Feels Like Home

Billie Joe held his wine glass as people milled about him. Mike was standing next to him quietly and watched the people with Billie Joe. Every person in the house was wearing black and every person was speaking in low tones.

"Hey guys." Jason White came over to join them, his eyes sad with the passing of his grandmother, whom he cared for deeply.

"Hey Jason. How're you doing?" Billie Joe asked him as Jason took a seat on the windowsill next to him and Mike.

Jason shrugged. "I feel sad, you know, but she's in a better place now and she's not in anymore pain. I kinda feel like I'm at peace or something."

Billie Joe nodded with understanding. "So, uh, what do you want to do with the tour? Do you want to postpone it or whatever? It's up to you."

Jason sighed heavily.

"You don't have to answer now, you know. Just whenever or whatever." Billie Joe quickly added not wanting to add onto the ugliness of the day.

"I want to keep going. I can't just sit here and do nothing and wallow in self pity. Plus, Grandma was never one to have us sitting around either. It was either do something or get out." Jason said with a slight laugh. "Thanks though guys." He fiddled with his wedding ring on his hand.

"How'd it go with Adrienne?" He looked at Billie Joe expectantly. Billie Joe could feel Mike waiting for his answer too.

"Good." Billie Joe answered simply as he looked down into the dark depths of his drink.

Mike and Jason leaned in as if he were about to divulge more. "And..." Mike prompted him.

"It went fine. We're back together, her kids love me and I love them and that's it." Billie Joe was not enjoying talking about his relationship with everyone at this point. He still wanted to keep it to himself. He set his glass down on a nearby table, it was half full.

"So it was fine." Jason repeated. Mike and Tre' had filled him in on what was going on.

"Yes." Billie Joe was beginning to get aggravated. "Now if you will leave me alone for two damn minutes, I want to go call Adrienne." He walked away from the two.

Tre' took Billie Joe's empty place. "We are sooo good dude." He told Mike as Mike nodded. "We didn't even think about how her kids would react to him but it's all good because we're good. I'm serious, we need to go into this booty business together."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Billie Joe stepped outside on the back patio and searched for Adrienne's house number on his cell phone. He badly wanted a cigarette but there were too many kids running around for him to light up here. The phone rang a few times before somebody finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Joey, guess who."

"BILLIE JOE " Joey screamed into the receiver so loudly that Billie Joe had to move the phone away from his ear. "Grandma said you wouldn't call because you never call but I told her you would and you did so you showed her. Are you coming back? I have a game Saturday, can you come? No Sydney, I'm talking to him."

Billie Joe laughed. It was something about the way Joey said and worded things that just made him laugh. "I don't know right now. Let me talk to your mom first and then I'll talk to you and Syd as long as you want."

"Okay MOM "

Billie Joe heard footsteps and mumbled voices. He could tell that the phone was being transferred from one set of hands to the next before a tired sigh met his ears before a frazzled, "Hello."

"Hey Adie."

"Billie Joe. Oh, I'm so glad you called. How'd the funeral go? Is Jason okay?"

Billie Joe gave a small grin at Adrienne's concern for others. "It went as well as any funeral could go and Jason is taking it pretty well. That's kinda why I'm calling right now. I was going to call later tonight but I don't know if I'll have the chance."

"Why?" Her voice was concerned.

"We were prepared to postpone part of the tour so Jason could be with his family and all, you know. I told you that."

"Yeah,"

"I personally thought that was what he was going to do but he wants to go on with it. He wants to, like, I guess play his way through losing Sadie."
"I could understand that. Jason's not one to just sit around and do nothing. So, that means we'll get to see you when?"

"I don't really know." Billie Joe answered truthfully. "I want to say Thanksgiving but I think we have shows before and after it here in California so probably Christmas." Billie Joe pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's so long though and I want to see you and the kids. How's it going over there?"

"Fine, I guess. You've only been gone a day so things really haven't changed. They miss you though."

"I miss them too." Billie Joe watched as a toddler streaked across the lawn, his tiny suit legs flopping around his feet as he chased a golden retriever his giggle was mixing in Billie Joe's ears with Adrienne's voice.

"But we'll see you soon, I know we will. Even if it's Christmas, so be it and you better get them good gifts to help woo them over back to you."

"Blackmail your kids? That's just wrong Adrienne." Billie Joe mock chided as he continued to watch the toddler run after the dog.

"Maybe so, but all parents do it. I do it when I need to. No, they'll be waiting up for you instead of Santa I can tell you that. Sydney has asked me nonstop today when you were coming back."

"What'd you tell her?"

"I told her you'd call later and she could talk to you."

"My girls miss me." Billie Joe teased as he started to rise out of his seat when the little boy got dangerously close to the concrete part of the patio and nearly tripped.

"Yeah we do."

"Shit " Billie Joe, forgetting his phone call, jumped completely out of his seat and ran to the little boy, who had tripped over his pants and fell on the concrete hard. His wails were loud and painful as Billie Joe gently picked him up and checked him out.

"Lemme see." Billie Joe leaned back so he could get a better look of the toddler's injuries as he was positioned in Billie Joe's arms, fat tears rolling down the little boy's face . "You're okay. You got a scratch but you're okay." He bounced the wailing boy in his arms as they started back to the house where several people were filing out to see what the commotion was all about.

"Zack?" A woman raced to Billie Joe, her hand on her heart. "Oh Zack, what happened?" She took Zack from Billie Joe's arms and began to calm him with her motherly charms.

"He fell chasing the dog but he's okay. He just got a scratch." Billie Joe told her as she gave him a grateful look.

"I'm so glad you were out here. My teenager was supposed to be but I don't know where she went. Thank you. Oh, you're okay." The woman cradled her son who was beginning to calm down.

Remembering what he was doing before Zack had fallen, Billie Joe hurried back to the chair to retrieve his cell phone, only to get a dial tone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adrienne gave the phone a curious look. One moment Billie Joe was talking to her, the next she heard yells and the phone went dead. She didn't know whether she should call him or have him call her.

"Can we talk to Billie Joe?" Joey asked as he and Sydney came over to her.

"His phone died so none of us can talk to him." Adrienne told them. "He'll call later though." 'I hope.' she added mentally. "Joey, go get your stuff so we can finish your homework."

As Joey went to go get the last bit of his homework, Adrienne sighed at the stacks of ungraded papers on the kitchen table she needed to finish. She had been so distracted by Billie Joe the previous week that she had forgotten to grade papers.

"When's Daddy coming home?" Sydney asked as she climbed into the chair next to her mother.

"I don't know baby." Adrienne told her. Adrienne had not been correcting Sydney's term for Billie Joe but she knew she should. "He's very busy with work but he'll call us and see us as soon as he can. He loves you and misses you very much and he wanted me to tell you that."

"Me too." Sydney replied in her small voice.

Adrienne nodded. "Me too." She set the phone down on the charger, she would have to have faith that he would call her back.