Our Greatest Love Of All

Chapter 40: A Special Birthday Surprise

Time Skip!

Over one year has gone by, and both Michael and Whitney are as successful and legendary as ever. The Preacher's Wife was an absolute success as well as its soundtrack, and Whitney just got to work with her protege, Brandy in her now finished production of her TV movie, Cinderella.

Michael on the other hand, has been on the HIStory tour for close to about a year now and it has been a MAJOR success! Traveling from country to country, fans from all around the world gathered to watch their beloved King of Pop perform live.

And although his 39th birthday had arrived, that night's show would be no different for Michael as he was only focused on making his beloved fans happy... Or so he thought.

Michael's POV

August 28, 1997

Wow! Nearly a whole year has gone by since I started touring for my HIStory Album, and it has been one of the most fulfilling yet challenging times of my life. While I was able to enjoy being back on the stage again and doing what I love, at the same time, anybody that truly knows me knows that I absolutely HATE touring!

While I enjoy giving my fans the experience of watching my performances, traveling and the different time zones make it rather difficult to stay energetic. And even after a show, my body is so amped up that it can be rather difficult to sleep from time to time. Regardless however, I love my fans so much and doing this tour made me feel like my old self again, before the allegations happened. Being on stage made me feel like I was on top of the world again!

But one thing that I was definitely missing was my family.

Whitney couldn't travel with me too much because she had to work on her own TV film adaptation of Cinderella with an up-and-coming singer, Brandy. And the children couldn't really travel along that much either because the tour would last for little over a year and Whitney and I felt that it would be too much for them to travel every day. It didn't mean that I didn't miss them, however.

I missed Whitney and the children so much. Bobbi Kristina at this point was four, Michaela and MJ were about to turn three in a few weeks, and Harmony was over a year and a half. These children are growing up so fast and it's even harder when you're not there to see it. Especially when it was your birthday.

But regardless of how far apart we are, Whitney and our children were always in my heart.

As I was just finishing with changing into another outfit for my next song, one of the crew members opened the door to my dressing room and said,

"Michael, you'll be going on stage in one minute."

I responded, "Thank you! I'll be there shortly."

The crew member nodded and shut the door behind him, leaving me alone once more. Before I decided to make my exit, I took one look at a family photo that was sitting on the vanity and held it in my hands. Feeling the love of Whitney and our children in that very photo, I placed a quick kiss on it and said,

"I love you guys... Wish Daddy luck on this next performance."

And with that, I set the photo down and I left the dressing room to make my way onto the stage for my next performance.

A few minutes later...

Whisper three words and I'll come running
And girl you know that I'll be there
I'll be there

The more I kept singing this song, the more I kept thinking about my beloved wife and our children. I would go to the moon and back for them! God! How I wished they were here with me! But I knew they were still in my heart, and that's what continued to drive my passion for this song.