Return III

Chapter 1

Natalie's POV

"You ready?" Mom asks and I nod nervously. I draw in a deep breath and exhale it a little melodramatically. "I still don't know how I'm actually letting you do this." she adds and I smile. I place my hand on her forearm and she looks down at me apprehensively.

"Don't think about your father right now, alright? It'll only make this harder for you." Mom orders. I give her a reassuring nod. She gives me a gentle shove through the door.

I look around the brightly lit room and squint at the brightness. I have never been interviewed for anything before, and I have never been the center of attention; especially when there's cameras involved. 

All of the camera men and women greet me warmly, jutting their hands out for a shake. I move to reach for them, but lower it when the woman behind the main camera, the one who will be interviewing me, I assume, tells them to relax so that I don't get overwhelmed.

"Have a seat right there, sweetheart." the woman points at a blue chair, the ones celebrities usually sit in, across from her and I sit. She introduces herself as Jennifer, and I sigh at the amount of cameras pointed at me. The smile never leaves her face, making it hard for me to make eye contact for a long amount of time. I try to be kind, though, and smile back when I feel comfortable. 

"Rock With You" plays softly in the background, making me relax a little more. Michael's — my dad's -- music has always been able to do that for me.

"So, you are miss Natalie." the woman says and I smile and nod. 

"Yes ma'am, I am." I say, giggling at my mistaken rhyming.

"I see your foot tapping, I assume you like this song a lot?" the interview woman asks and my smile grows. I nod once again and try to control the tapping of my foot, but it's nearly impossible.

"It's one of my all time favorites." I admit and everyone in the room smiles. I turn my head to look at my mom, and my heart drops when I see Blanket standing next to her in the door way. He smiles and waves at me, and I immediately turn back to face Jennifer.

"So, Nat, may I call you that?" Jennifer asks and I nod.

"You can call me whatever." I say and she nods. She crosses one leg over the other, and I wonder how uncomfortable that position is, given the little amount of space she is granted in the chair she is sitting in.

"How old are you?"

"I'll be fifteen in February."

"Wait, isn't that when Blanket's—"

"Yeah," I interrupt, biting my lip when Jennifer's face switches expressions the moment I speak over her. "we're twins."

"Twins? Wow! That is really something!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. He's like my best friend." I turn to look at my brother in the door way, and he is smiling wide. My mom rests her hand on his shoulder and he looks up at her. I turn back to Jennifer when she begins speaking once again.

"So you are the fourth mystery child of The Michael Jackson and  his youngest son's twin, wow." Jennifer begins and I nod, my heart dropping to my stomach. I want to do everything I can to make this interview go as smoothly as possible.

"I'm honestly still a little surprised myself." I admit and Jennifer chuckles, then nods.

"Well, I would assume! This is a very big deal! We got two huge stories coming in at the exact same time: Michael Jackson is alive and he has another child unbeknownst to the world."