A Ballad For Beulah

In the course of six months, Beulah's life had changed quite a bit.

With all the money she'd saved from the child support Billie Joe was sending her, and what with the raise she received at work, she was able to move to a better neighborhood. Closer to her brother Nick and his fiancee, Laura, in fact.

Granted, Beulah was sad to leave behind Evelyn who'd been a great babysitter for the last two and a half years, but the move was for the best. Especially since Beulah was convinced a drug dealer moved in next door.

And it was odd, that the day she was moving, the people who showed up to help her move. Nick had rented a U-Haul for her and was helping her carry the boxes and the furniture out to the truck with a friend of his who was a fellow bouncer. Laura was helping to watch Bailey so Beulah could orchestrate what was going on and to finish packing some smaller things up.

But then, there was a knock at the door. And, Beulah, thinking it was Nick or his friend with their hands full and unable to open it themselves, went to the door and pulled it open without question.

"The stuff gettin' too hea---" she began before she stopped mid sentence. Her jaw dropped in surprise before she smiled in disbelief. "Mike? What are you doing here?"

Standing on the other side of the threshold, was Mike, but he wasn't alone. He stood hand and hand with a curly-haired brunette woman who seemed to be a couple years older than her. And, needless to say, Beulah was slightly confused.

"We were in the neighborhood. Literally," he smirked. "Beulah, this is my fiancee, Sarah Garrity. Sarah, this is my friend Tom's little sister, Beulah Mason," he introduced.

Beulah wiped her hands on her pants and held out her hand as Sarah hesitantly shook it.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Beulah greeted. "Mike's told me great things about you."

Giving a faintly strained smile, Sarah looked up at Mike. "I hope so."

"Well, uh...come in. I'm just, um...kinda busy packing."

"Yeah, I heard," Mike commented as he stepped into the disarrayed apartment with his fiancee. "I promised Sarah a trip to Vegas before the guys and I got too engrossed with recording, and I got wind from Tom that you were moving, so I thought, hey; kill two birds with one stone or something like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, vacation with my little lady, and help you out. Thought you could use an extra hand."

"Oh, well...uh, yeah. I'm sure Nick and DeVon would appreciate some help."

Mike smirked and gave Sarah's hand a loving squeeze before parting from her and starting to peel off his thin jacket and lay it down on the kitchen table where Laura was sitting with Bailey, who was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Hey, buddy," the bassist grinned. He ruffled the kids trimmed, dark locks and then placed a kiss on his forehead. "Miss your Uncle Mike?"

"Uncle?" Sarah questioned.

"Uh, yeah. Term of affection. Kinda like Tre and Billie's kids calling me Uncle Mike, even though I'm not actually related." He shifted his blue eyes to Beulah's and said sorry with them just in case he was being a little too loose with what he said. "Sarah, honey. This is Beulah's son, Bailey."

"He's really cute," Mike's fiancee complimented. "How old's he?"

"Two and a half," Beulah replied.

"He looks familiar," Sarah muttered. "I haven't, like, seen a picture of him before, have I?"

"Uh..." Mike stalled. "It's possible. I mean, you've been to Tom's house with me, before. Maybe you saw a picture there."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well, uh, let me go outside and see what your brother and his friend need help with. That okay?"

Beulah nodded at the same time as Sarah while Mike smiled at all of them and disappeared from the apartment. And when he was gone, Laura sent Beulah a knowing smirk.

"Isn't that the Mike from the band you and Nick knew when you were kids?" she questioned.

Beulah nodded. "Yeah, that's the Mike."

"That's so funny, and you know, I thought he looked familiar. I mean, Nick has this picture of you, him, Mike, Tom and two other guys from that band. Isn't it, like, Green Day, or whatever?"

Beulah nodded again. "That's the one."

"Wow," Laura looked over at Sarah with an expression of approval written on her face. "You're quite the lucky one, aren't ya? A rich, considerate stud. You got it made, my friend. Don't let him get away."

Sarah grinned. "I'll try not to," she replied as Mike, Nick and DeVon reentered the apartment and began reaching for the couch to lift together.

* * *

That night, Beulah was standing on the balcony porch of her new apartment, enjoying the view she finally had of the Vegas Strip in the distance. The cool October air wafted into her nostrils and the breeze felt wonderful instead of the usual hot sun beating down on her skin and making her feel all dried out.

When the sliding glass door opened, she turned her head around and smiled when she saw Mike, holding a drink in his hand.

"Thanks for dinner," he spoke, standing side by side with her.

"Well, after all the help you offered with moving today, it was the least I could do for you guys. And plus it gave me a chance to christen my kitchen."

Mike smirked. "You know, I was talking with DeVon. He seems like a nice guy. D'you ever think of maybe getting to know him a little better?" he winked mischievously.

"Michael Pritchard, are you trying to play matchmaker?"

"Maybe."

"Well, it ain't gonna work," she replied. "DeVon's not my type."

"'Cause he's black?"

"No," she assured. "'Cause he's gay."

Mike just looked at her, raising his eyebrows a bit. "Oh, my bad. I guess my gaydar's off."

"You have gaydar?"

"When you grow up with Billie Joe, who's slightly bisexual, and to this day will kiss guys without a problem, and given our stance on homosexuality and all the gays and lesbians we know...yeah, I have gaydar."

Beulah laughed a hearty laugh, which caused Mike to give her a playful nudge.

"There's Beulah," he remarked. "You need to smile like that more often."

"I do?"

"Of course. It's brighter than those lights out there. Hell, I'm sure it's even brighter than fuckin' sunshine."

Beulah blushed a little but it went unnoticed because of the dark. "And here I thought Billie Joe was a smooth talker," she snickered.

Mike's face became serious at her comment. Dipping his head and looking out toward the Strip, Mike bit his lip from saying something he'd regret later. So, he watered down what he was thinking.

"How close are you and Billie when he visits?"

He took note of the lump in her throat she swallowed back before she answered, which was really the only answer that the bassist needed.

"Well, we have a son together..." she stalled.

"Don't mind me when I say, 'Duh.'"

"We're...complicated."

"Humor me." Exhaling a small breath, Mike leaned sideways against the railing so that he could face her a little better. "Beulah, I know something's up, and if there's anyone you can talk to about all this, it's me," he insisted. "No one else knows the truth."

"I know," she muttered guiltily. "It's just...I dunno. I...Billie and I, we're...complicated. I don't know how else to explain it."

"Let me help," he began. "Have the two of you slept together since the night that Bailey was conceived?" When she didn't answer, Mike grimaced. "Shit. How long's it been going on?"

"Well...the, uh, first time was in March, when he came to visit after that long while being away. We, uh...made good use of the apartment. And, this summer, when he visited a few times." She looked up at him with sad eyes, hoping he didn't think less of her. "The last time was earlier this month."

Mike remembered the phone call he'd received from Billie Joe when the guitarist said he was heading to Beulah's to visit. If he'd known he was gonna do more than visit, Mike woulda smacked some sense into him before he left.

"Do you know how he feels?"

Beulah shrugged. "I know he cares about me. And he adores Bailey..."

"That doesn't really go far."

"It's far enough."

"Do you love him?" Mike questioned.

"I always have," she replied solemnly. "That's the problem. I know he's not the most sensitive guy when it comes to me and Bailey, but that's because he has his wife and other sons to---"

"---Keep in the dark while he fucks you."

The slap across Mike's cheek told him he'd gone too far.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean...I'm sorry."

Beulah just shook her head and turned to looked out at the Strip, holding back her tears. "I can live with being the other woman, because you don't know what it's like when we're together. He makes me feel so loved. So beautiful. So wanted. And...and I'd rather have small moments like that than none at all."

She brought her hand up to her face and wiped some tears away, making Mike feel guilty that he helped force these feelings out.

Frowning, he reached an arm out and wrapped his around her waist, drawing her to his side as he placed an affectionate kiss on her right temple.

"Just remember what I said on your birthday," he whispered into her ear. "Someday your prince will come."

She let out a short laugh and smiled despite herself.

"I hope you're right.

"I am right," he insisted. "Everyone has someone meant for them out there. It may take some searching and waiting, but your knight in shining armor will come to you when you least expect it and sweep you off your feet."

Beulah looked up at him and smiled softly.

"Don't just give yourself away so easily. Not every frog's a prince."

* * *

As the rest of the year began to dwindle down rather quickly, Beulah found herself a little more standoffish when Billie Joe came to visit, which, more or less, mirrored how he was acting anyway.

Since her talk with Mike on the balcony, she was gonna try and not let Billie Joe get into her pants, and she was rather successful.

That is, until Billie Joe caught a cab all the way from LA to Las Vegas just to visit.

At first, all Beulah could think about was how expensive the fare would be, but it made some sense, given the fact that he had to money to pay it...

...And that he was totally shitfaced.

Driving himself would've been a big No-No.

She let him into her new apartment and helped him drag his feet to the couch where he sank down like a lump. His head rolled back as he smiled so lazily at her, as if he were higher than a kite.

He was definitely feeling no pain.

"Billie...what are you doing here...completely drunk?" she demanded.

He scrunched his face as if someone had just farted and it smelled horribly, while he shrugged. "She's...bitch," he slurred.

"What? Who's a bitch?"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch," he repeated over and over. "Kiss my ass, why don't you. I...I am the man," he mumbled, poking himself in the chest with his right pointer finger, while his left hand nursed an empty bottle of vodka. "I pay the bills...I love her...bitch."

"Who?" Beulah pestered, kneeling down before him.

"Whodoyouthink?" he replied, slurring all his words together.

"Adrienne?"

"Bingo! We have a winner!" he shouted, raising the vodka bottle-clad hand.

"Shh, Billie...Bailey's sleeping."

He leaned forward and put a finger to his lips. "Shh...but you know...you're never a bitch, you know...you know that, Baby. You're so nice to me...always so nice...and you fuck like a minx---did I say that out loud?"

He licked his bottom lip and dropped the bottle to the couch, clasping his hands around her face and drawing her in for a kiss. Beulah grimaced a little because his lips tasted like all kinds of alcohol and an astray, but with a faint hint of spearmint.

"Billie, stop. You're drunk," she muttered, pulling herself away from him even though a part of her kicked herself for doing so.

Pouting, Billie Joe gave her puppy dog eyes as he tilted his head down and looked up at her through his eyebrows in that seductive way that always turned her to Jell-O.

"You look like shit," she muttered with a smirk.

"I feel like it too, but I don't have to...let me kiss you again, 'kay?" he spoke softly as he leaned in again.

"Billie..."

"Oh, fuck, c'mon...you have...no clue how much I really need a good fuck right now...and you're so beautiful. You make everything beautiful. D'you know that?"

Damn her for giving in so easily, but he was the only man in her life that seemed to want her like Billie Joe wanted her.

And he knew right then that he had to have her.

Billie Joe pushed her down onto the floor with a soft thud, much to her surprise. She looked up at him with wide blue eyes as he began to hover over her.

Billie Joe thanked all the deities known to man that she was already wearing her nightgown, so it made it easier to disrobe her lower half.

"Billie...you need a condom. I didn't take a pill..." she spoke finally.

He grinned evilly at her. "Oh, don't worry. Where I'm going, I won't need one."

He sat her back up and situated her so that she was kneeling and bending over the couch.

"Billie, I dunno---"

"Shh, it's okay. You'll like it..."

He did, in fact, go where no man had ever gone before with her, and she didn't much care for it, but she couldn't deny that there was some excitement to it all, and the one, quiet whimper she let out, told him as much.

"Told ya," he snickered. "Oh, god..." he groaned, when he was finished. Smiling at her as soon as he turned her around, Billie Joe wrapped his arms around her as they fell to the floor together. "I love ya, babe."