Just a little heads up!

Okay, I know in 2008-2009 Michael had Thome Thome and Frank DiLeo as his managers, but I am planning on using Raymone Bain in this story.

You'll see why 😉

By the way, all of my knowledge about Michael and his life during his final years comes from research as an obsessive teenager all the way back 7 years ago. A lot of the facts will obviously change since this is a fanfic that is very different from his actual life during those years.

Just wanted to put that out there!

On that note, writing about Lisa Marie Presley was a bit overwhelming now that she's passed. May she rest in peace 💔

Don't forget to comment and vote! ❤️

~ShoamEmily

~

21st of November, 2008
Michael is 50, Angela is 44, and Jake is 45

Michael: Rose, Jared, and AJ were playing on the lawn right outside my office, with Grace watching over them as she held Leo.

The big doors that lead outside were wide open, so I could see everything they were doing.

The twins were chasing around a ball while AJ was playing with Kenya's tail.

"Daddy!" Jared called and I looked away from the pile of papers I was going over.

"Yeah, baby boy?"

"Look!" he showed me the ball. "I'm like Ewic!"

He threw it as hard as his little self could, making me laugh. "Good job, bubba."

"Daddy, come!" Rose said.

"You should join us, Mr. Jackson. It's really nice out." Grace smiled.

"Soon, I promise," I sighed. "I have to finish this before the rest of the children come back from school."

My phone rang and it was Javon. "Sir, Raymone Bain just arrived... Said it was urgent."

"Send her to my office. Thanks." I told him.

Soon enough, my manager walked in.

"Come on, everyone. Your daddy will come play with you soon." Grace told the children, helping them as they walked away.

"Hi, Michael," Raymone sat down. "On dad duty today?"

"I was supposed to be, but someone sent a bunch of papers for me to sign..." I gave her a look to show how annoyed I was.

She ignored my comment and helped herself to a water bottle from the mini fridge. "So, did you sign the AEG contract?"

"No. I didn't get a chance to talk to Angela yet."

"Michael..." she groaned. "We need to give them an answer. And you clearly want to do it, so sign it already. Why does it matter what your wife thinks?"

"You said it, Bain. She's my wife, she has a say in this." I said harshly.

"Fine. But I expect an answer by tomorrow."

"I'll give you an answer in a week. You still work for me, Bain. Not the other way around."

My manager rolled her eyes slightly, "Alright. Do you need anything else from me?"

I could hear the front door open along with the older children's voices.

Standing up, I gave her the pile of papers I finished signing. "No, thank you. Here, these are finished... I'm going back to dad duty, if you don't mind. You are welcomed to come see everyone."

With that, we left my office. Lily was the one to greet me first, showing off the book she was reading lately.

"Dad, I finished my book during recess today! Can we pick out a new one tonight?" her blue eyes showed nothing but excitement.

"Of course, Lil." I said.

Eric stood next to Prince, looking a bit down. What's going on with him?

"Michael, show me out?" Raymone cleared her throat. I nodded, telling the kids to go outside where Grace was.

"I really want you to do this tour, Michael. It's perfect timing, too. Your fans will go wild, especially after everything that you went through." my manager said once the kids were gone.

She wasn't wrong; yet I knew I had to run it by Angela. My family comes first, always.

"Bain, I'll talk to Angela and get back to you, okay? I have a family now, I can't just decide to go on tour whenever I want." I told her, opening the car door for her.

"And on that note," I continued. "My doctor has to check me thoroughly first, I am not risking another aneurysm."

Raymone nodded. "I know. Your family and health are first priorities."

I shook her hand before she started the car and drove off, hoping Angela would understand.

~

Angela: "I haven't had a drink in 10 months," Lisa Marie sighed happily after we took a sip of the mimosas we ordered. "Thanks for this, it's very needed."

"Of course, I know what it's like. When AJ was born all I wanted was a drink, but I was breastfeeding. Then I took Michael to Italy and we had, like, two whole bottles of wine... It was so good." I told her.

"Italy? Tell me more." she leaned closer to me.

I giggled, "My mom is Italian, Michael asked me to take him because I would talk about it a lot. And we were in the midst of our custody battle with Debbie, we really needed a vacation for the family. So I decided we should finally go to Italy, it was honestly the best time... He surprised me with a cellar full of amazing Italian wine."

"Yeah, I heard about the battle with Debbie... That woman is a snake," Lisa Marie shook her head. "She can't stand seeing Michael be happy with someone else."

"We're on good terms now, I guess. Michael hates the fact that Prince and Paris are there every other week, though."

"Of course he does, I'm not even surprised she did that. Like I said, a snake."

The food came soon and dug in. We had a big plate with a bunch of breakfast foods, and of course, more mimosas.

~

Shopping was next, and I had the most fun time. Lisa Marie made me try so many clothes, loving almost every single thing I tried.

"You look so amazing in everything," she complimented. "My body will probably never go back to what it was."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, trust me, this body is not what it used to be. I have four under four, and my husband was in a coma for six months. No time for working out, it's all because I'm chasing nine kids around."

She held onto my shoulder as she laughed.

"I don't think Michael's complaining, though. He was all over you when you came to dinner." Lisa Marie winked.

Blushing, I let out a little snicker and raised my eyebrows at her.

She is the last person I'll talk to about Michael and I's sex life.

"What? I'm just pointing out the truth, Angela," she linked her arm with mine. "He's good, right?"

"Lisa Marie!" I gasped.

"But he is!"

I couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, he is. Gets better with age, too."

She joined my laughter and I could swear I saw Adam smile at us in the corner of my eye. We continued going around the store, here and there stopping to look at clothes.

"You and Mike have something special, I'll give you that. Almost four years of marriage, I think that's a record for him." Lisa Marie whispered in my ear.

She had to go there.

"But I can definitely say from what I saw two months ago, he's so happy. I never thought I'd see him like that, you know?" she continued.

"Thank you, Lisa Marie." I embraced her.

"Just don't let him do anything stupid. Is he still taking any pills?" she said into my shoulder.

I shook my head. "No. He got treatment in 2004 for a couple months and since then he's been clean."

"Okay. Good. Keep it that way for me, alright?"

"I'll try."

~

Lisa Marie's twin baby girls looked a lot like her; it was something about the eyes for sure.

I was holding Harper as she ate, she was so precious. Finley was already napping.

"Any chance you and Michael are going to have more?"

I looked up from the baby, surprised at her question. "God, no. I, uh, almost died giving birth to Leo... Trust me, we have our hands more than full. You think you and Lockwood would have more?"

"I didn't even want these two, to be honest," she said. "But he really wanted kids, and my other two were already big... I don't know how he convinced me."

"So did you two go for it already? You know... It's been six weeks, right?" I nudged her knee a bit.

She sighed. "Yeah, but I was really out of it, so it wasn't good... I don't know, I'm all kinds of messed up about my body right now."

I frowned as Harper finished eating. Putting her against my shoulder, I reached out to hold her mother's hand.

It saddened me a bit. A woman as gorgeous as her, feeling insecure like that. I honestly felt for her; I knew that feeling all too well. Although Michael never made me feel less than beautiful after giving birth, both during and after Leo's pregnancy I was feeling defeated.

"You look amazing, Lisa Marie, I promise. It's all in your head, I'm sure your husband loves you no matter what. Just... Enjoy the moment. Don't overthink it."

She nodded, "Thank you, Angela. You're a good friend... I haven't had that in a while. We should do this more often."

"I agree, I had a really good time." I tightened my grip on her hand.

Lisa Marie yawned, making me laugh. She's so tired.

"How about I help you put this one to bed so you can get some rest?" I offered. "We still have a couple hours until I have to go, I don't mind watching them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'd love to help."

She hugged me again, careful with her baby girl that was in my arms, "You're the best. Thank you so much."

"Of course, honey." I rubbed her back.

We stood up and she showed me where everything was before heading to her bedroom.

I smiled down at Harper who was still awake, happy that I was able to help Lisa Marie, even for a little bit.

~

I got back to Neverland only around 9 PM, after accidentally staying a little longer at Lisa Marie's.

My stomach grumbled loudly. When I walked into the kitchen to find something to eat, Michael was taking some stuff out of the fridge, his back turned to me.

"Aw, Mike." I smiled, seeing the two plates he set up nicely for us on the kitchen island.

He turned around with a bottle of wine in his hands, "I figured you'd be hungry after that long drive... The kids finished a couple hours ago, but I thought I'd wait for you."

"Thank you..."

We sat down and started eating. I could feel his eyes on me as I dug in.

"What?" I blushed a little.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about how lucky I am," he said, making me blush even more. "How was your day with Lisa Marie?"

"It was really fun, I got carried away with her babies, though."

My husband chuckled, taking my left hand. His thumb played with my rings a bit.

I could tell something was on his mind, but I couldn't quite figure it out.

"Oh, Eric talked to me after dinner... I think we need to sit down with him and Lily, see what's going on. They seem a bit off." he sighed.

Is my son talking to everyone except me? What's going on with him?

"Yeah, Jake called this morning and said something like that," I pouted a bit. "It's his fault, Mike. If he didn't leave again... Also, imagine being 10 years old and having to keep the fact that your dad is alive a secret."

"Angie..."

"What? You know it's true."

He let go of my hand, "Even if it is, we can't blame it all on Jake, baby... He is trying his best."

"Well, he should try harder." I scoffed.

"I really don't want to argue about him tonight, Angela. Can we go back to enjoying dinner?" Michael said.

Nodding, I took a sip of the wine he poured us. "So, what did you do today?"

"Nothing much, mostly paperwork... Raymone Bain was here." he told me, referring to his manager.

"Oh?" I scrunched my brows.

His manager never shows up here, only when something is really urgent. She would usually just call on the phone.

"I should've told you sooner, but I didn't even know if I wanted to go back to performing," Michael looked into my eyes. "I've been offered a tour."

"A tour?"

"Yeah, but I didn't sign anything yet, Ange. I wanted to talk to you about it first..."

I thought he was done performing. That's what he told me when we got married, at least.

"It's gonna be a really short one, and only at one venue," my husband explained. "Probably in Europe. But, babe, if you don't want me to do it, I won't. You and our family come first, okay?"

"I don't know what to say, Michael." I told him because I really didn't.

"I have a week until I need to give them an answer, so there's a bit more time... I also need to see what Dr. Moore thinks."

I nodded as if I understood him, but I couldn't.

After everything we have been through together, it was weird to think I was never there with him during those years where he performed endlessly.

Jake even tried to convince me to go with him to one of his shows in 1996, but I was never interested. We did use to watch him a lot on TV, though.

I also knew who my husband was, and I had no right to stop him from doing what he loved. Yet my heart was telling me that he shouldn't do this.

"Do you want to do it?" I asked.

"I do, Angela, very much." he answered truthfully.

"Okay, so we'll go to Dr. Moore."

Michael stood up and hugged me tightly, "Thank you, baby..."

"But if he says you can't perform, you are going to listen to him. I'm serious, Mike." I said sternly.

He nodded, hugging me even tighter, "I promise, Angie."

My husband pulled away so he could kiss me so passionately it made my head spin. I gave in, letting my arms fall lazily on his shoulders.

He left another kiss on my lips, "Come on, we should finish up and maybe go say 'goodnight' to everyone."

After dinner we headed upstairs. I went into Eric's room, which he shared with Blanket, last.

My son was supposed to share a bedroom with Prince when we moved, but Blanket didn't want to sleep alone, so Eric offered to join him.

Both of them were already sleeping deeply. I took a seat on the edge of Eric's bed.

My beautiful boy... Gosh, I wonder what's bothering him so much.

It always amazed me how much he looked like Jake. Except for my smile, he was clearly a copy of his father.

The tears burned my eyes as I ran my hand through his black hair.

"Angie?" Michael's voice startled me a bit. "You coming? I ran us a bath..."

Nodding, I stood up to turn off the nightlight next to Blanket's bed, and joined my husband.

~

Michael had his arms around me as he slept.

He seemed really excited about this tour and he definitely appreciated that I agreed to go see Dr. Moore with him.

I hated to admit it, but I was hoping his doctor would say no. Because honestly, when thinking about it, the odds weren't in his favor.

Not to mention, Lisa Marie freaked me out when she talked about his past problems with pills.

If God forbid he would go back to that awful habit, how the hell am I supposed to help him?

Jake was the only person who knew how to do that. Jake was always there for Michael when he turned to the pills, trying to help him whenever he was at his lowest.

The only time he wasn't there was the trial; Michael went to seek help anyways, saying that he needs to get better for his kids, and our planned marriage.

I bit my lip, trying to hold in my tears.

How can I stop him from doing what he loves? We wouldn't be where we are now, if he wasn't the entertainer that he is.

Still, I also knew how devoted he was to me and our family. He promised to never leave me again.

Deciding to try and get some sleep with the thought of what Michael promised in mind, I closed my eyes.

He's not going to leave again, not after everything that happened.

But sleep escaped me as everything that could go wrong took over instead. I played all the worst scenarios of what might happen to my husband in my head again and again.