Finding Light

Tré Cool took a sip of his drink and smiled as he watched his children play in the backyard. It always brought him some kind of fatherly pride he didn't think he possessed to watch situations like this.

His 14 year old daughter kicked the soccer ball away from her younger brother and down the lawn, not running full speed so that 8 year old Frankito could keep up. She dribbled slowly up the grass, keeping a steady pace. Right before approaching the 'net,' made up of a hat and a football, Ramona kicked the ball up high with her foot and headed it past the barrier before her brother came up beside her out of breath.

"And Ramona Cool SCORES!" She yelled, falling to the grass on her knees with her hands above her head, mocking Brandy Chastain's reaction to her Olympic win. Only Ramona kept her shirt on at least.

'God, she looks like her Mother,' Tré thought as he clapped for her. When Ramona was younger, she favored her father as far as looks. But as she grew and developed into a woman, it was apparent that she took after her Mother in more ways than one.

Especially her smile, Ramona and Lisea both had a smile that could light up a room and change the mood of anyone inside of it. It was infectious, and was one of the reasons that Tré had fallen for Lisea in the first place.

Tré sighed and leaned back in his chair as the kids started another round. Was it wrong to miss your ex-wife? He loved his girlfriend, and he knew that. But occasionally Lisea found a way into his mind the way ex-junkies think about dope. Even when he was married to Claudia, a relationship that formed basically to get back at Lisea, he thought about her routinely.

He let out another sigh as Ramona let Frankie finally score a goal to tie the game. He was going to have to bring Ramona home soon anyway; Winter Break was finally coming to an end. That was when he'd get a chance to see Lisea Lyons again; because she was his friend after all.

*-*-*

Adrienne breezed into her bedroom walked over to her desk to file away some papers. On the wall above the wooden desk was a calendar, the month of September was filled with assorted notes and appointments. Jakob's birthday was circled in big red pen; Adrienne made a mental note that it was only 3 days away. Her eyes were drawn though, to another note made under that days date. It was September 9th, and it would have been Lisea's 38th birthday.

Adrienne stared at it for a moment, and bit her lip at the thought of her best friend. She had remembered it right after she had begun to dial Lisea's phone number that morning, and memories troubled her throughout the day despite Billie Joe's many attempts at cheering her up. She shook away the thought and walked away from the desk.

She dressed herself in a Pinhead Gunpowder shirt and a pair of sweatpants, pulling her hair into a low ponytail; she was ready for bed, but not ready to go to sleep.

Standing in the middle of her room, she suddenly wondered where Billie Joe had disappeared to. He had mentioned something about going upstairs, but she hadn't seen him since, and he obviously wasn't inside the large bedroom.

Adrienne checked the various rooms of the second floor. Joey and Jakob were already put to bed, and all other rooms were empty. Now completely stumped, Adrienne returned to the bedroom and slipped outside onto the balcony for a little while.

In the corner was the shadow of a man. It was a small shadow and Adrienne could have recognized it if she was blind. She saw the burning end of a cigarette and heard a sigh as a puff of smoke billowed into the darkness of night. "Billie Joe?" Adrienne asked quietly, stepping toward the figure.

"Who?" it was undoubtedly Billie Joe's voice.

Confused, Adrienne stepped toward the figure and touched its shoulder, turning so that it could face her. She had to stifle a giggle.

He was wearing the classic black and white ski mask he used to dress as Fink, lead singer and guitarist of the mysterious band, The Network.

"Billie Joe," Adrienne said with a smile, cocking her head to the side.

"Who the hell is that?" 'Fink' asked, turning his visible eyes toward her.

"Oh you know, Lead singer of Green Day, about your height, jet black hair," Adrienne said, deciding to play along.

Fink shuddered "Never heard of him, he sounds like a prick though."

Adrienne stepped closer to him, "You know," she said "You're right."

Fink smirked. "I know I am," He said confidently.

Adrienne just nodded and stood next to him on the balcony. "Beautiful night," she commented, looking up at the full moon above them.

"The night isn't the only one," Fink noted, Adrienne turned her face toward him and he stroked her cheek gently, a sly smile creeping across his face.

Adrienne knew what he wanted, and was willing to give in easily. She placed a hand on his chest and moved it back and forth. "You aren't so bad yourself," she said, biting her lip and stepping closer so that their noses brushed.

Her eyes met his and Fink finally leaned in and just before their lips met, Adrienne pulled away slightly.

"I can't," she whispered "I'm married."

"He'll never find out," Fink whispered back "I promise." He leaned in again so that they kissed ever so slightly before-

"Mom!"

Fink and Adrienne pulled away quickly, only to see Jakob standing in the doorway to the balcony, giving them an odd look.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Jakob switched his attention from Adrienne to the man beside her.

"Who's 'Dad?'" he asked, staying in character.

Jakob rolled his eyes. "Dad you aren't fooling anyone. You have the same tattoos on your arms and the same exact voice." The 12 year old switched his attention back to Adrienne, "Joey just threw up everywhere, he made it to the bathroom, but there is some on his floor and stuff." Jakob informed the pair and turned away, giving the masked man one last look before he walked out.

Fink grumbled, and pulled the ski mask off of his head, revealing that it had indeed been Billie Joe the whole time. Adrienne pretended to gasp dramatically, and her husband rolled his eyes. "Little bastard blew my cover."

Adrienne laughed and ran a hand through her husband's disheveled hair. "That bastard," She leaned in and gave him a light kiss on the lips "Is our son."

"Mm well, at least now I know how easily you would cheat on me." He said after her as she began making her way back into their bedroom.

Adrienne turned around to look at him. She put her hands on her hips and opened her mouth to say something. Instead, she simply shook her head. "Go downstairs and get some paper towels," She instructed, turning away "And the carpet cleaner."

***

"How is he?" Billie Joe asked when Adrienne walked back into the bedroom, looking up from the notebook he was writing in.

"Hundred and one fever," Adie sighed "I gave him some Benadryl, he's asleep now." The dark haired woman crawled into bed next to her husband.

Billie Joe frowned, "Probably just the flu," he concluded, putting the notebook away and settling down beside his Adrienne and putting an arm around her waist. "Now where were we?" he said with the same spark in his eyes he had an hour earlier.

"Billie Joe I just spent the last half hour cleaning up our son's vomit, do you really think I want to make out with you right now?" She asked, trying to hide that same spark.

Billie Joe thought for a moment. "Yes." He didn't give her time to answer; he leaned in and kissed her, placing one hand on her cheek and another on her neck.

Adrienne gave in. She loved the fact that when he kissed her, the entire world just faded away, and nothing bad could ever enter her mind.

Before long, the couple was lying on top of each other, the kisses getting deeper with each passing moment. Adrienne broke away and looked up at the punk rocker. A smile swept across her face like wildfire and she felt like nothing else was going on in the world except for what was happening between them.

Until the phone began to ring.

"I'll get it," Adrienne grumbled, pushing Billie Joe off of her and reaching over to where the phone rested on the bedside table. She sat up and answered it.

"Hello," She said, pretending not to let her aggravation come out over the phone. Billie Joe sat up against the headboard and tried to ignore the lower half of his body.

"Amelia," Adrienne glanced at the clock "What's going on, it's really late here and..." Adrienne tried to tell her little sister that she was interrupting but was apparently cut off.

"Oh my God," Adrienne whispered, her eyes widened at whatever Amelia was saying "When? Ok, how is he now?" Her voice started to get shaky and Billie Joe reached out to touch her hand, Adrienne gave him a scared look "How's Mom doing?" she asked and Billie Joe knew something was wrong. She was quiet for a moment, as her sister fed her more information "Well did the doctor..." she was apparently interrupted again. After a few more moments Adrienne finally wrapped up the phone call. "Alright," her voice sounded so small "I'll call first thing in the morning ok? Take care of Mom and if anything happens than call right away, alright? Ok, love you too Honey. Bye."

Adrienne put the phone back and buried her head in her hands; Billie Joe pulled her close to him when a sob escaped.

"What happened honey, tell me," He said, cradling her gently.

"Dad," Adrienne's shoulders shook with another sob "Had another heart attack, a bad one. He's," she took in a harsh breath "He's bad." She shook her head and Billie Joe tightened his squeeze on her shoulders, burying his head into her dark hair, he didn't know what to say.

He held her like that for an hour until she calmed down and was asleep snuggled into Billie Joe's T-shirt. He sighed and stroked her hair away from her face before laying them both down on the mattress and turning out the light. Sad, and a little disappointed at how the night had turned out, he finally joined his wife in slumber.

Adrienne never told him that her father's health wasn't the only reason she was in tears that night.