Always There

It was Sunday morning after Thanksgiving, and Billie Joe was headed back to the airport with Olivia. Adrienne drove, parking the car and following them in as far as she could before the security checkpoint. Turning to her husband, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. She then looked over at Olivia and leaned forward to give her stepdaughter a smaller hug.

"It was nice meeting you, Liv," she commented.

"Same here," Olivia replied.

Billie Joe returned his wife's kiss by placing one on her lips and smiling. "I'll be home in a few days, okay? Gonna make sure she gets home okay and then take care of a few things in the City."

Adrienne nodded. "Alright. Call me when you get in."

"I will."

Walking away with his daughter, the duo waved one last time to Adrienne before disappearing through security and heading to their gate. The wife of Green Day's frontman bowed her head and walked away in the opposite direction.

* * *

Coming home for Olivia was bittersweet. She was glad to see her mom and brothers again, but she was also coming home to Mitch, and being slightly bummed that she had to come home only because she had had such a good time out in California and she really liked her other family and home.

Mitch was home when they arrived and Billie Joe really didn't want another confrontation with the blonde oaf, so he said he'd stop by in the next day or two to see how everything was going before he flew home to the Bay Area.

And that's just what he did. Due to exhaustion from the hectic holiday weekend and slight jetlag, he spent Monday sleeping in at his penthouse. Tuesday, however, was a different subject. By noon, he was at Maria's house, with a new driver having brought him. Andrew. Nice guy; young, skinny, kinda weird looking. Billie Joe liked him right away.

Maria answered the door, dressed in brown dress slacks and a cream-colored blouse. With her hair pinned back and her make-up done immaculately, Billie Joe was amazed at how much it aged her. She looked tired and...grown up. Whereas he was dressed in his usual black jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt, his chucks and messy hair.

"Hi," he said simply when she stood there with the door opened. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"Huh? Oh...no. I just got back about a half hour ago," she replied, stepping aside for Billie Joe to come inside. "There was a PTA bakesale at Ben's school this morning."

"Ah," Billie Joe nodded lamely. "I was gonna say..."

"Say what?" she wondered, shutting the front door.

"You look like Suzie Homemaker," he answered with a smirk. "When I told Tre about how you've been, he was surprised. He wanted to know what happened to the wild girlfriend I had that like to go to democratic rallies."

Maria rolled her eyes as they walked into the kitchen where Nathan was eating what looked to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and drinking from a juice box. Billie Joe smiled at the little boy who smiled back with toothy grin clad with sticky peanut butter between the gaps.

"Want some coffee?" she offered.

"No, I'm fine. I've had about three cups this morning; one on the way here. And let me tell you, Dunkin Donuts' coffee sucks some serious monkey ass."

Maria laughed as she poured herself a cup o' Joe and leaned her back against the counter. "Sorry you couldn't stay longer on Sunday. I woulda offered you something to eat. I made spaghetti." When Billie Joe simply looked at her, she shrugged. "What?"

"What DID happen to the Maria I knew? I told Tre that people change. But what did you change into?" he asked incredulously. "Seriously, I mean...wow. The Maria I remember was so carefree, and that's not to patronize the fact that you're a mom and have those responsiblitie...but as your own person..."

"I'm still my own person," she insisted.

"Are you? You stay at home with your son, you cook, you clean, you drive your kids to school in the morning, attend bakesales and the occasional School Board meeting, and you're exhausted. I can see it in your eyes, Maria. It's all there," he said a sigh. "You feel trapped."

"Mommy?"

"I do not feel trapped. I have a good life."

"A good life you feel trapped in. Nathan's gonna start kindergarten next year, right? Well, you gonna go to work...do something for yourself? Or are you gonna stay home alone all day because it's what you've been used to since you had Ben?"

"Mommy?" came Nathan's voice again.

"I'm sorry, but did you come here soley to question my lifestyle?"

"No, of course not, but seeing you today...I just can't help but notice how much you seem so lost in Suburbia..."

"Mommy?!" Nathan whined above their voices.

"What?" Maria snapped, but then caught herself. "I'm sorry, honey. What is it?" she asked more gently.

"I'm all done now," the boy said, gesturing to the breadcrust and juice box that looked like it had been strangled to death. "Can I go watch TV now?"

Maria smiled and nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Wearing a satisfied smile, Nathan bounced off the chair and scampered out of the kitchen. As Maria began to clean up her yongest son's mess, she sighed and stopped, which caught Billie Joe's attention. Not that he wasn't already watching her. She threw the garbage into the garbage can and leaned back up againts the counter, placing a hand to her head.

"How is it, that after thirteen years, you know me like the back of your hand?" she demanded, trying to laugh it off but her eyes brimming with tears.

Billie Joe frowned but gazed at her with concerned eyes. Slowly, he stood up from where he was sitting at the table and walked over to her, then shrugged. "I guess I'm just talented like that," he joked. "I'm sorry," he added. "I didn't mean to come on so strong about your life now, but...it's really been grating on me lately. It's hard to not notice the change. I mean, you married a Republican, for starters. How does that happen? Did you change your political views to accomodate your husband's?"

Maria didn't answer. She just looked him in the eye.

"Oh, damn, you did, didn't you?" Tilting his head as if about to console a sad child, he touched her arm.

"Well...yeah...but..." she trailed off.

"It's okay. You don't need to explain. I'm not your dad asking why you stole the cookies from the cookie jar," he teased, with a playfully and understanding smile.

Maria tried to smile in return, gesturing to her hair. "I know I've changed. A lot. My mom gets on my case about it every so often. I mean, look at my hair."

"What did I say about explaining yourself? Don't." He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ears and rocked on the heels of his feet for a second as he smiled. "And I think you're hair looks nice...for a Republican housewife from Long Island."

Balling up her right fist, Maria jabbed him in the shoulder and smirked. "Kiss my ass."

"Produce it."

The two of them smiled at each other; finally finding that friendship they both desparately needed from one another. To Maria, Billie Joe was her connection to her past...to who she used to be. To Billie Joe, Maria was the woman who had given him so much in such a short time...and still made him smile.