Best Man

"Tell me again why we're cramped in one car for the next seven hours when we could've chartered a plane and been there in one?" came a restless Tre as he tilted his head back and yawned.

Billie Joe turned to his right to stare at the drummer who shared the backseat of Caroline's car with him.

The four of them -- Caroline, Mike, Billie Joe, and Tre -- were all headed out of Buffalo to the Adirondack region. More specifically to the small town of Peru, where Caroline's birth father lived.

"Because we don't want to make a snobby first impression on Caroline's father by showing up in a private jet we hired," Mike retorted from the front, passenger seat; his right leg bent with his foot propped up on the dashboard.

Flashing her fiancé a smile, Caroline returned her eyes to the pavement of the I-90. "We're only, like, an hour and a half outside of Buffalo. We just drove by Rochester," she muttered, avoiding eye contact with the drummer via the rearview mirror. "So, only about six hours or less."

"Can we at least stop soon to get something to eat? We left Buffalo at seven in the morning and I'm starving for breakfast."

"What are you? Five? Can't you wait until we at least reach Albany or at least Syracuse?" Billie Joe questioned.

"I'm hungry now, though."

Tipping his own head back in mild annoyance, mirroring Tre's gesture, Mike let out a small sigh. "We shoulda known better than to bring Tre along," he commented. "He can't sit still for one minute let alone an hour."

"Tre, if you can wait about two more hours, there's this diner outside Watertown, where it's got nothing but unicorn shit everywhere. It's tacky as all hell but their breakfast is great."

"Unicorn shit? Those fuckers are real?" Tre joked.

"Watertown?" Billie Joe questioned. "What the fuck is 'Watertown?'"

"Not Albany," Caroline replied as she changed lanes to pass two old women in a station wagon. "If we continue on this interstate and head toward Albany, we'll hit the city traffic from not only Albany, but the traffic coming from New York City. But, if we go north, toward Watertown, we'll skip all that, and with less traffic, we'll get to our destination quicker."

Billie Joe accepted this answer and nodded. "Oh. Sounds good to me."

"I'm still confused on the unicorn thing," Tre continued.

Mike let out a chuckle and lifted his right hand to his mouth as he bit down subconsciously on his knuckles while he shook his head and stared out his window; waiting for Caroline to explain.

"I forget the exact name of the diner, but the inside has a shitload of unicorn knick knacks and pictures. And by pictures, I mean those god-awful felt paintings you can win at a county fair."

"Awesome," Billie Joe beamed. "I have never been to this place before but it's already my favorite place to eat at."

Caroline snickered as she changed back into the lane she'd initially been on, since she'd passed the old coots and sped up to get in front of them.

As the drive continued, the four talked about everything and anything; occasionally tuning the radio to find a station that would come in clear and that played decent music. But when the only ones to come in clearly played country, they turned the radio off and popped in a CD.

And, as Caroline had said, about two hours after driving by Rochester, they reached the diner outside Watertown and parked to eat inside. They were shown to a booth and it didn't take long for everyone to laugh their asses off -- albeit subtly -- about the tacky decor. Though, again, just as Caroline said, the food was great. Billie Joe even unbuttoned his pants and slouched in his seat when he was finished; claiming he needed to buy a house across the street, just so he could eat at the diner every day.

And they also discovered the name of the restaurant, which should've been obvious.

The Golden Unicorn.

"It sounds like a strip club run my Goldmember," was Billie Joe's comment when he saw the sign.

And an even better part of the whole experience was that no one asked for an autograph. Sure, a person or two acknowledged who they were, but they were treated like average Joe's. And they couldn't have been happier.

To just relax in public, be themselves, and to be left alone.



About three and a half hours later, Caroline had turned the car off the thruway and right onto a main route in Peru; passing a McDonalds on the left that seemed out of place in the mountain town. When the end of the route met with another main route, they turned left; passing a Stewart's Shop.

"According to the directions, your birth father's house is just up this road, on your side," Mike spoke, looking down at one of a couple sheets of paper they'd printed from MapQuest for directions.

"Oh, God," she murmured; her heart beat quickening with nervousness and gripping the steering wheel tighter.

Reaching his hand over to Caroline, Mike gave her leg a squeeze to reassure her that she'd be fine; that everything would be okay. And it helped considerably.

And, sure enough, Caroline's birth father's house came into view.

It was a ranch-style home with light blue side paneling and a Florida room that connected the house with the garage. A huge tree in the front yard was bare from the winter and snow was littered in patches over the front yard.

Emitting a shaky sigh from her lips, Caroline turned into the wide driveway and parked the car behind a gray truck that had rust on it's back bumper.

"This is it," she breathed.

"You'll be fine, babe." Mike leaned over and cupped his hand behind her neck and pulled her close to kiss the corner of her mouth.

"As long as you stick by my side, I will be," she added.

"I won't move a muscle."

Billie Joe smirked as he watched his friends share a sweet moment while, out the corner of his green eyes, catching a glimpse of Tre looking away. But then his eyes averted to focus out the windshield.

"Incoming," he spoke.

Turning their faces from each other, Mike and Caroline saw that the front door to the house had opened and an aging man, who seemed surprisingly young with his light brown hair that was virtually devoid of gray, sauntering down the two front steps of his porch and down the front walk toward the car.

Biting her lip, Caroline opened her car door and stepped out warily as the man before her stopped in his tracks to take her in; to study her appearance.

"My God," he muttered. "You look like Connie."

"Alexander Leveille, right?"

He nodded, as the other three hopped out of the car. "Yeah." Stepping forward he shook his head in disbelief. "It's like looking at a ghost."

Caroline found herself studying him as well as they stood there in the cold Adirondack air. His eyes were blue and his face was worn with age, but it was the eyes that made him young. He was lean; almost like Mike and just as tall. And his hair was longer than Mike's but still as fair, even if Alexander's was technically, and mostly, white.

And even though this was her first time meeting this man, the old saying was true.

Girls fall for someone who remind them of their father.

"Am I not what you expected?" Alexander smirked, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

"No, I saw your picture already. Saw your website, even."

Alexander laughed. "Yeah, that. Well, a struggling musician, no matter how old, has to get the word out there somehow. And, it's...it's nice to know at least one of my genes passed to you."

"What's that?"

"You're a musician," he answered. "And you know, I have your first album that your band put out a couple years ago. It's weird to think that I was in the record store, buying it, and here The Sinners' lead singer was the child I thought was lost."

That last comment caused Caroline's breath to hitch as a few tears stung her eyes. And it was just like how Mike had suddenly been overwhelmed when he met Lucy.

She knew in that moment, despite already having the facts that Alexander was her father, that he was her father because her heart told her as much.

Boldly taking a few steps forward to close the gap between them, Caroline opened her arms and hugged Alexander close.

And he hugged her back as they rested their chins on each other's shoulders.

"I'm so damn happy to know you survived after what happened to your mother," he cried a little. "When I found out what happened to her, and that our baby was missing, I thought you were dead. Goddamn detectives should've put two and two together when you were found at that hospital. I could've had you with me all these years instead of losing out."

"We have each other now."

Billie Joe looked out, feeling slightly awkward. And a little jealous, simply because he wished he could hug his own father this way. Andy Armstrong had died two years after Caroline would've been born, so they both had been without their fathers for about the same amount of time.

But there was no denying he was happy for her to no end.

Pulling apart from Caroline, he cupped her face with both hands and placed a kiss on her forehead as he stepped back to take a look at the three men his long lost daughter had arrived with.

"Your sister is gonna be so excited to have Green Day in her home with her," he chuckled.

"Oh yeah," Caroline remarked. "I almost forgot. You said on the phone I had a half-sister."

"Yep. Tiffany Michelle," he nodded. "She'll be twenty-three this September."

"About the same time you'll be a grandpa."

Alexander's blue eyes flitted down to Caroline's stomach which was covered with her winter jacket and he smiled. "You're expecting?" He looked over at Mike and smiled, "And this is my future son-in-law."

Mike nodded. "Yep. That'd be me," he replied proudly, walking around the car to join Caroline at her side.

Making eye contact with all the guys, Alexander smirked. "Well, it ain't exactly summer out here, so why don't we go inside and I'll turn up the heat," he suggested. "Tiff will be home from practice in about a half hour, so might as well get comfy until then."

Placing an arm around Caroline's shoulder, the older man lead her, her fiancé and his bandmates inside the house to get to know each other better.