Stay the Night

Chapter 26

February 8th, 2003

Mariah was glad to go home. She’d spent the previous day listening in on conference calls between she and Michael's respective teams. Cindy and Louise seemed to take turns arguing with Dieter and Ronald over the best way to handle the situation, while Michael and Mariah sat quietly. The biggest concern seemed to be allegations about Michael's parenting. She didn't know who left the tip to DCFS, but considering that her kids had been taken from her once, she didn't think they'd hesitate to take them again. Michael, on the other hand, seemed apathetic to the entire situation.

Aside from that, she was having trouble with accepting the Arvizos back into her life. Gavin made it very clear that he wanted to go back to Neverland along with them while they were making arrangements to fly back to California, and Michael, disassociating, just seemed to go along with what Gavin wanted.

But no one seemed more pleased about the decision than Janet...that was until she found out that she'd be flying commercial. The woman threw a tantrum until Michael asked Chris Carter fly separately, leaving them with no security. Now, the woman sat and chatted with Michael's doctor while Gavin sat directly across from Michael and Mariah. Nicole, who was always terrified of flying, sat curled up in Michael's lap playing with her tamagotchi and occasionally stopping to show Michael her chicken.

Mariah rested her head on Michael's shoulder and he grinned at her.

“You tired?” He asked.

Mariah smirked. “That's the first time I've seen you smile since I've been here.”

He shrugged. “I'm just happy to be going home.”

“I am too. Louise is-”

“Michael, can I see your watch?” Gavin interrupted.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows. “Uh, sure. Why not?”

Mariah bit her lip as she watched Michael hand over the watch without a second thought.

Gavin's eyes widened as he marveled at it. “Wow, this must be really expensive.”

“Yeah.” Michael agreed absently.

“Something like $75,000?” Gavin continued.

Mariah frowned. What is this kid getting at?

Michael shrugged. “Could be.”

This seemed to placate the boy, who fiddled with the watch while Michael and Mariah talked about their plans once they got home

Mariah reached over and tugged Nicole's pigtail. “You're such a scaredy cat.”

Nicole pouted. “Stop it, Mommy.”

Michael snickered. “Leave my baby alone.”

“Whatever.” Mariah giggled. “She can't be a bully and-”

“Daddy-” Gavin started.

Mariah narrowed her eyes--her skin crawling. Of all the Arvizos’ odd behaviors, calling Michael 'daddy’ bothered her the most. It was almost as if they were initiating him into some type of cult.

“He’s not your daddy.” Nicole snapped, looking up from her toy.

He sure ain't.

Instead of responding to Nicole, Gavin focused his attention on Michael. The boy seemed to stare right into Michael's eyes until the man looked away, clearly uncomfortable. Mariah rested her hand on Michael's arm in a feeble attempt to calm his unease.

“Uh, I'm everyone's daddy.” Michael said to Nicole, glancing at Gavin.

Nicole looked up at her father in surprise. “Like Jehovah?”