14 years. Rest in peace, Michael.
Love you forever ❤️

~ShoamEmily

~

17th of April, 2009
Michael is 50, Angela is 45, and Jake is 46

Michael: It was raining in London when we landed there.

The past month has been intense; moving with nine children is no joke. Angela and I were busy with packing everyone and preparing for this move.

She talked to Debbie about Prince and Paris. This entire custody thing still bothered me, although Angela begged me to let it go.

Luckily, Debbie agreed to them moving all the way here with us, but she already had planned visits that were agreed upon with our lawyers present.

After driving for about an hour, we were finally nearing our new home.

The older kids rode with me while the babies were in the other car with Angela, and my in-laws, who came along for the first couple of weeks. We gave Grace some time off before she joins us.

Prince, Eric, and Blanket all fell asleep in the back. I was sitting in between Paris and Lily, the two girls being too excited to sleep.

"Daddy, are we there yet?" Paris asked.

"Very soon, baby," I answered. "You excited?"

She nodded, "Mom said you have your first rehearsal soon. Can we come?"

"Yeah, can we, dad?" Lily joined in.

"I don't know, girls. Don't you want to be surprised and wait for the shows?"

"But mommy gets to come with you..." my step-daughter pouted.

"Mommy doesn't have school to go to, Lil." I said.

Paris yawned loudly. "We're done with school next month."

I chuckled when she kept on yawning, clearly tired.

"We can talk about this tomorrow," I kissed her hair, seeing that we were pulling up to the new house. "We're here."

We came to a halt, and I turned around to wake up the boys. The other car stopped behind us.

AJ was sleeping in Angela's arms, our daughter's head on her shoulder.

"Mike, can you grab Leo?" she asked. "He fell asleep."

I did as she asked and we all piled into the house. Boxes were everywhere, along with our luggage.

The kids ran upstairs to find their bedrooms as we got our sleepy babies into bed.

Their new nursery was full of more boxes, but the cribs were all ready for them to sleep in.

"This was the longest day." Angela sighed once we closed the door.

"I say we go see how everyone else is settling in," I hugged her. "Then get some well needed sleep ourselves."

We had a quick dinner with our big family, then helped our tired kids into bed. I thanked Maria and Jared for all their help before finally going upstairs ourselves.

~

Angela was waiting in bed when I finished in the bathroom.

"First night in London as a family. I can't believe we're actually here." she smiled tiredly.

Nodding, I pulled her closer. "Thank you for agreeing to do this with me, Angie."

She hugged me tightly and left a small kiss on my chin.

I really was grateful. This was a huge risk for her, to leave everything she knew in California to move here for my career.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" she said into my chest.

"Unpacking, mostly, and Kenny said he might come over to meet everyone."

"For dinner?"

"Yeah, the new chef should arrive before lunch tomorrow."

My wife laughed, "If my mom will even let her touch the kitchen..."

Just then her phone rang. She groaned when she looked at it.

"It's Jake," she answered the call. "Hi, Jake... Yeah, it was fine... We had a very long day... They're asleep, it's almost 11 at night here...Tomorrow, I promise... Goodnight."

"You can't still be mad at him, babe." I mumbled.

"I'm not... I'm just tired."

I rolled my eyes, "Sure."

Angela squinted her eyes at me before shutting off the lights.

"Okay, we need to sleep. Goodnight, Mike. Love you." she kissed my cheek and turned to her side of the bed.

"Angela, come on," I wrapped an arm around her. "We moved his kids halfway across the world. He has the right to call."

"Our kids, Michael. We've been there for them for the last five years."

"Again, not his fault... At least try talking to him. He really is trying, you should try too. Please, for the sake of Lily and Eric."

My wife looked at me, "Okay. I'll call him after everything settles down here."

"Good..." I kissed her.

"Mommy!" Jared's voice was suddenly heard from down the hall, followed by his whines.

I let Angela go. "Daddy's coming, bubba!"

"No, mommy!"

"Damn it," she groaned. "Just bring him here... I'm so tired."

My son was climbing out of his bed when I entered the twins' room. They were both so big now, being a little over 3.

It really amazed me; to think about how fast time flies, and all we've been through since they were born.

"Let's go to mommy, bubba." I offered my hand which he took gladly.

Before we left, I made sure Rose was sleeping, then headed back to our bedroom. Angela had already fallen asleep, making Jared whine again.

"Come on, Jared. Daddy's tired too."

He struggled to get up on the bed, so I gave him a little push.

My son cuddled close to me, and we both started drifting off when Rose called for me, too.

This is gonna be a long night.

~

20th of April, 2009
Michael is 50, Angela is 45, and Jake is 46

Angela: I watched Michael as his foot tapped gently to the rhythm of 'Human Nature'.

The O2 was pretty empty except for the stage and everything surrounding it. The sheer size of it all still blew me away.

My husband was standing with Kenny on stage. They were only supposed to be doing a soundcheck today, but Michael was clearly too excited for all of this.

"Sounds great," he said, giving the stage crew a thumbs up. "It really does, maybe just slow it down a little bit..."

"He's something else, huh?" Adam smiled at me.

"Yeah..." I said, still keeping my eyes on my husband, who started singing along to the music.

Adam was officially promoted to our head of security in London. Javon stayed in California, to take care of business there.

It was for the best honestly; after everything that happened with him, I understood why Michael didn't want him here, in this new chapter of our lives.

"What's your favorite song?"

"Sorry?"

"Favorite Michael Jackson song," he chuckled. "Go. And you can't say 'Billie Jean' or any other song that everyone knows."

I bit my lip nervously, "Oh, I don't know, Adam... Honestly, I don't know enough of his songs."

It was true, Michael had been teasing me non-stop about it lately.

The bodyguard's mouth hung open, "Wha- How? 'Remember the Time'? 'Another Part of Me'? Something!"

"Sorry... I know the names, don't think I ever heard them." I shrugged.

Maybe I should listen to his albums now that he's performing again. I am his wife after all, I should know them.

I almost laughed at myself.

Michael doesn't care if I know his songs or not, I'm pretty sure he loves the fact that I never treated him like the star he actually is. He only ever harmlessly teases me about it.

"You've known him for 15 years and you can't name one song? Come on, Mrs. Jackson..." Adam took off his sunglasses.

"Okay, fine," I sighed. "I know some of his newer stuff, from his last album. He sings 'You Are My Life' to the kids quite a lot."

"See? I knew you had it in ya!"

I rolled my eyes at him, trying to hide a smile before looking at my husband again.

He laughed at something Kenny said, then both of them made their way over to us.

"Sir," Adam had a smirk on his face. "I just found out Mrs. Jackson doesn't know most of your songs..."

Kenny raised his eyebrows, "What?"

"Angela knows some." Michael tried to defend me.

Aw, he's the sweetest. I smiled thankfully at him, although he knew I didn't actually know a lot.

"I really don't, Mike..."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Jackson. I got you, we'll start playing the albums every car ride," Adam winked. "I'll go start on that."

He stood up, then left us with the other bodyguards so he can get the car.

"Angela, do you mind if I steal him for a few more minutes?" Kenny questioned, wrapping an arm around Michael's shoulders.

"Not at all, but we have to go see his neurologist soon..." I said.

The director grinned, "Don't worry, I'll bring him back in a few. Now, MJ, about the dancers..."

My husband was totally in his comfort zone, and I loved seeing it.

I just hope everything goes well at the doctor's.

~

We waited impatiently in the waiting room at Dr. Thomas Clarke's private clinic. Dr. Moore spoke so highly of him. Still, I was nervous.

I was putting my husband's life in Dr. Clarke's hands, even though he met us last month and assured he will do everything he can to help him if needed.

Michael already did a scan along with a blood test, now we were just waiting for the results.

"You don't feel any different, right?" I asked him.

"No, baby, I feel perfect. Stop worrying, please," he answered, placing a kiss on my forehead while rubbing my back. "Really. I haven't had a headache since that day I remembered it all."

"The move, the shows... It's a lot of stress, Mike."

"I know, but I'm okay."

I kissed him gently and grasped his hand.

"Mr. Jackson, you can go in now." the receptionist interrupted us.

When we entered the office, Dr. Clarke had the widest grin. "Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, welcome! Please, sit. It's a pleasure to see you both again. How are we?"

"We're great, thanks." my husband shook his hand.

"So, did you settle in alright? Ethan told me you saw him right before the flight." the doctor said, referring to Dr. Moore.

I nodded, eager to hear what he had to say about the tests, "Yes, thank you. Is Michael okay?"

"Your bloodwork looks great, Mr. Jackson. And so does the scan..." he told us. "The only thing that concerns me is your blood pressure. It's a tad high. How are you sleeping?"

Oh, no. I knew it was too good to be true.

"Like I usually do. Only thing keeping me up are our babies." Michael chuckled a bit.

"Alright, and how often do you rehearse? I need to know about any physical activity that might have triggered your blood pressure to rise."

"I dance a lot lately, more than usual. But it's nothing I haven't done before. I rehearse with my choreographer four times a week to prepare."

Dr. Clarke wrote something down.

"Can we tone it down to two rehearsals? I'm a bit worried. And how often are you two... Active? Sexually, I mean. I'm only asking because it might be a contributing factor."

I blushed a little. "Uh, at least twice a week. Sometimes more..."

"Right, well, I'll prescribe something to try and bring your blood pressure down, Mr. Jackson," he concluded, giving Michael a little note with his prescription. "Take it twice a day, with food. We should already see results when you come back in two weeks."

Okay, it's nothing serious. As long as it's not any sleeping pills or pain killers.

We thanked him before Adam took us back to the car. Michael gave him the prescription, "Can you get this later, Adam?"

"Of course, sir. Are we heading home?" the bodyguard looked at us through the rare-view mirror. He turned up the volume on the radio, and I could hear Michael's voice.

It sounded very disco, I liked it.

"Yes, please," I sighed tiredly. We woke up pretty early to get into the city this morning. "Do you think the kids are home yet, Mike?"

My husband smiled, "Probably. Are you okay, Angie? I know how anxious you get about bad news..."

"I guess... As long as you listen to the doctor. You should tell Kenny and Travis."

"I'll call when we get home. Wanna grab something to eat?"

"Sure, but we have to make it quick. I really want to go home." I said, yawning.

Michael nodded, tapping his fingers to the beat.

"Oh!" he snapped his fingers when he suddenly remembered. "Here, Kenny told me to give this to you, babe."

He pulled out an iPod and put it in my hand. "It has all my songs on it. Solo, at least. Kenny used it before we started rehearsals."

"I really have to learn them, huh?"

"It can't hurt..."

"Thank you," I rolled my eyes playfully, taking the iPod. "I'll start tonight. You'll see, by the time your shows start I'll know them by heart."

My husband kissed me deeply, "You're the best."

~

Jake: "So you're enjoying yourself?" I asked into the phone as I settled into bed.

"I am, Jake. It's crazy, I really thought I was done performing... But the thrill of rehearsing again, dancing on stage... I never thought I'd miss it." Michael said.

"It sounds great, Mike. Is Angie doing okay?"

"Yeah, she loves it here. What about you? How is that special lady of yours?"

"'Special lady'," I shook my head and laughed. "Yeah, she's doing good. I only really see her once a month, but we talk all the time."

I could hear Angela from his end. "Is that Jake? Tell him I said 'hi'. Did you take your pills with dinner, Mike?"

Pills? I hope he's not back on anything...

"What pills?" I cleared my throat.

"It's nothing big, my blood pressure is a bit high." my best friend explained.

"You're not taking anything else?"

"No, I swear. I'm done with that, Jake."

He sounded so serious. To be honest, I was worried when he told me he was going to perform again. That kind of stress on him is never good.

"Okay, I believe you, Mike. But if the thought of it even crosses your mind, you need to call me. You know I'm always here for you." I said sternly.

"I know. Thank you," he sighed and hurried to change the subject. "Lily and Eric are still awake if you wanna talk to them."

"I'd love to."

Soon enough, my kids' voices were heard as they told me all about their new school. They sounded so happy, so delighted to be in London.

But I was still worried about Michael; there was no doubt these shows were already starting to affect him.

~

25th of May, 2009
Michael is 50, Angela is 45, and Jake is 46

Michael: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lily and Eric! Happy birthday to you!"

Lily and Eric smiled widely, then blew out the candles on their two cakes.

We surprised them by taking all of our older children to rehearsals with us, since they wanted to come see me so badly. For dinner, we decided to celebrate at a nice restaurant in Soho.

Angela and I's parents were here, along with Luciano and Britney, both for the twins' birthday and Leo's first tomorrow.

"Happy birthday, babies." Angela planted a big, wet kiss on each of their cheeks.

"Ew, mom..." Eric whined and wiped the kiss away.

"Michael, Angela, get in there for a family photo," Jared said, taking out his camera. "Kids, you too. Say cheese!"

We all huddled up and he took a couple pictures. In the corner of my eye, I could see Rose reach out for the cake closest to her. Her twin brother did the same, and unfortunately none of us were fast enough to catch them.

"Rose!"

"Jared!"

Lily and Eric gasped when their little siblings grabbed both cakes and shoved it into their mouths. They got cake everywhere.

It made my parents giggle a bit; as well as Luciano and Britney. I tried to hide my smile before picking Rose up.

"Oh, you guys..." my wife sighed in annoyance. Our twins just looked so proud of themselves.

The silliest little kids.

"Your dad and I can go clean them up, bella," Maria offered. "Vieni qui, bambini."

"Thank you, mamma."

My in-laws took them to the bathroom as we sat down to eat.

"So how is the tour coming along, Michael?" Britney asked.

"Really well. The fans are going to love it-" I answered, but Eric cut me off.

"And we got to see dad rehearse today," he chirped. "It was so cool! Then Kenny let us go on the lift, you know the one dad sings 'Beat It' on..."

"Yeah, daddy was amazing!" Blanket agreed.

Lily nodded, "He also let us sing into the mics and all. The dancers danced with us too."

"That sounds awesome, guys." Luciano told them.

"Do you see that, Mike?" Angela whispered in my ear. "Look how excited our kids are... All of them. You did that. Thank you, for all of it. These have been such happy times."

"You know I'll do anything for our family, Ange. I'm glad you agreed to take this opportunity with me... I couldn't have done it without you." I whispered back.

She intertwined our finger and placed a long kiss on my cheek. "I love you so much."

I blushed a little. "I love you, too..."

Squeals that came from behind interrupted us. Rose and Jared ran back into the VIP room, with Angela's parents chasing them.

"Daddy!" my son climbed on my lap, burying his face inside my jacket while his sister hid under my chair. "Don't let them see us!"

"Where did they go?" Maria played along.

Our babies giggled uncontrollably and all of us around the table joined in. I tickled Jared, making him burst into laughter.

Rose jumped from under the chair, "Boo!"

"Ohh!" Maria pretended to be scared.

"That was very scary, baby," Angela said. "Now we have to eat. Come here."

As everyone kept talking and eating, I looked around the table at our family. Happy times.

~

Jake: Kim parked her car in the driveway and shut off the engine.

We had another successful date, as per once a month.

"Let's go, soldier." she said then got out. I followed quickly, removing her jacket after we entered her house.

She kissed me hungrily, held my hand tightly and led me to her bedroom.

"I missed you so much, Jake..." Kim sat me down on her bed before she unbuttoned her jeans, then straddled me.

I reached for my belt to open it and removed my pants quickly. Her lips came in contact with my neck. "A month is such a long time."

"I know," I groaned, suddenly feeling the urge to use the bathroom. "And I need you so much, but I gotta pee."

"Come back quickly." she kissed me again and got up.

As I did my business, I could hear my phone chime from the bedroom. I thought nothing of it, the only thing on my mind being Kim.

When I opened the door after washing my hands, my girlfriend was sitting where I left her. But she had my phone in her hand, with a clear look of confusion on her face.

"Kim?" I called.

She showed me the phone. A picture of Lily and Eric showed up, blowing out the candles on their birthday cakes.

"Someone named Mike texted you. Those are my brother-in-law's nephews. You know, Angela Jackson's kids. How- Why are you being sent a picture of them?"

"I can explain-"

Kim cut me off, "I'm listening."

"Those are my kids," I took a seat next to her. "I was married to Angela. Michael is my best friend... I've known him for 15 years."

"But Angela was a widow. Luciano told me her husband died in a car crash."

"I almost did. I was declared dead, but I didn't really die. So the navy took me back into service, no one knew I was alive. Remember that legal reason you told me about?"

She nodded.

"They got married because I made a wish in my will. In case I die, I wanted Michael and Angela to be there for each other. Honestly, I didn't think they'd do it. But they did, they had kids, and they... They learned to love each other. And then... Angela accidentally saw me while they were on vacation here in Anchorage. One thing led to another, and I went back to see them. I stayed at Neverland, I spent time with Lily and Eric after five years... But no one knows. Only Mike and Angie do, along with the kids and some of their bodyguards."

Kim covered her mouth and sighed deeply.

"When were you planning on telling me?" she asked harshly.

"I wasn't... I'm so sorry, Kim." I answered truthfully.

It was silent for a few minutes before she spoke again. "Do Michael and Angela know about us?"

"They don't know who you are, I just told them I'm dating someone... I didn't go into detail. You can't tell anyone about this, Kim. Please. Especially not Britney and Luciano."

"I won't," she finally looked at me. "But I want you to go. I need some time to process..."

"Okay. Call me if you need anything." I tried kissing her cheek but she moved away.

Sighing, I took my pants from the floor and put them back on.

I grabbed my phone, and leaned on her front door as it closed it behind me. Shit.