Joseph joined the call, his voice serious and fatherly, "Boys? What's going on? It's 2:30 AM!"
"Joseph, we're on the phone with Michael. Athena randomly showed up on his tour in Bill's hotel room, muttering about chocolate, laptops, and a makeup brush!" Jackie exclaimed.
"Chocolate, laptops, and a makeup brush?" Joseph repeated, his tone filled with concern, "Is she okay?"
"And then," Marlon added, "Michael told us that she took one too many Xanax because her mother Nicole told her to take a 'chill pill'!"
"Maybe that's because she's uncomfortable with Michael's decision to just jump into touching and kissing other women, despite it being 'for work'!" Joseph suggested firmly, "Michael doing these videos with anyone other than Athena in them as the leading lady is like blatantly disrespecting her in front of the entire world! The entire world knows he's married to Athena because of the Oprah Interview, so it would be like cheating on her, but in a public, humiliating way! Michael, I didn't raise you to disrespect your wife like this! You should have put your foot down and insisted that Athena be the leading lady in your videos!" Joseph scolded sternly, his disappointment evident in his voice.
Michael, surprised at the first ever actual fatherly scolding he had gotten from his father, blinked in surprise, "But—"
"Michael, it's not that Athena isn't proud of you," Joseph added, "But Athena sees you first and foremost as her husband, Michael Jackson—not as Michael Jackson, the King of Pop!"
"She's your woman, you're her man," Marlon added, "Imagine it in reverse, she's the Queen of Pop—which she is—and her Creative Team decides she's going to kiss and dance with these men in her music videos—and she blindly agrees without realizing that her man is probably not going to be okay with that!"
Michael sat in stunned silence, the weight of his father's words sinking in. He had always seen Athena as his equal, his partner in life and in love. But he had failed to consider how his actions could be interpreted by her, how they could hurt her. Guilt gnawed at him as he realized his mistake, his heart aching at the thought of causing Athena pain.
"I didn't mean to disrespect her," Michael finally spoke, his voice filled with regret, "I thought it was just work, just part of the job. I never wanted to hurt her."
"It's not about what you intended, Michael," Joseph's voice softened, "It's about how she feels. You need to talk to her, and listen to her concerns. Show her that you value her feelings above all else."
Jackie chimed in, "And tell her to stop taking advice from Nicole! I swear all that woman ever does is meddle and cause trouble!"
"Mike, the worst part about this is that she was planning on keeping quiet because it's your career and she didn't want to step on your toes!" Marlon added, "And I told her if someone does something on your set that she doesn't like to go ahead and fire them, but she said that you would get mad at her for it—but if you were to fire someone in her video, she would be expected to just go along with what you say! It's like you hold all the power in the relationship, which doesn't align with the vows of a marriage!" he paused, "Not only that, but apparently, you were never made aware that her birthday is November 21st, which also happens to be the same day you're scheduled to film 'In The Closet' with Campbell!"
"Her birthday is November 21st?!" Michael gasped, "She never told me!"
"You've known her since 1987!" Jackie exclaimed, "Technically 1985! You never thought to ask?"
Michael looked over at Athena, who was still sound asleep beside him, clutching the pillow as if it were him she was holding onto.
"And I do not want to lose her as my daughter-in-law, Michael, so you better fix this!" Katherine chimed in from Joseph's end of the phone.
Michael sat in contemplative silence, the weight of his mistakes heavy on his shoulders. With every word his family spoke, the realization of his oversight grew more pronounced. How could he have been so blind to Athena's feelings, to the significance of their partnership? It was clear now that he had taken her for granted, assuming that their love could weather any storm without him actively nurturing it.
"I have got to fix this!" Michael said with wide eyes.
"Damn right you do!"
"I don't need her leaving you!"
"We need her to stay in this family!"
"And tell her to stop taking advice from Nicole!"