Michael snorted. "Hey, think of who you're talking to! I could never argue about that. The only reason I've been going to classes is because of you."

"Really? That's sweet," she whispered and leaned in to kiss him, but she stopped short and made a face. "Eww, I should probably go brush my teeth."

"Yes, please do," Michael replied, nodding his head.

When she came out, she joined him on the bed and stared at the popcorn puff ceiling. He moved to his side and leaned in for a kiss. "Much better," he said. "No more pukey breath."

She grinned weakly.

"So how do you feel?" Michael asked.

She wrinkled her forehead and tilted her head to the side. In a quiet detached voice, she said, "I feel...numb. I'm not feeling much at all. How about you?"

He leaned his hand down and pulled up her shirt a little. The handprint was still there, and he traced his finger over it. "I don't know. One week ago if someone had told me that I was gonna have a wife and baby in the future, I would have laughed. But one week later and I have both. It's just a little hard to swallow." He saw her chin begin to quiver and he grabbed her hand. "Hey, I didn't mean that in a bad way. I'm here to stay, Maria. I hope you know that."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I just...for a second there I thought you wanted out."

He kissed her on the forehead. "Not a chance."

"I think today was destined to be bad, Michael. I had that dream last night. The one with you and the Crashdown. It was like an omen of bad news."

He remembered the odd dream and made a mental note to get ahold of Max - he was pretty sure he figured it out. He nodded. "I had it too. You dragged me in or something, but this time I saw some other things. I don't want to talk about it right now, though."

"Good, I don't think I could concentrate on that anyway," she sighed. She wrinkled her nose and said, "Wow, I'm really hungry."

"Really? That's a little surprising. Well, you know, considering you just lost your breakfast and all," he laughed. "But if you really think you can eat, then come on," he grabbed her hand, "I'll make you something, okay?"

She nodded and they walked down to the kitchen.

"So what do you want?" he asked as they looked in the refrigerator.

"I want...um...a BLT sounds good," she said, rubbing her growling belly.

"Sounds like the baby is agreeing with you," he said at the loud rumbling and she giggled. He put his hand up to his mouth and feigned shock. "A smile? For me? I feel so special."

She socked him in the arm and he wrapped her in his arms and gave her a deep kiss. "Okay, now go sit down while I make you the best BLT in the world, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay." She went and sat at the table.

He grabbed all the stuff and she watched him as he cut the lettuce and tomatoes and fried the bacon, her appetite growing. "Do you want mayo?" he asked, after toasting the bread.

She shook her head and grimaced. "No, that's disgusting!!!. Mustard please. Oh, and I know what sounds good. How about some chocolate pudding? I think there is some in the fridge."

He looked in the refrigerator and removed a glass dish filled with pudding, but it wasn't chocolate. "Hon, this looks like tapioca," he said, watching her.

She shrugged and said, "Oh, well. That's fine."

He moved to get a dish from the cabinet when her voice stopped him. "Michael, what are you doing?"

"I'm getting a bowl for your pudding," he answered.

"No, I don't want it in a bowl, silly. I want it on my sandwich instead of mayo," she said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

He wrinkled his nose and swallowed. "Oh God. That is so gross, Maria."

She narrowed her eyes at him and pouted. "Mic-hael. That's the way I want it," she whined and her chin began to quiver again.

"Okay, okay. Please don't cry. One BLT with tapioca pudding coming right up. Anything else with that?" He asked, as he put a bottle of Tabasco in front of her.

She looked at the ceiling, considering the question, "No, I think that will be just perfect. Oh wait, a handful of shredded coconut."

"Alright, here you go," he said a few minutes later, putting a plate in front of her. She took her first bite and he asked how it tasted?

She nodded enthusiastically, "Very good, but I forgot the most important ingredient." She put the sandwich down on the plate and pulled off the bread on one side and added Tabasco to it. She took another bite and made a thumbs up with her hand and groaned in delight as though it was the most delicious tasting sandwich in the world.

She then nodded down to her plate. "You want some? It's pretty awesome!"

Michael felt his stomach get queasy and he shook his head. He absolutely hated tapioca. He always thought that it tasted like slimy frog eyes. And coconut tasted like leather. No, he didn't think so. No leathery frog eyes for him. "Naw, I think I'll pass," he answered, fighting back a wave of nausea.

"You don't know what you're missing," she said, shaking her head. "Oh well. More for me." She bit in again, happily.

*****

After Michael cleaned up the kitchen, the phone rang. Maria was making no move to pick it up so he did it. "Hello?"

"Michael?" It was Liz and he could tell by the desperate sound in her voice that she was freaking.

"Yeah, Liz. What's up?"

"Where have you guys been? We heard about what happened yesterday in school and we tried calling both your place and Maria's all night, but there was no answer. And today you guys are missing school again. What's going on?"

Michael didn't think it was his place to tell about the baby. "Uh...Liz. I think you should ask Maria. But I want everybody to come over here after school, we all need to talk. Okay?"

"Sure," he could practically hear Liz nodding over the phone.

"Here's Maria," he said and then handed Maria the phone.

"Hi Liz," Maria said, her voice having reverted to the stunned, lifeless tone from earlier.

"Maria, what's going on?" Liz demanded.

Maria stampered. "I...a...I'm...you were right Liz. I'm pregnant."

Liz didn't speak right away. When she did, it came out as a strangled whisper. "Are you sure, Maria?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I took three tests this morning and two out of three gave me the thumbs up," she laughed bitterly.

"Do you want me to come over?" Liz asked, her voice determined.

"No, babe. It's alright. I don't want you to miss school and besides, I've got Michael here. Just make sure you're here after school. Oh, and for now, I'd rather you didn't tell anybody yet."

"I wont say a word. I'll see you later, the bell just rang," Liz said. "Bye."

"Bye," Maria said to the phone and then hung it up.

She looked up and noticed that Michael was watching her. "What?" she asked, suddenly feeling self- conscious.

He held out his hand to her. "Come on, lets go upstairs."

She took it and followed him up to her room. As soon as he closed the door, he wrapped her in his arms and brushed her lips with his. "So," he began. "I was wondering if there was anything I could do to take your mind off of, well, you know?"

She nodded and he tightened his arms around her, capturing her mouth in a soft, slow kiss. Her eyes closed and all thoughts about the baby and the dream and everything else was wiped from her mind. She deepened the kiss and raised her hand to run it through his spiky hair.

"That makes you feel better?" he asked when she released him.

She nodded. "Definitely. When I kiss you, all other thought are wiped from my mind and I can only think about you."

He smiled and hugged her close, and then said, "So, what happens if we do other things? Like, would your minds totally go blank and in turn would you feel better because of it?"

"I don't know," she said, her lips turning up at the corners ever so lightly. "How about we find out." Under her breath she added, "It's not like I have to worry about getting pregnant."

He didn't speak. The next thing she knew, he had picked her up and laid her down on the bed. He joined her, stretching out his own body alongside hers, and planted a soft kiss on her lips as one arm draped around her waist.

She looked into his eyes and brought a hand up to caress his face. *I can't believe how much you've changed in the last week,* she thought, sending it to him. *Before our trip, it was 'Oh, I'm tough guy and I need to be alone, grrrr,' and now, you're here taking care of me, giving me support about our baby, and loving me. It's all so unbelievable.* Aloud she said, "What have you done with the real Michael?"

Michael tossed his head back and laughed and then he looked down at her and said, "I'm am the real Michael." He then sobered and spoke seriously. "The other one, the asshole you knew prior to now, was just a facade. I was just scared to get close to anyone before. Besides, it's really nice to be loved. I NEVER thought that anyone would ever love me, especially not someone who knew who I really was, where I come from, etcetera, etcetera. Besides, I'm the lucky one, here. I am married to the most wonderful, beautiful, kind, loving and loud-mouthed woman in the world. How could I ask for more?"

Maria had been smiling and blushing, up until the loud-mouth bit. "Hey!" she cried indignantly. "You're the...." She fought to continue, but his mouth closed over hers in a fiery kiss and she surrendered quickly. His lips had that affect on her.

He dropped his hands to the waist of her aqua-colored, terrycloth robe and tugged gently on the belt. It came open without much resistance and he peeled the sides back from her trim body. Underneath, she was wearing only a pair of white cotton thongs with a bow on the front, and a pale pink baby-doll t-shirt. She looked adorable.

He brought his hand up to the exposed skin on her hip and ran his hands up inside of her shirt, running his nails over the side of her waist, and then ribs, and then breasts. She arched a little and her eyes fell to the closed position. He noticed that her breathing was becoming a little uneven and he smiled.

He looked down to her flat belly and put his hand over the small print that was still there. She opened her eyes and watched as he sat up and laid his warm lips on the soft flesh where the print was. When he looked up, he saw her staring at him, but he couldn't quite read the expression on her face. He brow was furrowed a little but her eyes were warm.

He moved back up to her and touched his mouth to hers again. She wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled him on top of her, sighing as his entire weight rested on her. "Hi," she whispered when his face was only a fraction of an inch away from hers.

"Hi," he responded and then closed his eyes as she licked his lips and then pressed her tongue past his lips. Her arms dropped to the small of his back and she pulled his shirt up and over his head, mussing his hair even more. He pulled back and rearranged his body so that his weight wasn't resting entirely on her. He moved his large hands to her tiny rib-cage and held her as he began to suck and nip at the exposed flesh at the top of her shirt, and then dropped to her abdomen and trailed kisses all the way down. She arched in his grasp.

She moaned as his mouth licked the tender flesh between her legs, through her slightly damp panties. He situated his body so that he was laying between her legs, his feet hanging off the end of the bed, and reached up to her hips and pulled her panties down over her shapely legs. When she was free, she parted her legs in welcome.

His eyes caressed her essence in wonder, from the short blond curls to her moist, swollen folds. He brought his hands up to her, pulled back those folds to reveal a swollen knob at the very tip, just below her curls. He watched it for a second and could see it was pulsing with her heart. He parted his lips and very slowly ran his tongue over it. Her knees bent inwards and her tops dug into his sides. He heard a moan escape her lips.

Taking that as a good sign, he did it again, and then again as her cries became more insistent. Her scent reached his nose and his head filled with it. He dropped his mouth to her fiery, incredibly moist lower lips and ran his tongue over her, her taste clinging on his tongue. She was so sweet and so spicy and he wanted more.

His tongue moved over her ferociously, as he took in as much of her as he could. He was completely drunk on her and he wasn't even close to his fill. Her hips closed over his ears, squeezing his head extremely hard, but he didn't care. He couldn't hear anything in the first place with all the blood that was rushing in his ears. The only thing that got through was her piercing wails of ecstasy.

When she began to tremble constantly and her hands dropped to his head and weaved through his hair, practically ripping it from the roots, he tilted his head back a few degrees and pushed his tongue in and out of her until she gave one last shriek and came against his face. He licked his lips after her trembling subsided, wanting every last bit of her taste.

He scooted up just a little and rested his head on her belly, wrapping his arms around her waist. Her hands stayed at his head and she lightly ran her finger tips through his locks. They laid that way for a while; Michael's head slowly clearing and Maria totally basking in the after glow. When Michael got his strength back, he crawled up so that he was resting alongside her body once again and he planted a kiss on her turned up lips.

She moaned happily and turned to embrace him. She could feel his arousal pressing into her and she cuddled up against it and moved her hips over him. He closed his eyes and exhaled, and then opened them and shook his head, trying to clear it. "Maria, baby, we can't," he said thickly. "We don't want to hurt the baby."

She smiled at him, and giggled. "We wont hurt the baby, I promise. I would have to be much further along for that to happen."

"We don't know that," he responded. "What if it's different for us?"

"I'm willing to take the chance," she said, rubbing her naked lower body over him again. She could tell he was still hesitant about making any moves. She stood up and removed the rest of her clothing and then walked over to the dresser and lit the huge blueberry scented candle was there. She went through the array of brown viles was there and picked one out. She laid back down next to him and handed it to him. "Take three drops of this," she said, handing it to him.

"What is it?" he asked, looking at it strangely. He opened it up and sniffed it.

"It's a mix I made. It's essence of almonds and beech nuts with a few drops of ylang-ylang and strawberry oil and some other stuff. Just take it!" she finished impatiently.

He shrugged and took three drops. Instantly, his insides warmed, especially his belly and he felt a dopey smile reach his lips as his vision became blurry. "That's good. What does it do?"

"You don't want to know," she said, smirking and looking away from him.

"Oh pretty please, pretty Maria," he laughed as if what he said was the funniest thing in world.

"It's an aphrodisiac that I made especially for you. That's all you need to know." She tried to hide her thoughts but he caught them and laughed.

"Very funny, Maria. I heard that...or thought that...or whatever," he broke out into slow giggles. "YOU!" he pointed at her still smiling like a fool. "You heard what happened to Max and you decided to try it on me. You put acolol, I mean alcohol in there, didn't you? Busted! I can't fool you, I mean you can't fool me," he said and laughed so hard that he fell off the bed.

She leaned over the bed and looked at him as he giggled like a child. When the giggles subsided, he put his hands behind his head and smiled up at her. "Why are you so far away?" he asked and reached up for her, pulling her down on top of him.

"Oh, you're a naked Maria," he whispered. He craned his neck and looked at her backside. "Did I ever tell you that you have a great ass? It's pretty and soft like...like...pancakes!"

"Pancakes?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah," he said and chuckled, his eyes rolling around, dazedly. "And your breasts, they're pretty too." He looked down at her cleavage and then rolled her around so that she was lying on her back. "I just want to squeeze them and go AROOGA! AROOOOOOGA," he said as he squeezed them.

"Arooga?" she asked, her forehead wrinkling and her eyes wide, looking at him as though her were crazy.

"Uh huh," he laughed again, so hard that his ribs hurt. "You're my little tug-boat. Arooooooga!"

"This may have been a mistake," she muttered, watching him act like a fool.

He looked up and shook his head. "No, no misak, I mean mistake. No mistake. I like it, I feel funny."

"My intention was to use it as an aphrodisiac, you know try to calm your inhibitions about making love and instead you've been reduced to acting like a child," she explained.

"Hey, I'm not a child! I'll show you that I am all nam, man!" he cried indignantly. He pulled his clothes off fast and hard, and then his naked body jumped on top of her. Before she could show him her surprise, he seized her mouth with sloppy, hard kisses. His hands ran over her hard and then he pulled back just far enough to kiss her breasts. He took one in his mouth and growled as his teeth captured the nipple and nibbled on it. She moaned and arched up towards him. He did the same with the other.

His hand dropped down in between her legs and he felt her damp heat with his hand and rubbed her. Then he positioned himself over her petite form and grabbed his erection. He scooted in closer to her and made an attempt to put it into her but his aim was way off and he hit the back of her leg. "Ooopsie!" he said, and began to giggle.

She rolled her eyes, grabbed him and led him into her. "Ooohhh, now that feels good!" he said, nodding at her. He looked so comical that she couldn't help but laugh.

He tried to push into her more but he lost his balance and slipped out of her. She sighed in frustration. "Lay down," she instructed and after he did, she crawled on top of him and lowered herself on him. Each inch felt like heaven for her and her body trembled and quivered the entire way down. After the initial pass, she used her knees to pull herself up and then back down on him. She started slow, her body arching back as she reveled in the initial way of sensation and then faster when it wasn't enough anymore.

She heard him groan and looked down at him. He looked like he was in heaven but a little confused. *I'll never give him alcohol again,* she thought to herself.

"Oh God Maria, this is soo good. You're the queen!" He growled, and she had to bite her lip to prevent the rising laughter in her throat.

When she felt her release come on, she pulled her legs in front of her and relaxed on her palms, lowering herself on him that way; it made him go in deeper. She went hard and fast and cried out as she came. Her body kept moving until she couldn't move anymore and she finally looked down at Michael.