✴️

|Thursday, September 19th, 1987|
|Chanhassen, Minnesota|
|Paisley Park|
|11:30 am|

Prince

"And then she had the nerve to say, our child would never do such a thing." I rolled my eyes, holding the phone to my ear as I continued rant to Michael about what went down a couple of minutes ago between me and those very ignorant parents. Michael scoffed, "That's what every in denial parent says."

"Exactly," I add. "Then after I explained what Lenard was going through and told them to have more respect, the Father goes, we have no respect for people like you. Michael, I swear, it took everything in me not to beat a nigga's ass."

"He's lucky we both weren't there, I don't condone fighting, but he would've been six feet under so quick." Michael sighs, "That's beyond disrespectful, and clearly racist. I don't know, babe. After that incident, I feel like we should put the kids in private school."

"Private school? Michael, I thought we agreed that we wanted the kids to have a normal life. Doesn't sending them to a Private school take away from that?" I questioned, leaning against the wall.

"Maybe it's not completely normal like we wanted it. However, we need to make this call. At least at the end of the day they are getting an education, right? Also, it's clear that the school that they're going to isn't a good environment at all. No matter how hard the parents were trying to make their child innocent in that situation, they were all wrong, period. It could get dangerous, especially for them since they are young black children."

He was right, I knew he was right. I just never would've known that Minnesota would be a place where my kids wouldn't be safe. It wasn't always like that, it use to be very safe, which was why I never left. But, I felt like ever since Tyka's passing, things around here changed. It's not the same, and I didn't know what to do.

"You're right," I understood. "Where would be send them, though? There's no Private schools in Minnesota that I know of, and would make a difference with the situation we just had."

Michael stayed silent for a little bit before he came up with an idea, "Maybe it's time that we should all move somewhere new, together."

I widened my eyes, and stood there in deep thought. Everything that I had wanted in life, was happening so fast; The love of my life, marriage, owning a home, and kids, even though at first I didn't know I would be a parent. If I was in any other situation, I probably would've been really nervous to take the next step, but with Michael, I felt like it was meant to be. Even though, I never really pictured myself leaving in Minnesota in the past, I knew it was the best option for us. We wouldn't have to live in separate houses, and be miles apart from each other. We would be together. However, I did really love my home Paisley Park, and I never planned on selling it. I knew Michael felt the same way about Neverland, so that was tricky.

"I'd love to move into a home with you, baby." I said, already feeling excited even though there were conditions we needed to discuss.

"You would?" He said, and I can already envision his eyes lighting up. I chuckled, wishing I could squeeze his him tight and tell him how adorable he looked.

"Of course." I smile, then it drops a little when I bring up my side. "But, there's something we need to figure out. You know I love Paisley Park. I might not be too fond of Minnesota right now, but I will always love this place. I don't ever see myself selling it, and I don't see you giving up Neverland either. You love it, the kids love it, we love it. They're both special places that we can't just give up."

"We won't have too," Michael corrects. "Prince, you do know that we can still own Neverland and Paisley Park while owning a home of our own?"

"How will that work with our crazy schedules?" I raise my eyebrow, "I mean, when we are touring and busy, we both are barely home anyway. How in the world are we gonna manage three houses?"

"We'll find a way, we always do. Besides, whenever we get a moment, we could always go back to visit Paisley Park and Neverland, and even stay a couple of days if we wanted to since it's still our homes."

He had a valid point, but there was still one thing that held me back. This was going to be a huge adjustment for the kids. They loved Minnesota, and I could tell they even grew attached to it ever since their Mother passed. In a way, it's like this place was the last thing they had of her since she loved it just as much.

"What about the kids?" I sigh, looking down at my feet. "They love Minnesota, and ever since Tyka passed, it's gonna be very hard for them to adjust to that."

"I understand, babe. But I promise, they would have a much better life outside of Minnesota. So much more opportunities, and a way to grow without their mom. I'm not saying that they should automatically forget about her, not at all. I'm just saying this is what Tyka would've wanted for them, to have a better life. That's what her goal was, to give them a better live. By us doing this, we are doing her justice, even though she's not here with us to see it happen. And yes, it'll be an adjustment, it's normal when you move to somewhere new. However, it'll be worth it. You see where I'm coming from?" Michael expressed truthfully.

Damn, there he was doing it once again, schooling me into the ground. It just made me fall even more in love with him everytime, I was just so thankful that I had someone that I didn't only love, but I could learn from. We could learn from each other, and I'm never going to take that for granted.

"I'm so in love with you," I blurted out. Forgetting that I was completely in a trance, I cleared my throat and blinked a few times, trying to snap out of it. I heard Michael's infectious giggle on the other end.

"Um, I love you too?" Michael says awkwardly, I laugh while shaking my head.

"Sorry," I apologized. Me and him end up laughing together, then it got quiet.

"So," Michael broke the silence. "What do you think?"

"You know what? I think it's a great idea." I agreed, nodding my head. Then, the thought of Tyka's funeral came up in my head. I sighed, rubbing the side of my face. I took a deep breath then said, "Under one condition."

"Anything," Michael replied.

"Before we get further into the whole moving situation, I feel like we should handle Tyka's funeral first. You were right, I have been pushing it off. I just didn't want to say goodbye to her, I never did. But, I realized that was selfish of me to do, since the kids are also still hurting as well. They deserve to see their mother one last time, and I think there should be a guest list. It'll be nice if we had moral support."

"That's great to hear," Michael said happily.  "This is very big of you to do, I'm so glad you're making this decision. I'm perfectly fine with that."

"I'll handle everything, though." I started, "Focus on the tour, I'll tell the kids about everything. I'll handle the guest list, funeral arrangements, and the rest. I don't want you to stress out about it while you're working."

"Are you sure?" Michael asked, sounding concerned.

"Yes." I chuckle, then I say in my best impression of a girly voice, "Just do you, boo."

"Ew." Michael said, sounding like he was going to barf, "Please, don't ever say that again."

"Whatever." I wave off, even though he couldn't see me through the phone. Michael laughs hysterically before bringing the phone call to an end due to him having to report to rehearsal. We said our goodbyes and shortly hung up the phone after that.

I looked up the stairs, and sighed. The whole car ride with Lenard was dead silent, and he didn't say a word. He probably thought I was upset with him, which I wasn't. I was just very upset with the parents, and very mad that they put him through that. It was clear the whole incident wasn't his fault at all. I didn't blame Lenard for hitting the kid in the nose, he disrespected his Mother. I would've done the same thing, I know Lenard wouldn't just go and hit someone for no reason. He was taught way better than that, and from interacting with the parents, you could see that they condone disrespectful behavior, which was not okay.

Not only that, it was just very awful timing. Lenard was still very hurt, and he just wasn't the same. I knew time would heal him, but he loved Tyka so much. Even though she might not have been present that much due to what she was going through, he still loved her. This was the last thing he needed on his plate.

I made my way up the stairs, and down the hallway to Lenard's room. I softly knocked on the door, and slightly opened it. I saw him laying on the bed, on his stomach while it looked like he was drawing some pictures in his notebook. When I stepped in, he looked up at me. I closed the door, and walked towards him. He sat up, closing the book while having a guilty look on his face.

"Am I in trouble?" He asks. I chuckled, shaking my head. I sat down next to him, "No, well not this time." Hinting that he's notorious for getting in trouble all the time execpt for this situation, his face remained full of guilt, not catching my joke. I sighed, very funny Prince.

"Listen," I put my hand on his shoulder."I know it's not your fault.

"Then why were you quiet the entire car ride home?"

I stayed quiet, looking down. It was time that I finally came clean with the kids. I hid so much from them, from one, wanting to protect them, but also, wanting to protect my own feelings. But I can't continue to shelter them from the truth, and continue to sugarcoat things. That's not how I wanted to raise them. I couldn't continue to be selfish, they deserved to know.

"That's because I was doing a lot of thinking," I admit. I take a deep breath, then turn to him fully.

"Listen, nephew. I haven't been really fully honest with you and your brother."

Lenard holds eye contact with me before looking down, not being able to anymore. I could see his eyes starting to water, and he bit his lip, trying his hardest not to cry. I reached over to grab his hand.

"This has been very hard, for all of us. I guess I was so wrapped up in the grief I was feeling of loosing your mother, that I failed to realize that you guys were hurting too, and I'm sorry. I know you miss her."

He sits there in silence before slowly shaking his head, and quicky wiping a tear that fell onto his face. He looks up at me and says, "Why did she leave us? If she never left, she'd still be here."

I shook my head in response, and just stared at him. My eyes also started to well up with tears; I was speechless. It killed me inside that this was reality, they didn't deserve this at all. I still wish it was a dream, but unfortunately it wasn't. Keep it together, I repeatedly said in my head. 

"No.." I trailed off, denying his response calmly. I nodded my head, signaling him to come sit closer to me. He then scooted over, I wrapped my arm around his shoulder--practically holding him while he laid his head on my shoulder, "That's not true. She never left you."

I stayed quiet, trying to build up the courage before letting it ripped. Finally, I let the honesty go from there, "When your mom and I were little, we went through a very rough childhood. And, when you go through something like that, you grow from it in two different ways. Me, I went down a  healthier, safer path. Your mom, unfortunately struggled in that sense, and went through a rough time moving forward.  During that time, she was blessed with you and your brother. She loved you two more than anything. But, she also knew that at the time, she wasn't able to provide the life that she dreamed of you guys having. Which is why, she went and got the help she needed so she could come back to you. If she never left in that sense, she knew things wouldn't of changed, and she didn't want that for you. Your mother did what was best for you, and she cared about you guys so much so that you guys wouldn't have to grow up the way we did. Do you understand?"

He wasn't responsive for a solid minute, until he said with a voice crack, "I didn't even get to say goodbye." Then, just like that, he broke down crying into my shoulder. I immediately wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight. Both of them never knew that their last goodbye to their Mother when she left for rehab, was truly going to be their last goodbye to her. We all didn't know. I was overwhelmed with emotions, I didn't exactly know how to cope. However, it wasn't an option not to. I had to be strong.

After his sobs calmed down, I took the opportunity to pull apart from him slightly and look into his eyes sincerely.

"You know what?" I say, wiping the tears away from his face. "You don't have to. Like I said, she never left. No matter what, she'll always be right here." I pointed to his heart, "You hear me?"

His eyes were still filled with sadness, and despair. However, he calmly understood, nodding his head. It was still going to take some time to heal, but I was relieved that half of the weight was taken off of my shoulders--most importantly, he understood where I was coming from. He fell back into my arms, and I didn't hesitate to hold him once more.

After awhile, we eventually let go of each other. I wiped some of my tears away that I didn't realize I had as he did the same. I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself together. Now that I had gotten that part out of the way, this was the part I needed to go ahead and be real about. There's was no point in hiding it anymore now that me and Michael were now permanently going to be in their lives.

"There's another thing I've been meaning to talk to you about," I confess. Lenard looked up at me, slightly playing with the bottom of his long sleeved shirt. I looked down, not being able to make contact; I was unsure of how to say it.

I didn't understand, why was I so nervous? It's not like the whole world didn't know anyway. It was just different trying to confess this to the kids, since they are young and being raised in the environment that they were, they both weren't familiar with people who were gay, or what it even meant. Montece was very young, hence the reason I didn't bother having this conversation with him. However, since Lenard is older, he needs to know. Also, he needs the right education on these topics than having him be uneducated.

"Actually, let me ask you this. How do you and your brother feel about Michael being around?"

"We love Michael," He shrugged. "Why?"

I bit my lip, and stayed quiet. After awhile, Lenard looked up at me fully and a smirk formed on his face. I raised my eyebrow as he said, "Oh, is this about you guys being married?"

I widened my eyes, then instantly face palmed my forehead. I was very confused on how he even knew that, but at the same time, it saved me less of a headace.

"How did you know?"

Lenard gave me the "seriously?" expression on his face, "Uncle P, everyone knows. Just because I'm nine doesn't mean I'm naive."

The one thing that I always admired about this kid was that he was extremely smart, he was very well spoken for his age. I was kind of surprised he knew what the word naive meant.

"How do you even know what naive means?"

"I'm smart," He explains. "Just like I was smart enough to know that you guys were trying to hide it from us."

I sighed, shaking my head. Maybe I was the naive one, he was completely right. How did I expect him to not know? He might've been young, but people talk. Word gets around like wildfire, so the fact that I thought we could hide it from them for so long was pretty stupid. Nice try, Prince.

"You're right," I admit. Then I start to explain, "Listen, I know it was pretty dumb of me to try and hide this from you guys. Especially, well, when it was pretty obvious at times. This should've been explained to you from the jump, and I apologize for that, but now it's important for you to know about this. Here's the thing, Lenard. Love is love; It has no gender, no race, no boundaries whatsoever. There are women, who love other women. There are men, who love other men. There are even men, who might identify as a women or a women who is more comfortable identifying as a man. Also, people who love outside of their race. Absolutely no one should pass judgement on them because of that. However, society today continues to treat those kinds of people terribly just because they don't agree with them. Hence the reason why me and Michael were so quiet about our relationship. I'll admit, I was scared about being open with my feelings, because I wasn't sure about how people were going to react. So was Michael, and it makes it even tougher when you are in the public eye all the time like we are. But, after while, we didn't care. I love him, I could care less if he's the same gender as I am. It's not wrong, and my sexuality shouldn't matter so much to others. That's what I want you to understand, I know you're young, and I know who you might be interested in as you grow might be different. I still want you to know, whoever you love, I'll love you just the same. Also, if you personally don't agree with the relationship that me and Michael share, that's okay. We all have different beliefs, but you must respect us, and any other person who is also gay, lesbian, transexual, or anything else. I'm not going to tolerate a disrespectful child, and that's not what I'm raising you to be. I'm holding you responsible to carry out a good example for your little brother, you understand?"

Lenard looked at me expressionless, slowly nodding his head. I chuckled, maybe it was a little too much information for a nine year old, but I knew he was smart enough to understand where I was coming from.

"Good," I said. "Now that I got that out of the way. This might also come out as obvious, but from here on out, both me and Michael will be taking care of you guys. I know it's another thing I wasn't exactly clear on, things have just been so hard on all of us that it just slipped my mind. But, I just want you to know that Michael really does love you guys, and he couldn't be happier having you as family. I couldn't be happier either. Like I said, I know it's tough right now, but we're going to get through this as a family. Okay?"

Lenard nodded once again with a faint smile. I smiled softly back, and leaned over, playfully putting him in a headlock while he laughed uncontrollably.

"Man, I hate being so nice when I'd rather just beat you up." I joke, taking the opportunity to tickle his sides, and he laughed even harder in response. I was going to tell him about the moving situation, but I decided to wait. This moment was too precious, and I didn't want to make him even more upset like he was before. After awhile, I stopped tickling him and embraced him protectively, then he hugged me back.

|Saturday, October 4th, 1987|
|Yokohama, Japan|
|Mirua Beach|
|5:00 pm|

Michael

"Alright, if you get sunburned it's on you!" Prince called out to Lenard and Montece that were practically scrambling to the water, not paying him any attention. I laughed, watching Prince as he sighed, putting the sunscreen down beside him.

"Babe, I'll think they'll be fine. The sun is setting and it's cold." I shake my head playfully, then raise my eyebrow, "Wait, black people could get sunburn? I thought we couldn't?"

Prince sat there in thought for a second, then shrugged, "Better be safe than sorry."

I rolled my eyes, then took the opportunity to mess with him. I leaned towards him and said, "Why you gotta be so uptight, huh?" I joke, while playfully poking his side. He jumped a little, cracked a smile but quickly replaced it with a straight face.

I dramatically gasped, with a raised eyebrow while smirking. I leaned even closer and whispered in his ear, "Is someone ticklish?"

"Stop it, Michael." Prince pleaded, trying his best to scoot away but my hold on him was tight enough so he couldn't move. I immediately attacked his stomach, tickling him until he couldn't breath. We fell back onto the large blue towel we were sitting on to protect us from the sand. His incredibly sexy laugh practically echoed throughout
beach, and I smiled in return, not being able to take my eyes off of him.

The past month had been extremely hectic. I had been doing shows nonstop, heading to interviews, photoshoots, all of the above, and I didn't know how long I could hold on until I eventually passed out from how exhausted I was. I loved performing, and seeing the fans, but god, I hated touring. I couldn't believe I agreed to have this tour extended to 1989, but I have to deal with it, this was just the beginning. Prince, was still in Minnesota with the kids. For now, until we figured out this whole moving situation, we decided that the kids would be homeschooled. We absolutely refused to have them go back to that school after what happened. Meanwhile, Prince was in the works of preparing another project. Whenever when we both would have free time to call, he seemed very excited about it. Even though it was still just beginning, and everything wasn't exactly put together, I already knew it was going to be amazing. He already had a name for the upcoming album, Lovesexy, and a concert film of Sign O' The Times was going to release sometime in November. So, I couldn't wait to see how that was going to unfold. He also fully planed the funeral, and the date was set. We weren't looking forward to it, but I was very proud of him for making that step on his own. He was so strong, I couldn't even put it into words.

On the other hand, Lenard had just turned ten years old. His birthday was on October 2nd, and unfortunately they couldn't fly to Japan since the kids still had school and everything. However, we still didn't fail to make plans to celebrate his birthday later on. We spent all day together, doing whatever Lenard wanted to do. Prince kept saying I spoiled him rotten, but I didn't mind it at all. Now that Prince and I had children involved in our lives, we both decided to give up on being a Jehovah's Witnesses. We both wanted them to experience birthdays, Christmas, and any other holiday because we just wanted them to have the best childhood that we didn't have. It was a bit of an adjustment for Prince and I, but we didn't regret out decision at all.

Since I still did have a show, we had to be back at the stadium pretty soon, but I did promise the kids that we would visit the beach, even though it was pretty chilly outside. They didn't seem to care, and Prince seemed immune to it too, meanwhile I was trying my best to stay warm in my red letterman jacket. I know I should've been use to it since I'm from Indiana, but once you been away from that kind of weather for so long you truly do forget what it's like. Prince loves to call me a California boy for that reason as well, but it is what it is.

I leaned down, kissing his forehead before sitting up. He sat up as well, fixing his orange--turtle neck sweater while adjusting his chain that was around his neck, and the glasses that he was wearing.

I alternated looks between him and the ocean. The sky was a faint, light blue. The clouds reflected off of the beautiful sunset, and the ocean was crashing with waves, blowing wind in our direction. I looked back at him fully and asked, "Wanna' take a walk?"

Prince looked in the direction I was looking at, then made eye contact with me. He nodded silently with a sweet smile, then stood up. He held out his hand for me, and I instantly took it, standing up with him. Before we walked away, I looked to the right to see Bill sitting down in a small chair a couple feet away from us, reading a book.

"Hey, Bill? Can you keep an eye on them for a second?" I shout out to him, talking about Lenard and Montece. He puts a thumb up, still looking at his book. Me and Prince both chuckle before we walked off.

Our hands intertwined as we continued to walk next to the ocean in silence. I couldn't help but stare at him the entire time, the light bounced off of his skin so well, his eyes glowed whenever the sunset hit him. He looked so heavenly, and I couldn't help but fall more in love than I already was.

Prince turned his head towards me, and raised his eyebrow, "What are you looking at?"

I playfully looked off, and shrugged. I cleared my throat, "Not much."

Prince instantly let go off my hand and punched my shoulder harshly. I winced, rubbing my arms with a laugh. He rolled his eye jokingly, and proceeded to walk without me.

"Baby I was just kidding. Come here," I whined, trying my best to catch up with him but his punch almost had me down for the count.

Prince turned around sharply on his heel, stopping in his tracks. He looked over at the ocean for a good minute before alternating his looks to me. A challenging look appeared on his face.

"You're gonna have to catch me," He says. Suddenly, Prince starts to take off his chain, glasses, and he removes his sweater, revealing his toned chest and abs. I felt like I was in a trance looking at his body, but I quickly snapped out of it.

As he slides off his heels, I question, "What the hell are you doing? It's too damn cold out here for that, I am not going in the water."

"Don't be a chicken," He teases, and he slowly backs into the water. I cross my arms, and we start to have a stare down. He's stare was so strong, it could form a hole right through you. I bit my lip, trying not to give in. Don't do it, Michael I kept telling myself in my head. Then, Prince lifted up his finger in a "come here" motion. I sighed, cursing to myself. I tried to hold back as long as I could, but I ended up giving in. I slid off my jacket and loafers, also setting my fedora to the side. After that, I ran towards him. Surprised that I actually went along with it, Prince widened his eyes and tried his best to run off as fast as he could, but since we were in the water, it was kind of slowing him down.

When we both got a little deeper into the water, I finally caught up with him. I grabbed him, and lifted him up onto my shoulder. Prince laughed uncontrollably, and pleaded for me to put him down while punching my back.

"I swear to God, Michael. Put me down!" He pleaded once more. I laughed as well in return, finally putting him down.

"You punk," He said, taking the opportunity to splash water at me. I jumped from the amount of water that was splashed at me, and I did the same thing to him.

"Is that how you wanna play it?" I challenge him. Then we both got into a huge splashing match, not being able to contain our laughs. I laughed so hard that I felt like my stomach was going to hurt.

We were so wrapped up in our fun that we didn't notice the huge wave that was coming our way, and knocked us underwater in a matter of seconds. Once the wave cooled down, we both came up at the same time trying to catch our breath. I wiped my eyes from the water, then I looked over at Prince, still trying to catch his breath. We both stared at each other for a hot second before we both cracked up laughing for the hundredth time.

"Can you believe that? We almost just died." I said in disbelief, trying my best to control my laughter.

Prince pointed at me while cracking up,  "You should've saw your face."

"Me? You were over there having a heart attack." I say, then I try to reenact him coughing, teasing him.

He rolled his eyes playfully, and his hand reached out to me, grabbing my arm gently, pulling me close to him. My arms found its way around his neck, while his arms were firm against my waist.

"Well all I know is, if I'm going down, you're going down with me." He says sensually, holding me close to him as tight as he could. I got lost into his eyes, and the sunset was once again radiating off of his skin perfectly. Small water drops were running down his face, and his hair that was now out of it's pony tail. His hair clinged to his face while the rest of it cascaded onto his shoulders.

I ran the back of my hand against his cheek softly, "Who said I wouldn't?"

As silence fell upon us, romance continuously filled the air. We stared each other's eyes for one minute more, until we trapped all space between us, engaging in a passionate kiss while the soft waves crashed against us.

|Yokohama Stadium|
|6:30 pm|

It was close to show time, and everyone was scurrying backstage as usual. Me, Prince and the kids were in the dressing room waiting. I had just gotten my makeup and hair finished. My costume designers had come up with a new idea for my wardrobe, it was styled differently than the one I had been wearing. They had suggested for the one I was wearing already to be worn on the first leg of the tour, and the new one to be worn on the second leg. Of course, I couldn't help but try the new on. I looked at myself in the mirror, then turned side to side.

"What do you think?" I say to Prince who was sitting in my chair next to me while the kids were playing around in the back.

"I love it," Prince looks me up and down. He motions me to come closer so he could whisper in my ear. I leaned towards him and he said, "Your zipper is undone."

I slapped myself on the forehead. Not again, this better not happen while I'm on stage. I leaned back, and zipped up my pants quickly. Prince smirked at me and joked, "I could've zipped it for you."

"Shut up," I warned with a smile. "There's children around."

He shrugged, and put his hands up in defense, "Just saying."

After his response, there was a knock on the door. It opened to reveal Frank, and he said, "Hey Mike, the surprise is here."

I instantly smiled, then I looked over at Prince who was smiling as well, knowing what the surprise was. Prince and I wanted to give one last gift to Lenard for his birthday. Being with Prince, and now being their legal guardian, I have gotten to know Lenard and Montece really well. Due to that, one thing that I knew for sure is that Lenard was a huge fan of rap music, especially very fond of the artist LL Cool J. I crack up everytime at the story Prince had told me about him getting in trouble for bumping to his music so loud that it echoed throughout the half of Paisley Park. So, we had reached out to him to come and surprise Lenard; He agreed just like that.

We nodded at each other, very excited to see his reaction. I looked over at Frank, "Tell him to come in."

He nodded, then the door shut. Prince grabbed my arm excitingly and whispered, "He is going to flip."

I nodded with a smile, touching Prince's arm gently that was wrapped around mine, "I know, right?"

"You have photographers on standby?" He asked

"Please, of course I do." I replied, then I called out, "Hey, Lenard?"

He stopped fooling around with his brother, and looked up at me, getting his attention, "Yes?"

"Can you go see who's at the door?"

"But there's no one at the-"

"Just do it, boy." Prince said impatiently, putting his rambling to a stop. Lenard sighed, getting up to go see who was at the door. Montece also got up, but walked over to me, and put his hands up, signaling for me to pick him up.

"Oh so now that you're done messing with your brother, you wanna mess with me, huh?" I asked playfully. Montece smiled at me, and laughed. My heart melted, so adorable. I gave in, and picked him up, holding him on my hip.

"Now you now he's too old for you to be picking him up," Prince pointed out with an eyebrow, and I shrugged. He shook his head, and rolled his eyes, "He's got you wrapped around his little finger."

"He's six years old, and you're just jealous." I tease, winking at him. He waves me off, and says, "Whatever."

As soon as Lenard finally opens the door, LL stands right there before him. Just like that, Lenard's facial expression drops. Me and Prince couldn't help but fall out laughing. A couple of my bodyguards, and some of the photographers did the exact same thing while snapping a couple of pictures.

"What's up, lil' man?" LL says to Lenard in his swagged out voice, sounding like he was spitting a verse, when really, that's how he talked. I was simply amazed by it. He held out a hand for Lenard to shake, but he ignored it and quickly attacked him with a big hug, and LL didn't hesitate to return it back.

I smiled sweetly at the sight. I looked over at Prince, and he was doing the same exact thing, admiring the precious scene in front of us. After a good two seconds, we both turned our heads, making eye contact, then we gave each other a fist bump, feeling proud of the surprise we gave Lenard. I could already tell we were going to be the best parents.

Everyone had came into the room just about now. LL had kneeled down to Lenard's height, and was having a cute conversation with him while the bodyguards and the photographers stood around watching them. Me and Prince finally made our way up to LL to introduce ourselves since we wanted to give them a minute to talk. He was such a nice, well mannered young man. He told us how big of a fan he was of us and how much we have inspired his music, and of course we were so flattered. It really meant a lot to me when a person would come up to me and let me know that I was a huge influence on their life. Whether it was music, or something completely different, it made me extremely happy, and so proud of my work. That was my goal from day one, to inspire others, and the fact that I was doing that was amazing, even for artists from different genres of music.

We all engaged in a group conversation. Lenard asked him tons of questions, then we took a couple of pictures all together, and Montece ended up falling asleep in my arms for some reason, I don't know how he did since it was far from quiet in the room but at the same time this boy can fall asleep anywhere so it wasn't a surprise.

"Lenard, how about you grab one of the Bad Tour jackets off of the rack to give to LL?" I asked him politely. Lenard nodded his head quickly and dashed off to the rack to get him one. LL, Prince and I all laughed in response, then we were left for the three of us to talk.

"Thank you so much for doing this for us, we really appreciate it." Prince thanked him,  he reached out his hand to dap him up, and LL returned the dap.

"Fasho', I'm honored to be here." He replied with a polite smile. He moved his hand over to me, and I returned his dap as well.

"You know." LL hints, "If Lenard ever decides to get into rapping, I might have something for him."

Prince mutters "Oh lord" while I chuckle in response. We both glance at each other, and then I ask, "He was trying to show off, wasn't he?"

LL nods with a laugh, "Oh yeah, he's actually not bad."

"Well," I start off with a laugh as well. "We'll see what the future holds."

"Sorry about that." Prince replies, shaking his head playfully.

"It's all good." LL said with a smile, not minding Lenard's silliness at all.

Prince looked over at me, and noticed that Montece had fallen asleep in my arms. He chuckled to himself softly, and gently took him out of my arms.

"I'm gonna' go see if he can lay down in a different dressing room," He says while adjusting Montece in his arms. With his free hand, he shook LL's hand one last time, saying his goodbyes before leaving the room.

"Michael and LL, look over here please." One of my photographers asked nicely, we both looked over at the camera. We quickly talked over the pose we were going to do, then we stood there, getting our picture taken. After that, I had given him some good career advice, he talked to Lenard one last time before he was on his way.

|5 Months Ago|
|Zürich, Switzerland|
|Thursday, May 21, 1987|
|9:00 pm, Zürich Café|
|ANONYMOUS POV|

The woman in the red heels, clicked her way towards the table and sat down comfortably in the booth that was in the corner of the restaurant. It was very discreet, quiet, and the lights were a little dim in the area, but that's just the way she liked it. Besides, she needed a little bit of privacy for the guest that was going to be joining her that evening.

A handsome, darkskin waiter came up to the mysterious woman and asked, "Guten Abend Madame, was möchten Sie trinken?"
Which meant "what would you like to drink?"

Her eyes were glued to the menu that was in front of her, and said in her deep, seductive voice, "Bitte zwei rotweine." She replied, meaning "two red wines, please."

The man nodded and soon enough left the table. Right after he left, her guest had arrived. A lady had escorted her guest to the table, the woman thanked the lady as her guest nervously sat down in the chair.

"Hello, Sheila." The woman said politely, taking a sip of her wine. Sheila slowly put her purse down beside her, avoiding to make eye contact with the woman.

"Who are you?" She says a little bit hostile. "And what do you want from me?"

"I don't get a hello back?" The woman asks with a frown. Sheila finally makes eye contact with the woman, and starts to lose her patience.

"Listen, you call me this morning, threatening to kill my niece if I didn't meet with you tonight. I have no clue who you are, and if you don't answer my question I will contact the authorities. Now, who are you?"

The woman raises her eyebrow at Sheila, then puts down her class. "Who I am, is none of your concern."

Sheila rolled her eyes, instantly got up, grabbing her purse and started to walk off.

"I know you, Sheila." The woman says intensely, making Sheila stop in her tracks.

"I know what you want." The woman continues to speak, "Revenge."

Sheila slowly turned on her heel, and looked at her with an confused expression, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me," The woman said. "Everyone knows, I know that you are still in love with Prince. You two were together at one point, now he's not giving you the time of day, and you are so desperate to get him back but no matter what you do, he'll never feel the same."

"You know nothing about my relationship with him. None of that is true, and if you knew what was best for you, you'd leave me alone." Sheila says angrily, and begins to turn around before the woman speaks again.

"What if I told you there was someone standing in the way, that we could possibly get rid of? What if I told you, that I could help you?"

Sheila stood still, and turned right back around. "There's no one standing in my way."

"You sure about that?" The woman challenged. Sheila raised her eyebrow at her, and both of them engaged in a stare down.

"Come and sit." The woman said, with a smirk, gesturing for her to sit down. Sheila sighed, looked around for a couple a seconds, before sitting back down in a hesitant way.

"Listen lady, I still have no clue who you are, but you seriously have no idea what you're talking about. How do you even know that? Do you know Prince personally? And what do you mean by revenge?"

The woman shrugged, and leaned forward in her chair, putting her hands together. Sheila scooted her chair back a little, a little intimidated by her presence.

"Actually, I do know what I'm talking about." She paused, then confessed, "Because I did know Prince personally, many years ago. He left me, abandoned, young and pregnant. I lost my child, and he did me so wrong, just like you. I've been planning, and following him for years just to get my revenge. During that following, I discovered that you were one of the closest people to him. Without you, this plan cannot work. So, I need your help, and if you help me, you will get your wish."

Sheila looked at the woman, completely lost for words, and shocked. Silence was brought upon them for a good two minutes, until she said, "You're lying."

"I wish it was a lie," The woman chuckled darkly. Sheila stared at her in fear, and shakily said, "Prince h-has a child?"

"Key word, had." The woman corrected. "And he's going to pay, for all the hurt he's caused."

Sheila looked down, playing with her fingers nervously. A huge part of her wanted to leave the physco woman in front of her, but she knew deep down if she left, her family would've been in danger. Even though the woman didn't say it herself, she knew she didn't have any choice. Yes, she did love Prince, and she did know that a certain person was in her way from getting to him, but she would never go out of her way to hurt him. However, she had to throw all of that out of the window, because if she didn't accept her offer, it would cost Sheila her life.  "What does this have to do with me?"

"Like I said, to get your wish." The woman repeated, "If you join me, we can have everything we want, and we can get rid of anyone standing in our way. Come on, Sheila. Even though you like to think that you can get him back easily, we all know who's standing in your way."

Sheila stays quiet as the woman begins to say, "How does it feel to have Michael Jackson take your spot?"

"He did not take my spot, they are just friends."

"Seriously?" The woman gave her a confused expression, then crossed her arms. "Come on, Sheila. It's pretty obvious that they are secretly together. They are always together, it might've not dawn upon everyone else, but they can't fool me, and I can guarantee they didn't fool you either.

Sheila sighed, leaning back in her seat, lost for words. Then, she confessed, "Okay, maybe I did have an idea. But even if they are together, there's nothing I can do about it. I've already tried."

"That's because you didn't try hard enough." The woman smirked, swirling her wine slowly with her straw.

Sheila scoffed, looking her up and down, "What, are you telling me to kill him or something?"

The woman's smirk stayed glued to her face, and she looked at Sheila in silence. Sheila's amused expression turned into an uneasy one, "Wait, are you serious?"

The woman stayed silent, still staring at Sheila with the creepiest smirk. Her eyes were dark, her presence was full of evil. She was an unexplainable woman, with mysterious tendencies. Sheila had no idea, what was in store.

Sheila quickly shook her head, "Absolutely not, are you crazy-"

The woman cut her off, reaching over and touching her hand gently, "Shh, if we do it the right way, we'll never get caught. Besides, we won't kill Michael right now. We'll save him for the grand finale. For right now, we are going to kill every single person that is close to Prince. So that he could rot in pain, and feel everything that I felt all those years, and that you can get your payback for him breaking your heart. It will all be worth it in the end."

Sheila stared at her for a second, and then low in behold, the inner insane Sheila finally came out, and a wide smirk came across her face. The need to not hurt Prince, was thrown out the window. She realized that the woman was right, Prince caused her so much hurt in her life, let alone this woman's life. There was nothing worth protecting him for. He needed to pay, and in order to get him right where she wanted all of those years, this needed to be done.

"Now there's the smile I've been looking for," The woman praised. Then, the woman bent down, grabbing a small plastic bag of a white powdery substance out of her purse and onto the small table.

"But first, we have to start off small. Here's the first thing you have to do, and I don't care how you do it, but make sure to get this into Michael and Prince's system. We know their hiding their relationship, so to make this plan work smoothly, it has to get out to the public. And, I know this drug will get them to fess up one way or another. Then, when that's done, we will get to work. Think of this as a team, you're the captian of this team, and I am the coach. I am holding you accountable to recruit people to be apart of this, we won't be the only ones doing all the work. Because, if we ever do get caught, they won't be ever able to trace us."

"Good thinking," Sheila smiles darkly, and crosses her arms over her chest. She nods, and then asks, "Wait, then who are we going to kill?"

"Well," The woman picked up her class. "The first person is up to you."

Sheila's smile drops, and her face turns into a thinking expression. She sits there in thought for a second, then after a good two seconds, her dark smile reappeared.

"I think I have an idea."

"Great," The woman nods with a smile in return. "But before you do, I think I should pay a little visit to someone's sister that is in rehab."

They exchange their insane smirks, and at the same time, they raise their wine glasses, clinking them together, then taking a sip.

✴️