Janet
"Unbreakable is selling better than you thought J look at that! What did I tell you" Ken said as I had him on speaker phone.
Christopher began to dance from the kitchen counter as I sat in the living room. "Alright thank you Ken, love you" I said smiling like he could see me.
"No problem, love you, bye" once I hung up I shrieked out of joy. Christopher walked over handing me my cup of coffee before sitting next to me on the couch.
We had to have our daily cup of coffee sitting in front of the fireplace. Story was in school for the day. My baby was in the first grade already, it felt like just yesterday she was learning to crawl.
As Christopher got comfortable about to take his first sip of coffee he put his right arm around me. We began discussing my upcoming tour. The Unbreakable World tour was my first tour in four years. Gil and I were still preparing everything before announcing the tour to the world.
"This is the set list that Gil and I came up with" I said as he looked over my shoulder.
Christopher and I laid on the couch together as we discussed my upcoming tour. The Unbreakable World tour was my first tour in four years. Gil and I were still preparing everything before announcing the tour to the world.
Christopher extended his hand from around my shoulder to the front of my face pointing at the screen. His index finger pointed at the words on my laptop as he read the set list.
"I think you should switch these two" he said.
"Which ones?"
"Black cat and If"
"That's what I was thinking but Gil was so—"
He cut me off with a stern tone. "Gil what!? This is the Janet Jackson show, not the Gil show" his sentence was cut short by the ringing bell at the door.
I instantly tossed my laptop off of my lap before standing on my feet knowing exactly who was at the door. Christopher got up with me before following me to the door. My hand twisted and pulled on the door knob before a smile appeared on my face seeing Story behind the door.
Story's face was different from every other day. When she would come home from school she would smile and jump into my arms. That day there was no smile but a neutral stare as she lifted her head making eye contact with me. What was wrong with her? There was no hi mommy, no hi daddy.
"Hey J" Joey said behind Story. "Hey Brooklyn" he said giving Christopher a head nod.
I crossed my arms looking at Joey. "Hey, what did you do to her" I asked in a playful tone.
He chuckled before speaking. "Nothing, Story why don't you tell your mom what someone told you in school today" he said before nudging her.
She rolled her little eyes at Joey's nudge before giving me her puppy eyes. "Jessica told me that you were on the Super Bowl" my heart sunk. My number one fear was becoming a reality.
"I said no she wasn't and Jessica said yes she was, she had her booby out" Story finished. She said it so nonchalant blinking her eyes at me.
My jaw fell open as I turned around to see if Christopher was paying attention. Telling by the look on his face he heard everything as he raised one eyebrow.
"When I showed up to pick her up. Her and the kid were going back and forth" Joey said firm.
"What were they saying to each other" Christopher asked. "They were kinda doing a yeah and nuh uh thing" Joey answered.
"Where were the teachers that we paid to teach our daughter!" I could feel my forehead heating up.
"Janet the teacher didn't notice till I noticed. I guess she didn't care enough" Joey said.
I turned around looking at Christopher before laughing out of anger. "Ok thank you Joey for bringing her home" I said shaking my head. "Baby go inside, I wanna have a talk with you" I said before Story began to walk past me.
"I mean what the fuck do I have to do? Do I have to go to that damn school myself" I asked raising my voice once Story was gone. "How does she even know what a boob is? She's only six!"
"Kids hear stuff at home and then they bring what they learned to school. The kid probably learned about that stuff including your Super Bowl incident and brought it to school to tell Story. It happens J, kids are like sponges. They absorb what they see and hear at home" Joey said.
"Your right, thanks again Joey. We'll take it from here" Christopher said before Joey made his exit.
Christopher immediately reached around me before closing the door in front of me. I turned facing him looking at him for guidance. He shrugged his shoulders at me before shaking his head.
"Where do we even go from here" I asked him.
I watched as he looked to the ground thinking. "We have to tell her, like right now at this very moment"
I knew exactly what he was talking about but I wasn't ready to tell Story about her famous mother. How do you explain to a child that they're famous and that the world wants to know every little thing about them.
Christopher wrapped me in his arms before kissing my forehead with his tender touch. "Come on, we're in this together" he said.
Christopher and I decided to go upstairs to Story's room to check on her. I had that same feeling in my knees when I went to Stevanna's apartment in London. It got harder for me to go up each step.
Christopher knocked on Story's door as he mumbled to me. "Didn't we tell this girl not to close her door in this house"
I nodded my head as the door swung open to Story. She looked up at the both of us. "Hey Story can we come in" I asked.
Without saying a word she walked deeper into her room before sitting in her red chair. Red was her favorite color she never was into pink. She gets it from her mama.
Christopher stood on his feet crossing his arms as I sat on the edge of her bed. "Story your mother and I want to talk about what you heard in school today" Christopher spoke.
"Ok" she said before twisting her mouth.
"Janet do want to start" he asked looking at me.
I sighed looking into Story's eyes trying to find the right words to say. My mind was blink like a empty piece of paper as I stared into my baby's eyes. She didn't look at me the same like she did the day before.
I knew what happened in school confused her and she didn't know what to think of her mother. "I'll start" he said placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Story your mommy and I make music for a living. When I say mommies working she's making music that the whole world listens to"
"The whole world" she questioned.
"Yes Story you know how you like Rihanna. A lot of people all over the world listen to your mommy just like how you listen to Rihanna"
"And Beyoncé too?" Her eyes widened before Christopher nodded his head to her question.
"Your mommy and I were making music before Beyoncé. Matter a fact your mother inspired Rihanna and Beyoncé" Christopher lifted his pants before squatting to her level. "You see and people love your mommy like she's royalty, just like Beyoncé. Your uncle Mike too and all your other family on mommies side. Story do you understand?"
She looked at me before nodding her head. "Mommies friends with Beyoncé" she questioned.
Christopher began to chuckle as I smiled at her. She was till stuck on Beyoncé. "Maybe we have to show her rather than tell her" I suggested.
"Ok, I think I know what you mean" he said turning around to face me.
The three of us eventually went downstairs to our living room. Story sat on the couch next to me as Christopher went through our dvd collection.
"What is daddy about to play" Story asked looking up at me.
"You'll see" I said before Christopher stood up with a smile on his face.
"Got it" he said before placing the disc into his PlayStation.
Story and I patiently waited for the tv to play and just like that I was on the screen. Story's Jaw dropped before she looked to me. "That's you" she questioned.
"Yes baby" I said before kissing her forehead. "Christopher hit play" I said demanding him.
The dvd played my All Four You tour. Story sat with her jaw on the floor watching younger me perform in abs and all. Christopher sat on the left side of me wrapping his arm around me. The three of us watched as a family.
I usually don't just sit around watching my younger self perform. Michael used to always tell me to watch my old tapes to see where I could improve. There's always a cringing feeling that would crawl up my neck and spine whenever I watched my old tapes.
But this time around I enjoyed it until the intro to Would You Mind began to play. "Christopher cut the tv off" I said tapping his leg with my left hand.
"Oh, right!" He immediately jumped up before running to the tv.
Story leaned up almost jumping off of the couch as she watched her father stand in front of the tv. "I can't see daddy" she cried.
He turned off the tv. "That's the point" he said before turning around making a goofy face.
The goofy faces he makes always gets her but not tonight. She just crossed her arms sitting back onto the couch. "Aw baby what's the matter" I asked while fixing an out of placed curl on her head.
"I was enjoying that" she whined.
"I know baby but um" my mind went racing for lie.
"That part is rated R" Christopher spat out getting straight to the point.
Story dropped her jaw looking back at me. "Yeah when your eighteen you can watch the rest"
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