December 18, 1999

Chanhassen, Minnesota

Shimmying out of my tight navy blue pants before kicking them half way across the room, my sister looked on as I stomped into my closet on the verge of tears.

Nothing fits anymore. The bottoms that I'd envisioned for this outfit were now ruined. I forced them up past my hips but the moment I tried to button them the button popped off.

"Why don't you just borrow a pair of his pants?", Tori shouted from the other side of the room.

Standing amongst the sea of my wardrobe, I chose to ignore her suggestion. If my pants don't fit, what makes her think his will? My booty is way bigger than his.

Coming to the conclusion nothing else would work with the sweater I had chosen, I switched up my entire outfit. I sensed a presence standing in the doorway as I peeled the thin black top off of my body.

I turned to see Morgan clutching a full wine glass. "Damn, are you sure you're not having twins?" For the last time, no. When are people going to realize that not everyone's baby bump is a uniform size? It's one thing if I said it, but it irked me when anyone else said it. I didn't need a constant reminder from people about how fat I was getting.

I brushed past the topic as I stepped into a pair of black pants. "What is that your third glass of wine?"

"My second. I'm just trying to loosen up before we head to the party. It's bad enough your baby daddy said it won't be any alcohol there."

"Fiancé", I sternly corrected her. Following closely on my heels out into the hallway and down the back staircase, by the way she sucked her teeth I knew she was just getting started.

"Regardless of if he put that ring on your finger and that baby inside of you, he hasn't earned that title."

Following us into my kitchen, Tori could sense my aggravation. "Morgan, chill out."

"I am calm Victoria. I don't know why I'm the only person here questioning why we got fitted for dresses for a wedding that's supposed to happen in March, yet this man is still legally married to someone else? What's his hang up?"

Perched on the granite counter tops, Naima's entire demeanor changed once she heard those words leave Morgan's mouth.

"Hold up, I know she did not just say what I think she said. But you two have been engaged since September?!"

Morgan can never decide whether she wants to like P or hate him. At this point he can't even stand to be around her because every chance she gets she throws that in his face. What does she want me to do, call Mayte myself and tell her she needs to sign the divorce papers?

I cut my eyes at my sister. "I'm not going to keep having this conversation with you Morgan. He said that everything was going to be fine. When I asked hi—"

"Bullshit. I don't understand why he's trying too be nice about this. He should be up front with her and tell her that he proposed to you and that you're pregnant, that's what I would do."

That's easy for her to say, she hates Mayte. I knew she would find out sooner or later, but I felt like the truth would be painful to hear coming from his own mouth.

I remained unfazed by her disapproval as I drenched my Cap'n Crunch in chocolate soy milk. "Sis, I love how you are so pressed about someone else's business. The divorce is going to happen, end of discussion. Now can we talk about something else?"

"I agree!" Tori exclaimed while she cut a hefty piece of peach cobbler. "Can we talk about Lenny's fine ass that's supposed to be performing?"

Why is my cousin such a hoe? "No we can't talk about him and no I will not ask P to introduce you to him. I thought you and Tony were on again?"

She kissed her teeth, "Don't even mention that fool's name. Ol' bootleg Al B Sure."

"You were the one who got pregnant by him. Hell, Marcel looks just like him", Naima chimed in.

"Whatever, what time are we heading over to Paisley Park? I'm trying to figure out if I have enough time to go through my hair again with the hot comb", Tori said as she ran her fingers through her ebony bangs.

"Even if we did have time, I don't think I want you stinking up my kitchen with the smell of your hot comb on the stove. Besides, I know my mom and her friends are probably wondering where we are." My stomach turned at the thought of the smell of a hot comb sizzling against the Crown Royal grease on her hair.

She threw her dirty plate in the sink before giving her rebuttal. "Oh please, don't act like your precious Prince doesn't straighten his hair every morning!"

With the steady drop in temperature, I opted for a comfy over-sized wool sweater. When I originally bought it I thought it would've hid my stomach a bit but obviously not.

Stepping into my left ankle boot while I leaned against the hood of my car, a simultaneous clacking of heels was heard as the girls entered the heated garage.

Naima huffed, "Tell me again why we have to pile into Tori's hooptie instead of cruising in your brand new car?"

She was referring to the brand new white Mercedes-Benz ML430 SUV P surprised me with a few days before. "Because, after the concert I'm not driving all the way back here just to drop y'all bums off."

Naima kissed her teeth. "Lies, you're going to be too busy hanging up under him. We see how it is, now that you've got a man you don't give a damn about us. It's cool. And what do you mean, 'drive ALL the way back here'?! You live like 3 minutes away!"

Actually it was a 10 minute drive from our cozy, tucked away abode to Paisley Park. Once our new home is complete we'll be even closer. However he claimed that since he was installing a state of the art studio in the basement he shouldn't have to venture over there as often.

"You're not hot in that?" P asked as he pulled at the sleeve of my sweater.

"Excuse me, sir can your balls breath in that?" He had on the tightest neon blue outfit. It took me a minute to realize it was the same outfit he wore at the VMA's. "Jeeze, squeeze all the life out of the family jewels why dontcha!"

"Hey, Mr. Happy can breath. But you can always give him a little mouth-to-mouth just in case." I cut my eyes at him while he raised his eyebrows repeatedly and flashed me a childish grin.

"And on that note I'm leaving. Break a leg, literally. And I hope it's your third leg too", I spat to him sarcastically.

"You know I was just kidding Jazzy-poo." No he wasn't. "You can't leave without giving me a kiss."

I softly pecked his lips twice. Rather than leaning in for a third, he just smiled in between that narrow gap. "I never thanked you."

The pad of my index finger delicately ran along the beauty mark on his cheek. "For what?"

"Dealing with me, loving me, being my best friend."

I was puzzled. "You don't have to thank me for that."

He sighed, "I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with, so I've been told. But you've been there for me, no matter how much I've put you through. I appreciate you so much."

He was definitely telling the truth. "Yeah, I definitely wouldn't categorize you as the most smooth-sailing person. I'm not going to lie, there were times where I could've thrown in the towel."

"I'm glad you didn't," he readjusted my cross necklace. A smile spread across his face. "Jazz don't act like you're the easiest person to deal with either. Sometimes you are a little too honest."

"Well someone has to be! I'm only being honest because I love you."

He pressed his lips against mine. "And I love you too Ja--"

Before he could finish his sentence there was a knock on the door. "Baby brother, are you in there?"

Laying my forehead against his chest, I groaned in aggravation. "Oh my god, baby tell him to go away."

P scolded me as he whispered in my ear. "Jazz behave. Larry you can come in."

Larry almost had a look of confusion once he saw me standing in the room. "Oh, I didn't know you were in here also."

I flashed him an insincere grin before looking back at P. "Well, I was just leaving. Baby have a great show."

I gave him another kiss before strolling past Larry and out the door. Maybe I shouldn't dismiss myself whenever Larry comes around but he just throws the entire aura off.

Walking through the corridors occasionally bumping shoulders with random partygoers, over the shrill chatter and music echoing through the halls I could faintly hear what sounded like someone yelling my name. Turning in every direction, as I tried to look over the sea of people filling Paisley Park someone forcefully snatched my left arm.

"Jesus Christ! What the hell Tori?!" I snapped while rubbing my forearm.

Tori huffed in annoyance as she slapped my shoulder. "Bitch you didn't hear me calling you?!"

"Surprisingly no, we all know your big ass mouth is louder than an AMBER Alert."

"Ha, ha, ha. Girlllll, you will never believe who we just ran into!"

I wasn't in the mood to play twenty questions with her. For all I know she could've ran into some celebrity she had been lusting over. "Who? Just tell me."

Seeing no need to brace myself, I shifted my weight to the right as my hand rested on my stomach.

"Girl, we just ran into that mothafuckin' lightskin sasquatch!"

At first I couldn't pinpoint who she could be talking about, but once I decoded the one of many of her insults I knew exactly who she was speaking of. "Wait, are you sure it was him? You know the lights are kind of dim in here an—"

She slapped my shoulder again. "Bitch he came up and talked to us! I could never forget Keith's ugly mug."

Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be in the same building with him again. I mean he's my brother-in-law's friend, not mine. I wasn't freaking out that he was there, but at the same time I preferred not to see his face. "What did he say? Who was he with?"

"I don't know who he was with but after he said his usual slick shit he did ask about you and where you were?"

"And what did you say?"

She pushed her swoop bang out of her eyes. "That it was none of his damn business. I mean he has some nerve asking about you after he said he would smack the fuck outta you."

I held my hand up in protest. "Please, don't remind me."

"My bad, we just don't want you near that walking skid mark tonight. You're pregnant, you don't need that stress and that's exactly what he's going to cause. You know Prince will fucking flip if he gets word Keith is here."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "There's no way he'd know Keith is here, that boy is irrelevant. Can we go find the girls now?"

Leaning along the pink railings of the VIP balcony, the moment the funky mashup of Face Down followed by Kiss rang in the swaying of my hips was in full effect.

The energy was rocking every moment of the way. I almost peed my pants witnessing the foolishness that ensued when Morris' monkey noises bounced off the walls and out of nowhere he swung through the crowd on a rope and landed on stage.

Without asking her, I believe Tori's favorite part of the show was when Morris & the Time were up there. Without missing a beat we were all getting down as they flew through their set, however the enticed expression she held told me she wanted to see Morris' jungle love.

Morgan and I laughed in amazement watching my mom sing along to Gett Off. If only dad would've seen that, he would've been pissed.

"Gett Off! 23 scriptures in a one night stand..."

For a minute I thought I heard him wrong, that was until I looked down into the crowd and saw quite a few people with the same confused expression.

Even though I talk about Larry in not the most positive way, I couldn't deny the funkiness of Sly & the Family Stone. Hearing Everyday People brought back memories of summers at my grandparents house.

"Since you've been gone I can do whatever I want, I can see who ever I choose. Eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant, oh yeah. But nothing, nothing can take away these blues..."

Although I was naturally worried when he surfed the crowd, Rosie's soulful voice and Kathy Jensen on the sax easily made their rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U perhaps my favorite part.

The night was coming to an end and we were all waiting for the man of the hour in the little kitchen at Paisley. A few partygoers were still scattered throughout the building, still in hopes of an encore. It was so late into the night and I didn't understand how any of them were still wide awake.

If it wasn't for the girls still being here, I would've retreated upstairs to the living quarters and went to sleep. Hell, I was tempted when I went to change into a thinner black sweater.

Stabbing my fork down in my mac n' cheese, I cut my eyes at the individuals before me. My feet were killing me, I was starving, and their annoying cackling was not helping my headache.

"Y'all are so annoying I swear. Don't you think it's time to go home?"

With his right arm draped over Tori's shoulder, Morris turned to me. "Well, well, well. Look at mini-mama trying to kick people out of someone else's house. Stop being a party poop."

I scoffed, "Morris aren't you married?"

He shot back, "Aren't you one of Willy Wonka's oompa loompa's?"

Of course, resort to a short joke. Shaking my head at his foolishness and shooting him the bird, I looked to the walls to realize there wasn't a clock in sight. "Does anyone have the time?"

Morris peered down at his chunky gold Rolex. "3:03, why do you have somewhere to be?"

I don't know what it was but a feeling began to manifest in the pit of my stomach. Not as if danger was coming, but I just didn't feel quite right. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going? I can go with you", Naima offered as she rose from her bar stool.

"No, I'll be back in a minute."

Prince's Perspective

The clacking of my heels was synonymous with Darren's as we paced down the hall.

He cleared his throat. "Boss, I just didn't know what to do so I told her to wait in there. I'm just glad I caught you alone."

"It's fine, you're not in trouble. Do me a favor, go to the little kitchen and make sure Jazz doesn't leave."

I took a deep breath as I slowly opened the stained glass door leading into my office.

With her back to me, her head was tilted to the left and her arms were folded as she looked on at the oversized portrait of Jasmin that hung behind my desk.

I cleared my throat, prompting her to look over her shoulder. "Mayte, what're you doing here?"

Leaning her backside against the edge of my desk, she adjusted the neckline of wrap blouse, exposing the little cleavage she had. "I guess the girl in Minneapolis is the one on her way in. She's really the reason why you've been ignoring me?"

Scratching the back of my neck, I sighed. "Mayte, why are you here?"

"I figured this was the only way I could get you to talk to me. Besides, everyone knows this was supposed to be the party of the millennium."

"Well, the party's over I think it might be time for you to leave."

Looking down at my desk, she traced her slender index finger along the silver frame that held a picture of Noah and Jazz. "How could you let this girl get in the way of us?"

I was not going to do this with her, not again. There was no point. "Jasmin was never the root of our problems."

"Well she damn sure contributed to them!", she spat.

"Lower your tone", I said through gritted teeth as I took two steps in her direction.

"No! And then you got down and dirty in that video with her for the world to see, it's just—", her rambling came to a halt momentarily as she looked to the window. 'I didn't come here to argue."

"Then why are you here?"

"I don't know," she peeped. "I guess I just want answers."

Taking a seat on the arm of the nearest chair, I felt like once again no resolutions could come from this conversation. "I thought we already discussed this back in Spain Mayte."

She scoffed, gradually increasing the pitch in her voice as she spoke. "No, what YOU did was dance around the conversation. I asked you about this bitch when I saw you in Spain and all you did was give me a bullshit runaround. You have pictures of her plastered everywhere as if I don't even exist!"

I didn't mean to give her a runaround, but how do you gently tell someone that you were once in love with that you are now engaged to and expecting a child with someone else?

"Mayte...I—"

Standing before me with her arms folded, under the yellow-hued lighting I could see the uncertainty in her dark eyes. "Just say it, say you're not in love with me anymore."

I'll always have love for her, but I'm not IN LOVE with her. I was repeating that over and over in my head but for some reason those words were caught in my throat.

I never thought it would come down to this. She may have wanted "closure" but I was afraid to tell her the ugly truth. All I wanted was for her to sign the papers. Instead there we sat, at the end of our road.

I sighed once more, finally piecing my words together. "Fine, I—"

"You heard her, tell her you don't love her anymore." I knew that soft feminine voice anywhere, however I could detect the tension laced in it. There Jazz stood in the doorway. The only thing I could think about was what her next move might be.

I briskly walked up to her. Although I ran my hands along her upper arms, her glassy eyes never met mine and stayed focus on Mayte. The hatred was boiling over inside of her warm body.

"How about you stay in a whore's place and mind your own business!"

"Whore?!" Standing firmly in front of Jazz, in her fit of rage she tried to push me out of the way but I wrapped my arms around her waist. "No, it's called how about you mind your fucking business! You see this ring?! He proposed to me! That means yo--"

"Dumbass he's still married to me so that ring doesn't mean shit!"

I turned to see Mayte a good five feet from where we stood flashing her diamond encrusted wedding band. Her proximity to us didn't sit well with me. I gritted my teeth, "You better not come over here."

"Or what?! You don't want me to touch a hair on your precious little Jasmin's head?! Fuck her, she'll never be me."

I had had enough of her mouth. Turning to face Mayte, I stood in front of Jasmin just in case Mayte was feeling froggy.

I raised my voice, "Good! I wouldn't want her to be like you! You want to hear these words so bad well here you go: I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU ANYMORE. You not signing the divorce papers is only making it harder on yourself. But don't bring Jasmin into this, me and you started to fall off before she came into my life. Keep her name out of your mouth. Now leave."

She folded her arms and shook her head. "You disgust me, sh--"

I heard Jasmin kiss her teeth, before she piped up behind me. "He said get the fuck out."

Mayte rolled her neck, "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?!"

Jasmin tried to move from behind me but I blocked her. "You bitch he said leave, go clean your fucking ears out before you get dragged out!"

Although I knew Jasmin meant by security, Mayte took that as a threat and threw her purse down. Lunging in our direction, I hurriedly shuffled towards Mayte and pushed her back. Holding her against the desk, I yelled back to Jasmin. "Go get Darren!"

I used all of my body weight to hold her in place and keep her away from Jasmin. All I saw was red, deeply angered by the fact that she was seconds away from putting her hands on Jazz, the woman I loved, my fiancée, the woman carrying our future.

There was no way I was going to allow her to come within feet of those two and I wasn't going to stand for the blatant disrespect any longer. As the anger seeped through my pores, the muffled sounds of several footsteps entering the room were blocked out as I let Mayte have a piece of my mind.

"Are you crazy?! How dare you have the audacity to even come here tonight. What we had is done. I will not let you disrespect me or her any longer. You had the nerve to try and hurt her and our baby!"

Hearing Troy's heavy footstep come up behind me I let go of Mayte, who had the most confused look in her eye.

She chirped, "Baby? She's pregnant?" Her eyes glossed over as they shifted from me to Jazz who was standing by the door with her right hand on her stomach.

Those heavy words slipped from my lips without a second thought. I didn't want it to happen like this. I wanted her just to sign the divorce papers, what I felt like was the most painless option.

The detriment I caused was evident watching Mayte crumble before my eyes. Allowing the tears to roll down her flushed olive cheeks, she opened her mouth but no words came out.

Flashing me a final look of disgust, she picked up her purse and sped walked past me with such haste. As she left the room I heard Tori spew a few obscenities.

After collecting my thoughts, I turned on my heels en route to my fiancée. I knew she needed to be consoled, all of this was unnecessary emotional stress that I unintentionally put on her.

The moment I came in contact with her stomach she pushed my hands away.

She angrily said, "D—Don't touch me."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Jasmin, let's not do this right now. I didn't invite her here if thats what you're thinking."

Her nostrils began to flare as her anger began to rise. "Says the same man who lied about meeting with his future ex-wife while his pregnant fiancée was back at the hotel!"

I know I shouldn't have lied to her, however at the time I didn't believe telling her the truth would've done anything but cause unnecessary stress.

Without breaking away from her glossy orbs I let the girls know it was time to go. "Give us some privacy."

Morgan kissed her teeth and grumbled something under her breath. Noticing they didn't even budge, Jazz turned to them. "Just go home, I'll call y'all."

Almost on cue, they all turned to give her a quick hug and then leave. How disrespectful is it that I own this place but when I politely ask them to leave they don't listen?

"I can't believe I believed you." Her tone was very cut and dry as she paced over to the large window.

Walking up beside her, I looked up to the heavens and asked Jehovah to help us through this. "Baby please forgive me. I shouldn't have lied to you, I'm sorry."

This time when I placed my hand on her stomach she allowed my touch. Her gaze never left the window, watching the minuscule snowflakes falling from the pitch black sky.

"How many times did I ask you, huh? You were adamant that you didn't speak to her after the show but you did. Then she shows up here...did you fuck her?"

I was offended she even had the nerve to accuse me of such a thing. "No, you know I wouldn't cheat on you."

She stifled a laugh. "So I should believe your word? Even after I found out that you lied, I should believe you?"

Her stubborn demeanor was not sitting well with me. Did she want me to argue with her until I was blue in the face to prove I didn't cheat on her? "Jasmin, for the last time I didn't cheat on you. Nothing happened! I don't understand why you are getting all worked up."

She turned to me and exclaimed, "Really? You don't understand why I'm mad? You told me you didn't speak to her but you did. You lied, so excuse me if I'm having trouble believing you right now!"

"I didn't cheat on you!"

A small grin graced her face as she turned to face me. "It sucks doesn't it?"

"What?"

"Not being believed, it sucks right? Now you know how I felt when you accused me of cheating on you with Keith. Nothing happened between me & him."

I felt like shit after that argument. It all went farther than it should've been. I shouldn't have said what I didn't, however she shouldn't have went to see him. Hell, I shouldn't have allowed Mayte into the dressing room. We positioned ourselves in compromising situations.

"Jazz nothing happened between me & her. Just like you said you would never do anything to hurt me, I would never hurt you. I just need to know that you trust me."

Biting down on her lower lip, she appeared to be in deep thought as she studied my facial features. Catching her gaze, I was telepathically pleading with her. I knew our relationship wasn't weak enough to be thrown away because of this minor issue. If that was the case we wouldn't have made it as far as we have.

I know she trusts me, I do. For some reason an internal conflict within her wouldn't  allow those words to leave her plush lips. I asked once more, "Do you trust me baby girl?"

I didn't know how to take her silence. She didn't blatantly say no, however she didn't eagerly say yes. Had I really done enough to lose her trust?

After much anticipation she finally parted her lips to speak. "I love you but I...I don't know."

To be continued...

A/N: Did Jazz ever have a reason to trust Prince? Don't forget to leave all of your questions, comments about what happened, and predictions down below 💜