The Chronicles Of A Princess: The Childhood Years

Prologue/I'm Building You An Empire

January 20th, 1979

Michael's POV

Tension fills the silent house at Hayvenhurst in Encino, California. The Jacksons are preparing for their tour, and our father/manager Joseph is steadfastly ensuring each brother follows his commands. This is the usual tyranny imposed by our patriarch.

"Twenty minutes, let's go!"

Mother peers into the foyer, concern etched across her face. "Michael, just go and wake Bianca up. You know how he is."

I've been trying to forget about leaving my baby behind. Baby, you ask? Yeah, I'm a teenage father. Bianca turned four years old last month, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a prouder daddy. My little girl brings so much light and joy to my life.

Her mother, on the other hand... that's a whole different story.

I walk up to Bianca's princess-themed room, open the door, and tiptoe over to her bed. "Bianca, time to get up."

She groans and tries to turn over and go back to sleep. "Not today, princess. You know you'll feel really bad if we leave and you don't get to say goodbye."

Her little hands come up to rub her eyes. She knows I'm leaving today, and it breaks my heart to see her so sad. The same sadness I feel being so far away from my baby.

"I don't want you to go," she whines, rubbing her now-red eyes.

I lift her up and cradle her to my chest. "Baby, don't you know? All of those tears will come and go. You just have to make up your mind to let it go," I sing softly as she dries her face. Snuggling her closer, I say, "I know you don't want me to leave, and you know I don't want to leave you either, but it's happening. So let's try to make the best out of the little time we have, okay?"

"Why do you have to leave, Daddy?" she asks innocently.

My whole body sighs as I try to explain. I sit her on her feet in front of me and look into her eyes. "Remember when we talked about less fortunate people?"

She nods while still rubbing her eyes.

I gently pull her hands away. "Bianca, I've never lied to you. I'm trying to build you an empire. I don't ever want you to go without what you need like your aunts, uncles, and I did when we were kids. So do you think you can be a good girl for a little while so Daddy can tour?"

She doesn't seem to fully understand but nods anyway. I pull her in for a hug and kiss her forehead before helping her clean up and get dressed. As we walk out into the hallway, the smell of Mother's pancakes perks both of us up.

"Race you to the kitchen!" she yells, running off, laughing like a loony tune.

I catch up and throw her over my shoulder. "I'm winning!"

"Cheater!" she giggles.

When we reach the kitchen, I sit her down on her chair. Mother shakes her head at us and chuckles. "Enough playing, you two are the only ones who haven't eaten yet. You know how your father hates it when you're late, Michael."

"Yes, Mother," I say, taking my seat and thinking about the torture Joseph is about to put me through.

Not us, as in me and my brothers. Just me. They can hardly wait to get back on tour and perform; I just want to make my own music and get out from under his thumb. I'm twenty, it's time to start making my own decisions about my career and my daughter's upbringing. He got me a long way in this industry, but I think I can handle it from here.

"Michael, get out of your thoughts and spend your last minutes with your daughter," Mother scolds.

"Yeah, Daddy!" Bianca teases, making a face.

I cross my eyes at her, making her giggle uncontrollably.

"Okay, you two, enough! I don't know what I'm going to do with either of you," Mother says with a look of love in her eyes.

Finishing my food, I get up and kiss her cheek. "Thank you, Mother."

Bianca nods with chocolate stuck to the side of her cheek. "Yeah, thank you, Granny!"

I dip my napkin into my glass of water and wipe her face down as she tries in vain to make a getaway.

"You're very welcome, my darlings. Now go on, Michael, Joseph's waiting," she says, scooting us out of the kitchen.

When we get to the foyer, I put my hands behind my back and balance on the balls of my feet. The look on my face lets her know that this is it. She gets quiet, trying to be a big girl and not cry in front of Joseph.

"Come on, boys, we have to get on the road," he commands while leering at both of us.

I kneel down and hug her tightly. "I'll miss you, princess."

"I'll miss you too, Daddy," she whispers through tears.

Joseph's hand grabs my shoulder tightly. "I said come on, boy."

The pressure from his hand on my shoulder hurts, but I'll never show it. Kissing her one last time, I stand up and go out to the limo without a word.