The Caged Passion ( A Michael Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter XXXII

Friday December 25, 2009

7:15AM

Michael

I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. Christmas morning was quiet here at Havenhurst since my parents were not celebrating. My brothers were each probably home with their own separate families celebrating. I wished I was at that place in my life already with a home of my own and a family to celebrate Christmas with if I so chose to.

I did manage to take a look at the ranch that I had been interested in this week. I'd been there before, but I just had to see it again to make sure it really felt right and it did. The only thing really keeping me from rushing to purchase was my dear mother. She loved having me close, and I loved being close to her, but I'm thirty years old now. I decided that I'd announce it to everyone after the New Year began as a kind of new beginning for me.

"Hello?"

"Thrillerboy... what have you done..."

I chuckled at Vivian's unamused tone. "What?" I asked innocently. I assumed that she had received the presents I had sent for her and her children. I didn't overdo it, I didn't want to create suspicions with her mother, but I did send her a nice necklace, her daughter Ava a really neat dollhouse, and a remote control helicopter for her son Aden.

"How am I going to explain this ginormous package...?" she trailed off and I could hear her moving around. I imagined her trying to move it into the house. I'm sure they packed it into a really large box to keep the delicate dollhouse from being damaged in the shipment.

"Say Santa brought it." I giggled.

"I don't believe in bullshitting my kids like that. They know the truth. There is no Santa Clause."

"What?! There's no Santa Clause?!" I pretended to be genuinely heartbroken. "Yes there is!"

"Oh that's right, you saw your momma kissing him."

Silence. It took me a minute and then I remembered singing that song as a child. I laughed.

"Girl..."

She snickered.

"You really never let them believe?" I asked again.

"No! Because I didn't want to be the one to have to break it to them that he's not real and watch them be heartbroken over it. Did you ever believe?" she asked.

"No, I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. We didn't believe in Christmas at all. But watching the joy that Santa brings children, there were times when I wished that I had gotten that chance to believe in him." I admitted trying not to let the sadness creep into my voice.

"I believed in him and that fucker disappointed me every year by missing things on my Christmas list. Then when I found out he wasn't real, I felt terrible about my expensive lists that my mother was breaking her back trying to fulfil."

"Yeah...well, when you put it that way... I see. But hey, I could have done a lot worse! I really held back." I chuckled. I could hear her ripping into the box and gasped a little.

"They're already wrapped!" she said in surprise.

"Yeah, so just take them out of that box and put them under the tree. You can say they came from you." I said.

"Thanks, Michael... Twas awfully sweet of you."

"You're welcome, Viv. You sound better, are you feeling better?" I finally found it in me to roll out of bed and walk to my closet to find something decent to wear. I'm sure it was only a matter of time before Janet came over and found a way to bring Arilynn and I together on Christmas day.