Both of the tests were negative.
Michael didn't want to say it out loud, but he was secretly happy that Melissa wasn't pregnant. Don't get him wrong, he would absolutely love to have a baby with her in the future, but neither of them were very ready now. They'd only been dating for about 6 months and Michael was still struggling financially, a baby would make things very complicated for everyone.
But Michael promised himself and Melissa too that once he got a good job and they got more of a handle on their lives they could really try for a baby. He was excited because he really did want to start a family with Melissa, he just knew now that this wasn't a good time for either of them.
Melissa didn't have the same reaction that Michael did. When she saw that the tests were both negative she started crying and she didn't stop until later that night. She didn't say anything to Michael, they just sat down on the bathroom floor and she crawled into his lap and cried until she couldn't cry anymore.
It broke Michael's heart to see that Melissa was so sad over this, but Michael wasn't sure what else to do. He'd never gone through something like this before and he was also afraid that if he started talking he'd just accidentally blurt out that he didn't really want this baby anyway.
They slipped into a routine that was pretty boring. Every morning Michael would wake up and take the kids to school, then come home and either cuddle with Melissa on the couch or on the bed, pick the kids up from school, make dinner and let them play around for a while, then everyone went to bed. It was boring, but it worked for now.
Katie's mom was either on a trip or she didn't care that Melissa and Katie were staying at Michael's apartment, so they hadn't gone back home in a while. Which was perfectly fine, but Melissa hardly even talked to Michael now, and if she began a conversation she'd end up crying about it. Michael was even more worried about her than he was before, because Melissa was in worse state now than when she actually thought she was pregnant.
Michael was woken up in the middle of the night again, but instead of it being from Melissa watching the TV, it was Parker.
"Daddy?" He whispered, shaking Michael awake.
"Yeah, bud, what's wrong?" Michael asked. In the last few weeks he'd become very used to being woken up in the middle of the night, whether it was from Melissa or Parker or even Katie.
"I can't sleep." Parker said softly, sitting up on his knees so he could see Michael. "It hurts again."
"What hurts?" Michael sat up quickly. He noticed that Melissa wasn't in bed again, which wasn't unusual anymore. She was most likely in the living room.
"Here." Parker said, pointing to his chest.
"Did you take your medicine before you went to bed?" Michael asked. Sometimes he forgot to give Parker his medicine and of course everything ended up being okay, but Michael still got a little worried.
"I don't remember." Parker shrugged innocently.
"I don't think you did. Let's go take it now." Michael said, picking up Parker and carrying him out of the room. They walked down the hall and into the bathroom, where Michael set Parker down on the counter and got out his medicine.
"You should remind me if I ever forget to give you your medicine, buddy, I know you don't like it but it's good for you, it's helping." Michael said as he poured and handed the little cup of medicine to Parker.
"It tastes gross." Parker cringed, crinkling up his nose as he drank it.
"I know, if I could do anything to make it taste better I promise I would." Michael said. He took the cup back from Parker and put the medicine away, picking up Parker again. "Do you want to watch some TV with me for a while?"
