Wednesday, January 25, 1984
ʟᴏs ᴀɴɢᴇʟᴇs, ᴄᴀʟɪғᴏʀɴɪᴀ

As the sun descended down from the sky, I found myself resting my legs upon the wooden park bench while my eyes scanned through the book I now held in my hands. It was a rather warm Wednesday in California, which I could say was extremely rare as there has never been a single warm day of January in California history.

But the outcome of today's weather is a pleasant one, if I do say so myself. Benefit of being the only non-busy Jackson - I took the day as my chance to bond with my nieces and nephews. I decided on bringing them to the park this afternoon, giving them a chance to enjoy the weather while we had it.

As of right now, Taj and Taryll were engaging in a game of basketball. Jermaine Jr was kicking around the soccer ball with Tj and Siggy while Marlon and Brandi played in the sandbox. Stacee and Yashi, of course were drawing chalk portraits on the sidewalk along with Valencia and Brittany. With Autumn being under the weather, she couldn't tag along. She had a cough that, unfortunately became worse with each passing day.

It started over a week ago, and I encouraged Hazel and Jermaine to take her to the hospital which they did, but only to get told it was only a cough and that it should disappear in just a few days. As of what I'm saying right now, it hasn't. We had no clue what it was but I pray and hope it's nothing too serious.

As the eleven of them continued with their games, I smiled up at them as I admired how well they complimented each other as well as got along with one another. They reminded me of how the nine of my siblings and I use to be at their ages. The ten of us were close, as we still are to this day, just as them. Although we had our fights, as do they and any other normal set of siblings or cousins, one thing we do more often than fighting was confining in one another and finding comfort in each other, as well as assisting each other with any and everything. These kids were exact replicas of that.

While they continued on, I focused my attention back to the novel in my hands. It was an old novel written by Jane Austen in which she called Pride and Prejudice. The exact date of which the book was published was unknown to me, as far as my knowledge told me - it released sometime in the middle of the 19th century. Long before my time, I'm not sure how I managed to get my hands on a copy, but I did and I can say I do quite enjoy it.

The woman responsible for this book definitely had a way with words, I loved the many details she gave as well as the way she chose to use her words. To my knowledge, it was the story of a woman by the name of Elizabeth Bennett and how she learns to appreciate the differences between both shallow goodness and actual goodness.

As obvious as it was, I enjoyed reading, a hobby I developed years ago during the Jackson five days back when the boys would perform at night clubs while Randy was yet to join the group. It was my only comfort at the time, when they weren't around and as you could imagine it was pretty dull when the ten of us weren't together, sure I still had Toya, Randy, and Janet but even then, Toya was still trying to adjust to the fact that we had moved, Janet was much younger than me so there were things that I could do that she couldn't and Randy, well he found his own hobby which soon led to him being apart of the group.

Before I could submerge deeper into my thoughts, the sound that was cries coming from my niece directed my attention to her. Brandi was glued to the ground while holding on to one spot on her knee and TJ and Siggy stood closely beside her.

Placing the open book down on the bench, I rose to my feet and guided myself over to where they stood whereas I could get a better look at why my niece was crying.

"What happened?" I questioned as I made it to them, and kneeled to Brandi's level.

"We were just dancing and then she fell and hurt her knee" TJ pointed as he watched me observe Brandi's knee as blood slowly descended down her vanilla toned skin. I sighed, knowing it was nothing to serious allowed me to have some kind of relief.

From that moment, I gently grasped the girl's hand as I attempted to remove her hands to survey her wound. Before even a small look was visible to me, Brandi pulled away and shook her head, displaying her disapproval.

"It's okay love, I'm only looking - I promise" I stated as I grasped her hand once more, and removed it from her room. From there is when I noticed the blood stained scrape on the center of her knee. It wasn't too big but it wasn't small either. I sighed and seated myself onto the cement.

"Ah, it's only a scratch - nothing a towel and bandage can't fix" I smiled before standing back to my normal 5'4 frame. I adjusted the blue blouse that clung to my body before extending my arms out for Brandi to grab.

"Come on, we can stop at the store and get a few things for it" I suggested as I took the toddler into my arms as her small legs wrapped tightly around the sides of my waist.

"Can we buy snacks?" TJ asked.

"That depends - you got your dad's credit card?" I interviewed with a small but mischievous smirk. He looked to me and gave a simple nod. "Then go ahead and buy the whole store" I joked, gaining a laugh from both Siggy and TJ.

"Alright, let's get going before the stores close" I took hold of Siggy's right hand while TJ grabbed his left. From there, we walked over to the basketball court where Taryll, Taj and Jermaine Jr continued throwing the ball around.

I smiled when watching Taj make the final basket, while Taryll displayed a look of disappointment and Jr only watched from the sidelines. "It's okay little bro, you'll get I next time - or not" he teased as Taryll frowned and I just chuckled.

"If you aren't my brother's son" I shook my head before approaching them. The three boys turned to me and smiled before walking over.

"We're leaving Aunt Riah?" Jermaine asked while standing to my side.

"Yes sir, we have a little store run to make" I mentioned.

"Well, can we come back?" Taryll and his soft spoken voice soared through the air as my eyes averted to him.

"Mm, maybe not tonight my love, but I could bring you back on friday- sound good?" He smiled and gave me a satisfied smile before grabbing the orange ball from the ground. I chuckled and regained my grasp on Siggy's hand before walking off from the court with the three of them trailing close behind.

After gathering all of the kids, we found ourselves wondering around the isles of Family Dollar. At the moment, I was searching for bandaids and a few extra things like soap, toothpaste things like that, with Brandi still in my arms while the others were around gathering almost every snack they could find. Siggy had the most, as he had a combination of chips, little Debbie cakes, two juices and more stuff then I could name. I didn't mind either, given this was all going on Tito's card anyway.

"These seem alright hm?" I said as I picked up the blue and white package of band aids and presented them to Brandi, as if the girl actually cared. Taking her silence as approval, I just shrugged and placed the box into the white basket that hung from my wrist. From there, I made my way over to the bath & bodyworks isle where I would find the soaps, and body wash.

I looked over a few shelves for a minute before landing on a certain brand of soap bars. I took a few packages down from the shelf and placed them into the bag, choosing Randy's favorite in particular since I used the remaining bars for my own need.

"TT, what do you think about this?" I turned on my heels to see Stacee with a cylinder container of red lipstick in between her fingers. I placed my free hand on my hip before tilting my head off to the side.

"I think, if you're wearing that - in our house? It's definitely gonna cause some havoc" I hoaxed with a small chuckle while she only gave me a blank stare. At thirteen years of age, Stacee was already a bit of a sass queen mixed with a bit of attitude. She was Rebbie's a child alright, down from the looks but she had every bit of me and Janet's attitudes.

"Oh, come on - it doesn't show that much" she stated, holding it up closer to my view. I only chuckled and shook my head. "Go ahead, but just keep it between us two alright?" I insisted, gaining a smile and nod in return.

The cool aunt was a title I've held for a long while now. I never cared much for what they wanted to do or wanted to have as long as it wasn't dangerous or a little too much and well, given that she was the thirteen pushing fourteen, I seen no problem with a bit of lipstick. After all, I was wearing makeup before I hit highschool, not outside of course.

"Thank youuu" she gleamed before giving me a side hug. I smiled and kissed the top of her temple. "Your welcome, only where when your with me though, okay?" I stated. She nodded her head and stood on her toes to kiss my cheek.

I watched as she placed the lip attire into her basket before turning on her heels, and walking off to whatever Isle she was heading to now. I'm positive that when I told TJ to buy the whole store, they took it seriously. While she disappeared from my view, I walked over to the makeup Isle myself to find myself a new makeup brush as well as a pallet.

"Which one do you think TT should get, pink or purple?" I asked Brandi, who was observing the makeup for herself. It took her a minute, but with no words she pointed to pink pallet I held in my hand. "This one? You sure?" She only nodded before resting her head on my shoulder.

I just chuckled and dropped the pallet into my basket before grabbing the pink set of makeup brushes to match. While in the process of doing that, I could hear my name being called from the distance. Believing it was one of the kids, I turned my body only to be met with a tall, light skinned male frame standing before me. It wasn't until my eyes traveled up his tall frame that I recognized the familiar face. "Prince?" I questioned in minor shock as I eyed the man from his head down.

He smirked and pulled me into a side hug. "I thought that was you" he said as he released me from his grip and looked down to me. I only chuckled, not having much to respond with I only smiled his way. "Look at you, it's been a long time" he mentioned as I grinned with a laugh.

"Yes it has -You changed your fro" I pointed out as I admired the silky curls that clung to his scalp. He smiled, showing off his perfect teeth before licking his lips.

"Yeah, I figured the curls worked a bit better than the afro" He shrugged, making me chuckle as he joined in. "But you look beautiful - like always"

I grinned and slightly rolled my eyes at his comment. "Why thank you, you don't look to bad yourself" I replied while adjusting Brandi on my hip. "Thank you thank you, and who's this pretty girl?" He questioned while averting his over to the toddler in my arms.

"Oh, this is my niece Brandi - Jackie's daughter" I introduced her as my eyes traveled down to look at her. He smiled and gave her a small wave, in which she returned. "oh, and these are my nephews Taj, Marlon Jr, Siggy and that's my other niece Valencia" I pointed as the four of them walked up from behind me.

"Hey, nice to meet you guys" he beamed while giving each a high five. I smiled while looking between the five. "The others are around here somewhere - purchasing the whole store I presume" I mentioned, with a roll of my eyes as a joke.

"That's kids for you" he chuckled, as I joined in. "But how have you been? I haven't seen you around here in years, how come?"

"Well, its a long story really but I spent some time down down in Orlando for a few years and I've been doing well actually" I stated while gaining a hum and nod in response.

"But, what about you? How have you been? Y'know, besides fighting with my brother for the spotlight" I teased while referring to Michael. There has been various reports of some sort of fused spiraling between my brother and Prince. Of course, I never paid much attention to it since I saw it as somewhat of a lie. My brother respected everyone unless he was given a reason not too and Prince, well he's a sweetheart who I've known for a while now. While a feud between the worlds two biggest superstars might sound right to the world but to me, it was a load of bs.

"Well, I wouldn't say were fighting for it" he dismissed my comment with his own response as well as a laugh.

"Well that's good to hear, given you'd most definitely lose anyway" I joked as his lips slightly parted ways. "Oh wow, really?" He smiled while gaining a laugh from me as well as a hum.

Prince is an outstanding artist at best, but I've always been big on family so it came as no surprise that I would bet on my brother being the better artist. "I'm just joking" I waved him off while gaining another laugh.

"Ohh okay" he responded, giving me a look that displayed the yeah alright expression which caused me to laugh once more. "Partially" I added, leading to him smacking his lips.

"Wow, you're not right" he shook his head with a visible smile. I chuckled and once again, adjusted Brandi on my hip. "I'm only kidding - you're both amazing artists" I replied.

And that was the truth. Both boys were insanely talented and both amazed me, which made me despise the fact that the media made it out to be a competition between the two.

"Mhm- so, where you headed after this?" He questioned as my attention averted back up to him.

"Just home, we've been out all day so I'm sure there tired - hopefully" I answered, making sure to whisper the last part but evidently he heard it..

"Are they that bad?"

"Oh no, they're not bad at all it's just, dealing with eleven kids for six hours is not as easy as it may sound" I stated while admiring his eyes. I had to say he was handsome, his skin was as smooth as silk while his kind of reminded me of the stars.

"I'm sure it isn't" he replied with a chuckle while gaining one from me in return. "But, it was nice seeing you"

"You too" I smiled, giving him a nod.

"TT, are we leaving yet?" Valencia's voice took over as I turned to her and snickered. "Yes baby, just a minute" I told her and looked back to Prince.

"Gotta get her home, huh?" He joked as I gave a small laugh in the form of a scoff. "Yeah, but I'll see you around" I said as my left hand grasped Marlon Jr's. He gave me a nod and slightly moved from the center to allow me to exit the isle. "I'll see you later" he called. I looked to him and smiled before making my way to cash register.

By the time we mad it home, it was already 8:00 and the rain had started. It was in that moment I knew that a warm day in January was to good to be true. The temperature had dropped to forty while earlier it was just sixty-five, then again I expected as much.

As I killed the engine to my brother's car, I removed the key and undid the seatbelt that secured me into the seat. From there, I turned to the backseat and took hold of a few bags before exiting the car. I treaded to the left side of the car and opened the door to where I would then pick up a sleeping Yashi from her seat while the others stayed put. It seemed as if the rain had put them all to sleep, well all except for Stacee who was still wide awake and sitting in the front passenger seat.

"Stacee, you think you can grab TJ for me?" I asked the girl as she turned her head to me. Without words, she nodded her head and departed from her seat as well as the car before walking to the right side to retrieve the sleeping six year old. While she did that, I made my into the house with Yashi in my arms. Once I unlocked the doors, I entered to see the boys, along with LaToya and Janet all in the living room. I'm assuming watching a movie.

"Hey, look who's back" Randy smiled as he stood from his spot on the couch as I treaded over to the sofa myself. I placed Yashi nearly down on the cushion beside Michael before I turned to give Randy a hug. "Welcome back, M" Michael stood as he kissed my cheek. I smiled and drew him into a short hug. "Thanks" I replied while removing my jacket.

"Ya'll had a good time?" Tito asked as my eyes averted to him. "Yeah we did, but now I need everybody to go and grab a child because I refuse to carry nine sleeping kids" I pointed just as Stacee walked in with TJ in he arms.

"Why didn't you just wake em up?" Marlon's voice was heard as I turned to him.

"Because, they look so peaceful and I didn't want to disturb them also, it's raining"

"So, you'd rather us get wet than you?"

"Pretty much, yes" I smiled a he smirked my way and shook his head before heading to the door. "What'd you get for the store?" Jermaine questioned while looking to the bags in my hand.

"A few snacks and stuff for around the house - Randy, I bought you some more soap since I used yours up" I answered. The boy gave me a nod before following Marlon and Tito out the door.

"Did you get me a bag of chips?" Jackie joined in. I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Who's sister do you think I am?" I fooled before pulling the bag of chips from the bag and tossing them to him. He chuckled and kissed my cheek. "thank you"

I responded with a hum before making my way into the kitchen to put away the food portion of my purchased Items. "Hey mother, Joseph" I spoke as the two of them were seated in the kitchen.

"Hey hun, you're back so soon?" My mother probed as she stood from her chair and walked over to give me a hug. I chuckled and returned the embrace before placing a kiss on her cheek. "yeah, they were a little tired so we called it a day" I told her.

"All that playing must of tired them out, huh?" She quizzed while assisting me in putting the items away. "Yeah, I guess so - they fell asleep as soon as we got in the car"

She chuckled and shook her head before I smiled and made my way over to Joseph. I've been home for about over a week now, and so far, he was a different. Still the same, annoyed stale faced Joseph but his attitude seemed to have improved. I could say I was proud..

"Hey daddy" I greeted while placing a kiss to his cheek. "who?" He questioned, making me roll my eyes with a smirk. "I mean Joseph" I chuckled and walked back over to the counter, hearing his snicker from behind me.

"Hey, girl" he finally returned the greeting. I looked to him and smiled. "So, how'd your days go?" I asked the two of them while standing beside Mom just as Latoya entered the space.

"Oh, same as any other day - peaceful until your father starts rambling about certain things" she pointed asI sent a glare to Joseph, as a Joke that he surprisingly took well. "of course" I replied, making him roll his brown eyes.

"What about you? Stacee tells me you guys seen Prince today" LaToya brought up, which brought all eyes to me.

"Yeah, he was at the store earlier - we talked for a