When He Came Around, chapter 32
It was pushing to about two weeks since Adrienne had left the Armstrong household. And although Billie Joe had spoken to both Joey and Jacob about everything, he still felt as if there was that lack of family values in his household. Picking up the phone, he dialed the familiar number. "Hello?"
"Mercedes?"
The woman on the other line smiled. "Hey Billie. How are you?"
"Fine... listen, would it be alright if the boys and I come over?"
"Sure. Mike's due home in a bit. You can all stay for dinner and if Jacob would like, you can always let them sleep here. It wouldn't bother me in the least."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Billie ruffled the hair on his head and then looked to his boys playing outside. "That sounds great. I'll be over shortly."
"The door's open if I don't hear the doorbell."
"Why won't you hear it?" Billie asked with a curious laugh.
"Come on Billie, you're a father of two boys. You're well aware of the noise level at some days."
Billie laughed. "Maybe I've just gotten used to it."
"Or maybe it's that damn loud punk music," she teased.
"Very funny. I'll see you soon."
"Take it easy until."
Billie hung up the phone first and went outside with his two boys. "Hey, you guys want to spend the night over at Mike's house?"
Joey and Jacob's face lit up. "Can we?" Joey asked.
"Sure... let's go get you guys packed for the night."
Billie scooped Jacob in his arms and followed Joey inside. The three Armstrong men went upstairs and when everything was ready, they made their way outside in the sunny weather. Driving to the Pritchard household had now become something that Billie Joe could do with his eyes closed. Once there, he saw that Mike was already home.
As Joey and Jacob leaped out of the car, Billie Joe followed them and Mike opened the door. "Billie! Get in here!" he yelled with a silly grin on his face.
Billie watched Joey and Jacob's face drop when they reached the top of the stairs and the main entrance. "What?"
"Daddy! Look!" Jacob screamed.
Billie quickened his pace and ran up the stairs. "What the hell... " he started but was cut off guard when an enormous dog ran through the living room. "What is that?"
"It's my pet!" Estelle called from the other room.
"That's not a pet! It's a beast!" Billie said as he closed the front door behind him to make sure that the beast wasn't unleashed to the public.
Mercedes came in the room with the dishtowel in her hands and a forced grin on her face. "Honestly Mike... you could have at least told me," she said to him.
The bassists rubbed the back of his neck. "I know... but I didn't really know myself that I was going to adopt it until Estelle picked it out."
"When you said 'pet' I thought you meant like, a fish or something."
"So did I," he finished looking at his wife.
Billie Joe stood with his two boys and saw that Mercedes picked up William from where he was playing on the floor. Joey and Liam were clinging onto Mike's legs and the scene before them was almost comical. Everyone in the room was keeping their own distance from the animal, save for Estelle who was laughing her head off at everything that the dog did... if you could call it a dog.
"What is it daddy?" Liam asked.
Mike shook his head. Mercedes looked at the dog and then at Billie with a blank expression. Turning her attention back to the animal that had become the apple of Estelle's eye, she spoke with doubt. "It's a mutt... a saint Bernard mixed with... "
"Horse?" Billie asked. "That's not a dog... it's like a bear!"
"What's its name?" Joey Armstrong asked as he took a step closer to the dog.
"Cugo?" Billie stated.
"Jimmy!"
Everyone looked at Estelle who had named her new pet. "Can we call him that?"
Mike smiled. "You know that the dog's a female, right Estelle?"
"So?"
"You want to call her 'Jimmy'?" Mike asked, just to make sure.
Estelle grinned and hugged Jimmy. "That thing's huge," Billie said. "It might eat you guys while you sleep."
Mercedes laughed and walked over to Billie and his boys. As she came over, Billie looked at William. "Can I?" he asked, motioning to be able to hold him.
Mercedes nodded and Billie wrapped his arms around his godson. "Hey you," he cooed.
The baby gurgled and Mercedes had already taken Joey and Jacob's bags and put them on the couch and was going upstairs to get blankets and pillows for later on, knowing that they would build some sort of tent or fort.
Mike opened the back door for Jimmy to run out and play in the open space as Estelle stayed inside, but glued to the window, watching her new pet. "So you bought a dog," was all Billie said.
"Yeah... I bought a dog."
"I thought you'd never actually get a dog, considering how you feel about them," Billie said with a laugh.
Mike rolled his eyes. "Well, you know, I figured if you're nice to them, when the time comes to take over the world, they'll be merciful with me and my loved ones."
"God forbid you two are in your thirties," Mercedes laughed as she came into the room.
The boys had joined Estelle and they were all playing and talking about the dog. Joey Marciano and Estelle were sitting on the couch, mostly talking about animals and pets as the rest of them were running around and playing. Mercedes took William out of Billie's arms as she passed him something to drink. Accepting it thankfully, Billie turned back to his conversation with Mike.
"Any news?" Mike asked.
Billie averted his eyes towards the table and frowned. "Nothing."
Mercedes had been watching the two friends talk in the reflection of the window as she was doing the finishing touches on the birthday cake for the twins. She hadn't ever recalled seeing Billie this down and alone. Frowning herself, Mercedes turned when William poked her face softly. She smiled and puckered her lips, making her boy giggle.
The sounds of the young Pritchard made Billie lighten up a bit. "He's growing pretty quickly."
"Tell me about it," Mike said. "I've always wanted a little boy... I mean, both you and Tre have mini-versions of you, and I was always a little jealous from that. I'm just... "
"I know the feeling," Billie Joe replied, smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. He thought back to how he felt when him and Adrienne had brought Joey home from the hospital for the first time. A feeling that couldn't be duplicated.
Shaking the memory from his mind, Billie stood up. "Smells delicious," he said as he motioned to Mercedes' cooking.
She smiled and bowed her head and then Estelle came in with Joey. "Can we feed Jimmy?" he asked.
"Can we give Jimmy a bath?" Estelle blurted out.
"Estelle... " Mike warned.
Mercedes laughed and then let William walk around on the ground. "It would be best to give Jimmy a bath though Mike. And I'm a pro."
"You're a pro at giving dogs a bath?" Billie asked.
Mercedes nodded. "I've had at least two dogs in my house since I was born. I'm a pro," she repeated.
With Estelle's excited face lighting up the entire room, Mike was outnumbered. "Alright... well, just be careful."
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "It's me here. Just make sure dinner doesn't burn. Joey, are you going to help us?"
The older of the Armstrong children looked up at Mercedes, quite excitedly. "You want me to help?" he asked.
Mercedes smiled. "Of course! Estelle and I need a strong man with us."
Joey blushed and Estelle grabbed his arm and led him outside. Smiling, Mercedes looked at Mike and Billie. "Ten bucks says that they'll hook up when they're older," she laughed.
"No way! I'm not having my daughter date an Armstrong," Mike joked as Billie punched him in the arm.
Mercedes followed the two pre-teens outside and then proceeded to wash the half-dog, half-horse beast, Jimmy.
*
Billie left around ten at night and decided to go for a walk when he got home. He periodically went on walks and gathered his thoughts and tonight was no different. He did enjoy the fact that he was alone in his home, and there was no one there to bother him... yet no one there to listen to him.
When Billie locked the front door, he went up to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, slamming the bottle of alcohol down on his night table. He was passed drunk... a state that he hadn't been in in a while. He looked around his room and let the moonlight poor in. Where was he? Sure... he was in his home... but it was empty.
Had he drove Adrienne away? Or was it their lack of communication and her suspicion that drove her away?
Was it because that deep down inside, he really did love Mercedes?
But she was married... happily with children. She was out of his reach... and Billie had never actually had something out of his reach. People used to tell him that playing at Gilman was something he could never do or have... and he made it his next goal to do just that. Anything that his heart has ever really desired, he's gotten.
Why was everything so denied to him as of late?
Why was his life falling apart?
Worse... why was he making his own life fall apart?
His eyes were now quite red from the strained crying, but he didn't care. He needed someone. He needed something more than music now... he needed someone to listen, to care and to love. But the only two woman that he knew that were able to give him what he needed were gone. And it was that thought that made Billie take the bottle and throw it against the wall in rage.
Two woman.
One was already his... Adrienne. His wife and the mother of their beautiful children.
And then there was Mercedes. Mike's wife... the mother of Mike's children... off limits.
But for Billie Joe Armstrong, wasn't it always the things that were off limits that attracted him most?
So was it just that? Was it the fact that because he knew he couldn't have her... was that why he wanted her so badly?
No.
You felt something that first time you saw her in the studio... when she was completely single.
Rubbing his eyes, Billie didn't know what to do. Maybe... there was nothing for it.
*
"Where the hell did you get that?" Mike asked.
Mercedes looked up and saw that he was holding the green necklace that Billie had given her for Christmas. She smiled briefly but that was wiped off her face when she saw Mike's worried eyes. "What?"
"Well?" he asked softly.
Mercedes tilted her head. "Billie gave that to me for Christmas."
"He did?"
Mercedes nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh... "
"What?"
Mike set the necklace down and then turned away from her. "Mike?" she spoke again. "Mike?"
The bassist removed his shirt and crawled into bed. Mercedes stood there, unsure of what was going on in his mind. Surely he doesn't think that...
"Mike."
The blue-eyed man looked up and there was nothing on his face. A blank expression. "Do you... you know... " he started.
Mercedes came closer to him, but only to have Mike withdraw from her. "I know that I haven't done some great things as a husband, but I... I do... "
"Can you hear yourself?"
Mike looked up at her. He didn't know what to say. Mercedes frowned and wrapped her arms around Mike's bare chest. "It was only a gift Mike. I do love him, but not like that. And don't think about whatever happened in the past. I've put some things behind me... and so should you. I love you and that's all there is to it. There's no hidden secrets, no love conspiracies... just me, you and then everyone else."
Mike looked down at Mercedes' pregnant form. A form that had been brought along because of him. And as she looked up at him, Mike smiled, wondering why such a thought could come up in his head. Billie Joe was his best friend. He would never do anything to hurt him. "Come here you," Mike told her as he lay her down.
Lingering above her, Mike kissed her softly all along her body and finally took rest, pressed against her. And for the rest of the evening, Mercedes just listened to everything that was going on in Mike's head. His worries, his secrets, his words just spilled out. And for the evening, a new level was set in their marriage and it was as if it was sealed in stone; Mike and Mercedes were each other's true and only loves.
"Mercedes?"
The woman on the other line smiled. "Hey Billie. How are you?"
"Fine... listen, would it be alright if the boys and I come over?"
"Sure. Mike's due home in a bit. You can all stay for dinner and if Jacob would like, you can always let them sleep here. It wouldn't bother me in the least."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Billie ruffled the hair on his head and then looked to his boys playing outside. "That sounds great. I'll be over shortly."
"The door's open if I don't hear the doorbell."
"Why won't you hear it?" Billie asked with a curious laugh.
"Come on Billie, you're a father of two boys. You're well aware of the noise level at some days."
Billie laughed. "Maybe I've just gotten used to it."
"Or maybe it's that damn loud punk music," she teased.
"Very funny. I'll see you soon."
"Take it easy until."
Billie hung up the phone first and went outside with his two boys. "Hey, you guys want to spend the night over at Mike's house?"
Joey and Jacob's face lit up. "Can we?" Joey asked.
"Sure... let's go get you guys packed for the night."
Billie scooped Jacob in his arms and followed Joey inside. The three Armstrong men went upstairs and when everything was ready, they made their way outside in the sunny weather. Driving to the Pritchard household had now become something that Billie Joe could do with his eyes closed. Once there, he saw that Mike was already home.
As Joey and Jacob leaped out of the car, Billie Joe followed them and Mike opened the door. "Billie! Get in here!" he yelled with a silly grin on his face.
Billie watched Joey and Jacob's face drop when they reached the top of the stairs and the main entrance. "What?"
"Daddy! Look!" Jacob screamed.
Billie quickened his pace and ran up the stairs. "What the hell... " he started but was cut off guard when an enormous dog ran through the living room. "What is that?"
"It's my pet!" Estelle called from the other room.
"That's not a pet! It's a beast!" Billie said as he closed the front door behind him to make sure that the beast wasn't unleashed to the public.
Mercedes came in the room with the dishtowel in her hands and a forced grin on her face. "Honestly Mike... you could have at least told me," she said to him.
The bassists rubbed the back of his neck. "I know... but I didn't really know myself that I was going to adopt it until Estelle picked it out."
"When you said 'pet' I thought you meant like, a fish or something."
"So did I," he finished looking at his wife.
Billie Joe stood with his two boys and saw that Mercedes picked up William from where he was playing on the floor. Joey and Liam were clinging onto Mike's legs and the scene before them was almost comical. Everyone in the room was keeping their own distance from the animal, save for Estelle who was laughing her head off at everything that the dog did... if you could call it a dog.
"What is it daddy?" Liam asked.
Mike shook his head. Mercedes looked at the dog and then at Billie with a blank expression. Turning her attention back to the animal that had become the apple of Estelle's eye, she spoke with doubt. "It's a mutt... a saint Bernard mixed with... "
"Horse?" Billie asked. "That's not a dog... it's like a bear!"
"What's its name?" Joey Armstrong asked as he took a step closer to the dog.
"Cugo?" Billie stated.
"Jimmy!"
Everyone looked at Estelle who had named her new pet. "Can we call him that?"
Mike smiled. "You know that the dog's a female, right Estelle?"
"So?"
"You want to call her 'Jimmy'?" Mike asked, just to make sure.
Estelle grinned and hugged Jimmy. "That thing's huge," Billie said. "It might eat you guys while you sleep."
Mercedes laughed and walked over to Billie and his boys. As she came over, Billie looked at William. "Can I?" he asked, motioning to be able to hold him.
Mercedes nodded and Billie wrapped his arms around his godson. "Hey you," he cooed.
The baby gurgled and Mercedes had already taken Joey and Jacob's bags and put them on the couch and was going upstairs to get blankets and pillows for later on, knowing that they would build some sort of tent or fort.
Mike opened the back door for Jimmy to run out and play in the open space as Estelle stayed inside, but glued to the window, watching her new pet. "So you bought a dog," was all Billie said.
"Yeah... I bought a dog."
"I thought you'd never actually get a dog, considering how you feel about them," Billie said with a laugh.
Mike rolled his eyes. "Well, you know, I figured if you're nice to them, when the time comes to take over the world, they'll be merciful with me and my loved ones."
"God forbid you two are in your thirties," Mercedes laughed as she came into the room.
The boys had joined Estelle and they were all playing and talking about the dog. Joey Marciano and Estelle were sitting on the couch, mostly talking about animals and pets as the rest of them were running around and playing. Mercedes took William out of Billie's arms as she passed him something to drink. Accepting it thankfully, Billie turned back to his conversation with Mike.
"Any news?" Mike asked.
Billie averted his eyes towards the table and frowned. "Nothing."
Mercedes had been watching the two friends talk in the reflection of the window as she was doing the finishing touches on the birthday cake for the twins. She hadn't ever recalled seeing Billie this down and alone. Frowning herself, Mercedes turned when William poked her face softly. She smiled and puckered her lips, making her boy giggle.
The sounds of the young Pritchard made Billie lighten up a bit. "He's growing pretty quickly."
"Tell me about it," Mike said. "I've always wanted a little boy... I mean, both you and Tre have mini-versions of you, and I was always a little jealous from that. I'm just... "
"I know the feeling," Billie Joe replied, smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. He thought back to how he felt when him and Adrienne had brought Joey home from the hospital for the first time. A feeling that couldn't be duplicated.
Shaking the memory from his mind, Billie stood up. "Smells delicious," he said as he motioned to Mercedes' cooking.
She smiled and bowed her head and then Estelle came in with Joey. "Can we feed Jimmy?" he asked.
"Can we give Jimmy a bath?" Estelle blurted out.
"Estelle... " Mike warned.
Mercedes laughed and then let William walk around on the ground. "It would be best to give Jimmy a bath though Mike. And I'm a pro."
"You're a pro at giving dogs a bath?" Billie asked.
Mercedes nodded. "I've had at least two dogs in my house since I was born. I'm a pro," she repeated.
With Estelle's excited face lighting up the entire room, Mike was outnumbered. "Alright... well, just be careful."
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "It's me here. Just make sure dinner doesn't burn. Joey, are you going to help us?"
The older of the Armstrong children looked up at Mercedes, quite excitedly. "You want me to help?" he asked.
Mercedes smiled. "Of course! Estelle and I need a strong man with us."
Joey blushed and Estelle grabbed his arm and led him outside. Smiling, Mercedes looked at Mike and Billie. "Ten bucks says that they'll hook up when they're older," she laughed.
"No way! I'm not having my daughter date an Armstrong," Mike joked as Billie punched him in the arm.
Mercedes followed the two pre-teens outside and then proceeded to wash the half-dog, half-horse beast, Jimmy.
*
Billie left around ten at night and decided to go for a walk when he got home. He periodically went on walks and gathered his thoughts and tonight was no different. He did enjoy the fact that he was alone in his home, and there was no one there to bother him... yet no one there to listen to him.
When Billie locked the front door, he went up to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, slamming the bottle of alcohol down on his night table. He was passed drunk... a state that he hadn't been in in a while. He looked around his room and let the moonlight poor in. Where was he? Sure... he was in his home... but it was empty.
Had he drove Adrienne away? Or was it their lack of communication and her suspicion that drove her away?
Was it because that deep down inside, he really did love Mercedes?
But she was married... happily with children. She was out of his reach... and Billie had never actually had something out of his reach. People used to tell him that playing at Gilman was something he could never do or have... and he made it his next goal to do just that. Anything that his heart has ever really desired, he's gotten.
Why was everything so denied to him as of late?
Why was his life falling apart?
Worse... why was he making his own life fall apart?
His eyes were now quite red from the strained crying, but he didn't care. He needed someone. He needed something more than music now... he needed someone to listen, to care and to love. But the only two woman that he knew that were able to give him what he needed were gone. And it was that thought that made Billie take the bottle and throw it against the wall in rage.
Two woman.
One was already his... Adrienne. His wife and the mother of their beautiful children.
And then there was Mercedes. Mike's wife... the mother of Mike's children... off limits.
But for Billie Joe Armstrong, wasn't it always the things that were off limits that attracted him most?
So was it just that? Was it the fact that because he knew he couldn't have her... was that why he wanted her so badly?
No.
You felt something that first time you saw her in the studio... when she was completely single.
Rubbing his eyes, Billie didn't know what to do. Maybe... there was nothing for it.
*
"Where the hell did you get that?" Mike asked.
Mercedes looked up and saw that he was holding the green necklace that Billie had given her for Christmas. She smiled briefly but that was wiped off her face when she saw Mike's worried eyes. "What?"
"Well?" he asked softly.
Mercedes tilted her head. "Billie gave that to me for Christmas."
"He did?"
Mercedes nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh... "
"What?"
Mike set the necklace down and then turned away from her. "Mike?" she spoke again. "Mike?"
The bassist removed his shirt and crawled into bed. Mercedes stood there, unsure of what was going on in his mind. Surely he doesn't think that...
"Mike."
The blue-eyed man looked up and there was nothing on his face. A blank expression. "Do you... you know... " he started.
Mercedes came closer to him, but only to have Mike withdraw from her. "I know that I haven't done some great things as a husband, but I... I do... "
"Can you hear yourself?"
Mike looked up at her. He didn't know what to say. Mercedes frowned and wrapped her arms around Mike's bare chest. "It was only a gift Mike. I do love him, but not like that. And don't think about whatever happened in the past. I've put some things behind me... and so should you. I love you and that's all there is to it. There's no hidden secrets, no love conspiracies... just me, you and then everyone else."
Mike looked down at Mercedes' pregnant form. A form that had been brought along because of him. And as she looked up at him, Mike smiled, wondering why such a thought could come up in his head. Billie Joe was his best friend. He would never do anything to hurt him. "Come here you," Mike told her as he lay her down.
Lingering above her, Mike kissed her softly all along her body and finally took rest, pressed against her. And for the rest of the evening, Mercedes just listened to everything that was going on in Mike's head. His worries, his secrets, his words just spilled out. And for the evening, a new level was set in their marriage and it was as if it was sealed in stone; Mike and Mercedes were each other's true and only loves.
