Remember the Time

Chapter 62

Mariah put her book down again. “Okay, fine. I'm done working now.”

She laid down beside them, propping herself up on her elbow. “So what are you two doing?”

“Ba bah buh bah ba.” Nicole said, reaching for Mariah's hair.

Mariah grabbed her hand. “Oh no, you're not going make me go bald.”

Nicole made a disappointed face and turned back to her sister to say something else. Noelle replied, glancing around confused.

“What are you guys talking about?” Mariah asked.

The babies were starting to fascinate her with how they seemed to communicate with each other.

Nicole gestured at an oversized Lego and Noelle turned her head in the general of where Nicole pointed, but looked right past it.

“Right here, Noni.” Mariah said, handing the Lego to her daughter.

Mariah watched her children play around awhile before glancing up at the clock.

Oh shit.

“You girls ready to eat?” She asked.

Nicole's head shot up at the word “eat”.

Mariah giggled.

“I guess so.”

June 15th, 1998

Mariah was sitting on the couch in the living room. She was trying to get a song finished before she went into the studio again.

She sang to herself:

“After tonight, will you remember how sweet and tenderly you reached for and pulled me closer…”

She scribbled the lyrics on her notebook, continuing to hum the little melody to herself.

“What are you doing?” Michael asked as he walked into the living room. He wore a nearly identical pair of jeans as the ones he wore in his Black Or White short film, a white t-shirt with an open oversized red button-down over it, and white socks.

“Working.”

Michael pursed his lips. “Really, Mariah?”

“Yes really.”

Michael huffed. “So you don’t give a fuck about our lives, do you?”

“I don’t give a fuck about our lives?”

“No, you don’t. You’re running back to work when the man already has something against us.” Michael explained.

“It’s your fault in the first place. Plus we need money, Michael.”

Michael crossed his eyes.

Mariah shook her head. “We do!”

“You may need money, but I’m fine.”

“We’re a team. Or did that just go out of the window since you started making decisions for us?” Mariah asked, sardonically.

“God Mariah, can we just not argue?”

“You’re the one who started it!” Mariah shouted.

“I don’t care who started it, Mariah! Stop doing that shit!”

Mariah rolled her eyes and stood up. She approached him slowly, attempting to just breathe it out.

“Mariah, what are you doing?”

Now directly in front of her husband, she pulled him down into a kiss.

“Mariah-”

She shushed him.