Life As It Is

Billie Joe stood backstage at the end of one of Green Day's concerts, his face flushed and full of sweat. Ella chuckled at his appearance, throwing a towel his way, watching him treat the towel as if it were the center of the Earth.

Mike, Tre and the rest of the Green Day live crew were scattered all around the backstage area, meeting any fans who had caught them before they opted to leave.

"What?" Billie Joe asked his girlfriend who was staring at him.

"Nothing...just amused how any girl would give to lick your sweat," she said, laughing as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Two teenage girls walked up to Billie Joe, both of them with brown hair and one of them wearing glasses. The two had big grins on their faces and each held something for the front man to sign for them.

"Hey," Billie Joe said with a grin as Ella crossed her arms, watching the girls staring at him.

"Hi," they both said, practically shaking but the grins stayed glued onto their face, too excited to meet him.

"What's your name?" he asked the girl with the glasses, who would've died right there.

"Leah but uhh just put Moose," she said, smiling.

"Cool name, Moose." Her eyes continued to light up.

"I'm Elana," the other girl said as he signed her Green Day album.

They turned to Ella, shocking the woman and asked her for an autograph as Moose pulled out her digital camera as well, taking the picture of the five.

"Where are Mike and Tre?" Elana asked.

Phew. They know more than one member.

"Uhh...right over there."

Billie Joe pointed to Mike and Tre signing autographs for two other eager teenagers.

"Nice meeting you, Steph and Jenni," Tre said as the girls said good-bye, walking over to the front man.

"Bye," Moose and Elana said, walking off.

"Watch when we get this on GSB," Elana said with a grin, now walking over to Mike and Tre.

Billie Joe and Ella shrugged, concluding that what they were talking about was probably a Green Day fan site.

The rest of the night was a complete blur, from signing autographs to getting onto the tour bus, taking yet another break from touring until sometime in April.

* * *
On March twentieth, Ella officially turned thirty-four. She awoke to Billie Joe fluttering her and her stomach with kisses.

"Mmm..." she groaned. "I'm thirty-four, woohoo."

"What's the big deal?"

"That's almost half way to forty."

"I thought we were celebrating your birthday, not your pre-mid-life crisis..." he said sarcastically, making the corners of her mouth turn up.

"When you turn thirty-four, you'll understand," she said, putting her hands on his cheeks, drawing him in close for a quick kiss.

"You still want to have your little birthday treat?" Obviously referring to sex.

She giggled. "You're a complete loser, but I love you."

"So is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a yes."

Their lips met happily and Billie Joe put a hand on Ella's waist, pulling her even closer and kissed her neck hungrily.

"Happy birthday, El," he whispered in her ear, making her smile.

An hour later, they were up and ready to go. Ella sighed and knew that Mike would be coming to the celebration but didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't just un-invite him due to the events that had happened a month prior to that day.

The birthday girl made her rounds as "Holiday in Cambodia" by The Dead Kennedys suddenly blasted through the house and said hello to whoever came. She stopped to see Laura on Tre's lap, sitting in the living room, both talking.

"Hey El," Laura said, giggling because her new boyfriend had slapped her on her thighs.

"Hey..." she said with a smug smile on her face as Tre obviously couldn't have her on his lap anymore.

"Okay get your fat ass off of me, Laur."

"I do not have a fat ass. You're just too skinny."

Tre grinned up at her as she stood up. "I'm only kidding, babe. Relax. Your ass is fine to me." He reached over smacked it.

A confused Billie Joe walked over and snaked his arm around Ella's waist.

"Scared much?" he whispered in her ear, giving her that tingly feeling people only felt when they really liked someone.

The couple turned around and headed to someone else. On the way to going to go talk to Jason White, Ella spotted Holly and a scared Mike just a few feet away from her.

The now thirty-four year old pregnant woman hadn't seen much of the bassist after the gang headed back to California. Billie Joe was struggling with the fact he felt like he was faking it whenever he said Mike's name during the shows, everything was still a mess after what seemed like forever.

She knew Mike wanted to get back with Holly. He had told her that directly. But she didn't know how to even get them into the same room except for her birthday party. Billie Joe carelessly walked past them and the only thing Ella heard was Mike saying hello to Holly.

An hour later, Billie Joe, Jason, and Tre went into the kitchen only to come out revealing a big chocolate cake. That of course, was the biggest craving any pregnant woman could have.

Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' and applauded as Ella blew out the candles and Billie Joe grabbed her and kissed her as he had done on his last birthday. She blushed as they cut the first cake, feeling like a teenager again.

The thirty-three year old man reached over to the cake, scooped up some and put it right on her face, making everyone laugh, including her. She then reached over and did the same, putting it all over his face and neck, suddenly starting a cake fight.

People suddenly started throwing cake around, smashing it on their clothing or face or even their mouths. By the time everyone was messy enough, the cake was practically gone.

Ella slowly cleaned off the cake on her arm as Holly and Mike walked up to her, hand in hand with grins on their faces.

"Please tell me you guys are back together," she said as Holly nodded.

"During the cake fight I started viciously throwing it at him and then we had a moment." The happy pregnant woman giggled like a teenager as Mike licked some of the cake off her cheek.

"Aww that's great!" Ella was excited. Holly was back to the same bubbly, excited person she had known for so long.

"Yeah, so we started talking and we sort of worked things out for now..." Mike squeezed Holly's hand.

"I hope we're not stealing your thunder..."

Holly made a face.

"Not at all. My birthday has been memorable anyway."

"Yeah it's been like sixteen years since you lost your virginity to Billie." Holly suddenly blurted out as Mike's jaw dropped.

"Whoa. I never knew that!"

Ella's eyes widened as she hit her best friend.

"Well...we had that bad fight with Alicia and he had bought me this really expensive camera and we eventually got back together by—"

"Having sex," the bassist finished.

She sighed and nodded. The couple that was now back together decided to head off home together and the happy woman would come tomorrow for her belongings.

Ella smiled as Billie Joe walked into the kitchen.

"So I hear Holly and Mike got back together."

"Yeah, looks like your vicious cake fight was worth it," she chuckled.

The party was practically dead now. Laura and Tre had scurried off home, each still covered in cake. The house was dead quiet; it was just the two of them now.

"Look what I saved us..." The Green Day front man opened up the refrigerator to reveal a big piece of chocolate cake which made his girlfriend's eyes widen.

"How'd you manage to save that?" she shrieked, running to get it out onto the kitchen counter.

"Well when Tre was viciously throwing chocolate at me I cut it and put it into a plate before anyone could take more of it."

He gave her a big grin as they both got two forks and ate the cake together.

"I'd cue "There Goes My Hero" by The Foo Fighters right about now," Ella chuckled softly.

The couple finished the cake and Billie Joe threw the plate into the sink. The birthday girl gave him a look.

"What?"

"You're leaving it in there to rot for two days?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Ella shook her head, laughing. "I don't know how you got off living alone."

He went closer to her, inches away from her ear and whispered, "I'm a dirty, dirty boy."

She giggled and turned around pulling her down closer to her, sharing a long kiss with him.

"As dorky as this sounds," she said when they parted. "I lost my virginity to you the second to last time I shared my birthday with you."

She was embarrassed with what she had just said and put her head on his chest, making him laugh softly and put his chin on her head. He closed his eyes.

"Yeah...because we had had that fight with Alicia and it got all fucked up but, we're here now—together."

Ella put her head up, looking at him. "You were a bad, bad boy."

He laughed, whispering in her ear, "I still am. You know what I did on TRL in Germany."

She giggled again as he attempted to pick her up. And by some strange luck he did, not breaking his back and got her all the way upstairs, slowly letting her down on the bed. Ella watched as Billie Joe crawled onto the bed, carefully kissing her growing stomach, her chest and then her pink lips. She carefully pulled his shirt over his head and giggled as she threw it on the floor.

He grabbed a piece of chocolate left on her cheek and put it in his mouth like a complete idiot, making her laugh. Ella grabbed a hold of his crunchy black hair, pulling him towards her lips as he grinned at her.

The day after her thirty-fourth birthday would mark six months since she and her boyfriend had conceived their first child together. It would mark six months since they had first met once again. They never expected to end up where they were now.

This birthday was memorable. And there were more memorable days coming their way.