More Than Friends

Paternity Court

Barri's POV
It was an ordinary day in June. We were about to leave the concert when we bumped into Tatiana. "Oh hey Michael. I didn't expect to run into you here." Michael rolled his eyes. "This is my tour. Who did you think would perform at my tour?" "Listen, can I talk to you?" "Only if Barri is going to be there. You broke all trust between us." "Fine. Let her hear. You're not the father of Isabella." My mouth dropped in shock. "You got some nerve!" "Why are you so hostile? Probably because you know Michael isn't the father." "You really want to see this relationship fall apart, don't you?" "That's right!" "Well it's not, but your face is, when I get through beating it!" I lunged forward. Michael gently grabbed me. "You know what we were just leaving. You should too." Michael started to walk away. "Baby, Isabella's mine isn't she?" "Absolutely." "Michael, the fact that you questioned her means that you have some type of doubt and that means you should go to Paternity court." "Don't listen to her honey. I love you. I could never cheat on you." "Listen, Baby, I believe you, but." I rolled my eyes. "Let's go to a paternity court and prove to Tatiana that I'm the father." "Fine." So we ended up in a paternity court. "Okay Mr. Jackson, at your request there are no cameras." "Thank you, your honor." "So Mr. Jackson you were certain that you were the father of Isabella, but now you're not so sure." "Yes your honor." "Okay, now Mrs. Jackson you are the wife of Mr. Jackson." "Yes your honor." "You say that you are 100% certain that Mr. Jackson is the father and the results will prove that today. Is that correct?" "Yes your honor." "I have to ask you respectfully, were you intimate with any other man besides Mr. Jackson around the window of conception?" "No your honor." "So there are no other men who could be the father." "No your honor." "Actually your honor there was a doctor." "What doctor?" "The one that treated your brother." "Your honor I met that doctor in March of 1985. That is nowhere near the conception of Isabella." "Tell me about this Doctor." "My brother's surprise for me was to see my parents. I did not want to see them. So my Brother and I went to a hotel. That's when my brother got shot and rushed to the hospital. The doctor treated my brother. At the time doctor would give me a ride to the hotel and to the hospital. He never came inside the hotel. So I made it back to LA. I ran in to the doctor, who lied to Mr. Jackson who, was my boyfriend at the time. He lied to him talking about I cheated on Mr.Jackson with him, but I did not. Nothing happened between me and the doctor. That's the last time I saw him. Before Mr. Jackson can volunteer more people, there was a psychologist. We used to go to school together. He was always asking me out and I was always saying no. So we ran into him because he was a psychologist. Long story short he tried to rape me. Now keep in mind that this was in 1984 long before Isabella was conceived. We bumped into him in August of 1984. He lied to Mr. Jackson saying I was cheating on him, but I wasn't. I never saw him after that." "What about that dude?" "What dude?" "The one who you said Murdered your Grandma." "First of all, we weren't even together at that moment, so what's it to you." "Tell me about that guy." "Well Mr. Jackson was talking about old ladies. That made me upset since I lost my grandmother. I threw the engagement ring at him. I ran out. This guy approached me and pretended to be nice to me. He told me that he was taking me to Dinner. Instead he took me to his house and held me at gun point. Michael saved me and I never saw that guy again. This was several months before Isabella was conceived. Why do you insist on making me look bad? I thought we were on the same side." "You're right. I'm sorry baby. I know I'm the father." I just stared at him. My face showed no emotion. "Listen I can understand why Dr. Jones and Braydon wanted you. I mean look at you. I've always told you you're drop dead gorgeous." I smiled at Michael. "I thought I told you that you were drop dead gorgeous." "No I'm pretty sure I told you you were gorgeous." "Well you're drop dead gorgeous." We both said that at the same time. We laughed. "I love you baby." "I love you too honey." Michael walked over to me and held my hand. "Whatever the results are, I'm going to be by your side." I smiled. "You know I have never seen this much love in my courtroom. So take me back to the day you met Mr. Jackson." "We actually met in kindergarten and we became best friends. Then he stop going to school so he could sing with his brothers. I got to see him at one of his shows. In December of 1983, I walked out my house to get some fresh air and he tapped my shoulder. So we started hanging out and then I had a bad car accident and I flatlined. That's when we became boyfriend and girlfriend." "You all get married right." "Yes your honor." "Eventually you became pregnant." "Yes your honor." "Take me back to the day that you found out you were pregnant." "Well I noticed that I was eating weird food combinations, and I was very emotional and I hated the foods that I once loved, but I tried to ignore all of that stuff. So after a few weeks I decided to take some pregnancy tests. Mr. Jackson was sitting right next to me when we looked at the test and they all turned out positive." "How did Mr. Jackson react?" "He was ecstatic." "So why did you try to ignore 'the stuff' " A tear fell down my face. "Your honor, his father is crazy. He didn't even want us to be together, so I just knew that his father would try to kill the baby or something. So I just tried to pretend that I wasn't having the symptoms of a pregnant woman." "Mr. Jackson were you there for the birth?" "Yes your honor and every appointment before that." "Are you currently in Isabella's life?" "Yes your honor. I do everything for her. The clothes she's wearing, I bought them. I do everything for her. I love her." "Did you sign the birth certificate." "Yes your honor." "You do understand that whether or not this is your biological child, you are still legally responsible for this child." "Yes your honor" "And so it is your hope that the results show that you are the father?" "Yes your honor." "Do you have any other reason to doubt the paternity of this beautiful, little girl?" "Well, Isabella's birthday is August 29th. I thought she was conceived somewhere around the 24th of December, but that's only 8 months. It takes 9 months for a baby to be born. We weren't intimate before December 24th." "Your honor she was born early." "Were you intimate with anyone before December?" "No your honor." "Mr. Jackson do you have any other reason to doubt the paternity of this child?" "Actually your honor I'm here today because Mrs. Thumbtzen told me that I wasn't the father." "I would like to hear from her. Stand up." Tatiana stood up. "What do you know about the paternity of Isabella?" "Your honor, Mrs. Jackson is promiscuous. I've seen her with so many men. She's always bragging to me about all the men she could get." "That's a lie your honor. I have not been with anybody else. I don't even talk to Ms. Thumbtzen. So I wouldn't have told her anything." "So you're lying now? Your in court. You might as well tell the truth." "You're the one that's the liar!" "Let's get some order. Mrs. Jackson why would Mrs. Thumbtzen lie on you." "She wants me and Mr. Jackson to split up so she can get him, but he don't like her so they're never going to be together anyways." "That is a lie." "That's why you got fired!" "Let's get some order." A tear slip down my face. "Mrs. Jackson I can see the tears in your eyes. What are you feeling this moment." "I'm hurt. I don't want Mr. Jackson to believe Mrs. Thumbtzen. I love him and I wouldn't do anything to hurt him and I want to be with him forever." "You do understand that once somebody tells a man that he might not be the father of a child, that's what he is going to believe until he gets proven otherwise." "Yes your honor." I looked at Michael. He was crying. "Mr. Jackson what are you feeling in this moment." "I love Mrs. Jackson and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm just ashamed that I even believed Ms. Thumbtzen." "No. You decided to get some answers instead of abandoning this child. That's admirable. I see you looking at your daughter. Do you see some resemblance to yourself." "Yes your honor." "Have you prepared yourself for if this is not your child." "No your honor that's to painful to think about." "Mrs. Jackson is there anything that you want to say? Are you sure that you weren't with anyone else. " "I'm positive." "Okay I'm ready for the results." The judge got the results in her hand. "These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of Jackson vs. Jackson, when it comes to 10 month old Isabella Alina Katherine Jackson, it has been determined by this court, Mr. Jackson you are the father." A smile came over Michael and my face. "Mrs. Jackson you also submitted to a lie detector test. I'm going to read those results now. Mrs. Jackson you were asked if you ever cheated on Mr. Jackson. You said no. The lie detector test determined you were being truthful." Michael came over and hugged you. "I'm sorry." "Ms. Thumbtzen it is more than evident that you were in here lying. I want you to leave this beautiful couple alone. Court is adjourned." We all left out of the court. I told you that you couldn't ruin this relationship." "Shut up! You'll see." She stormed off. A month passed. So it was July. We were at the concert. As we were leaving, a lady approached Michael. "Michael?" "Hey are you a fan? Do you want an autograph?" "Michael it is so good to see you again." "Do I know you?" "Well this is your son." She held out her baby boy. "I think you're confused." "You mean you don't remember me?" "No I do not." "Well I think you should pay child support." "Again I think you are confused." "I will see you in court." I was holding back tears. I looked at Michael. "What is she talking about?" "Baby, I have no idea and I'm going to prove that in court." "If that's you're son, we're over and I'm taking my child with me." I didn't say anything to him for the rest of night. I wanted to.
Michael's POV
I showed up in court again. "Okay Mr. Jackson, there are no cameras at your request." "Thank you your honor." "Mr. Jackson you were here before with your wife, who I see is standing next to you." "Yes your honor." "You said that you know that you are not the father of this lady's baby because you don't even know her." "Yes your honor." "What do you mean you don't know her? Tell me more about that." "Yes your honor, yesterday was my first time ever meeting her. I never saw her in my life until yesterday, when she came to me saying that I was the father of her son." "Okay. You said that you have a lot to lose." "Yes, your honor. My wife said that if this was my son. She is leaving me and taking our daughter with her. That won't happened because he is not my son. I don't want that to happen because I don't want my family to be homeless. She is four months pregnant." "I understand. So Miss Brown, you say you are 100% certain that Mr. Jackson is the father of your child and once the results show that he is the father, you want him to pay child support." "Yes your honor." "How did you meet Mr. Jackson?" "Well one day he was at a bar. He was drunk and he was crying and talking about how lonely he was. He asked me to come home with him. I did and I ended up in his bed and shortly there after I found out that I was pregnant. That's the last time I saw him until yesterday and he never told me about his wife who was probably pregnant at the time." "So like a 1 night stand?" "Yes your honor." "Mr. Jackson Miss Brown didn't tell you about being pregnant, you didn't sign the birth certificate, you weren't there for the birth, or none of that,right?" "No your honor. I told you that I've never seen her before in my life until yesterday." "Probably because you were so drunk, you don't remember and I wouldn't be able to tell you about nothing since no one can get in contact with you." "Your honor I don't even drink. Why would I be at a bar? I'm with my wife all the time. Did I ever sound or look drunk to you?" "No." "Okay Mrs. Jackson what do you have to say about this? Has he ever left you and gone out into the night?" "No your honor and I'm with him all the time." "When did this 1 night stand happen?" "The last week in July last year." I looked at Barri and tears were falling down her face." "Are you okay Mrs. Jackson?" "It's just that I wasn't with him that week." "I know it's tough, but we're here for the truth." I turned to Barri. I gently grabbed her face. She refused to make eye contact with me. "Baby, I'm not the father." She turned her head from me. "Why do you claim you're not the father. You are the father. And you over there are to stupid to realise that your man don't want you no more!" "Excuse me! Who do you think you are!" "I'm the one who knows how to keep her man!" "Says the one who had a one night stand!" "Excuse me order in the court! Okay Miss Brown you have a witness." "Yes your honor." "Stand up and state your name for the record." "Tatiana Thumbtzen." I rolled my eyes and looked at Barri who rolled her eyes also. She stood back up and dried her eyes. Now everything was making sense. "And what is your relation to Miss Brown?" "I'm her best friend." "Right okay. So what do you have to say about Mr. Jackson being the father?" "So I went to the bar with Miss Brown and I saw her sit next to Michael, who was crying. When I was ready to go, I was looking for Miss Brown and she was nowhere to be found and I noticed Michael was gone too. About three or four weeks later she told me that she was pregnant." "So you didn't think to tell your best friend that Michael was married?" "I thought that he would tell her, I didn't think that it would go that far." "Neither one of you thought to tell Mr. Jackson that he had a baby on the way?" "I thought that Miss Brown was going to tell him." "I couldn't get in contact with him." "You couldn't ask
Miss Thumbtzen for his number?" "At the time I was instructed to not give Michael's number away." Barri rolled her eyes and mubbled under her breath. "Speak up. Are you scared?" "Who's scared?!" "If you're not scared then say what you just said to my face." "I said, like you care about following directions!" "Order in the court." "What do you mean she doesn't follow directions?" "That's why she got fired because she doesn't follow directions, she kissed Michael before that she tried to rape him." "Your honor I got fired because I think Michael knew that I would eventually tell the truth." "That is not why you got fired. Since when do you tell the truth?" "All the time." "You've been lying this whole time!" "You said you weren't around Michael right. So what would you know about the situation? Nothing, exactly." "Order in the court." "Mrs. Jackson is there something you would know if you weren't there?" "Your honor, my husband called me every night that week and he never sounded drunk." "Now Mr. Jackson you have another witness." "Yes your honor." "Stand up and state your name for the record." He stated his name. "I am apart of his security." "So you're around him all the time then." "Yes your honor." "Did you ever go to a bar with Mr. Jackson?" "No your honor, Michael wouldn't go to a bar, he doesn't drink." "Was there anytime where Michael slipped away from you?" "No your honor." "Okay Miss Brown and Miss Thumbtzen he said Mr. Jackson wasn't at the bar." "Well, um." "I told you she lies all the time." "No one was talking to you!" "But I answered!" "Order in the court." "Now Miss brown, you have one more witness." "Yes your honor." "State your name for the record." "Ola Ray." Barri looked away. She tap her fingers on the podium. "Mrs. Jackson I can tell that you just became uncomfortable." "Yes your honor." "Why?" "I don't want to talk about it. Can we get back to the case?" "In this court there are a lot of things that people don't want to talk about, but they all had to talk about it. So tell me what's going on between you and Miss Ray." Barri sighed."Your honor, December 21 1983, I was at the Jacksons' house with Michael and Miss Ray showed up and we got in an altercation, a fight. Michael talked to her and ended up slapping her. He said he did it for me because she was about to call me a name. So his father beat him and I felt so bad for him. Then Michael told me he'd take a thousand more for me. I love you honey." "I love you too baby." Barri smiled at me. Then I looked at the other three women who were all making faces like they were disgusted with something. "So anyways, we thought she left. Eventually I left to go to my house and Miss. Ray drove into me and I almost died. After that she tried to Rape Michael. Maybe about a year and a half later when I was lost in this wood or forest like area her two friends took me to this place and there was Miss Ray. She beat me up, only because I had not eaten in a few weeks before she beat me up. Trust me, if I wasn't that weak that day I would have never let you beat me. Anyways, she dragged me back into the woods." "Your honor I could never do those things. Not little sweet me." "Ola she almost died. She literally flat lined all because you were jealous of her." "Jealous of her? She doesn't have anything and never will." "She has me." "Are you implying that I want you." "Yes." "Your honor that is what this whole thing is about." "That is not true. Don't think you can talk your way out of being the father, but Michael you were mines first. Don't you remember all the times we had together." "How many times do I have to go over this? When did I say I was your man?" Silence was all that came from Ola. "Exactly." "Who was talking to you?" "Again I answered. What are you going to do about it?" "Your honor, they are both lying. They have been lying in court all day." "You're the liar." "Your Grandma. That's right I mentioned your grandmother, Come at me!" Tears fell down Barri's face. "That's it! Move out of my way!" Barri started moving toward Miss Brown. I grabbed Barri. "Hey, calm down." I decided to sing softly. All the while the judge was shouting order in the court and banging her gravel and the bailiff started coming over. "I'll be there. I'll be there. Just call my name and I'll be there." She finally sat down. "Will you?" "Yes. I've always have and I always will." "I have had enough! This is not the place to be fighting! You are pregnant Mrs. Jackson for crying out loud! You better be glad there are no cameras here recording you acting a fool! There is a beautiful baby boy, who deserves to know who his father is and you all are over here arguing over this young man! Now Mrs. Jackson from what I have heard both you and your husband had a terrible life and I know it's tough. Now I have the results right here and we're going to get to the truth. Before I go to the results, Miss Brown did you have intercourse with anyone else." "No your honor." " These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of Jackson vs. Brown, when it comes to 3 month old Jerome Brown, it has been determined by this court Mr. Jackson you are not the father." Barri got up and hugged me. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you honey." "I know baby." I hugged her back and kissed her cheek. I looked at Miss Brown she was crying. "Your honor, can I tell you the truth?" "Let's here it." "I made up the whole story. It never happened. Tatiana put me up to this because she doesn't want Michael and Barri together." "Why would you say that? I was this close to getting Michael and Barri seperated. Then Michael and I would have become a couple." "You, Tatiana, you promised I would become a couple with Michael if I did this!" "Excuse me! I just got through talking about you fighting over this man and to be honest I'm glad he is not with neither of you. Now, Mrs. Brown, do you have any Idea who the father could be?" "Yes your honor. It's my fiancé, he is the only one I slept with." "Does your fiancé know you're in court?" "Yes your honor. Tatiana told him everything." "And he was okay with this foolishness?" "I don't know if he's okay with it, but he said that he could see why someone would want to be with Michael." "You go and make a good home for this baby. Okay? No child should be involved in a scheme trying to separate this two lovely people for no other reason than your best friends want him. Okay? So you need to start being the good mother I know you are." "Yes your honor." "Court is adjourned." We went back to the suite as if it today never happened.

------------------------------------------------------ Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more updates and as always HEAL THE WORLD.