Spotlight || MJ/Prince

Spotlight || Chapter 15

1996

Angela "Angie" Powell

"Daddy!" Once Jamie noticed Michael, my daughter squealed out loud as usual. Michael already knelt down to hug her as if we hadn't seen each other in months. As if he actually wanted to care about my current situation. We still knew the truth.

On purpose, I raised this child alone, but another man, Skip, damn-near took on the father-figure role that Mike had nearly abandoned. Yet, right now, I wouldn't fuss in public. There was no other choice, especially not with others here on set.

"Hi, Sweetheart. How are you?" Michael conjured his light and gentle voice. I wasn't bitter, but at least he knew better than to act up in front of my daughter. We'd only spoken on the phone and I planned this time. Crew members swooned nearby.

"I'm good, Daddy. Why are you all wet?" Jamie giggiled adorably. We visited Mike on the set of his project for "Stranger In Moscow." His director used the blue-screen method and doused water around. Michael's black clothes drenched.

"I'm working, Sweetie. I'm playing in the rain now." Even as Michael used his dampened hands to pick Jamie up and carried her around on his hip, I didn't care. She would definitely need to have bath time before bed this evening anyway.

"Mommy said that rain makes her sad. I don't like the rain either, Daddy." Jamie started pouting and Michael joined her expression. These two both glared towards me without a second thought, but I wouldn't say anything. At least not yet.

Little did Michael know that today marked the anniversary of my mother's death. The week of her funeral in '85, it rained, even as we lowered her closed casket into the ground. When I woke up this morning, I didn't want to visit Michael altogether.

Instead, I put on my brave Powell face and wiped away tears for my daughter. Momma would've wanted me to pull myself together. Us Powells had done the same ever since Dad left for Vietnam in 1968. Today, even Skipper called me with kind words before I left the house with Jamie, making sure that I could even function.

"Grandma went to heaven." Jamie told me from her carseat before we visited Michael. Her voice now whispered, trying to ease whatever sadness wanted to bother me again. Momma would've spoiled her rotten, but still taught wisdom.

'Daddy, we gotta go home. Mommy's sad again." Now, my daughter used her growing mind to figure out that her own mother wasn't happy anymore. Michael nodded in return, trading spots so that I could hold my daughter once again.

"Okay, Baby Girl. See you later." Michael reached out and kissed Jamie's cheek. Jackson and I traded looks, but I still wasn't brave enough to explain what happened to my mother. We hadn't even talked about that moment in time in '85, which actually said a lot about my relationships between him and Skipper.

"Bye, Daddy." Jamie waved to Michael over my shoulder. Jackson then waved back. In the parking lot, it wasn't long before i wanted to cry and Jamie reached out to hold my cheek not long after I buckled her carseat. Again, it started to rain here.

"Mommy, you'll be okay." My baby reached out to kiss my cheek. I blushed, tickling her to make us both laugh. I needed good events today. Something. Anything. This little princess once again helped me feel better. There was no better time than now.

_____

"Mommy, look! Paisley's on TV again." Jamie beamed, pointing towards the television as she recognized her "best friend" during an Oprah interview. For once, it wasn't long before I smiled for the first time that week, hoping to stash my pain.

"Yay!" We both smiled, waving towards the television screen as if Skip could hear us. Jamie still said hello, praying to see her best friend and dancing between segments. At the sound of his voice though, my daughter muted, just hypnotized.