Always There

Alas, January came to an end and Februrary began before anyone had realized it. Valentine's was fast approaching and knowing he'd been kinda distracted lately, Billie Joe surprised Adrienne with a five-day trip to Oahu. They had a nice time together at the house they had rented for their stay. They went horseback riding, waterskiing, swimming at the beach, got massages, and had candlelight dinners on the back patio of the rented house.

But, before they knew it, their excursion was over and they were back home in California. Back home to an asnwering message from Olivia, crying slightly.

Hi, Dad. It's Olivia and, um, could I be an Armstrong and maybe live with you in California where nobody knows me? Mitch said I'm overreacting and being ridiculous but the other kids won't leave me alone now that they've found out you're my dad and they keep teasing me. I've been eating lunch in the bathroom just so I can get away from everyone when I see them in the lunch room. They call me a punk, and not in a cool way, like a punk rocker, but like, in the...the non cool way

The sniffles Billie Joe heard over the asnwering machine broke his heart. Adrienne had been listening as well and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Sounds like you're daughter needs you," she muttered a little ruefully.

* * *

The next day, Billie Joe was back on another plan, but this time to New York. He cabbed it to the Conner residence, showing up at around 4 in the evening. Surprisingly, Mitch was home. But not for long. As soon as Billie Joe came into the house, the older man grabbed his coat, walked out and got into his car. Everyone inside heard the car pulling off down the street in a hurry.

"Was it me?" Billie Joe asked as soon as he saw Maria who was sitting in the living room, on the couch, with her head in her hands.

She looked up, her eyes clearly red and puffy from crying. "No," she shook her head. "It's just...everything."

Before Maria could go into it, he took off his coat and sank down beside her, throwing his arm around her and allowing her to lean into him.

"Okay, now tell me."

Sighing, she rested her head on his shoulder, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Well, somehow a kid at Livvie's school found a picture of you and her on the internet shopping in the City and then in a police car, which you never told me about, by the way," she began, lifting her head to look at him at her last comment.

"Oh, the cop just helped give us a ride because we could'nt get a cab and a lot of people began to crowd around," he explained.

"Well...anyway...they saw this picture and they began to pester Olivia about it until she said that you were her dad, then they called her a liar or taunted her about it. They've been calling her every name under the book and she's been skipping classes to get away from it, and I have her teachers calling me and then Mitch is breathing down my neck to 'discipline my daughter.'"

Maria slunched forward again and Billie Joe rubbed her upper back soothingly. He pressed his lips to her left temple and she tried to smile.

"Olivia wants her name changed and to go to a new school district and when Mitch came down on her for that, she locked herself in her room, crying and I think she called you on the cell phone you got her for Christmas. Which is probably why you're here."

"Yeah," Billie Joe nodded. "I got her message yesterday when I got back from Hawaii."

"Hawaii, huh? Sounds nice. Vacation?"

"Yeah," he answered in a sheepish voice. "I took Adrienne there for a Valentine's gift."

"She's a lucky woman," Maria smirked. "I got dinner at the Olive Garden and a necklace. As if I need a necklace. I'd much rather have had my husband not sleeping with his secretary, as horribly cliche as that sounds."

"What? He's cheating on you?"

"Yeah, more or less."

"Maria, the guy doesn't deserve you. I mean, he's fucking sleeping with another woman, for Christ sake."

"Yeah, and if I were to do anything about it, it'd make me a hypocrite."

She had him there. They had been sleeping together a few times since New Years Eve. They really were no different than Mitch and his mistress.

"Well, there's one difference. No one knows about us, except us. And can I remind you of how Mitch gets on Olivia's case more than his own children? All the times I've been in his presence or heard it second hand, he calls Livvie names and demeans her, yet his sons can do no wrong. And did you say Olivia wants to change her name? And he put her down for that, too?"

Maria nodded. "Yeah. She wants her name to be Armstrong."

"Well, then her name will be fucking Armstrong," he tried to say as nicely as possible. He was just so fucking fed up with this Mitch Conner. Mitch Conner could get down on his knees and kiss his lily white ass.

It just so happened that Olivia appeared in the archway to the living room from the hallway, her own eyes red and brimmed with tears. Billie Joe looked up and gestured for her to come sit between him and Maria. When she did, both her parents put their arms around her and took turns placing a kiss on top of her head.

"How's my little Olivia Armstrong?" Billie Joe asked, tearing up himself.

Olivia stifled a happy sob as she threw her arms around her father, pressing the side of her face to his chest as he rest his chin on top of her head.

"I can really be an Armstrong?" she wondered, curiously.

"You were an Armstrong the moment we made you," he assured her. "Don't let a piece of paper make you think any different."

* * *

As soon as February ended, Billie Joe turned thiry-four, Nathan turned five, and Olivia officially became Olivia Josephine Armstrong.

But that wasn't the only change that occured in March.

Maria filed for separation from Mitch. It was going to be trial separation until they could work out their problems, or see if it were at least possible. Mitch moved out and in with his parents in Nassau County for the time being until he found his own place or until him and Maria reconciled. The judge that granted the separation suggested they go to marriage counseling, but when it was time for their first session, Mitch was a no-show.

It wasn't until two days later when he called to talk to Ben and Nate that he told Maria that he had had an emergency meeting with a client.

It amazed her sometimes how he was able to lie in court to get his clients off the hook, but he coulddn't lie his way out of a wet paper bag to save his life when it came to lying to her.

While Maria was going through this separation and trying to help Olivia deal with the kids at school, as well as taking care of Ben and Nate by herself now that Mitch was out of the house, she found herself growing more weary every day. So much so that she would get nauseous at random points during the day.

She ate some crackers and chewed on some Rolaids to take care of the sour feeling in her stomach to help her get through the day. But it didn't seem to pass until one day when she was helping Olivia go over her lines for her role as the Wicked Witch in 'The Wizard of Oz' in her school's spring musical.

The nausea returned, causing Maria to squint and put down the script to escuse herself. She could hear Olivia passing off the script help to Benjamin as he came down the stairs from his bedroom. Moving into the small downstairs hallway, Maria went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, holding her stomach and then dropping to the tiled floor where she lifted up the toilet see. And, with one fluid motion - no pun intended, she threw up.

As soon as she flushed the toilet and rinsed her mouth out, another wave hit her and she was on her knees with her face in the toilet before she could say, 'Yuck.'

The light rapping on the door of Olivia's fist, stirred Maria's attention to the white barrier. "What?"

"You okay, mom?"

"I'm just...feelin' a little sick," she responded. "Could you do me a favor and look on the calender in the kitchen and look for what date I circled with a red marker for last month?"

"Sure."

Maria sat on the cool floor, listening to the soft sound of Olivia's feet fading down the hallway while looking at the wallpaper and clearing her throat. She really needed to change that wallpaper. It was so damn ugly. But, then again, it was compliments of her mother-in-law. The Bitch from hell.

When Olivia padded back to the bathroom, she spoke through the crack between the door and the doorframe. "You circled February 11th."

"Okay. What's today's date?"

"March 27th," was Olivia's answer.

Maria's eyes widened as she brought herself up to her feet very slowly. Opening the bathroom door, she slid by her daughter and started off toward the kitchen. Olivia followed behind her, still asking if she was okay. Maria just went to the calender to check for herself when she grimaced and lightly banged herhead against the freezer door to the fridge.

"Liv, can you hand me the phone?"

* * *

Whereas it was after seven in the evening in New York, it was only after four in California.

Billie Joe was about to watch 'Oprah' with Adrienne when his cell phone went off, startling the fuck out of him. Scrambling to get it out of his pocket as Oprah walked out and began shaking the audiences' hands, he stood up to take the call in another room when he noticed Maria's home number.

"Hey," he said right away. "What's up?"

"You need to come here as soon as possible," was all Maria said.

"What? Is something wrong? Did something happen to Liv? Oh, God, Maria. Is Livvie okay?" he began to worry, just like a parent.

"Olivia's fine."

"Okay, then what is it? Is it about Mitch?"

"Billie...please just come out as soon as you can. We need to talk in person."

With that, she hung up and Billie Joe was left standing there, with every possible bad thing running through his mind.