Senior Slumps

“Oh my god,”

Billie Joe’s voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes frozen on the wriggling bundle in his arms.

I sat up in the bed, my breathing still unsteady as I watched Billie Joe hunched over, cutting the chord and wrapping our slightly purple baby boy in a typical cotton hospital blanket as half a dozen nurses and doctors rushed around him.

He didn’t take his eyes off the crying newborn once as he walked slowly across the room to the bed. He placed our son in my arms and carefully climbed in bed behind me.

I’ve heard people tell stories about how the world stops the first time you hold your newborn child, yet I never actually believed it until now. I forgot everything that had happened in the past hours, all the pain, all the fear. It was gone the second I held him in my arms.

“Oh my...” I whispered softly, my eyes locked on the baby securely on my chest. He had stopped crying and was now staring up at me with wide, green, questioning eyes.

“He’s beautiful,” Billie Joe murmured, kissing my sweaty temple and rubbing the strawberry hair atop our son’s head. “And so are you.”

I let out a shaky breath as I felt my eyes well with tears; I had never felt this emotional before. Resting my head on Billie Joe’s collarbone I closed my eyes for a brief moment, feeling his warm breath on my skin.

“Let’s name him Joey,” I heard him whisper, I didn’t even have to open my eyes to know he was staring at the baby, his guitar-worn hand gently rubbing our son’s small scalp.

I smiled, and opened my eyes. “I like that,” I said quietly, looking directly in Billie Joe’s eyes before re-directing my gaze down to my Baby boy’s. But when I looked down, everything was all wrong.

Gone was green-eyed, red haired baby that once lay comfortably at my breast. He now had brown eyes and thick dark hair where they wispy red locks once rested.

I shot a confused look at Billie Joe, who apparently hadn’t noticed the change. Instead, he stared down, a small smile playing at his lips as he kissed my temple again before whispering

“I can’t believe it, Adie.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My eyes shot open. I could feel a cold sweat dripping down my neck and under my shirt, and my heart was pounding as if it were trying to escape.

Sitting up, my eyes adjusted to the dark room as my hands instantly rubbed my abdomen, searching for signs of life. When I was sure there were none, I let out a sigh and slumped over, covering my face with my hands. I looked over at Billie Joe beside me, his back turned toward me as he slept on, completely undisturbed.

“Oh god,” I groaned to myself, feeling as if I were on the verge of tears. This was too much. Between my pregnancy scare and the constant stories I kept hearing of Billie Joe’s ex girlfriend I was starting to loose my mind.

My period was still MIA, and Billie Joe said we would get a pregnancy test on Friday, which was still a good 36 hours away, but I was about to run down to the nearest Safeway and break in because I couldn’t deal with this for another day and a half.

“Jess,” Billie Joe groaned, placing a hand on the small of my back. I glanced over at him and tried my best to fake a smile as he stared groggily back up at me. “You ok?” he asked his voice low and raspy.

“I’m fine,” I whispered lying back on the mattress, “I just had a weird dream, that’s all”

Billie Joe hummed in response, his fingers playing gently with my belly button. I tried my hardest not to think about what might be growing just below where his fingers toyed.

“Bill?” I said softly, shuddering as his hand began to rub along my abdomen.

“Yeah,” he answered, his eyes closed and his head resting against my shoulder.

“Do you still think about her?”

His eyes opened and he squinted at me in confusion “Think about who?”

“Never mind,” I said suddenly, “Forget it.”

*-*-*
“Bill” Rob Cavallo stuck his head into the small recording booth where Billie Joe was sitting, his trusty guitar Blue slung across his knee. “Your Mom is on the phone.”

Armstrong grumbled, and carefully placed his guitar on the floor before making his way towards the phone.

“Hello?” he greeted, trying his hardest to hide any annoyance.

“Hey Billie, how are things going?” His Mother’s breathy voice replied.

“Um, good, good we’re really busy right now though” Billie answered, trying to drop subtle hints to end the conversation.

“Oh I won’t keep you,” Ollie chirped “I just wanted to tell you before I forget; you got a phone call here today.”

“Yeah” Billie replied, ignoring Mike and Tré’s glances, the two wanting to get back to work. “Who?”

“Your old friend from Minnesota...”

“Adrienne?” Billie Joe interrupted, running a hand up the back of his hair.

“Yes, she left a number and asked me to tell you to call her back. She seemed upset” Ollie paused, waiting for Billie Joe to reply.

“Billie?” she asked after there was no response “Are you there?”

“Yeah,” Billie Joe snapped out of a memory-induced haze “What was the number?” he asked, grabbing the nearest post-it note.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I’ve never wanted my period more in my life. I checked constantly, waiting for that single spot of blood that would tell me everything was alright. Every time my stomach hurt even the slightest bit I became anxious, “Was that a cramp?”

My uterus started being the number one thing on my mind. I hated it, and I hated my body for doing this to me; for making me wait, or for making me pregnant.

I even started to try and jinx myself. I would wear my favorite pair of underwear, along with some white pants or jeans, knowing that if I did get my period that day, I wouldn’t care about ruined clothes or stains.

And finally, finally, the jinx worked.

“Billie!” I opened the door wide, forgetting to knock but I really didn’t care at this point.

Billie Joe shot me a surprised glace from where he laid on the bed, he was on the phone.

“Sorry” I mouthed, regretting my explosive entrance. I idled myself near Billie’s window, outside I could see Tré chasing Lisea around the backyard, I chuckled to myself.

“Alright,” Billie Joe said laughing heartily to whoever was on the other line “Yeah, well I’ll talk to you later. You too,” He paused, a small smile playing on his lips “Bye.”

He leaned over and returned the phone to the bedside table he was in a better mood then I’ve seen him in quite some time. He returned to his original position and smiled up at me “Hello you.”

I grinned and sat on top of him, straddling his narrow waist. I leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips “Guess what.”

“Mm, what?” he smiled up at me, his hands playing at my hips.

I leaned over and kissed him again, deeper this time, but he didn’t seem very interested, it as if there were something bothering him. I pulled away, and placed my lips beside his ear “False alarm”

Billie’s sigh of relief was so loud it made me laugh, it was more dramatic then mine was.
“Thank God” he said, rising slightly to catch my lips again.

I hummed in agreement, moving so that I as lying on top of him completely, causing Billie to close his emerald eyes. “Who was on the phone?” I asked gently, my hands running along his chest.

Billie Joe’s eyes opened again and his lips twitched slightly. “Oh, no one” he answered, biting his lips.

“No one.”