Remember the Time

Chapter 12

December 17th, 1996

After giving a concert and catching a flight back to the US, Michael was exhausted to say the least. He had slept on the plane, and he was still dozing off in the car, though Marlon would tap him every now and then to keep him awake.

They were having a family dinner that night and the wedding would be tomorrow afternoon. Then he'd have to fly back to Japan and sleep for the day until his show that night. However, he'd then have Mariah with him and they could begin working on starting their family.

Michael found himself being shaken so he pushed Marlon's hand away. He tried to shake him again, but Michael wouldn't budge. 

A few minutes later, he felt lips against his ear. "Baby? You're home."

He cracked open his eyes to Mariah leaning over him. "Welcome back."

He sat up and threw his arms around her, giving her kiss. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you more. I can't wait until all of this is over so we can just be together." She said, resting her chin on his shoulder. 

"Tomorrow." He said. "Tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of our lives."

She sat up and looked him in the eyes. "I know, and I can't wait to be your wife."

Michael stretched. "Guess we should be heading inside. This is our last night of us not being married."

December 18th, 1996

Latoya, Stacee, Rebbie, Alejandra, Carol, Shawntae, and Rachel were all getting ready, putting on their bridesmaids dresses. Stevanna, Randy's daughter with his wife Eliza, was Mariah's flower girl and she was sitting with Rebbie as she was explaining to her for the last time what she was supposed to do. Alejandra seemed to have a bit of an attitude when Mariah had picked Stevanna over her daughter with Randy, Genevieve, but Mariah didn't care. She had never particularly liked Alejandra.

Mariah was shuffling around in the bedroom, getting prepared to get married and commit herself to Michael. She was finding it hard to focus on one thing and her mind was all over the place. Her nerves were terrible and now she had a problem.   

"Toya where are my earrings?" She asked, looking through her jewelry box.

Latoya, helping Stacee into her bridesmaids dress, shook her head. "I have no clue."

Mariah sighed. "Janet!"

She waited a few seconds and Janet hurried into the room, still not dressed. "What's up?"

"I can't find my earrings, have you seen them?" Mariah asked, growing agitated.

Janet started laughing and Mariah was put off. "Not funny Janet. I'm serious."

"Mariah, what's in your ear?" Janet asked.

Mariah's hand slowly traveled up and sure enough, the earrings were in her ear. Feeling embarrassed, she sat down in the chair near the mirror and huffed.

"Calm down Mimi. In less than an hour, none of this will even matter okay?" Janet said.

Mariah nodded. "I'm just feeling all these different emotions and... are we ready for this?"

"A little late for that, don't ya think?" Latoya inquired.

Janet rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Toya. Anyway, Mariah's that just your nerves getting to you. Everything is going to be fine."

Mariah glanced into the mirror, admiring the work of the makeup artist she had hired. This moment felt different than the moments before her wedding to Tommy. Though she was nervous, it wasn't the same sense of foreboding that she had felt when she was getting ready for that wedding.