taj and Robbie are busy building a crib for the baby and talking as well.
"So how’s the newlywed life.." Robbie says.
Taj laughs and says, "I’ve never been happier. Ever since we got married it seems like we’ve become a whole lot closer."
"Isn’t that the point of getting married Taj?" Rob says jokingly.
"Well yeah..but do you know what I mean?" Taj says.
‘Yes I do." Rob says.
"She’s just so great. I mean..everything about her. She’s just..."
Suddenly Taj is cut off by a scream! Both Robbie and Taj turn around and are startled to see Angelica lying on the ground.
Taj sprints over to Angelica’s side and says, "What happened?!"
Jenny says really worried, "We were painting and then all of a sudden something fell on her head. I don’t even know what it was! "
Robbie walks over to them holding a brick. "I think this was it..." he says. "It must have fell off the top of the wall. The walls in here are pretty crappy."
Taj bends down and brushes the hair out of Angelica’s face and checks to see if she’s breathing. "Listen, I’m gonna pick her up and we need to take her to the hospital." He says nervously.
Rob says, "Sure thing!" Then he runs to the car and gets it started while Taj picks Angelica up and follows them. They drive to the hospital and take her in. The doctors take her to the emergency room to perform X-rays and examine her for injuries. Taj, Robbie, and Jenny end up having to wait in the waiting room for the results.
After a few minutes or so Angelica woke up and was able to go home. The doctor told Taj and everyone that Angelica just had a very minor concussion and it shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Robbie and Jenny drive Angelica and Taj to their house then drive off to their own.
Taj wraps his arm around Angelica’s shoulder and says, "You had me so worried, Angel."
Angelica wraps her arms around him as they walk into the house and says, "I’m sorry. It took me off guard as well."
Taj says, "I think you need to go to bed and get some rest. We both need to actually. I have to go to a short meeting in the morning."
Angelica yawns and walks up the stairs to their room with Taj following behind. She changes into one of Taj’s long T-shirts then slides into bed next to Taj.
Taj pulled her close to him and she wrested her head on his bare chest. "Goodnight Taj.." Angelica says in a sleepy whisper.
"Goodnight." Taj says kissing her head then falling asleep soon after.
The next day Angelica woke up, feeling something move on the bed. When she opened her eyes she saw Taj sitting on the bed in a towel putting lotion all over his body. Angelica grinned and sat up.
"Oh, I didn’t mean to wake you up." Taj said.
Angelica grins and says, "It’s okay. I don’t mind." Then she moves over and takes the lotion from him, applying it to his back. "So what is this meeting for?" Angelica says rubbing the lotion in.
Taj closes his eyes, relaxing and says, "Someone wants to see me about directing their video. Someone brought my name up and I’m suppose to see if I want the job."
Angelica runs the lotion down his arms and starts to rub it in kissing his neck. "How long will you be gone?"
Taj kinda giggles, "I’m not sure...2 hours..3..."
Angelica moves to his stomach, running a little lotion on it and moving down. Taj grins then takes her hands and says, "I think you better stop or I’ll never get to work."
Angelica laughs, "Awww, can’t work wait awhile?"
All of a sudden Taj turns around pressing Angelica to the bed and leaning over her. He kisses her softly and says, "I’m afraid not babygirl." Then he kisses her again.
Angelica playfully reaches for his towel but Taj gets up grinning menacingly. "I have to get dressed." Taj says.
Propping her head on her hand she watches him get dressed. After awhile, Taj starts to get a little embarrassed and it shows. "Are we a little embarrassed Mr. Jackson?"
Finishing getting read Taj says, "Not at all...Mrs. Jackson..heh" Then he gives her one last kiss and heads out the door. Angelica is still sleepy so she decides to go back to sleep.
After a few hours she wakes up again and walks downstairs to get something to eat. She ends up eating some yogurt then taking a shower. As she walks back down the stairs she sees Taj walk in. She starts to go give him a hug but he doesn’t look too happy.
Taj slumps into a chair and runs his fingers through his hair leaning his head back. Sitting in the chair next to him Angelica says, "Did things not go so good?"
Taj sighs then says, " Not so good is not even close. First of all I found out that the only reason that they wanted me to do the video was so they could basically say a Jackson helped them with the video. After I found that out I refused and they went on and on about all this garbage and I finally walked out."
Angelica runs her fingers through his braids gently and Taj signals he doesn’t want her to do that. Angelica says, "I’ll be right back."
She goes and gets her camera from their room and walks back downstairs. She had made photography as her career and was always using Taj as her practices. "Taj, I need you to help me a little with this photography." She says.
Taj shakes his head, "Angelica, I’m sorry. I’m just not in the mood."
"Please, I really need the practice. You can’t stay glum all day." Angelica gives him a smile.
Taj couldn’t help but smile back and gets up, "Okay , okay.." he says.
"Good. Now what I want you to do is stand against that white wall over there." Angelica says pointing.
Taj does, then grins, "How’s this?"
Putting a finger to her chin then thinking, Angelica walks over to him taking pictures as she advances towards him. "Give me a bad boy look.." Angelica says.
Taj laughs then puts on a cool "You know you want me" look.
Angelica says, "That is perfect, but I need to fix something." Then she unbuttons his shirt opening it a little. Taj just grins knowing where this is going to lead. Angelica unbuttons his pants showing his boxers a little then steps back. "Alright, look into the camera and run your fingers through your braids." Angelica says.
He obeys...then motions one finger for her to come closer. When she gets close to him Taj takes the camera and sets it aside. "So what are you up to?" he says.
Biting her lip a little Angelica says, "Nothing..."
Taj pulls the rim of Angelica’s shirt gently, causing her to come closer. "I think you’re lying. I mean..first you come downstairs in a short skirt and shirt, then tease me by taking pictures of me like this? I think you want a little something from me." He says kissing her neck.
Angelica closes her eyes running her fingers up his arms. "You’re right. I do..."
Taj lifts her leg up with his right hand, running his hand up her skirt. "What if I refuse.."
Angelica unbuttons his shirt all the way and lets it fall to the floor. "Then I’ll torture you until you give in." Then she kisses his chest.
"That won’t be necessary." He says giving a teasing grin. Then he slowly pulls her shirt over her head and runs his fingers up her back. All the while he looks into her eyes. He really loved her eyes. They still had that look in them and it always got him going.
Before long both of them were totally undressed and had moved to the couch. Taj was moving his hands over every inch of her body and planting kisses where ever his hands couldn’t be at that moment. He could tell he was really driving her crazy.
Angelica had her eyes closed and was quivering all over as Taj started to kiss her breasts softly. He let out a quiet giggle as he felt her move around a little. She was getting a bit impatient with him.
He ran his fingers up her thighs, hips, then linked his hands in hers and brought them above her head. "Open your eyes.." he said softly.
Angelica opened her eyes staring back into his eyes. She couldn’t help but notice just how good he looked. "How about some of that sexual chocolate." She said smiling a little and running her foot up his leg.
Taj just grins then slowly starts to make love to her kissing her lips and muffling her soft moans. She ran her fingers all over him as he supported himself on his hands. After a long while they both became tired and couldn’t go any further. Taj fell limp on her body and tried to catch his breath.
As he did this she ran her fingers up his back catching her breath as well. After a moment of pure silence she says, "Taj, I love you.."
Taj looks into her eyes, "I can’t even begin to express how much I love you. You’re my Angel and that says it all." Then he kisses her softly and gets up putting his clothes back on. She gets up and puts her clothes on too. Then the phone rings.
While Angelica gets her clothes back on,Taj answers the phone. "Hello?" he says.
"Taj! Jenny is going to have the baby! I’m taking her to the hospital right now. Do you wanna come?!" Robbie says frantically.
"Aaah! Yeah of course I do! I’ll meet you at the hospital." Then he hangs up and quickly puts on his shoes.
"Who are you meeting at the hospital?" Angelica asks.
"Jen is having her baby." Taj replies.
Angelica grins hurrying up as well, "Oh!"
Then they both hop in the car and drive to the hospital. They have to wait in the waiting room and after a while of waiting, Robbie comes out looking very excited.
Angelica grins, "So...?"
Robbie says excited, "It’s twins! A boy and a girl!"
Taj gets up giving him a hand shake and brotherly hug. "Congrats Bro’!"
"..and both Jenny and I have been thinking about something. We would really be honored if you two would have a part in the babies’ lives. Would you mind if they called you aunt and uncle?" Robbie asks.
"We would be just as honored." Angelica replies.
"We would love that. " Taj says.
"Great! Do you wanna see the babies?" Rob asks.
"Sure!" Angelica says.
Robbie leads them to the little glass window so they can see both babies. "They are so cute." Angelica says.
Each baby had just a touch of fuzz for hair, on the top of their heads. They looked so tiny...like little dolls almost. She suddenly grew very attatched to them.
"The one on the left is James; he’s older by 2 minutes, and the one on the right is Natasha." Robbie says.
Angelica replies, "Those are great names."
They all stay there talking and watching the babies but it comes time for Angelica and Taj to leave.
"We wish you the best of luck, Robbie. If you need us for anything call us." Angelica says.
"Tell Jenny congratulations as well. Oh..and tell her we’re really sorry that the boy looks like you!" Taj jokes.
Robbie laughs, "Real funny, man!"
Then they both leave and arrive at home.
As soon as they are at home Taj says, "I think I’m going to go take a shower."
Angelica says, "Okay." Then Taj goes and takes a shower.
As he does this, she goes upstairs and changes into a long T-shirt. She sat on the bed just thinking. Seeing Robbie and Jenny’s babies had made her really anxious for one herself. She didn’t want to push Taj into anything though. If they had a baby it might mess up his career in some way.
She didn’t want to jeopardize his group in any way. She just felt this need to have a child of her own. Someone she could love and care for. Something that both her and Taj could say was their own. It had always fascinated her how two people could make something so beautiful. Maybe Taj had been thinking the same thing...or maybe not. Maybe the thought had never even crossed his mind.
Just as she thought this Taj walked in, slipped into bed and turned off the light. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "What’s the matter?"
"Nothing. What makes you think that?" Angelica replies.
"You look really sad. Is it because of what happened today?" he asks.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw the way you looked at the babies today..."
Angelica kind sighs, "Taj, I don’t want to be pushy. I’m probably getting ahead of myself...it’s just.."
Taj hugs her, " It’s just you want a baby. I understand Angel and you don’t have to hide it from me. We’re suppose to talk about these things. I admit I felt a bit of anxiety when I saw James and Natasha, too. But we have to ask ourselves a question. Are we ready to take care of a baby?"
"I feel like I am, but I don’t want to mess your career up."
"Oh, don’t ever think that. If you had a baby it would come before anything that happened. Even my career."
Angelica grins, "All right." Then they both fall asleep in each others arms.
Angelica wakes up the next morning and sees Taj still sleeping. She brushes his braids out of his face and gives him a soft kiss on the forehead. He stirs a little but falls back asleep. She could only grin. He was so adorable and at times she swore he used that to his advantage with her. This last week or so she had become so totally attracted to him that she could hardly go a day with out kissing, hugging, or just holding him close. She couldn’t quite figure out why. It didn’t matter though..she was sure Taj had no objections.
Slowly, she got up walked downstairs. It was a great day outside and the sun was shining brightly, fighting to get through the closed shades. She opened them up and let the light pour into the house. She opened the windows as well and a cool breeze swept in.
Then she grabbed some yogurt from the fridge and went to sit down at the bar they had in their kitchen. She took a few bites then dipped the spoon in the yogurt just thinking.
Suddenly, she felt Taj’s bare arms around her waist. "Good morning, beautiful." He says.
Angelica smiles, "Good morning."
Taj returns the smile then says, "You know, it’s a great day outside. How about we bring some blankets to lay on the grass while we talk."
"That sounds like a great idea."
"Let’s get dressed then."
They both get cleaned up and bring some blanket outside. They lay them on the ground and sit down. Taj sits so that his legs are stretched out in front of him and he is leaning back, resting on his arms. Angelica sits next to him cross-legged.
"So what should we do now?" Taj says.
Angelica grins then says, "I have an idea. Lay down on your stomach."
Taj laughs, "Uh oh.."
Angelica says, "Don’t worry." Then she gets to where she is sitting on the back of his legs. "Okay, we’re going to play back pictionary."
"Back pictionary?" Taj asks.
"Yes, back pictionary. What you do is draw a picture or words with your finger, and the person you are drawing on has to figure out what it is."
"Sounds simple enough. Go for it..."
Angelica thinks then says, "Okay, here goes." She puts her hands up the back of his shirt and starts to draw squiggle lines of nothing on his back.
"Umm...a lemon..no..a tree, no wait I think I got it. It’s some kinda outer space creature with lots of arms!" Taj guesses.
Angelica laughs, "No! I didn’t even draw anything. I just made lines on your back!"
Taj groans, "Aww, no fair! My turn."
Angelica gets up then lays down on her stomach. Taj gets to where his legs are on each side of her legs then sits in the space in between her legs. "Okay, let me think first." After a minute of thinking, Taj puts his hands up the back of her shirt and starts to draw something.
Angelica starts to guess.."A "R’?"
"Yep.." Taj says.
"An "E."
"Yep.."
Eventually he ends up spelling out REVENG...then he draws the last letter.
"An E...uh oh! That spells revenge!" Angelica says.
"Exactly!" Taj says then he starts tickling her all over.
Angelica rolls all over the blanket trying to get free but can’t get away from him. Soon she is on her back with Taj hovering over her smiling, and looking into her eyes.
"You’re so beautiful, Angel." He says. Then he leans down and kisses her gently. That one kiss turns into a long meaningful kiss and is only broken when Angelica pulls away.
"How about we go inside and play ‘body’ pictionary." She says grinning teasingly.
"Oh, come on. Haven’t you had enough of me?" Taj says giggling at her obvious hint.
"Never..." Angelica says.
Taj grins then picks her and the blanket up, carrying her into the house and up to their room. Once they get up to the room Taj says, "You know, you are sure keeping me in shape heh."
Angelica grins, "Well, pretty soon you’ll be the worlds best fit man." Then she starts taking off his clothes. Taj does the same and once all their close are off they go to their bed and get under the covers.
Taj kisses her on the lips softly, then kisses her neck. Suddenly he grins and disappears under the covers. Angelica laughs and says, "What on earth are you do—" She is cut off as Taj puts a finger to her lips then starts to kiss the space between her breasts. He continues down and plants little kisses all over her belly and runs his tongue over her belly button. She holds back a giggle then Taj makes his way back up to her lips.
He teases her pressing his lips just close enough to barely touch. Then he leans forward a little and pulls away. She goes with it the first couple times and just like Taj had expected, she couldn’t take it anymore and pulled him close to her, kissing him passionately.
She then pushed him gently to his back and hovered over him a few minutes kissing him. Then she disappeared under the cover kissing his chest and outlining the design of his six pack with her fingers. He seemed to like this and she could feel his body tensing. Eventually he was grabbing onto the sheets to hold himself back and she then came back up to his face then whispered in his ear, "Revenge.."
Taj looked up at her with an "I want you now" look then put his hands on her waist and pressed her against the bed, making passionate love to her. At times he felt as if he would hurt her but she only urged him on.
Eventually both of them collapsed, their hearts beating rapidly. Angelica ran her fingers through Taj’s hair kissing his forehead. They just lay there for a while close to each other and then Taj rolled over to his back and turned his head to look at her, "You are amazing."
With out knowing, Angelica and Taj had fallen asleep. They didn’t wake up for a couple of hours and by then it was about 3 in the afternoon. Taj woke up to his beeper going off and he called the number. Then he leaned over, kissed Angelica’s cheek softly and ran his fingers over her stomach. She slowly started to wake up and he said, "Do you mind if I go somewhere with my brothers for awhile?"
Angelica smiles up at him and says, "Naah, * yawn * you can go if you want. What time will you be back?"
"I’m not sure. If I’m not back before 6 I’ll call you." Taj answers.
"That’s fine. Have fun."
"I will. Love you."
Then he takes a shower and heads out to meet his brothers.
After Taj is gone, Angelica stands up and is getting ready to go downstairs when she suddenly feels nauseated and has to run to the bathroom. She stands over the sink and splashes water on her face hoping to make it go away but it doesn’t. She then realizes that she is really going to get sick and then moves to the toilet throwing up.
After she did this, she leaned her back against the wall not sure what to do. Why did she suddenly feel so sick? She then got up, brushed her teeth, wiped her mouth off, then went and laid back in the bed.
She woke up to the phone ringing and it startled her so much that she sat up screaming. When she realized it was just the phone she answered. "Hello?"
"Baby, this is Taj..are you okay? You sound like your out of breath.." Taj says.
"I’m fine..the phone just startled me. I had fallen asleep and the sudden noise took me by surprise."
"You were sleeping?"
"Well, I fell asleep a little after you left. I didn’t feel too good actually. I didn’t even know I had fallen asleep."
"Are you okay? Do I need to come home?"
"No, no..I’ll be fine. Are you having fun?"
"Heh. Yeah I suppose so. I just wanted to call and tell you that I’ll be back at 7."
Suddenly, TJ and Taryll are heard in the background, "Hi Angelica! We love you!" then they make a kissing sound. "Muaw!"
Angelica laughs, "You have some crazy brothers."
Taj says, "You two shh! Yeah I know..they’re pitiful huh? Well I’ll be back home at 7 so I’ll see you then Baby Girl. "
"Bye..love you.."
"Te amo tambien,Quierda..."
"Ohh..don’t do that..or I’ll have to come over there and get you..ehh"
Then they both hang up. Angelica gets up, feeling better than she did earlier, and goes downstairs. She grabs an apple out of the fridge then goes and watches TV. After about an hour of this, Taj walks through the front door.
"Feeling better?" He says shutting the door and sitting down next to her.
"Yeah, much better, thanks. So what did your brothers want?"
"They wanted to remind me about what is going on tomorrow and what I should bring and all that stuff."
"Well, what is going on tomorrow?"
Taj grins, "Angelica, I’m sure that you are familiar with the Jackson Family Reunion’s that are held through out the year right?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, tomorrow our year’s family get together is going to be at my Grandma’s house. Since you are family now I hope that you feel comfortable enough to come along with me."
Angelica smiles, "Of course I’d love to come. It’s just..I don’t really know half the people that are going to be there. I mean..I KNOW them but have never met them."
"Don’t worry. They’ll love you and in a matter of minutes you’ll be comfortable. That’s just how my family is."
‘I see...should I make something to bring? Like a cake, cookies..or something?"
"Yeah, you could. I’ll help you out though."
"What time do we have to be there?"
"We have to be there about 10 am so we’ll probably want to actually get up about 8 or so."
"Okay no problem. Let’s make some cookies then." She gets up and looks through the cabinets, "What kind should we make?"
"Ooh, let’s make chocolate chip."
Angelica finds the recipe for the cookies and has Taj read off the ingredients. When all the ingredients are in the bowl Taj stirs it and puts the little cookies onto cookie sheets, and into the oven. After about an hour of all of this, the cookies are finally done. Angelica puts them into a container then says, "There, all done."
Taj laughs as Angelica turns around?
"What?" she says.
He reaches out and wipes off some flour on her cheek. Then he checks the time. "I think we should get to sleep unless we want to be zombies tomorrow."
Angelica laughs and follows him upstairs. They both change into their PJ’s then slide into bed. Angelica leans her head on Taj’s chest as he wraps his arm around her. "Don’t be nervous about tomorrow. It’s going to be lots of fun." He says.
Angelica closes her eyes and strokes his chest gently, "All right, I’ll try not to." Then both of them fall asleep.
Taj wakes up to a loud, beeping sound. It was the alarm. He groans, hits the alarm with his eyes shut and makes it stop. Angelica hears the alarm and wakes up too.
"You go ahead and take a shower, Angel. I’m going to call my brothers and see if they are up. "
"All right.." Angelica says picking out her clothes for the day and walks into the bathroom. As soon as she shuts the door she feels sick and bends over the toilet throwing up. "Oh..not again.", she says. Then she gets into the shower, hoping to feel better.
She gets all ready and comes out of the bathroom brushing her hair out. Taj grins and gives her a quick kiss before getting in the shower himself. Angelica gets her hair, make-up, and all her stuff done then goes downstairs and puts the container of cookies in a sack. Suddenly the phone rings.
RIAL" SIZE="2"> "Hello?" Angelica answers.
"Hey Angelica! This is Tito. Is Taj up right now?" he says.
"Yep, but he’s in the shower right now. Do you want me to bring the cordless to him?"
"No, no that’s okay. I just wanted to make sure that you guys were up and at em'. I’ll see you both there, okay?"
"All right, see you there! Bye."
Taj comes down the stairs with his shoes and socks in his hands. He sits on the couch putting them on and says, "Who was that?"
"It was Poppa T. He was just checking to make sure that we were "up and at em" he said. I have the cookies in a bag over there. Should we bring anything else?"
Taj says, "Yeah, hold on." Then he walks over to the closet and gets a baseball bat, a couple gloves, and a ball. "Okay, I guess we’re all set. Are you ready?"
"You bet." Angelica grabs the cookies and heads out the door. Taj follows, locking the door behind her and putting the stuff in the back of his car. Then they both drive to the reunion.
They arrive and see that TJ and Taryll are already there. They get the stuff out of the back of the truck. Angelica with the cookies and Taj with the baseball bat, gloves, and ball. Taj sets the equipment on the porch as they knock on the door. Then he wraps his arm around her waist.
Taryll answers the door with a huge grin. Suddenly his grin vanishes and he says, "Do I know you? I think you better leave. The pretty lady can stay, but you sir will have to leave."
Taj laughs pushing his brother and saying, "Listen, I’m really sorry you were dropped on your head as a child."
"Oh yeah? Well...I’m not even going to say anything because I don’t want to hurt you."
"Uh huh..sure. Where’s Grandma at?"
"She’s in the kitchen right now."
Taj turns to Angelica and says, "Would you like to meet her?
"Of course I would." Angelica says.
They walk to the kitchen and Taj says, "Hi Grandma..’
Katherine turns around and grins, "Taj!" she says as she gives him a hug. She sees Angelica and says, "Who’s the pretty girl you brought with you?"
"This.." Taj says, "is my wife Angelica."
Katherine grins, "You all grow up TOO fast." She puts her hand out for Angelica to shake. "It’s great to meet you Angelica, and welcome to the family. Believe me there is a lot of us."
Angelica laughs, "It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. Um..we brought some cookies for everyone."
"Oh, thanks honey. Could you put them on the table over there for me?"
"Sure." Angelica says with a smile. She puts them on the table then is instantly stopped in her tracks as some one grabs her and puts something to her head.
"Okay, just give me a cookie and you won’t be hurt.. " a voice says.
"Oh please don’t hurt me Mr. Bad Guy with a fake gun." She says holding back her laughter.
TJ lets her go and starts to laugh himself, "Well, how about you sneak me a cookie."
Angelica opens the lid, "One cookie, little boy and don’t be telling everyone about my goods over here. I run a very private business here."
TJ reaches in and gets a cookie. "Thanks!" Then he runs off. Not soon after, someone whispers in her ear "The purple duck, flies north while the goose lays an egg."
Angelica looks around confused, "Say what?!"
Taryll grins, "In other words I want a cookie. I heard you were running a business I might be interested in."
"Oh, really? Who might that be?"
"Just a happy customer."
"I told him not to tell anyone heh, but here you go. " Then she hands him a cookie.
"Thanks!" Then he runs off.
Shaking her head and giggling, she walks back to the kitchen. "Sorry it took so long but I got mobbed for cookies."
Katherine smiles and says, "Those boys are quite something."
"You’re telling me. Do you want some help?"
Katherine seemed to be making some home made mashed potatoes, gravy, and bunch of other stuff that some might call soul food.
‘Well, sure if you’d like to. Could you stir them greens for me over there."
Taj says, "Well, I’m going to see what damage I can do to my brothers. I’ll let you two talk." Then he walks off.
Katherine stirs the potatoes and says, "So how long have you two been married now?"
"About 2 to 3 months..."
" Are you enjoying it? Being married that is."
"Very much. Taj treats me great. He’s really wonderful."
"I’m glad you two are enjoying it. Any plans for kids in the future?"
Angelica kinda blushes...
"Aww come on you don’t have to be shy about it."
"Well, we haven’t actually been trying intentionally, but we’ve talked about it a little." She pauses a second then says, "What’s the first sign of being pregnant?"
Katherine grins, "Well, I’d say probably morning sickness."
Angelica looks at her unbelievably, "Describe that for me..."
"Well, it usually happens in the mornings unexpectedly, or even any time you wake up. Why do you ask?"
Angelica stops stirring and says, "I’ve felt really sick, and nauseated for a couple of days now.."
Katherine grins, "So you think you might be pregnant huh?"
"Yeah, I mean it’s not totally impossible. We have been a little..well you know."
"Yes, I know how the newly wed thing is..heh. Tell, you what....before the day is over we will do a test to make sure. Let’s wait till later on though."
Angelica smiles, "Alright, thanks a lot. I appreciate it."
After a few minutes of talking, Taj comes in and says, "Angel, a lot of the family is here. You wanna come outside and meet them?"
Angelica looks at Katherine as if to ask for permission.
"Oh , go ahead, Honey. I’ll be right out after these greens are done." Katherine says.
Angelica smiles, "Okay, I’d love to meet them all then." She follows Taj outside holding his hand.
Taj walks over to his Aunt Rebbie and says, "Hey!"
Rebbie looks at him suprised and says, "Hey, Taj! It’s good to see you Honey."
"Aunt Rebbie..I want you to meet Angelica. She’s my wife."
Rebbie puts her hand out and shakes Angelica’s hand. "It’s a pleasure to meet you Angelica. Welcome to the family."
"Thank you.." Angelica says shyly.
Taj says, "Also, these are my cousins Yashi, Stacee, and Austin."
They all shake her hand as well.
Next, he finds his Uncle Jackie. "Uncle Jackie! What’s up?" he says.
"Oh, hey there Boy. What are you up to?" Jackie says.
‘Not much..just the usual. I want to introduce you to my wife, Angelica."
Jackie shakes her hand and says, "Nice to meet you Angelica. I hope you two enjoy the married life."
"It’s great so far." Angelica says smiling.
Siggy and Brandi say their greetings as well and Taj moves on.
"I can’t do everyone right now but by the end of the day you’ll probably know everyone." Taj says. "From here I can point out everyone though. See, there is my Uncle Jermaine and my cousins; Jai, Autumn, Jaimy, Jeremy, and Jourdyn. Then there is my Uncle Marlon and his kids; Brittany, Valnecia, and Marlon Jr. Over there talking to my Dad is my Uncle Randy with Steveanna and Gwenevere. Then of course there is my Uncle Michael and Aunt Debbie with my youngest cousins Prince and Paris."
Angelica looks at him unbelievably and says, "Am I expected to remember everyone’s names? If so I’ll have to take notes..heh"
Taj laughs hugging her, "No, it will take time."
Angelica spots Katherine going in the house to get the food and decides to help her out. "I’m going to go help your Grandma okay?"
"All right." He gives her a quick kiss then runs off to talk to his family.
Angelica catches up to Katherine and says, "Can I help you with anything?"
"Oh, child you didn’t have to come in here and help me!" Katherine replies.
"Yes I do. Now how about I bring the potatoes and greens out for you."
"Oh all right. Thanks honey."
Carefully, Angelica picks the food up and carries it outside to the line of tables set out. She sees Taj and flashes him a smile. He returns the smile with a little wink.
"Oh you are in deep!" Jai says to Taj.
"So..maybe I am! Isn’t that the meaning of marriage though?"
"Well, yeah.."
"Jai wouldn’t know. He’s probably never even had a girl..." TJ says jokingly.
"I’ve had many girls Dumbo!" Jai says in defense.
"Why Dumbo? Man you haven’t called me that since we were little. Always dissin’ on my ears!"
Taryll comes up, puts his fingers on TJ’s ears and starts moving them back and forth. "Fly away, Dumbo! Fly away!"
TJ slaps at his hands, "Hey stop it, Bro’!"
Jai, Taryll, and Taj both bust out laughing.
"What’s everyone laughing about?" a voice says from behind them...
"Uncle Doo-Doo!" Taj says giving his uncle a high five.
"Hey! How are you all doin’? Michael says.
"Great! We were just teaching Dumbo here how to fly." Taj says.
"Oh...heh. You all are crazy."
Taj looks at Angelica again and says, "Hey you guys I have an idea..." He starts to explain his plan to them.
Meanwhile, Angelica helps Katherine and eventually all the food is out side. She comes out of the house after cleaning up a little and all of a sudden she is drenched in water! There is the 3 Ts, Jai, and Michael with water guns in their hands!
"Aaaah!" Angelica screams.
Taryll comes up from behind and pulls her arms behind her back. On cue, Taj moves to the front and squirts her!
"I give in! I give in! What did I ever do to you guys?!"
Taryll lets her go laughing and by now a bunch of the family is watching the water fight. Jai runs in the house and grabs some water balloons and brings them outside. "Here you all!" he says passing them out.
TJ runs off and gets himself two balloons filled with water. He then puts them under his shirt. One on each side of his chest. Brandi spots him and bursts out laughing! "Come on Miss T. I’ll escort you down the runway."
She puts her arm in his and they make their back to the family. "Hey!" Brandi says, "Look who I found!"
TJ walks down the side walk in long strides, fluttering his eyelashes. He stops when he gets to Taryll. Then he says in a girly voice, "Hey Mr. Big Stuff. Are you taken?" as he pushes up the balloons in his chest.
Katherine laughs with everyone but eventually says, "Let’s get the games started shall we? Anybody have suggestions on what we should do first?"
"How about a dance contest?" Janet suggests.
They agree that a dance contest would be really fun so they take a seat. "First up..." Tito starts..." The 3 Ts!"
Angelica sits in her seat not sure if she wants to see what they thought up for their performance. The music starts...
TJ makes his way on the little platform...."Macerena" starts to play. He does the dance practically laughing the whole time. Then the music changes to the beginning beats of "Billie Jean". He picks up a hat and does the same exact choreography as his Uncle Michael. Everyone applauds and laughs hysterically!
Next up is Taj. First he starts out dancing to "Men In Black"...then switches off to "Motownphilly". Angelica couldn’t help but bust out laughing more when she saw him doing this.
Last was Taryll; By now everyone was about to pee their pants!
He comes out to the intro of "Pony". Jokingly, everyone starts whistling. Taryll does the whole choreography then the music stops. There is silence as he walks down and grabs Angelica’s hand. "Come on. You have to help me on this!"
"Are you crazy? Help you on what?" she says.
"You’ll see.."
He pulls her onto stage and the music for "Scream" starts. Angelica was beet red by now and really nervous! Some how though, she managed to pull it off and everyone was clapping. This went on for a long while with everyone who wanted to dance doing their thing. There was no real winner because everyone decided that everybody did a great job.
After the dance competition, everyone decided to just go off and socialize a little bit. The T’s and Jermaine decided to go shoot some hoops.
"You wanna come play with us?" Taj asks.
"Oh, I don’t know. I’m not good at basketball. Plus you guys probably don’t want a girl raining on the parade." Angelica says.
"Come on..it will be fun! They won’t mind."
"All right, but I warned you."
Taj and Angelica walk over to the little court in the back yard. "Hey, we have another player!"
"Now we are uneven though.." Jai says.
"We’ll just recruit another person then!" Taj says. "I’ll go get someone. Hold on." He goes and gets another one of his cousins. "All right let’s play!"
TJ says, "Okay me, Angelica, and Jai on a team. The rest of you are on a team of your own. We’re playing half court and take it back. First to reach 20 wins. Got it?"
"Um..." Angelica says, "Take it back?"
TJ laughs wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "All right have you ever played basketball before?"
" Yeah a few times.."
"Well, I’ll explain the basics. Each shot is two points unless you make it on the outside of this line." He shows her the line. "You get three points for that. If you are fouled, as in if someone pushes you or hits your arm on the way up to a basket, you get two free throws. I’m sure you know the concept of dribbling. Taking it back means that once the other team makes a point you have to get the ball and bring it back to half court. You can’t just get the ball and put it back up. Got it?"
"Okay, I got it now."
TJ passes the ball to Taryll, "You guys go first."
Taryll passes it back to him, "Check!"
TJ returns it then Taryll makes his way to the basket. TJ guards him and Taryll is forced to pass the ball to Taj. He shoots for a three and it goes in smoothly! "Now that’s what I’m talking about!" Taj says.
Angelica shakes her head laughing.
TJ takes the ball to half court then checks it to Taj. He makes his way down the court slowly. Jai whispers to Angelica, "Go to the left. I’ll make it open for you and TJ will pass you the ball. Once the ball is in your hands, square up to the basket and shoot."
Angelica smiles and says, "Okay, thanks!" Then she runs to the left. Jai get an open spot for her and TJ passes it. Turning around and looking at the basket, she shoots. It goes in for 2!
"All right! You got skills, girl!" Jai says giving her a high five.
"Yeah, well we are still in the lead!" Taryll says.
They play for a long while until the score is 17-15 then Brandi walks over and says, "Hey you guys! Hate to interrupt your game but Grandma says it’s time to eat. She says wash your hands too."
Taj laughs, "All right, we’ll be there in a sec."
"Okay looks like our game is cut short." Taryll says, "If we score on this game we’re going to win. If you score...then we’re tied. Let’s go!" He checks the ball to Angelica then she returns it. He runs down the court determined to win the game. He jumps up on a fall back shot and SWOOSH! In it goes for 3!"
"Ahh! No way!" TJ yells putting his hands on his head. Angelica pushes Jai playfully, "Where were you?!"
"I was right here! Where were you?" Jai answers.
They both laugh, then Taj comes up and grabs Angelica’s hand. "Come on, let’s go get washed up so we can eat."
All of them walk in the house and wash their hands. Angelica and Taj are the last ones out. As Angelica is about to walk out the door, Taj stops her by blocking her way. She looks at him strangely, "What?"
Taj grins and puts his fingers under Angelica’s chin. He leans in and gives her a soft, meaningful kiss. Pulling away he says, "I just felt the need to do that."
Grinning, Angelica says, "C’mere.." She gives him another kiss. "Come on we need to get out there."
Putting his arm around her waist they walk out to the table. Everyone is getting their food and sitting in anyplace they can find. The older kids were sitting on the porch, the younger ones sitting in the grass, and the adults at the table.
Taj grabs a plate for both Angelica and himself then hands Angelica her plate. "So you helped make some of this, huh?"
"You bet." She says.
They go through the line of food and join the older cousins on the porch. "What are you all talking about?" Taj says.
"Nothing really. How about you tell us a little bit about yourself Angelica." Brandi says.
"Well, what do you want to know?" Angelica replies.
"Like what are you doing for a career and stuff."
"Well, as of now I am a photographer for a number of magazines. It’s something I’ve always loved to do. I even did a photo shoot on the T’s not too long ago."
"Sounds like a lot of fun!"
"It is..."
They finish their food then go get desert. Just before they make it back to the table TJ sprints in front of them. "The cookies are mine!" Taryll comes running up behind and says, "I don’t think so!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah.."
"Well, let’s wrestle for them!"
"All right you’re on!"
Angelica laughs hysterically as TJ and Taryll wrestle each other to the ground. Unfortunately, TJ is pinned to the ground. "I am the champ!" Taryll yells.
They both get up dusting off and Taryll gets some cookies. TJ acts as if he doesn’t care then gets a cookie himself. As Taryll starts to walk off, TJ grabs some ice then runs and put it down his shirt. "Ahh!" Taryll squeals!
Taj bursts out laughing! "Oh, you guys are too crazy!"
After a few minutes, Katherine makes her way into the house bring the food as well. Angelica helps her out along with the rest of the family.
"I think we need to show Angelica the Jackson Family Photo Album." Katherine says.
"Oh yeah! Wonderful, naked baby pics of Taj!" Taryll says.
Taj just shakes his head, "Grandma...."
"Oh come on!" she says. She gets the album out then motions for Angelica to sit by her. Angelica does and everyone gathers around. "All right here we go." She points to a picture of a little 3T in the making. Taj is at the piano in his underwear with Taryll and TJ at a little microphone.
"As you can see Angelica. Taj had no shame!" Taryll says.
Taj pushes Taryll and laughs.
"Next..." Katherine continues. "Oh here’s a good picture!" There was Taj sitting in the bathtub playing with a rubber ducky.
Taryll and TJ act out a little dialogue to the picture.
"Oh Mr. Ducky. I have no other friends but you." TJ says.
"Well maybe if you put some clothes on, boy!" Taryll says acting as a duck.
"Oh give me a break!" Taj says pushing them both.
Uncle Michael cuts in, "Oh don’t you guys start cuz I can remember plenty of pictures that Angelica would love to see!"
Both TJ and Taryll look at each other then they make a motion as if to be zipping their lips.
After looking at all the pictures and laughing till everyone’s stomach hurt, everyone went back outside. Angelica stops Katherine and says, "Um...I’m going to go to the store now. Is that okay?"
Katherine smiles, "Okay. I’ll tell everyone that you went to get some stuff for me."
Angelica walks out the door and heads to the store.
Angelica walks in the store nervous as ever. She quickly buys the pregnancy test and heads back to the reunion. Trying not to be noticed, she runs upstairs and quickly does the test. It says she has to wait for about five minutes to see the results so she sits there waiting.
Eventually the five minutes where up. Slowly she looked... "Oh my goodness..." she whispered. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Angel, are you in there? Are you okay?"
"Oh not now..please not now." She thought to herself. Quickly she hid the test, "I’m fine, really."
"Can I come in?" Taj says.
"Sure.."
He walks in and shuts the door. "Are you sure you are okay? You’ve been in here for a while you know, and I don’t want to find out you are sick like you were the other day.", he says this kinda checking her out to make sure things are okay.
"Taj, I am fine."
"All right, well we are going to be going soon. I’m going to get all the stuff we brought and put it in the car. I’ll meet you at the car, okay?
"Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes."
Taj walks off and gathers their things, taking them out to the car. Meanwhile, Angelica practically runs down the stairs to Katherine. "Katherine...I’m pregnant.."
Katherine grins, "Oh! That is so great, Honey!"
"No it’s not..." Angelica says.
"Huh? What makes you say that?"
"This is going to be such a burden on Taj. I don’t want to make things stop for him because of me."
"Angelica, I can’t believe you are saying this. I’ve known Taj for twenty-four years, and I know he would be delighted to know he was a father. Don’t doubt him like this."
"I’m sorry. I really don’t know why I’m so afraid to tell him. Can you just promise me you won’t tell him or anyone else until I decide I want to announce it? Please?"
"Angelica, I have to knock some sense into you! What did you think would happen if you got married? Eventually at sometime you would get pregnant. Taj knows this!"
"Katherine, I just..it’s hard for me to explain."
"Angelica, listen to me. When I had my first child I wasn’t even married yet. Of course, Joseph was a little upset but he got over it. It was like that with every child but I got through it fine. After awhile he realized what a blessing it was to have a child of our own, he tamed down. I know Taj may have a bit of a temper but that’s in the genes. He has a nice heart and will see how great this is."
"I just...I don’t know why I’m freaking about this."
"If you have to, wait a day till you get the nerve, but you have nothing to be afraid of."
"All right. Thanks very much. I need you to promise you won’t tell anyone about all this though."
"I swear I won’t tell as long as you promise to tell him soon. Okay?"
"All right. Thanks so much for this talk. I feel really close to you."
" Aww! Heh Thanks...congratulations by the way."
"heh thanks..I’ll see you later!"
Then she runs out to the car where Taj is waiting
They arrive at home Taj sits down on the couch holding Angelica, "So did you have fun today?" he says.
"Yeah, it was really great. I’m glad I finally got to meet everyone." Angelica says trying to sound happy.
"Well, I think I’m going to get to bed or be a zombie in the morning. How about you?"
"Yeah, sounds like a good job."
That night, Angelica wakes up a few times wanting to tell Taj but still afraid too. A day goes by and she still doesn’t tell him. On the night of the second day she decides she is going to tell him in the morning.
She wakes up first that morning and walks downstairs. Her heart was racing and she wasn’t sure if she was actually going to be able to tell Taj about this.
Taj walked downstairs and gave her a hug. He smelled like fresh soap and shampoo so it was obvious he had taken a shower.
Angelica put on a fake smile, "Good morning."
Taj kissed her neck softly, "Good morning? Why not...great morning?"
Laughing a little she says, "Taj, we need to talk about something."
"All right, I’m listening."
She guides him to the couch sitting next to him. "Do you remember that night we talked about how if I got pregnant you would support me and all. You said it wouldn’t affect your career..."
"Yes, I remember.." he says getting interested.
"Well, it’s taking all I have to tell you this, but Taj...I’m pregnant."
Taj just sits there not saying a word. His head was almost spinning and he felt like he had been hit by a brick. Pregnant? A baby...he was going to be father? "When did you find out?" he says kind quiet.
"About three days ago."
"What? And you didn’t tell me?" He says this a bit louder, showing he was upset.
"Taj, I was afraid you would be mad. I thought you would hate me for ruining things for you."
"Angelica, I can’t believe you held it from me for so long. I can’t believe you did that to me!" He stands up pacing the floor. "Does anyone else know?"
On the verge of crying, Angelica says, "Yeah, your Grandma does."
"My Grandma?! You can tell my Grandma but you can’t tell me? Geez!"
Angelica stands up too and reaches for his arm, "Taj, I was afraid. I didn’t know what you would think."
"After that talk? Do my words mean nothing to you?!"
Angelica starts to cry, "Taj, I’m sorry...."
Taj pushes her arm away, "I can’t believe this."
Wiping her face, Angelica says, "Fine. I’ll leave until you get your crap together!" She runs upstairs and get’s dressed then walks back downstairs. Taj was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. As she walks out the door she says, "I’m sure glad you’re so excited about this." Then she slams the door.
Taj sat on the couch about to cry. It wasn’t like him to do that but he was upset; not really at Angelica but at himself. Why did he go off like that? He should be happy! He couldn’t even remember half the things he said to her. It just aggravated him that Angelica had kept it to herself for so long. Maybe three days wasn’t that long but he thought they were close enough, that she could have told him sooner.
He wanted to make this up to Angelica somehow and suddenly he got an idea.
At about 6:30 P.M, Angelica decided it was time to come home. By now, Taj had to have been cooled off. If he wasn’t, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do.
Slowly, she walked up to the door. It was really quiet and she wasn’t even sure if Taj was home. As she walked in she was surprised to see a box on the floor with a rose laying on the top with a note attached to it. Picking up the box she read the note:
Dear Angelica,
I can’t express how sorry I am for the way I reacted this morning. I had no right to go off on you like that. Being a father is something that I should have cherished. After all, right now you are holding a being that we created together. For that...I respect you. I want you to know that I am anxious as much as you for the months to come. I wanted to make up for all the yelling I did this morning. I hope this makes you forgive me. Please put on what is in the box and follow the trail of rose petals.
So much luv,
Taj
Angelica slowly opens the box and is curious as she lifts up a towel. Not sure what Taj is up to she decides to go along with it. She takes off her clothes then wraps the towel around her body.
She sees the trail of rose petals and follows them; up the stairs....around the corner..down the hallway..suddenly they stop in front of the bathroom door. Taking a deep breath, she walks into the bathroom.
When she walks in she sees a bunch of candles lit all around. The tub was filled with hot water, strawberries on a table next to the tub, two wine glasses, and a bottle of Strawberry flavored water. Taj was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, the door shuts behind her and she looks around. There was Taj with a towel wrapped around his waste, with his back pressed against the door. His face looked so sincere and she could tell he was truly sorry for everything.
Taj walked over and pushed play on the CD player. The romantic melodies of Babyface were soon filling the room. "When Your Body Gets Weak" was the selection. He walked over to her and ran his fingers through Angelica’s hair. Kissing her forehead he says, "Angel, I’m sorry. I was such a jerk this morning."
Swallowing, holding back the tears Angelica says, "Taj, it’s okay. I should have told you sooner. It’s my fault too."
He runs his fingers down her cheek, traces her chin, then her collar bone, kisses her neck softly. "I want to make it up to you..."
Angelica closes her eyes. The heat in the room from the tub, the music, and Taj’s hands were making her so relaxed. "You don’t..."
He presses his lips to her silencing her. "Yes I do." He says afterwards. Slowly, he pulls off her towel and lets it fall to the floor. Then he runs his fingers down her chest till he reaches her belly. He stops for a moment as if to be thinking. Bending down he kisses her stomach softly. "Can you believe that something is in there? Something that we created together? A human being..."
Angelica saw a tear run down his face as he bent his head down hoping she wouldn’t see. She held his head in her hands, twisting his braids in her fingers. "It’s truly amazing. Heaven seems to like you a lot. Now they’ve sent you two blessings."
Taj stands back up just holding her in his arms. Angelica pulls off his towel and Taj leads her to the tub. He gets in first then Angelica sits between his legs with her back to him. The water was really warm and felt really good against their skin.
Taj pours flavored water into both of the wine glasses, handing one to Angelica. Then he gets a strawberry and says, "Open your mouth.."
Angelica smiles and opens her mouth taking a bite of the strawberry. Taj watches her with a huge grin on his face. "Now take a drink." He says softly.
She takes a drink and smiles more, "That’s really good."
"Not as good as you though."
For a long while they sit there feeding each other strawberries and drinking flavored water. The whole night was romantic and they ended it by making slow, passionate, love to each other.
Angelica woke up the next morning and saw Taj hovering over her, kissing her stomach. She smiled as she said, "Boy, what are you doin’ ?"
Taj only kissed her stomach again, looking up at her with his caring yet seductive eyes. Slowly he moved up and kissed her softly. "It’s just so amazing, Angelica." He puts a hand on her stomach, rubbing it a little. "It’s just so hard for me to believe that in time there is going to be a little boy or girl that is going to call me Daddy. I knew someday it would happen but now it seems so unreal."
A week passes and both of them are invited to come over to Katherine’s house. A few of the family members are just going to hang out and talk a little. Angelica was a little anxious to tell Katherine about all that happened.
Taj and Angelica pull up to the house and are greeted by Jai who is helping Siggy out with his bike. "Hey you two!" Jai says.
"Hey Jai." Taj says. "Watcha doin’?"
"Just trying to get this thing fixed up for Siggy." Jai says.
"Oh I see." Taj says smiling. "Trying..being the keyword there."
Jai gives him a playful glare then busts out laughing. "Yeah that’s what I said."
As Angelica and Taj are about to walk into the house, Angelica says, "Baby, I think I’m going to stay outside. I need some fresh air."
"Are you okay?" Taj says concerned.
"Yeah, I’m fine. I think it’s just the sickness that comes with..." Her voice goes down to a whisper. "...the baby."
Taj grins and kisses her check. "Okay, I’ll come out and check on you though. Let’s not tell anyone about this just yet."
Afterwards, he walks into the house.
Angelica sits on the stairs just watching Siggy and Jai for awhile. "Would you like to come help?" Jai asks her.
"Oh, sure why not." She replies.
He shows her all about the bike and lets her do a few adjustments on it. After awhile, she just stands back and watches them. She suddenly becomes lost in thought, staring up into the sky when suddenly.....*boom*! She was knocked down to the ground! The first thing she did was scream really loud; not because she was hurt but because of the sudden surprise.
She saw the bike that hit her on the ground as Jai came running over to her. "I am so sorry! Are you okay? That was an accident...I’m sorry.."
Suddenly, Taj comes bursting out the door and jumps down the stairs. He pauses for a moment checking out the scene and once he realizes that Jai’s bike knocked her down, he goes ballistic.
He runs over to Jai and pushes him in the chest. "You idiot! What were you thinking in that brain of yours?!"
Jai not sure why his cousin is freaking out so badly says, "Taj, I’m sorry. It was an accident. I really.."
Taj pushes him again harder, "If you would have been paying attention to what you were doing it wouldn’t have happened!" He goes to really hurt Jai but Taryll and TJ come from behind taking his arms, holding him back.
"Bro, cool it right now!" Taryll says. Taj tries to go towards Jai but his brothers still hold him back.
Angelica says, "Honey, I’m fine really. Don’t do this."
Taj kinda cools down but is still really mad. He walks over to Angelica and says, "Are you sure you are okay?"
"I am fine...okay?" Angelica says.
"Are you sure? Do we need to take you to the doctor or anything?"
"No I don’t need to go to the doctor. The baby just had it’s first encounter with fear that’s all."
By now the whole family was outside and were trying to figure out what was going on. Everyone looked at each other at the mentioning of a baby. Brandi says, "Baby?!"
Both Taj and Angelica look at each other as if to say, ‘oops’. They didn’t want the rest of the family to know about this just yet.
"Yes, we didn’t want you to know just yet, but Angelica is pregnant everyone." Taj says proudly.
Brandi gives squeal of excitement and says, "Oh that is so great! Taj! Get her off the ground! Are you crazy?!"
Taj laughs, helping Angelica to her feet. The whole family talks about how great it is going to be with a new Jackson added to the family soon. Finally, Katherine and Angelica have time to talk as everyone goes outside.
"Katherine...I just wanted to thank you. You know, for keeping it a secret and all. You were kinda wrong though. Taj was really mad at first. He was upset that I didn’t tell him sooner.." Angelica starts.
"Exactly. He was mad because you hadn’t told him like I suggested you did. He wasn’t mad because you were having the baby. Now..wasn’t he excited after he cooled down." Katherine says.
"Yes, he was very excited. He really is proud about the whole thing."
"Just like I said he would. Now you see there was nothing to worry about right?"
"Yes, I admit I was wrong and now I need some tips from you."
"Well, of course! What do you want to know?"
"Well, lately I’ve been really sick. Sometimes it will just hit me out of the blue. Is that normal?""
"Unfortunately, yes. You’ll probably feel sick for about thre weeks. Also, you’ll want to start seeing a doctor every three weeks. Just to make sure things are going well. The doctor is the only real person you can talk to about accurate things you need to know."
"Thanks again Katherine. I hope you don’t mind if I call you up sometimes. In case I need help or something.."
Taj and Angelica go to the doctor to make sure everything is okay. The doctor says everything is fine and tell them all the precautions and stuff they should watch out for.
“Well, all I wanna really stress is that you shouldn’t have a lot of stress for awhile. “ The doctor says.
Taj says, “Is that normal?”
“Well, yes and no. Every pregnant woman should avoid stress but Angelica needs to be extra careful. With all the tests we did it would just be a good idea to keep things relaxed. If not..it could cause complications.”
Anglica says, “We’ll be very careful don’t worry.”
Many months pass and Taj gets more and more attached. He’s getting really anxious for the baby to be born.
“So what do you think we should name the baby?” Angelica says one day.
“Hmm...well if it is a boy..how about..Alex..” Taj says.
“I don’t know..but if it is a girl...how about we name it...Destiny. “
“Wow..yeah that’s a keeper. It has a lot of meaning.”
One day someone calls....
“Hello?” Angelica says answering the phone.
“Hello. This is Bob Jones, the manager of MJJ music. Would Taj happen to be home?” the manager says.
“He sure is. I’ll get him for you.”
“Thanks.”
She calls for Taj and he takes the phone. “Hello?”
“Taj, listen you aren’t going to like what I am about to tell you..” Bob says.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well....I know you are trying to spend time with Angelica and all until the baby is born but you’re going to have to come to London for at least a month.”
“I can’t do that! Angelica isn’t that far long from having the baby and I HAVE to be there for her.”
“I know Taj, but this is something you have to do. You guys haven’t done any publicity things for a long time now. It will only be a month.”
Taj puts his hand over his face frustrated, “Only a month...no longer right?”
“Right.”
“Okay...when do we leave?”
“Tomorrow...”
“Tomorrow?! Geez..why so soon and why so short notice?”
“It was a last minute thing. Taryll and TJ said the same thing.”
“Okay..I’ll be there. What time?”
“Be at the airport about 9 in the morning.”
“All right bye”
Taj hangs up, turning to Angelica. He rubs her belly as he says, “Angel, please don’t be mad at me for this but I have to be in London for a month.”
Angelica looks at him in disbelief, “A month?! Taj the ba-“
“I know, “ Taj starts, “I tried to explain that to the manager but he said that I had to go. It will only be a month and no longer. By then the baby should be ready to be born in a week or so and I WILL be there I promise.”
“Taj...I can’t believe you would choose going to London over the baby!”
“Honey, listen please. I have no choice...”
“Yes you do! I’ve put my photography on hold to this baby is born surely you can put this off!” Angelica was beginning to get pretty mad. Lately her emotions were on high.
Realizing that Angelica probably was just moody he tried to stay calm, “Yes, I know Angel. I DON’T wanna go but I have to.”
Angelica stands up holding her stomach and walking up the stairs. “Okay whatever.”
He knew that Angelica was just being a bit moody because of the whole pregnancy cycle so he wasn’t really mad. He walked upstairs after her and walked into their room. He saw Angelica sitting on the edge of the bed crying. He walked up to her and sat on his knees on the floor in front of her. Kissing her stomach he said, “ Don’t cry Angel..”
She runs her fingers through his braids and says, “I’m just afraid you won’t be here when the baby is born.”
“I promise I will. No matter what it takes I will be here to hold your hand. Now tomorrow you are going to come to the airport with me. I’ll have Robbie drive you back home. Don’t worry about anything it will only make things worse then they need to be. Now lets get ready for bet you need to rest.”
Angelica puts on a nightgown and stops in front of the mirror. As she looked at herself she couldn’t figure out what people were thinking when they said pregnant women were beautiful. There was nothing beautiful about looking like a whale..
Taj came up behind her in just some boxers. He brushes the hair from her shoulder and kissed it softly. Then he wrapped his arms around her and said, “What do you see?”
Angelica looks at him oddly, “What do you mean?”
“I mean what do you see when you look at us in the mirror.”
With a smile Angelica says, “ Well...I see a family. A father, mother, and a baby. I see..love, loyalty, and devotion. What about you?”
Taj smiles looking at them in the mirror, “I see a very lucky man who has the most beautiful women for his wife. I also see that she is carryingthe creation they both made together. That creation is more beautiful then life itself.”
Angelica turns around and kisses him. Then they both fall asleep in bed.
They wake up in the morning and Robbie drives them to the airport. Hand in hand Angelica and Taj walk into the airport. When they see Taryll and TJ they both grin and say, “Awww....”
Taj says, “Oh shut up! Heh”
The manager meets them all and says, “Are you guys ready?”
Taryll says, “Yeah I guess so.”
TJ says, “Same here.”
Taj turns to Angelica and says, “Now don’t worry about anything. I’ll be back before the baby is born. I love you.” He bends down and kisses her stomach, “I love you too.”
Angelica giggles, “Okay, I’ll do my best if you do your best while you are in London. Make those girls drool at your feet..ehh”
Taj laughs and kisses her softly, “Bye..”
Angelica hugs him and says, “Bye.”
Taryll and TJ give her a hug as well and wish her luck. Then they head off on the plane. Robbie drives her back home then takes his car back to his house.
Angelica had no clue what she was going to do without Taj for a month. They had never been so far apart for so long before.
After about 2 weeks, Angelica was becoming really lonely. She decided to go over to Katherine’s for a while and found Tito there as well.
“Well if it isn’t my favorite daughter-in-law!” he says helping her to the couch.
“Tito..I’m your ONLY daughter-in-law.” Angelica says laughing.
“Still my favorite though.” He laughs then continues, “So what brings you here?”
“Didn’t really have anything better to do. As a whale I don’t get around much.”
“Oh, you are no whale.” He turns on the TV and suddenly sees 3T on
the news. The reporter is standing on the streets of London with a
microphone. The reporter says –
“London has been in 3T mania ever since the guys arrived here 2 weeks ago. Girls have swarmed their hotels hoping to get that one glimpse of them.”
They show footage of the guys waving out the hotel windows and out oftheir car. Then they show them signing autographs and walking the streets.
“The guys have seemed to really come to like the London girls. Each of them have had at least one girl at their arm each day. We talked to a girl recently who says she has been with Taj even since he got here and they have really hit it off. “”What about his wife?” we asked. She told us that Taj loved his wife but he loved her as well.
Angelica was on the verge of crying and surely would have if Tito hadn’t turned the TV off.
“Now, Angelica don’t you even start to believe what that reporter is saying. This happens all the time and most the time it is all gossip.” Tito says.
“Tito..they talked to a girl about it all..” Angelica says.
“She could be lying.”
“I want to go to London and see him.”
“Angelica you can’t do that..you aren’t suppose to fly now. The baby is due any time.”
“I don’t care Tito. I have to see him and make sure this isn’t true. The baby will be fine on a plane for a little while.”
“I can’t do that..”
“Yes you can. Please Tito, I’m begging you..”
Tito sees how serious she is and says, “Okay I’ll try and find a way. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
The next day they leave for London. Angelica practically sleeps the whole way there. When they arrive at London they head towards Taj’s hotel.
Meanwhile, Taj is just getting back from a performance and is walking back to his hotel room. He opens the door then realizes he is really thirsty. There was a pop machine just down the hall so he quickly went and got a pop. While he did this, a girl slipped into his hotel room. She had been planning this forever. She finally had the chance to show Taj how good they would be together. How much she could give him. His wife didn’t deserve him at all. She would prove this to him tonight. Quickly, she took all her clothes off and slipped into his bed.
Taj walks into the room and shuts the door. He hadn’t even bothered to change after the show because he was so tired. He started to take off his shirt...
Meanwhile, Angelica was making her way up to his room along with Tito who came with her. Taj had given Angelica the hotel combination as soon as he got there; Just in case something happened and she needed to know. So she just punched in the combination and walked in... As soon as she walked in she covered her mouth with her hand as tears started to form in her eyes. There was Taj taking off his pants..with another girl in his bed.
Taj looks up and pulls up his pants embarrassed. “Angelica! What are you doing here?” He starts to walk towards her to give her a hug.
“Taj! How could you do this!” Angelica screams frantically.
Taj looks at Tito then at Angelica. He had no clue what she was talking about.
“Don’t try and deny it Taj.” The girl in the bed says, “Tell her what we have.”
Taj turns around and see the girl in the bed, “What the hell?!”
Angelica says, “Yeah tell me Taj! Have you been cheating on me? Was this whole thing some plan to be with her?
Taj says, “Angel, I have no clue what is going on. I don’t even know who this girl is!”
Tito just sits back disappointed. He didn’t really know what to do. “Calm down Angelica...your going to hurt yourself or the baby if you keep yelling like this. Remember the doctor said NO stres..” Tito says.
Angelica totally ignores him. The girl who was in the bed was now dressed and making her way towards them. Angelica lunged forward and slapped her obviously meaning to do some harm. Taj had to pull her off of the girl. “Angel, calm down please I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Please calm-“
“Don’t touch me! How could you do this? I just can’t believe it.” Angelica breaks out crying.
Taj was frantic by now. He had no clue what was going on. Who was this girl? “Angel please believe me. I have no idea who she is or how she got in here. All I was doing was getting ready to change into some clean clothes.”
Angelica shakes her head...then she takes her wedding ring off throwing it him. “If this is what you want then go for it!” She turns around and starts running down the hall. Taj runs after her but gets to the elevator just as the doors shut.
“How could Taj do this to her?” Angelica thought. “When they had the baby ...and their future. Did she not give him what he needed?” She checks the number on the elevator...it was at 2... “Why?!?” ....1....*ding*
“Damn!” Taj yells. He takes the stairs running as fast as he can. He reaches the bottom just as the elevator door opens. There is Angelica huddled in the corner with blood on her.
“ANGELICA!!!!” Taj screams!
Tito comes running down the stairs with Taryll and TJ close behind. Taj bends down to Angelica looking her over and checking for a pulse. She had a pulse but it was very faint. "Oh God! Why is this happening to me?!"
Tito says, "TJ go call and ambulance now!"
As soon as TJ catches a glimpse of Angelica he runs to the nearest phone! Taj holds Angelica in his arms, "Baby I’m so sorry. Please hang in there...please.."
It seemed like hours before the ambulance finally arrived.
They loaded her onto a stretcher and let Taj sit in the back of the ambulance. Tito drove everyone else to the hospital. Taj could hardly keep himself together as he saw the paramedics sticking needles everywhere, and putting a mask on her. "She’s pregnant" he said trying to help.
"We know sir." A paramedic said.
They arrive at the hospital and Taj runs along the side of the stretcher all the way. He was not going to let her go. They bring her into the emergency room and look her over.
"Doctor there is severe abdominal bleeding here." One doctor says.
"Okay...how far long is the baby?" another says.
"Its about 32 weeks. It would live if we separated it from the mother now, but it might be a little premature."
The doctor turns to Taj who is in total shock right now. He cant believe half the things that are going on. "Sir I’m going to need to talk to you." The first doctor says.
He pulls Taj out into the hall, "Mr. Jackson I’m sure that you are aware your wife is not in very good condition. We are going to do the best we can..but...we’re going to have to have you sign something. In case it comes to a time when we have to decide whether to save the baby or your wife...we will need you to choose."
Taj looks at the doctor in awe, "Choose? I can’t do that.."
"Sir, you’ll have to.."
"I won’t!" Taj throws the paper across the hall and runs back to the emergency room. Standing by Angelica’s side and holding her hand he says, "Angel..please don’t leave me. I need you so bad! You’re my life...please.." he breaks out crying.
.....Look at that beautiful light. It’s so warm and welcoming. It reminds me of something...have I been here before? Is that a light I see? I feel so great here...wait...Dee Dee is that you?
"Yes, it is me Angel."
"Where am I?"
"Where do you think you are Angel. You may have forgotten but you were here once before."
"Am I in heaven?"
"Yes you are darling."
"Am I dead?!"
"Not yet...Angel I am going to give you a choice. You can stay on earth and live your life or you can come here. Look..."
Oh gosh Taj...Wait he can’t hear me. Is that me on the bed?! Oh I wish I could comfort him...but what about that other girl?~
"I don’t think I want to go back."
"Why not? Don’t you love him..."
"Yes, but he doesn’t love me."
"Why do you think that?"
"He was with another girl."
"Are you sure about this? Look..what do you see"
" I see....I see a girl she’s getting into Taj’s bed. He doesn’t see her and starts to..oh no! It was all a set up!"
"Yes it was."
"Oh! Dee Dee I want to live! I want to go back to earth!"
"You will....but first tell me what you hear.."
"> "I hear Taj talking to me. He says he wants to name the baby DESTINY....because it reminds him of us..."
There is a bright light...
Taj sits patiently next to Angelica waiting for the test results. They had been in the hospital for at least 3 hours waiting for Angelica to wake back up. That brick to the head really knocked her out.
"Angel, please wake up.." Taj says.
Angelica sits up feeling a terrible pain in her head. She looks down and sees that her stomach was not bulging at all. "Taj! What about the baby?!"
Taj looks at Angelica confused.."What baby? Honey lay back down.."
"No the baby! What about Destiny?!"
A doctor comes and checks Angelica’s pupils.."She seems fine. I think that bump on her head may hurt for a while and she may need more rest.
Angelica becomes really confused. "There is no baby?"
Taj smiles stroking her face, "No baby. You just got hit in the head with a brick. You were sleeping for a long time but now you are awake."
Angelica rubs her head feeling the bump. Did she dream the whole thing?
To Be Continued...
E-mail Kandi at kandi@iland.net.
Or visit her website: The
Interactive 3T: Voices of Angels.