Remember the Time

Chapter 1

July 4th, 1996

Michael was staring earnestly into Mariah's eyes as she glanced around at their family and friends. He had called her father and asked him if it was okay to propose. He wanted to do things the old fashioned way and they had a long conversation about marriage. Her father had given him a lot of insight and he had also talked to his own father. 

Mariah nodded. "Yes, I will marry you Michael Joseph Jackson."

He sprung up and pulled her into a kiss while their guests applauded for them. Jermaine was recording the entire thing so they could relive the moment.

"Just make sure you get down the aisle this time!" Janet teased.

"Please." Marlon added. "I don't want him calling me on the phone hollering about ya'll breaking up."

Mariah laughed. "Not this time. I'm here to stay so get used to me."

Michael put his arm around her, grinning proudly. "I love you."

"I love you too." She stopped to admire the ring. "Why does this look so familiar?"

He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know."

She gasped. "This is not the same ring."

"It's the same ring. I just had another band added to it." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. 

"You're amazing." She sighed dreamily. "Let's go back inside,"

She leaned closer. "The sooner everyone eats and leaves, the sooner I can thank you for this ring."

He chuckled and they all went back into the house. He left Mariah in the kitchen to make herself a plate so he could talk to his mother. She had stayed inside because he didn't want her walking around too much. She had polio as a child and always walked with a limp.

"So she said yes?" She inquired, noticing the grin on his face.

He nodded. "She said yes. Now I know you didn't want me to propose, but Mother I really love her."

His mother shook her head. "I never disliked Mariah. I think she balances you really well, I just don't understand why she did what she did. Well I didn't at first, but I was listening to the radio. You know that Wendy Williams girl? She was saying that the court documents from her divorce got leaked and that the man she was married to did horrible things to her."

Michael's jaw dropped. "The court documents got leaked? When?"

"That had to be last month." Mother said. "You didn't know?"

"Mother, you know I don't listen to the media." He muttered. "So they leaked court documents? This is going to be terrible for her career."

He glanced into the kitchen where Mariah was talking and laughing with his three sisters. The party seemed to be picking up, but his conversation with his mother dampened his spirit.

"How will it hurt her?" She asked.

Michael sighed. "Her ex husband is the head of the record label we're both signed to. If he sees that those documents were leaked, he's going to think somebody in Mariah's camp leaked them. He could sabotage her if he wants to. We're playing with fire."

July 8th, 1996

Mariah and Michael were laying with each other in the after glow of making love. Since she got over her initial fear, she and Michael had been having quite a bit of sex. He was still being gentle and slow, but they were slowly getting more passionate with one another. 

"So do you want to set a date for the wedding now or do you want to wait?" He asked.

She propped herself up on her elbow. "You're going on tour, but your divorce won't be final until next month. We probably can't get married until next year."

"I want to be married by the end of this year. I don't want to wait anymore, I got the dates. I'm sure we can find a day where I'm not performing and use that day." He reached over her head and pulled out a calendar.

Mariah sat up with and put her hair in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. "So your divorce is final in August?"

He nodded. "August 20th, and the tour starts September 7th."

"Right, when do you want to have the wedding? How long do you need to plan?" He asked.

Mariah sighed. "Well we'll need a venue, a dress, you'll need a tux, a cake, plus bridesmaids dress, tuxes for the groomsmen, a flower girl, invitations, we'll have to decorate the venue, photographers,-"

He shook his head. "Alright, we'll need a wedding planner, first and foremost. There's no way I'm letting you do all of that by yourself."

Mariah laughed. "Can we have the wedding in December? That way we'll have at least six months to plan."

He flipped the calendar to December. "I'll be in Asia, Japan most likely. That's an eleven hour flight so we'll need a day where I'll be off the day before and the day after."

Mariah took the calendar from him. "So that means we could get married on the 18th or the 29th. Then you could leave right after the show and get here on time."

"If I leave right after the show. Let's say that's around ten thirty when I leave, it'll be five thirty in the morning here and then it's an eleven hour flight so I'd get here around four in the afternoon California time. Which is eight in the morning Japan time." He explained.

Mariah nodded. "Then we'd have to leave after the reception so that you could be back in time for the show."

"If we leave, let's say around eleven thirty it'll be four thirty in the afternoon in Japan. So when we get there it'll be three in the morning the next day." He explained.

Mariah shrugged. "I can't do with all the converting. My head hurts, math was not my favorite subject in school."

"Oh, I bet Ms. Barely Graduated." He teased.

She pushed him. "Whatever, at least I graduated."

He puffed out his chest. "I don't know what you're talking about. I graduated high school and got a doctorate degree from Fisk University."

Mariah rolled her eyes."Mr. Jackson, you received an honorary doctorate for Humane Letters, which is basically for humanitarian work."

"Aye, I still have one. That's Dr. Jackson to you." He laughed again. "Let's do the logistics of all of this. We need a venue available on either the 18th or the 29th. Do you have an idea of where you want the venue? Like where do you want to be?"

Mariah smiled. "Well, I was thinking we could have it here. We have a really nice space here, and we don't have to book in advance because it's ours."

"That also cuts down on a budget if we do it here." He added, taking out a notebook to write it down.

Mariah observed him carefully. "So, if we do that then we've got a venue."

"Well, we can leave the rest for when we actually have a wedding planner so that we can have someone that's keeping track of everything. I have to ask you something though." He said, taking her hand.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I want to know if you'll sing with me in Brunei. Siedah told me she can't do it, and you're a singer." He nudged her. "So why don't you sing with me?"

Mariah chuckled. "Sure. I'll sing with you, Mike."

Welcome to Remember the Time. Thanks for coming with me on the journey that will take us through History, where a Butterfly will spread her wings and fly to a Rainbow. A Rainbow with Glitter. Do ya'll see what I did there? Yeah I'll see myself out. Oh wait, I can't. There's Blood on the Dance Floor.