Always There

Have you ever tried to put together a wedding in two weeks time while not having any clue as to where it was that you were getting married and also trying to take care of four children in the process?!

Then you cannot know the stress Maria was feeling.

As soon as Billie Joe dropped the bomb that his divorce was finalized, she didn't care at all when they got married, so long as they could officially be together. But she did care about trying to plan when her soon-to-be husband kept the location and other details like that a secret from her.

They both agreed to not make it a big affair. His wedding to Adrienne thirteen years before had been put together in two weeks and gone off without a hitch, which only fueled his certainty that if two twenty-somethings could pull it off, then so could two 35-year-olds.

Maria had had a large church wedding when she married Mitch back in '97, simply because her father was raised Catholic, although he'd never been religious and neither was she raised to be. And then there were the Conners, who weren't religious either, even though they were Irish Catholics. They were simply traditionalists. And a church wedding held prestige over a justice of the peace.

Since this wedding was more or less impromptu, and supposed to be a small affair, there would be only two witnesses. A Best Man and a Maid of Honor. Or, well, in their case, a Matron of Honor because Maria decided she wanted her mother to stand up for her, while Billie Joe was stuck with the decision of which of his two best friends to be his Best Man. After careful consideration, he had to chalk it up to the friend who was more of helping hand while going through his divorce. And that had been Mike. So, Mike would be the Best Man.

Maria took her mother shopping for a dress to wear, and since Lynn had managed to keep a nice figure, even at 60 years old, they settled on a simple, but beautiful, yellow sun dress from a Beverly Hills boutique. Maria had done the big gown with her first wedding, and she hadn't completely lost the baby fat from having Hazel yet, so she decided on knee-length off-white dress made of silk that had spaghetti straps. The neck line dipped a little low, but she had the cleavage to pull it off and, frankly, Billie Joe would love it either way. Along with the dress, she bought short off-white heels with straps that went around heel of her foot and had an open toe.

Aside from their dresses, Maria and Billie Joe had to plan on who would be the ringbearer and flower girl. The chosen two ended up being six-year-old Frankito and seven-year-old Kelly, Catcher's oldest. At the wedding, the two of them would be in a little tux and a yellow dress, respectively.

And if organizing who was wearing what wasn't enough of a hassle, there was also planning on a cake, decorations, flowers, a bouquet.

Maria was about ready to throw a hissy fit over the complications there.

Finally she decided to hell with it. She left it up to Billie Joe who, at the moment, didn't seem like he was doing his share in planning the wedding. And since he knew where the wedding was gonna be and wouldn't tell her, Maria told him he could take care of decorating and getting the flowers.

She did, however, have a small bouquet made with white and yellow roses and her mother said not to worry about the cake; that she would take care of that.

It was just gonna be a long two weeks.

* * *

Two days before the wedding, Mike and Tre, in lack of a better word, kidnapped Billie Joe and drove him to Los Angeles where they hit a few strip clubs and even bought him a lap dance or two despite the guitarist's protests.

Knowing they'd all end up more than a little drunk, they hired a limo to cart their asses around as they hit club after club.

And then there were the fans who spotted them gallivanting and wanting autographs, but since their were on the brink of being well past intoxicated, they weren't even sure they signed their names correctly. They were getting quite wasted and in a moment of clarity, Billie Joe felt a wave of panic, which Mike took notice of while Tre was buying himself a lap dance from an exotic dancer named Bunny.

"Is that look of fear, Billie Boy?" Mike slurred. "You startin' to get cold feet?"

Billie Joe lifted his heavy-ladden eyelids and shook his head. "No," he replied slowly. "I'm just...this isn't where I wanna be..."

Mike just looked at his friend as if he were in the midst of a daydream. "Oh...so, you wanna leave?" he asked while shifting his gaze to Tre for a moment.

"Yeah," Billie Joe confirmed. "Don't get me wrong...Mike. Strippers are good fun, but the only stripper I want is Maria. Wait. That came out wrong. I mean, she's not a stripper. She's gonna be my wife in two days and...and I like when she does this little strip tease for me, but she's not an actual stripper..." he bumbled drunkenly.

"Mmhmm," Mike nodded, still watching Tre and laughing a little at how horny Tre seemed to be as he rolled his head back and groaned as Bunny ground her ass against the drummer's crotch. "Tre looks like he's about to orgasm..." Mike joked. Throwing his glance back to Billie, he smirked. "Whatchoo wanna do now then?"

"Let's go get some tattoos."

Mike just stared like he was a statue. Then suddenly his head nodded. "Okay."

Finally breaking Tre away from Bunny, the three gathered themselves and headed out to their limo, singing autographs here and there before heading to the nearest tattoo parlor where they each stumbled in, nearly tripping over their feet.

"I'm getting married," Billie Joe announced to the tattoo artist instead of saying, 'Hi, I'd like to get a tattoo.'

"Okaaay," the tattoo artist replied, quirking an eyebrow. "You here for a tattoo?"

Billie Joe nodded. "All three of us are."

The Artist looked all of them over and then dropped his jaw, finally realizing who they were. "Oh, shit. You're Green Day."

"Mmhmm," Mike nodded.

"Uh, well, this is an honor. I've never had any celebrities here before. My name's Jeff."

"Hi Jeff," Tre slurred, slouching against the counter.

"Can I get a rubber chicken? A rubber chicken tattoo?" Mike inquired.

"Sure," Jeff replied. "Where do you want it?"

"On my ass," he joked. "No, uh...right here." Mike lifted up his shirt a little and pointed to the bare piece of flesh on his pelvic bone. "Right here," he repeated, not sure if he'd said it the first time.

"No prob. That all?"

"No," Tre shook his head. "I wanna get my kids' names on my wrists. They're names are Ramona and Frankito."

Jeff looked over to Billie Joe. "And you? What do you want?"

"I want..."

* * *

And so it was that the big day had arrived.

Everyone who would be at the wedding, including those who actually played a part in the ceremony, had to be in Oakland.

It was June 1, 2007 and still...Maria had no idea where the fuck the wedding was going to be.

Early in the morning she was getting ready at Tre's house with help from her mother and Claudia when her father showed up. All the men seemed to have been gathering at Mike's house to get ready. And for the small affair it was supposed to be, it was certainly turning into a circus. It had been Tre's job to go pick up the four yellow rose boutonnieres for Billie Joe, Mike, Enrique and Frankito, but he woke up late and when he got to the florist's, she was busy on the phone and with customers, so it took forever before the guys were properly dressed.

At Tre's house, Claudia was struggling to figure out how to fix Maria's hair. She was originally gonna do a French braid but then gave up when it turned out looking too unkempt. She finally decided on simply pulling some hair back and using a hair clip to hold it together and then stealing some Baby's Breath from Maria's bouquet and placing it throughout her hair.

When Maria turned around in Claudia's vanity table chair, Lynn put her hand to her mouth and got teary-eyed. "My little girl's getting married."

"Again."

"No. This time is the one that counts," Lynn insisted.

Maria simply smiled and dipped her head as she turned back to look at her reflection when her father appeared behind them, standing in the doorway.

"Hope I'm not interrupting, but are you ready, honey?" he asked his daughter.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

All the women, save for Maria, left before Maria and her father did to get to the 'secret' location, which still bugged the hell out of her. And then Enrique led his daughter outside where a limo was awaiting them. They got inside and as soon as they were seated, the limo pulled away, winding through the streets of Oakland until the scenery changed.

Leaning forward, Maria stared out the window, narrowing her eyes. "Why are we in Berkeley?" she wondered, throwing her father a glance. But he simply shrugged and maintained an expression that was unreadable.

But then, within minutes, the limo came to a stop.

Maria found herself leaning over to her father's side to see where they are, but the driver had gotten out and opened the door, blocking her view.

"Where are we?" she asked as her father stepped out first.

He held his hand out for her and she took it, gripping bouquet in her free hand.

And then she looked up in surprise.

"Berkeley House?" she muttered.

Enrique gave the limo driver a nod and linked his arm through Maria's while she took note of the other limo parked in front of the one she was in as well as the other familiar vehicles parked on the side of the street.

Slowly, Enrique walked his daughter up the front steps to the house and before either of them could reach for the door knob, the door open seemingly on its own and music began to waft outside from within the house.

Maria took a deep breath when she noticed a large amount of tea light candles lit all around the condemned house's living room. There were also dangling Christmas lights snaking around the molding and she was walking on a small carpeted aisle with yellow rose petals on the ground.

While a CD player over in the corner played the Smashing Pumpkins' version of 'Landslide,' everyone who was invited to the wedding stood on opposite sides of the makeshift aisle, whereas Billie Joe stood at the end with what looked to be a justice of the peace.

They'd never even rehearsed the wedding, so Maria didn't even know if they were having a priest, pastor or what!

But, it didn't matter. Because there was Billie Joe standing there, smiling back at her in a black tux, with a yellow tie and cummerbund. Devoid of the kohl eyeliner, but with his hair still spritzed with it's usual spray gel, the guitarist stepped up and took Maria's hand from her father's.

"Surprised?" he whispered.

She nodded with a grin. "Yes."

Sharing a quick moment, they both turned toward the justice of the peace with big smiles as Tre leaned over and turned off the CD player.

"Friends and family, we are gathered here today because this man and this woman have declared their desire to live together as man and wife. It is their common bond of the mind, heart, body and soul that sealed this desire, this need. Despite personal hardships of the past and those yet to come, they are devoted to one another, just as the sun is devoted to day and the moon to night," the justice began. "May I now ask who gives this woman away?"

"I do," Enrique answered. Giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek and giving Billie Joe a pat on the back, he joined his wife on the sidelines, who was already crying.

The justice nodded at the younger couple and continued with a smile. "Billie Joe Armstrong," he began. "Do you promise to love this woman, to honor and respect, for rich or poor, through sickness and health, through good times and bad, until death do you part?"

Billie Joe faced Maria, taking both her hands in his after she hand her bouquet off to her mom. "I promise," he replied, looking into her eyes and smiling like a giddy school boy.

The justice now turned his attention to Maria. "Temperance Maria Cevallos Conner, do you promise to love this man, to honor and respect, for rich or poor, through sickness and health, through good times and bad, until death do you part?"

"Yes," Maria replied, without thinking. "I mean, I promise," she amended with an embarrassed laugh.

"Now we will witness the exchanging of rings," the justice announced as Billie Joe leaned down to Frankito who pulled a small black box out of his pocket and handed it to his 'Uncle Billie.'

"Thanks buddy." Billie Joe then handed it to the justice who opened the box and withdrew both rings, handing them off to both Maria and Billie Joe.

"The wedding ring is a circle, which is never-ending. It's a symbol of your love that shall go on and on forever. Billie Joe, take this ring and repeat after me." The green eyed punk rocker nodded and smiled at Maria. "Temperance, this ring is a symbol of my never-ending love for you."

"Maria," Billie Joe corrected with a smirk. "This ring is a symbol of my never-ending love for you."

"With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring," Billie Joe repeated, sliding the wedding band on Maria's left ring finger. "I thee wed."

The justice handed the other ring over to Maria. "Take this ring and repeat after me. Billie Joe, take this ring as a symbol of my never-ending love for you."

"Billie Joe, take this ring as a symbol of my never-ending love for you."

"With this ring, I thee wed."

Maria smiled as she tried to slide Billie Joe's ring on his left ring finger. "With this ring..." she began, but the ring was going on. "...it can't get it past your knuckle," she muttered.

Everyone laughed a little as Billie Joe took his left hand and licked around his left ring finger, then gave the hand back to Maria. "Sorry," he apologized. "Nerves made my fingers swell, I guess."

Shaking it off with a smirk, Maria tried sliding the ring on again. And this time it work, with a little extra effort. "With this ring, I thee wed," she finally spoke.

"At this time I'd like to know if there is anyone who believes these two should not be married? Speak now or forever hold your peace," the just said in his deep baritone voice.

For a fleeting moment, Billie Joe feared his boys would pipe up or Adrienne would bust down the door and stop the wedding. But...nothing happened. No one spoke up.

Thank God.

"Very well," the justice nodded. "By the power invested in me, by the state of California, I pronounce you both husband and wife. You may kiss the br--"

Billie Joe didn't even wait for the justice of the peace to finish talking when he cupped Maria's face with one hand and snaked the other around her back, drawing her up against his body as he kissed her.

"--ide," the justice finished with laugh.

Billie Joe slipped his tongue a little bit past Maria's lip, grazing her teeth while Tre hooted and Mike hollered. The wedded couple parted and stepped back from each other to stand side by side, looking at their friends and family.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong," the justice declared.