Always There

It was a long weekend spent alone in the penthouse; either sleeping in or drinking a Heineken with every meal...and in between. Billie Joe never got around to calling Joey back, but Adi did call him instead, later that night. But he wasn't in the mood. He told her that he was losing his voice and couldn't really talk. But now it was Monday and it was 11 in the morning.

If Maria was coming to help, she would've been at the penthouse apartment an hour before. But she'd kept her word and left. Maybe the weekend without anyone there at all - his wife, kids...Maria, her kids - to really sort through his head. It was a blow to his emotional stability on Friday, finding out he had a daughter; something he knew Adrienne had been wanting for so long. How would he tell his wife he had a daughter with his ex-girlfriend. The ex he just so happened to have written songs about and screamed her name out during sex once.

Yeah, Adrienne would take this well.

Sitting at his kitchen table, Billie Joe ran a hand through his hair and then held his head there as he looked up through his eyebrows at the kitchen wall that had a hole through it, looking into the living room. Compliments of his fist, which was now wrapped in an towel with ice. It still hurt bad, and he was more than a little regretful of his choice to take his frustration out on drywall. But he had to admit. How cool was it that he punched a hole straight through a wall? Either he was fucking awesome or the craftsmanship of the building sucked major ass.

Billie Joe hadn't come to a decision on what he wanted to do. He wasn't sure what he should do. Or could. Okay, yeah, he had Maria's address and phone number. But there was no way he could bring himself to go see her. Or talk to her just yet. He was still angry at her. But as he'd even said to her, he could never hate her.

The anger would pass, but the bigger picture was that the young woman he'd loved all those years ago had given him a child. A daughter, no less. Despite himself, Billie Joe couldn't help but smile.

He had a daughter!

* * *

Maria stood at the kitchen of her Long Island home, at the sink, washing dishes, despite the fact that she had a dishwasher. The sound of 'Dora The Explorer' or some other Nickelodeon show filtered in from the living room where Nathan was engrossed with the television and snacking on a bowl of milkless Cheerios.

Her weekend had been completely shitty. Olivia hated her, or at least told her as much on Friday night when she finally sat her daughter down to tell her the truth about Billie Joe; that he was her father. Olivia told Maria she was the worst mother ever, hated her, wished she were dead and then ran to her room where she slammed her door shut. Moments later Green Day's 'American Idiot' began to blast.

When Mitch had come home late from his office in the city and demanded an answer why Olivia was 'listening to that shit music', Maria snapped at him and defended it, saying it was great music and he was being too damn anal. The two of them got into a fight and she finally told Mitch that Billie Joe, the lead singer and guitarist for none other than Green Day had once been her boyfriend and was Olivia's real father. Mitch didn't believe Maria until she pulled out a photograph of her with Billie Joe back during the summer of '92 and then compared it to Olivia's school photograph.

He didn't yell at her, but he didn't actually support her either. He more or less shrugged it all off with a "Great, my stepdaughter's father is a disgrace to America. Perfect." Then he went to his office and she didn't see him for the rest of the night.

She woke up the next morning and found he was already up, drinking coffee in the kitchen, as if everything was just peachy. Olivia was giving her the silent treatment, and as if that was bad enough, she was a preteen and moody. To top things off, Mitch made little condescending comments to Olivia about her 'punk father' who should 'do America a favor and defect to France.'

Maria felt very alone the entire weekend. Mitch went to his office in the city because he was heading up the prosecution for some bankruptcy case this upcoming week. Then there was how her boys played video games and or watched TV all weekend, not needing her other than for feeding them. And, of course, Olivia had the silent treatment thing going.

But right now, everything was kinda numb-feeling. The sound of the running water and dishes clanking as well as Nathan's occasional giggle directed toward his cartoon was the only sounds Maria was tuned into. And it was numbing.

She couldn't help but think over her life since she married Mitch and settled down with him. She missed working, even if was simply at her father's firm back in San Diego. She missed the action of an office. PTA meetings and Board of Education meetings every month didn't quench her thirst for making a difference. Her dreams of becoming a social worker or Lobbyist or campaign staffer seemed more possible when she was a single mother, living at home with her parents and little brother. Since marriage, she became a housewife, raising three kids and looking after a home. She drove a minivan, which made her miss her old Pinto terribly. Then there was how Olivia had always disliked Mitch and sometimes it was vice versa.

It's not that Mitch was a bad guy; he was just different than Maria. When they were dating, he was charming and seemed to adore Olivia. He was passionate about his work, which was a bit of a turn on for her. He was this good looking 32-year-old when they first met, with wavy blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and just screamed All-American Grade A Beef. But he came from such a different world, something she found out more of after they married.

Whereas she was from liberal, democratic parents who smoked pot, swore, and spoke their minds and had once been hippies in San Francisco, Mitch was from non-smoking, Cabernet-sipping, Princeton-educated Republicans who refrained from speaking their minds. It was like oil and water.

And eight and a half years into her marriage, she sometimes felt trapped.

Sighing, she tried to focus on finishing the dishes when the phone rang. Drying off her hands and turning off the faucet, she walked over to the portable phone on the wall and picked it up.

"Hello? Yes, this is Mrs. Conner," she spoke into the receiver. She listened to the voice on the other end, and her face fell. "Oh my God. What do you mean my daughter isn't in school? I dropped her off personally this morning!" She snapped, immediately panicking.

* * *

By noon, Billie Joe had showered, dressed, and sporting Band-Aids across his knuckles on his right hand. He still regretted hitting the wall. Stupid, stupid...very painful move. He planned on finally getting out of the penthouse for the day to maybe browse some record shops in Greenwich Village when he heard a knock at the door.

For a split second, his stomach did a flip, thinking Maria had come back after all. Checking his reflection in the mirror and straightening out his black and blue striped shirt, Billie Joe swung open the door.

His heart jumped into his throat as he looked down to find Olivia standing alone before him, wearing her winter jacket and bookbag swung over her shoulder.

"O-Olivia?"

"Hi," she said in a small voice. "Can I come in?"

Billie Joe didn't hesitate in stepping aside to allow his daughter into his penthouse. He just wondered why in the hell she was there at all, alone, on a school day.