i can't help it (mj fanfiction)

Chapter 69: Trial

Day 1 of the Trial

Penny-

Michael adjusted his suit while the wooden chair creaked beneath him as he sat down. The judge coughed and whispers were heard behind me. I sat next to Katherine, holding her hand while my other rested beneath my stomach. All I could focus on now was Michael. Not the chaos that surrounded us outside the court. Only Michael.

"State your name and spell your last name." The lawyer spoke.

"Michael Joseph Jackson. J-A-C-K-S-O-N" Michael said.

"Date of birth."

"August 29th, 1958."

The lawyer coughed and rustled around his papers. The large room was clean and polished. All of the furniture a shiny dark oak wood. The silence was so thick that the smallest tap of the foot could be the only sound in the room.

I looked to my right to see a woman in the corner of the room sketching out the moments of Michael answering the questions and taking oaths. To my left were more lawyers and important people with papers and information surrounding them. Behind me and to my left were family members of the Chandlers. And across the aisle that separated the Jackson party from the Chandler party was Jordie. The boy that was the center of the attention today.

An innocent kind boy who had been taken advantage of by his father and would suffer the consequences he didn't deserve. I felt bad for him. But I despised the father. He could burn in hell for what he did to my family. A horrid, lying, jealous, greedy man.

"Have you ever abused, fondled, or had an inappropriate and illegal relationship with a person under the age of 18?"

"Absolutely not." Michael said with conviction. His eyes hid the hurt inside his mind.

"Has the idea of having an inappropriate relationship with an under-age person ever crossed your mind?"

"No. Not ever." He furrowed his eyebrows.

Most of the questions that followed these were like "Do you know who Jordan Chandler is?" "When did you meet him?" "How would you describe your relationship with him?" But then is was time to talk about our relationship.

"What is your sexuality?"

"I'm heterosexual."

"Alright... and when did you meet Penny Scorsese Jackson?"

"Umm..." He rubbed his bottom lip. "I would guess around 76... yeah 1976." 

"How did your relationship begin?"

"We first started dating soon after we became friends." He blinked.

People wrote things down around us and shuffled in their seats.

"Was there ever a time when you two weren't dating?" 

A woman in front of me spoke "Objection your honor, irrelevant question."

The judge pounded her gavel. "Overruled."

Michael smirked at how quickly things happened in the court room. "Yes. We ended our relationship in the late 70s when she went to college."

"How long was it until your relationship began again?"

"Erm... I would say it wasn't until 89 that we officially started dating." Michael blushed. "But we had been talking a bit while she was married to her now ex husband." He scrunched his face, almost cringing that I cheated on my husband for him.

"When did you get married to Penny Scorsese Jackson?"

"1992."

"Do you love her?"