"Did I make you sad yesterday?" Eissa asked his mother as she dressed him for the day. The family had one more day before they arrived in Indiana. Mama K and the rest of the family are already in Indiana, staying at a hotel, waiting for them to arrive.
"When did you make me sad yesterday?"
"When I asked about my sister."
"Oh baby, that wasn't yesterday, that was the other day. Why do you think that you made me sad?" She questioned as she put on his pants.
"Cause... you looked sad." Janet thought that she did a good job of hiding her emotions but Eissa saw everything. "I won't say anything about her again momma. I didn't want to make you sad and mad at me."
"No it's okay baby, you can talk about your sister all you want. I'm not mad at you it's just that I miss her very much, but it's good that you saw her."
"No, I don't want to." He whined. "You're sad again." Janet shook her head and it was at that moment that she felt the tears trickling down her face. She wiped her tears and sighed.
"It's not really sad tears..." Janet hugged Eissa and kissed his cheek. He hugged his mother back with a smile. "You didn't make me sad baby, you can never make me sad."
***
August 29
The family arrived at one of the docking stations in Gary at the pier. It was one that Joseph used to fish at all the time. The children were excited to visit Gary since they had never been before. Toni grabbed Janet's hand as they walked to the car where Joey was waiting for them.
"Are you excited to be here?"
"A little bit, it just brings back so many memories... good and bad." The seven of them loaded into the car and the first destination was to Janet's childhood home. Katherine and the rest of the family were already at the home.
"Momma you lived here?" Desiree asked and Janet nodded.
"Yeah."
"All of you guys? It's small."
"Yes it is small but we made it work." They got out of the car and headed inside. Surprisingly there weren't any fans outside nor paparazzi.
"Hi, Mama!" Janet gushed as she saw her mother. Katherine smiled and hugged her daughter.
"Hi baby, I missed you so much."
"I missed you so much too Mama."
"Awww." Stevanna said. Out of her siblings, only she and Autumn came to visit. Genevieve had given birth a few weeks ago so she stayed back in LA.
"Girl bye." The family took turns handing out hugs before exploring the house. Of course, the first thing they did was look at pictures.
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"Is that me?!" Yashi exclaimed and Janet shook her head.
"No that's Stacee and Taj, right Mama?"
"Yeah, and that's my father, Prince Albert Scruse."
"Ohh that's where the name Prince comes from?"
"Yup, that's how you two got y'all first name."
"Ohh look at this one. You guys were so little." Katherine gushed over her children and grandchildren. The picture showed Stacee, Katherine, Rebbie, Latoya, and a very young Janet.
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"Is that me or Gen in the picture?" Autumn asked her father Jermaine.
"I don't even know. The three of you had beer bellies." After looking at a few more pictures, Mama K searched for a VHS tape. She found the tape and got excited.
"Yes! I knew it was here because it wasn't at the ranch."
"What tape is that?"
"Most of us seen it already but it's MJ's private home videos from 2003."
"Ohh I never seen that. Is that the video where he said he loved to tour?"
"Yup, there's a few other famous clips in there." The family crowded the couch along with the floor and watched the VHS tape. There were a lot of mixed emotions throughout the room while the family watched the tape. They all miss him very much. A clip of Michael and Katherine played on the screen and she had to excuse herself from the living room. She walked to the room that Michael and his brothers used to sleep in.
"I'm going to go check on Mama." Latoya whispered to her sisters before getting up. She followed behind her mother and saw her sitting on the bed holding one of Michael's old stuffed toys. "Mama, are you okay?"
"I'm fine Latoya, go back out there." Her mother's soft voice spoke and she shook her head. Latoya sat down next to her mother and looked at her.
"No, you're not. You didn't have to play the tape if you knew that you weren't ready to watch it. I know you miss him, we all do Mama." She hugged her mother tight and Katherine did the same to her daughter.
***
The family was at this diner called Johnny Rockets. It's a 50's diner that Michael loved to eat at. Katherine is good friends with the owner so she made him close the diner so they could eat without the fans bothering them.
"What is that mommy?" Eissa asked as she pointed to a jukebox in the corner of the diner.
"It's a boombox." Desiree answered and Toni laughed while shaking her head.
"It's a jukebox. It plays songs and to get it to work you have to put a quarter in it and pick a song."
"Oh, do you have a quarter please?"
"Yes, I do, what song are you going to play?"
"Umm, your song."
"I don't think they'll have my songs on there. Let's go see." The two of them got out of the booth and walked toward the jukebox.
"Woah it's so cool Mommy."
"It is baby. Whose name do you see on there?"
"Uhhh..." Eissa spoke as he looked at the names. "Uncle Mike!"
"Good job baby. Now after you put the quarter in, you press the number, like a vending machine."
"M29."
"Mmhmm, so put the quarter in and then press M29." He nodded and followed his mother's instructions. Soon Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough played throughout the diner. The family got up and began dancing to the song.
