***
I woke up and looked at the alarm clock seguinte to the cama and noticed that it was 9 AM. I sat up on the edge of the cama and rubbed my eyes; before picking out something to wear for the day. I opened up the door to my hotel room and went seguinte door to wake up my bodyguards. They opened the door and were already waiting for me to arrive there. James asked "where would you like to go today Mr. Jackson?" I looked at my other bodyguard Tim and asked "did you find an orphanage for me to visit?" He said "yes I did Sir and it's called 'Angels awaiting love.’" I said "okay; I would like to go there right now please. Did you pick up the coloring books and crayons that I want to pass out to the children at the orphanage?" James said "yes we did Sir; we picked them up about 15 minutos atrás when the toy store opened." I said "I can't wait to bring some joy to children in need!"
About a half hora later, we arrived in front of a small house with a sign that read "Angels awaiting amor orphanage” and I said "I don't think I'm going to need you guys to go inside with me; so just wait out here in the car. I'll come get you if I need you for anything." They both said in unison "okay Michael; we'll be here!" I got out of the car and couldn't help but look at how pathetic the state of this orphanage was. All the grama was practically dead and the toys looked like they were purchased 35 years ago!
I knocked on the door and a woman answered it. She looked to be about 40 years old and has red curly hair that goes down to her shoulders. She was stunned as she said "oh my God; you're Michael Jackson!" I smiled and said "yes I am." She asked "why are you here if you don't mind me asking?" I responded "oh; I'm not able to leave to go back to California until tomorrow and I thought it would be a good idea to visit an orphanage. May I come in?" She said "of course you can Mr. Jackson; my name is Rosemary." I shook her hand and said "nice to meet you; you can call me Michael!"
I followed her inside and saw a whole bunch of older children playing board games. I knelt down in front of them and one of them said "you're Michael Jackson!" I gave each of them a coloring book and crayons as I said "yes I am; it's nice to meet you! I signed each of their coloring books and stood back up. I suggested "I would amor for you to give me a tour!" Rosemary said "sure thing Michael; anything for you!"
The two of us went upstairs and passed por five empty bedrooms with four beds inside each of them. I asked "where are the other children?" She said "the four children downstairs are the only ones that haven't been adopted yet. There is one mais child; but he's really shy and I don't think you'll be seeing him today. I can try to find out where he is." I followed her into the last bedroom at the end of the hallway and she said "well; he must be hiding." I said "okay then; if he's shy I don't want to frighten him por being in here.
The segundo I said those words a toddler came up to me and reached for me to pick him up. I lifted him up into my arms and said "hi there!" Rosemary's mouth dropped open and she said "wow; I can't believe he let you pick him up! I can't believe he wanted you to pick him up! He normally doesn't want anything to do with me because I think his mother had a negative effect on him. He's terrified of all females. We've never really had a man come here before unless he is the father of a child that is going to be adopted from the orphanage." I asked "what's his name?" She said "his name is Christian." I asked "how old is he?" She said "he's two and a half as of last week." I said "you're a cutie!"
I went to put him down on the ground; but he didn't want to let go. I picked him back up and said "I guess I can hold you for a few mais minutes!" He rested his head on my shoulder and Rosemary said "he's been at the orphanage for a mês now and I can honestly say that I've never seen him like this before! I've been having such a hard time finding him a foster início because of how shy he is and his fear of women! The only option I have right now is to keep him here with the older children and hope that his mother puts her life back on track within the seguinte two months; so she can have custody of him again."
She looked at me as I walked back and forth with him in my arms and patted his back. She had a suspicious gleam in her eye and I asked "what?" She excitedly asked "will you take him back to the states with you; just until I can find him a home?" I was hesitant at first and said "I've never really looked after a child before." She said "but you're so good with him Michael; please? Maybe a little time in a início setting will break him out of his shyness! He's also terrified of pretty much anything. The other children take up a lot of my time and I won't be able to give him the attention that he needs!"
I looked down at him as he stared at me with his deep brown eyes and said "alright; you got me! I'll foster him until you can find him a home." Rosemary said "thank you, thank you, thank you Michael! I'll go get the paperwork and then you can take him with you! She came back into the room with a HUGE stack of paper and said "all you have to do is fill this stuff out and then you can leave." My eyes widened and I sighed as I said "this is going to take a while!!!"
I sat there for over an hora and a half filling out the paperwork and Christian was on my lap the entire time; patiently observing what I was doing. When I finally reached the last page, Rosemary said "just sign your name on that dotted line and you're done!" I scribbled my signature at the bottom of the page and passed the pile of papers back to her. I stood up with Christian in my arms and Rosemary said "thank you so much Michael! I'll start looking for potential adoptive families immediately!" She hugged me and I said "no problem; the two of us will have fun together!" Rosemary stroked Christian’s head and said "you be good for Michael okay!"
I walked out to the car with Christian in my arms and I could tell my bodyguards were not amused. I got into the back assento and buckled Christian onto my lap because there wasn't a car assento for him. Tim asked "who's this Michael?" I responded "this is Christian! I'm going to foster him until the woman who owns the orphanage can find him an adequate home." Both Tim and James had worried expressions on their faces and I said "I'd like to go back to the hotel now; if you don't mind." James started the car and the ride back to the hotel was awkwardly silent.
As we pulled up in front of the hotel, a gigantic crowd of fãs was waiting to greet me and I didn't know how Christian was going to react to them. I hid his face inside my jaqueta and Tim practically had to drag me through the crowd because the fãs were being so pushy. Thankfully, I rented out the whole segundo floor of the hotel so I wouldn't get interrupted por fãs and we snuck into the elevator before anyone noticed us. I looked at Christian and he looked at me as he started to shake. He started crying and I felt terrible that he was so scared. I said "it's okay buddy!!! We're seguro now!"
We made it up to the hotel rooms and I took Christian into my master suite while the bodyguards went to their room seguinte door. As I walked into the room, my manager Frank was sitting there and said "hi Michael; who is this?" I said "this is Christian; I met him at the orphanage and I'm going to foster him until he's matched with a family." Frank whispered "are you crazy Michael? What were you thinking?" I kind of expected that kind of reaction from Frank and asked "can we talk about this later tonight; after he goes to bed? I just don't want to end up arguing in front of him because he's been through a lot and I don't think that would be good for him!" Frank walked out of the room and said "fine Michael; but this isn't over!"
I shut the door behind him and looked at Christian who was still sobbing in my arms. I said sympathetically "it's okay; we don't have to worry about those loud fãs anymore!" I went over to the cozinha area and asked "would you like some juice?" He just looked at me and didn't say a thing. I said "I'll take that as a yes then!" I took some maçã, apple suco, suco de out of the fridge and poured it into a glass. I set the glass down on the mesa, tabela and tried to sit Christian in a chair; but he still didn't want to let go of me. I sat down in the chair with him on my lap as he struggled to pick up the glass. I picked it up for him and let him take a sip from it as I said "there you go little guy!"
I asked "what do you want to do?" He didn't say anything again and I asked "you don't talk much do you?" I took him over to the sofá and said "I bet you'd like to watch cartoons!" I turned the TV on and put it on "Tom and Jerry." He was perfectly content watching desenhos animados on my lap; but I don't think he was used to having someone who would give him their full attention. I laughed at the different scenes in the desenhos animados and looked down as Christian started playing with my fingers. I smiled as I asked "are you having fun?" He immediately stopped and I said "that's okay; it doesn't bother me!" I gripped his tiny little hands in mine and he leaned his head on my shoulder.
After about two hours of watching cartoons, I said "uh – oh; I think it's time for me to learn how to change a diaper." I went seguinte door to the hotel room and asked Tim "will you run to the store and get some things for me?" He said "yeah Michael; what do you need?" I said "sippy cups, diapers, wipes, a few pairs of pajamas for toddler boys, and an outfit for him to wear tomorrow." James walked over seguinte to Tim and said "we'll do our best Michael; be right back!"
15 minutos later, they came and knocked on the door to my hotel room. I let them inside and they put the bags on the couch. I said "thank you guys! You can take the rest of the night off because I'm not going anywhere!" Tim said "thank you Michael; James and I are going to go to the bar downtown if you need us." I chuckled and said "don't have too much fun you guys!" James laughed and said "you know we will Michael" as he shut the door behind him.
I grabbed a few things out of the shopping bags and asked "are you ready for this?" Christian of course didn't say anything as he looked at me and just blinked his eyes. Thank God Christian is such an easy going kid because that diaper change must've taken me 20 minutos to do. I reached into one of the bags and pulled out two different pairs of pajamas. One racecar themed and one fogo truck themed. I held them both up in front of him and asked "which one do you want to wear buddy?" He stared at both of them and didn't say a thing. I asked excitedly "race cars or firetrucks?" I still didn't get an answer; so I said "I don't know about you but I like the firetrucks!"
After I had gotten him dressed, we went out into the living room area and I said "you must be hungry! I suppose I should order you some comida from room service." I grabbed the menu off the coffee mesa, tabela and said "let's see; what do two-year-olds like to eat?" I ordered him some macaroni and cheese and waited for it to be brought up to the room. As I was about to give the waiter a tip, he asked "actually Michael; can I get your autograph instead?" I grabbed a piece of paper from off of the escrivaninha, mesa and quickly scribbled my name onto it. I passed it to him and said "thanks for bringing our comida up here!" He said "anytime Michael" and shut the door as he left the room.
I brought the comida to the mesa, tabela with my other arm because Christian still wouldn't let me put him down and asked "are you ready to eat?" He shook his head yes and I was surprised that he actually kind of responded to me that time. I fed him a bite and asked "is it good?" Christian was back to giving me the silent treatment; but I didn't mind because I know he's probably been through a lot; even though I really don't know anything about his past yet.
When he was finished eating, he yawned and I asked "is someone getting sleepy?" He rubbed his eyes as I carried him into the bedroom and covered him up with the blankets. I turned the TV on and put on cartoons. I moved away from the cama to shut off the light and Christian started screaming. I turned the light back on and asked "what's wrong? Do you want me to keep the light on?" He reached his arms out for me to grab him and I knelt down seguinte to the bed. I gave him a hug and said "I have to go back out there for a little while; but I'll be back!" I tried getting up again and walking out of the room; but he started to cry. I said "alright; I guess Frank is going to have to wait until tomorrow to talk to me!" I climbed into the cama and the segundo his head hit the travesseiro he was asleep.
***
I opened my eyes and noticed that the sun was just starting to come up. I looked at the clock on the nightstand and it was only 6 AM. I got out of cama because there was no use in falling back asleep since we have to be at the airport in four hours. I looked over at Christian and he was still fast asleep; so I went over to Frank's hotel room. I knocked on the door and he was already wide awake when he answered it. He invited me inside and I said "you wanted to talk to me." He gestured for me to sit down in the chair across from him and he asked "what were you thinking Michael?" I said "you should've seen that orphanage Frank! Christian is so much younger than the other children that are there." Frank said "I don't care Michael; this is one of those times when you should've just walked away!" I said "he's the sweetest little boy in the world Frank! I couldn't leave him there to run away and hide all day! It's only temporary; I just want him to be matched with a family!" Frank said "you just turned 29 years old last mês Michael! You should be enjoying the best years of your life; instead of looking after a two-year-old for God only knows how long!!!"
I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and said "to be completely honest Frank, you're being ridiculous right now! It's not like me being a foster parent is going to affect you in any way! He'll probably have a family before my break is over! You're just going to have to get over it because he's not going back to the orphanage now!" Frank rolled his eyes and said "I hope you know what you're doing Michael!" I said "just let it go Frank!"
I walked back to my hotel suite and into the bedroom to check on Christian. He opened his eyes and I said "good morning; did you sleep okay?" He reached his arms out for me to pick him up and I lifted him into my arms. I said "we're going to ride on an airplane today! We have to eat breakfast so we're not late for our flight."
After making sure he was fed, changed, and dressed in daytime clothes, we had to run to catch a flight. When we made it to the airport, I was worried because there was a huge crowd of fãs waiting outside to catch a glimpse of me. I picked up Christian and said "don't be scared buddy!" I felt so awful because there were also photographers outside trying to get pictures of me and the flash was bothering Christian's eyes. My jaqueta helped a little bit; but not enough to lessen his fear.
I rented a private jet to take us back to California because of how shy Christian is and it was a 23 hora flight. Frank, James, Tim, Christian, and I boarded the plane. I was surprised that Christian wasn't afraid of the airplane and I think that was because he didn't know that we were in the air. He didn't even cry the entire flight and I can't believe how calm he was!
.***
When we finally landed, it was already the seguinte afternoon and we were just waking up. I picked Christian up and he yawned. We snuck out of a hidden passageway that led to the parking garage. I was glad that we wouldn't have to bring Christian out in front of another group of fãs because I don't want to make him feel terrified to go anywhere with me. We got into the car and I said "I can't wait for you to see my home! I think you're going to amor it!"
We drove back to Neverland ranch and I dismissed my bodyguards because they are due for a vacation. They won't be coming back until my break is over because they’ve been with me for the past six months while I've been on tour. I walked inside the main house and was greeted por my gardener Justin. He asked "is this the little guy you were telling me about yesterday when you called me to check in?" I chuckled and said "he sure is!" Justin looked at Christian and said "Mike's a cool guy; isn't he?" Christian hid his face in my shoulder and I said "he's extremely shy! It'll probably take him a while to be comfortable enough with all of us! I still haven't heard him talk yet!"
I wanted to show Christian the backyard; so I carried him outside. I walked over to the amusement park rides and said "you're a bit too young to ride these; but they're really fun!" I walked over to the zoo area and up to the fenced in enclosure where the giraffes were. Christian took one look at them and was terrified. I had totally forgotten that Rosemary had said that Christian is terrified of almost anything. I said sympathetically "oh; it's okay buddy! They aren't mean; they won't do anything to you!"
I took him inside because I don't think he wanted to see any mais animais and I said "we're going to have to go to the toy store tomorrow so you have some age-appropriate toys to play with." For a few minutos I was able to put him down and I came back downstairs with a teddy urso that I had found. I knelt down in front of him and said "look what I found!" He took it from me and walked up to give me a hug. I said "you're such a sweet little guy!"
Someone knocked on the door and I noticed that it was my mother; so I didn't think twice about letting her in. She said excitedly "I'm so happy you're início Michael! I've missed you so much!" I hugged her and said "I missed you too mother! I have someone that I want you to meet!" She followed me into the living room and I said "mother; this is Christian!" She said "hi there Christian!" Christian immediately ran out of the room and I didn't know where he was going to go because I haven't shown him around the inside of the house yet. I knew there wasn't far for him to go because my bedroom was at the end of the hallway.
Mother asked "why is he here Michael?" I said "I visited and orphanage a couple of days atrás while I was in Londres and saw him there. He was the only young child there and the owner of the orphanage told me that he's painfully shy. She was amazed when he came up to me and wanted me to pick him up. He didn't want to let go of me and she begged me to foster him until she can find him a home. Obviously I agreed to do so and I guess it's going to be just him and me for a few months!" Mother didn't look happy at all and said "I don't know about this Michael! Are you sure you can handle this? You have to remember that you're a 29-year-old man without a wife or girlfriend to help you! You've never even babysat any children before! Do you even know how to change a diaper?" I said "yes mother; it took me forever the first few times. I've gotten the hang of it por now though! Have a little faith in me mother! I may be 29 and Hollywood's most eligible bachelor; but I'm not clueless! I should probably go see where he is and I don't think he's going to come back out here if you're here because he has a terrible fear of women!" She said "okay; I'll give the benefit of the doubt with this foster parent thing. I'm just glad it's only temporary because I don't think you're ready for any of this! You should find yourself a nice wife and settle down Michael! I've always wanted that for you!"
She hugged me and I said "I amor you mother" as she walked out the door. I walked down the hallway and into my bedroom. I looked around for Christian and started to get worried because I couldn't find him! As I walked past bed, I saw tiny feet sticking out from underneath it. I crawled underneath the cama and said "there you are! What are you doing under here silly goose?" He blinked his eyes at me and I said "it's dirty under here. It's getting dark; let's get you something to eat."
I playfully pulled him out from underneath the cama por his feet and he started laughing. I asked "what's so funny?" I sat down on the floor and smiled as I asked "your feet aren't ticklish; are they?" I think he knew that I was going to tickle him because he covered his feet with his hands. I said "I can still tickle them!" I tickled his feet and he started hysterically laughing. I laughed and teased "ha- ha; I know you're ticklish!" I jokingly said "I know you're ticklish; you're in trouble now!"
The segundo I said that, his look of laughter turned to fear and he ran to the corner of the room. I walked up to him to see what was wrong and when I knelt down to his level he flinched! I whispered "what the matter? You're not really in trouble; I was just joking." I picked him up and he was shaking. I said "it's okay buddy! You don't have to worry about me! I don't have a mean bone in my body! What do you say I get you something you eat?"
I took him into the cozinha and realized that I didn't have anything that I could make him that wouldn't take hours to cook. I looked in the freezer and said "it's probably not the best idea; but I have some ice cream!" He gave me a confused look and I knew exactly what he was thinking! "Is he really going to let me have ice cream for dinner?" I brought him over to the mesa, tabela and passed him a bowl of ice cream.
I think I officially won him over with the ice cream for jantar thing! I still don't think he can believe that he actually had ice cream for dinner. After he was done eating, I said "maybe I should give you a bath!" I picked him up and brought him upstairs. He seemed a little disappointed that I didn't have anything for him to play with. I said "hey; wait a second!" I ran to my bedroom and came back with a small "super soaker" water gun. Let's just say the entire bathroom was covered with water por the time he was ready to go to bed!
We went into my bedroom because I obviously didn't have a room set up for him. I turned the TV on and put him under the covers. I said "good night Christian." He responded "night Mike!" I smiled because I couldn't believe that he actually said something to me! I hope my mother's right! I hope I can handle this!
