~Rayne's POV

"No message could've been any clearer, if you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make a change .."

I wipe another tear from my eye, why was this video so sad? Tear after tear, I sobbed as videos of hungry children flashed across the screen.

"Hey Ray what do you think of- Why are you crying?" Michael frowned closing the front door behind him.

I toss my hands up, "I don't freaking know! I just came across your video and just got so sad!" I scoff, wiping tears away angrily. Michael giggles sitting next to me.

"You must think I'm so stupid, sitting here crying." I pout.

"Of course I don't. It's just your hormones." He smiles.

"I know and they're raging! I don't know if I wanna eat waffles or have sex."

Michael giggles, wrapping his arm around me, placing my head under his chin. "Poor baby."

"This pregnancy thing sucks, it's only been 3 months." I groan standing to my feet. Michael stands behind me cuffing the small stomach protruding from my naturally slim build.

"When are we telling our families about our bun in the oven?"

"I can't hide for 6 more months so why don't we do it this weekend." I roll my eyes, I'm still not excited to be having a child. My father is always supportive of me but I can't even think of his reaction to me having a kid. "Although, I don't want it to be a big announcement. I just wanna tell everyone and get it over with."

"Rayne this is a big deal. I know you're not excited now, but just stay open. We're having a kid."

"Michael.. I know, but I'm not gonna change my opinion on this. I don't think we're ready."

Michael let's out a defeated sigh and heads to the bedroom. I really hated to make him feel like this, but I wasn't ready. I wished he'd understand where I was coming from.

***

The next morning I woke up feeling like I wanted to release all the contents in my stomach. I was extremely dizzy and my head just kept spinning, I couldn't get out of bed if I wanted to. I roll over to grab hold of my husband who wasn't even there. I open my eyes , my brows knitted together in confusion. He's never usually gone this early. I use the phone to call Bill.

"This is Bill."

"Bill it's Rayne. Where's Michael?"

"Good morning Rayne, Michael decided to get an early start at the studio, I'm here with him now. Did you need to speak with him?"

"No. Thank you." Why wouldn't he tell me he was leaving early? I decided to call Sharlissa over and give her the news. I know she'll be excited.

**

"Do you know how hard it was to find this place?" She chuckles as I allow her inside.

"I know. But you made it." I grin watching her look around the house. "I called you over because I wanted to tell you what's been going on.. "

Sharlissa draws all her attention to me, "what happened?"

"I'm pregnant.." I say softly.

Sharlissa screams at the top of her lungs. "CONGRATULATIONS OH MY GOD I KNEW YOU'D BE PREGNANT SOON!" She covers her giggling lips with her hands. As I place a finger on my lips.

"Sharlissa, you're the only person I told. You have to keep it a secret."

"You've got my word! I'm so excited for you!" She claps. I gave her a weak smile. "You really aren't happy about this." She realizes, her grin fading.

"No I'm not. I wish I was as happy as everyone else but I can't be. What if I'm not a good mom? It's scary to think I'll be responsible for another life in 6 months."

Sharlissa sits next to me on the couch, "girl, it won't just be you. Michael will be there to help you. At least he wants to be there, I have to practically beg Carlos to spend time with Brielle." She scoffs. "You'll be an excellent mother, I really think so."

I sigh, rubbing my stomach holding my child. "I hope it's a girl." I giggle softly. "Will you take me to my dad's to give him the news? I don't want Mike's bodyguard driving me everywhere." I feel like my dad would make all of this easier to process than anybody else because he knows everything I've been through.

"Yeah of course."

My dad opens the door and allows us inside to sit in his living room. "No houseguests today?" I ask looking around.

He chuckles, "not today. What brings you over, daughter of mine?"

"Well. I have good news I guess.." I sit next to him. "You're going to have a grandchild soon." My father's eyes grew wider and he folded his arms.

"Am I? Well congratulations!" He gleams. He examined my facial expression for a while, and without even having to ask me. He knew what was wrong. "Rayne you'll be fine. If it's one thing I know, you are nothing like your mother. You have your grandmothers strength and her heart. You will raise this child with the same life lessons that were luckily instilled in you. Tammi will have nothing to do with this baby. Ok?"

I nod. My father puts things better together to me than most people. It's something about a father's advice. Knowing that I still had him, I was a little more content with having this baby.

"My kid is having a kid." He grins. "Yup." I respond.

"How did Michael react?" He asked.

"Oh he was ecstatic! He's been trying to get me to jump for joy with him since we found out last month. I just haven't been excited." I shrug.

"Ray when you hold that baby in your arms, all that will melt away and they'll have your heart in less than a second. The moment you look in your child's eyes, you realize that there is nobody you could love more." Sharlissa explains.

I simply give a sigh, no matter what, I had to be ready to have this baby.

Michael's POV

Teddy Riley and I were really hitting it off in the studio. We vibed perfectly when it came to what we wanted to hear in the music.

"This is amazing Teddy. This beat is crazy. I know this will top charts everywhere." I smile, bopping my head to a newly produced instrumental.

"Wait til you hear the breakdown." He grins proudly. "I've got the perfect person to help with this album, and he is super excited to work with you."

"Who?"

"Babyface. He can't wait. He's willing to drop all projects to work with you."

"Oh wow, cool. I love his work." I smile. Bill pokes his head inside the studio to get my attention. "Michael. It's Rayne." He says holding out his cellphone.

"I'll be right there." I say placing my attention back on my music. About 10 minutes had went by before Bill stuck his head inside again. "Michael." He says with a strained face, holding out the phone again.

"Ok, tell her one more minute." I say putting my hand up. After another 10 minutes, I walk out towards Bill to grab the phone. Bill frowned at me, sincerely confused. "She hung up." Bill said, a slight attitude in his voice.

"Well why'd she do that? I said I was coming." I fold my arms. Bill shakes his head, "Michael you had her on hold for nearly 30 minutes."

"Oh, I didn't even realize." I say blankly.

Bill sighs, "Michael, you've gotta start learning to balance work and home. She's your wife, you can't just put her on hold for 30 minutes. Plus she's having your baby, you never know what could happen, always answer her calls." I nod my head, feeling terrible about myself.

Arriving at the house, I see Rayne lying down comfortably on the floor with a pillow. "Hey. Why are you in the floor?" I ask.

"It's more comfortable for my back" she responds dryly. I knew she was upset about the phone call earlier, so I just decided to apologize now.

"I'm sorry babe." I say sitting on the floor next to her. She simply waves it off, "don't worry about it. You're busy. I get it." Her focus on the television. "Really?" I ask.

She nods calmly, "I get it. You're music is very important. It's ok." I narrow my eyes, not sure if she was honestly okay with things or if she was still angry. Usually I can read her like a book, but her hormones have been so up and down, I could never tell. She laid there peacefully, her hand resting over the small pudge in her stomach. For some reason I still felt the need to explain myself to her. "I was creating a song and the ideas kept flowing. I wanted to stop and talk to you immediately-"

"Michael, I don't want anything to get in the way of your music. So even if I have to deal with this pregnancy on my own, I will. It's ok."

"You won't have to deal with anything alone. We both promised each other that when we married each other. My music is important to me, but my wife and my child are my first priority." I lean on my back next to her, placing my hand on her stomach.

She sighed, pulling my arm around her, causing me to come closer to her. She leans her forehead on my chin. "This is going to be so hard. I know you've gotta get used to things. My attitude probably won't get any better.."

"We got this." I interrupted. My hand strokes her cheek. It's clear we were both nervous about our future. But we both knew there was no turning back at this point.

***

Rayne and I decided to go visit my parents, to go and tell them the good news. "Congratulations you two! You're relationship is heading in the next step. Creating a family is hard work, but I have nothing but confidence you two will be great." My mother smiles. I see Jermaine coming out of the back room before glaring at me.

"What was that for??"

"You're a thief, that's what." He exclaims.

Rayne's eyes widened as she sat next to me, quietly. "I'm a thief? What'd I do?" I ask.

"You knew I was working with Babyface for my new album! You asked him to work with you and he dropped me like a bad habit. You just HAVE to be on top. You couldn't stand competition, so you stole him."

I scoff, "competition? When have we ever competed? I didn't even know Babyface was working with you. I was offered his help. Don't come and accuse me for something you don't even know about."

"Well tell him you don't want his help." Jermaine says crossing his arms.

"I'm not doing that, I haven't even given him a chance yet."

He groans loudly, walking towards mother. I roll my eyes. He's always running to mother when things don't go his way. I was gonna continue working on my album with whoever I please.

"He was really angry." Rayne says as we walked back towards the car. "He'll get over it." I say opening the door for her and helping her climb inside. "I told you, he's had this underlying jealousy for me since we were kids. I'm not gonna give up a good opportunity because he's angry." I slam the door shut.

A Few Days Later
**
I sat and watched as Rayne walked around the kitchen, she was in one of her moods where she decided she wanted to cook breakfast. Luckily she had been happy for a few days which worked great for me because she never wanted anything. It gave me plenty of time in the studio. When she was happy, she had this glow about her. She has always been beautiful in my eyes, but with this pregnancy growing on her she's been absolutely radiant. I couldn't help but stare at her. She sat my plate in front of me snapping me out of my trance.

"What are you all glassy eyes for?" She asks giggling.

"Pregnancy just looks great on you." I smile. She gives me a smirk and leans over to peck my cheek. The radio blares out, causing us to come out of our small love fest.

"New Jermaine Jackson music just released called, 'Word To The Badd'

What up, yo
Word to the bad
I gave my love
You gave your love
Thought we'd never part
Said you loved me
Then you left me
With a broken heart
You never think about who you love
You only think about number one
You forgot about where we started from
You only think about what you want
You don't care about how it's done
You only think about you, your throne
Be it right or be it wrong."

I couldn't believe him. My own brother put out a song filled with hatred towards me. Rayne's mouth is gaped open, her hand covering her face.

"Is he serious? He is such a child." I scoff. "Don't even pay it attention. He's doing this for a reaction." Rayne says, patting my hand.

"I don't plan on giving him one. Not publicly anyway." I say, eating my breakfast. I was angry but Rayne's calmness kept me sane for now. Jermaine was gonna get a piece of my mind sooner or later.