A Ballad For Beulah

Waking up that morning, Mike found that he was laying on his back, pretty much in a spread eagle position, and something was weighing him down that he was unable to register until he opened his sleepy blue eyes and tilted his down to find Beulah curled around him. She had her messy head of blonde hair all tousled and such across his chest, an arm wrapped around his waist and a leg tangled between his. And, for a moment, a red flag went up in Mike's mind.

Did something happen last night?

At second glance, upon lifting up the duvet, Mike saw they were both still clothed in the same way they'd fallen asleep in. With a sigh of relief, he dropped his head back against the pillow along with letting go of the duvet.

And he smiled.

He knew he would've never taken advantage of her like that but the only time it seemed he ever woke up with a beautiful girl in his arms was when they bumped uglies the night before. And odd as it may seem, this felt a little better to the lanky bassist. It was almost...pure.

As if on instinct, Mike threw his free arm around to cover her arm that held him close. Turning his head to the side, he nuzzled the top of hers and pressed his lips to her forehead, his eyes simply studying her sleeping form; his smile still evident on his lips and in his eyes.

He couldn't explain why he was feeling so at peace with her, why he felt the severe need to protect her from the bad things in life, why his heart fluttered a little when he saw her.

When Beulah stirred, Mike felt as her smaller fingers gripped his waist as she stretched and groaned with waking up.

Then her body went still and rigid as she lifted her head to look Mike in the eye, blushing with embarrassment.

"Oh, shit," she muttered. "Did we---?"

"No," Mike shook his head, knowing what she was going to ask.

"Okay, good. I mean, not good as in I wouldn't have been flattered that you'd---and I'm not saying I wouldn't, uh...I'll just shut up now before I get my foot too far into my mouth."

Mike's hand that grazed her arm kept doing so as he smirked. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like the dead," she smirked in return. "But I need to get up off my ass and get ready for work. I still work at the restaurant from eleven to five," Beulah began to speak as she tried sitting up, but Mike kept his hold on her, preventing her from doing so. "Mike, I gotta---"

"Nope," he replied simply. "I got you to quit stripping to keep you from being degraded. What makes you think I'm gonna let you go to a job where you were demoted for no good reason at all, where you have to deal with a bitch who walks all over you? I don't think so."

Beulah studied his face and bit her lip, while slowly smiling so appreciatively at him.

"I still don't know why you're being so nice to me...and not just because someone has to..."

"Because I want to," he answered with a serious expression taking over where his smiling one was moments before. "And, because I think I need to. Don't ask why, though. I'm still trying to figure that part out for myself."

"Well, then, what do you expect me to do? Call in and say, 'Take this job and shove it' again?"

"Something like that. Or a simple, 'Kiss my grits you fuckers' would work too, I think."

Beulah let out a laugh as she laid her head back down on his chest and released a sigh from her lips, nestling her face more against him out of comfort.

"Thank you, Mike," she muttered, quietly. "For being my friend."

Mike grinned and placed another kiss on the top of her head. "You're welcome, Beulah."

* * *

After getting up, Beulah went about making a late breakfast for Bailey, who was already up and had been watching cartoons on Nickelodeon for however long he'd been awake.

When the four and a half year old saw Mike walking out of his mom's room, he was a little confused, but smiled nonetheless.

"Uncle Mike!" he called out.

Mike grinned. "Hey, there, buddy. How've you been doin'?"

"Good," Bailey replied. "My daddy was here this morning and he said he was gonna come back later."

"Your dad was here?" Beulah piped up from the kitchen.

"Yup. And he gave me a big hug and a kiss and said he missed me, mommy."

"Of course he did, sweetie."

"And he said he was sorry he didn't get to see me and couldn't call me all the time."

Mike looked toward the kitchen, wondering how Beulah was reacting to what her son said. Turning back to Bailey, he patted the kid's leg as he started to step away. "Well, you just continue watching your cartoons, 'kay? I'm gonna go help your mom with breakfast."

"Okay," Bailey replied.

Taking his usual lanky strides, Mike stepped out of the living room and into the kitchen where Beulah seemed to be furiously whisking eggs and milk together to make scrambled eggs as if her life depended on it.

"Beulah," Mike spoke, cutting into her concentration. She turned her head as he stepped up to her, pressed his chest to her back and took her arms in his hands to calm her down. "It's okay. Billie's gonna change his ways. I promise."

Letting her grip go on the whisk, she hunched forward a little, leaning slightly on the counter as Mike moved with her, wrapping his arms around her at the first sound of a muffled cry coming from her lips. Pressing his lips to her shoulder, he muttered a "Shh," though not truly understanding the extent of how hurt Billie Joe had caused her to feel.

Not really registering what he was doing, Mike moved his lips from her shoulder to her neck while her soft crying came to a halt and her breath became caught in her throat.

Closing her eyes, she took in the feel of his warm lips against her skin as the thin strap of her tank top slid down her shoulder on its own accord. Straightening up her posture, Beulah tipped her head back and then slowly turning around to face Mike as their foreheads touched along with the tips of their noses.

Bending at the knees, Mike looked her in the eye, making sure he had her attention, both of their blue eyes locking as he straightened back up and brushed his nose against hers again; his lips a feather's distance from hers.

"Don't cry anymore," he whispered, tilting his head and pressing his lips to hers while holding her body up against his.

Keeping his arms wrapped around her waist, Mike smiled against her lips as they kissed, his heart pounding in his chest at the way her hands ran up his back to grip his shoulders tightly.

And for the first time in the entire fifteen years of knowing Beulah and only ever seeing her as a friend or simply as Tom's little sister, Mike wanted her more than ever.

Here was a beautiful woman who deserved to be loved and treated as such. Who needed to be shown how a man could love her not just physically, but emotionally and mentally.

When she broke apart from their kiss, and pushed him back a bit, he felt a mix of confusion and guilt wash over him, but she simply smiled shyly.

"The eggs and milk were for scrambled eggs I was making for you and Bailey, but I'm not really hungry right now..."

"I am," he muttered. "For you."

Her heart just about stopped.

Fuck, that was hot.

"Uh...let me just...um, throw some of this together for Bailey. Don't...go anywhere."

Gathering her wits about her, she poured the egg and milk mix into the pan already on the stove and began to stir it around until it began to clump together and become more solid. It was only a couple minutes, but it felt like forever as she stood there cooking, feeling Mike's eyes on her though neither of them were speaking for the moment. When the scrambled eggs were done cooking, she turned off the burner and dumped the eggs onto a plate, grabbed a fork and slipped rather swiftly from the kitchen, leaving Mike to get his thumping heart under control until she appeared back in the small room a few moments later.

Biting her lip, Beulah walked up to Mike and immediately kissed him before he had the chance to say anything.

Swiveling their bodies around, he lifted her up in his arms, cupping his hands under her ass and pressing her up against the fridge, causing the large appliance to shake at the movement.

Beulah wrapped her legs around his waist as he ground his hips into hers, moving her mouth away from his for only a moment.

"Bailey, when you're done eating your eggs put your plate and fork in the sink and watch some cartoons like a good boy while mommy takes a nap," she called out.

"Okay," her son replied.

Turning her attention back to Mike, she slid down his body upon unwrapping her legs from about his hips. As soon as her feet touched the tiled, kitchen floor, Beulah took Mike by the hand and led him into her bedroom where she shut the door and slowly lifted her shirt up over her head and returned her body to his as their bare chests pressed up against each other.

But Mike needed to see her.

Pulling her away at arm's length, he let his eyes take in ever curve of her breasts before placing his hands on her hips and hooking his thumbs under the waist of her pajama pants and pulling them down over her hips as he knelt down before, kissing every inch of her skin until he was kneeling on the floor and she was standing before him with her pajama pants pooled around her feet.

Placing his hands on her ass, he kissed her stomach while her fingers began run idly through his dark hair. Her hands moved from his head to the side of his face, forcing him to look up at her with doleful eyes that were also heavy-ladden with lust...and something else she couldn't pinpoint.

Slowly, Beulah dropped down to her knees so that she was eye level with Mike. "Make love to me, Mike," she whispered before they kissed.

Without having to respond, Mike helped them over to the bed where he laid her down amongst the disheveled blankets and pillows, watching with careful eyes at how she reacted to everything he did.

Especially watching as a chill seemed to run through her body when he climbed up onto the bed and dragged a hand along the outline of her naked upper body.

He was not going to simply make love to her. He was going to discover her.

Beulah couldn't help but stare at his chest, reaching her hands up to graze her fingers through the light dusting of chest hair he had, then running her hands up to his shoulders and pulling her body up so that she could cling to him; too impatient to wait for him to finish hovering and lightly touching her. A gesture to which made him shudder.

A gesture telling him she wanted him.

Laying them both down onto the mattress, Mike placed his weight on top of her and buried his face in the crook of her neck, gently kissing her soft skin while wrapping his arms around her. And while he kissed, she rolled them over so that she could sit up and straddle him. In doing so, she hooked her fingers around the zipper of his pants and slowly began to undo them, causing a small groan to escape his lips as he looked up at her; the look in his eyes almost thanking her for giving his growing erection some release from its restricition.

And to Beulah's surprise, he wore nothing underneath his pants.

There he was, at full attention underneath her, which made her breath shudder at the feeling of him prodding against her thigh.

Then, in a swift movement, Mike flipped them over so that he was once again on top. He slid down her body a little so that he could slide her panties off with delicate, yet manly fingers; like he was carefully plucking his bass.

Discarding her bottoms to the floor, he brought his weight back down to her body to kiss her full on the lips.

"I can stop now," he muttered, his breath shaky. "I will not go any further unless you want me to."

"Well," she shrugged. "Do you have a condom?"

His eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No."

The smirk that began to play upon her lips confused him. "Good."

"Huh? How's that good?"

"If I'm gonna have you, even if it's just this once, I want all of you." Beulah licked her lips a little shyly before craning her neck to kiss him, letting her tongue slip between his lips and entering the warm, moist cavern of his mouth.

"You sure?" he questioned, unable to keep himself from getting any more erect, if that was at all possible.

Beulah nodded. "Very."

Just staring at her, Mike began to smile as he shook his head, leaning more into her kiss once again, while his hands lingered down to between their bodies where he spread her legs a little wider than they already were and ground gently against her, eliciting a series of moans from her lips.

Dropping his face to her throat, Mike flicked his tongue out, to taste her salty skin and leave a trail of kisses until he reached the valley between her breasts; looking up at her through his eyebrows at how she was tipping her head back in anticipation whilst also biting her lip.

"Just tell me when..." he whispered.

"When," she replied.

Grinning, Mike climbed back up her body enough so that he could position his manhood at her entrance and then, gripping one of her thighs with his right hand while his left arm wrapped around her back, Mike thrust in.

And, it was at that moment that Mike felt like he'd died.

"Fuck," he groaned as he pushed deeper inside her, biting down on his own lip from how tight she was around him. It made him feel like coming right then and there.

Beulah cried out softly, her fingers starting to dig into his back as her toes began to curl and her legs wrapped around his waste, giving him better access.

As soon as he was as far in as he was gonna get, he slowly began the gesture of pulling out halfway and then pushing his length back in, building a steady pace.

And all the while, a part of him was asking, How could you fuck Tom's little sister? The mother of Billie Joe's illegitimate son?

His answer?

Because I think I may be falling in love with her.

Letting that answer bounce around in his head only fueled his passion all the more; wrapping his arms a little tighter around her body as if letting her go meant death. And he practically kept his lips glued to her, finding her kisses to be as addictive as heroin to junkies.

"Beulah...Beulah..." he whispered against her lips over and over.

And how strange it was for her to hear her actual name moaned during sex, instead of 'Bee' or 'Baby' as Billie Joe always called her.

This was, indeed, different in so many ways.

"Mike..." she breathed as they rolled around in bed.

As they came close to the end, Mike brought his lips to her ears.

"How you doing?" he asked with a smile.

"I've never been...asked that before," she replied, panting a great deal. "I'm...I'm really good."

"Almost there?"

"Mmhmm," she moaned in a small voice.

Then, in a matter of moments, Beulah's body went rigid underneath his as she dug her fingernails so hard into his back that it's possible she drew blood. The feeling was a little painful yet Mike loved it.

The two of them had cried out each other's name when they came down from their sexual high; their bodies still wrapped around each other, clinging for dear life.

"I think I've become addicted to you," Mike whispered with a shaky breath.

Smiling, she let her head tip back so that they could look at each other. His eyes wandered the contours of her face.

"Beulah..." he continued.

"Yeah?"

Mike kissed her then pulled back and smiled at her. "I think I lo---"

"Mommy!"

Bailey's shout interrupted the entire mood and cut Mike off from what he was going to say.

The two of them turned their attention toward the door as Beulah scrambled out from underneath Mike and walked over to the door where she had her robe hanging on a hook.

"Mommy!" Bailey called again.

"I'm coming. Just hold on a sec, okay?" she replied as she wrapped her robe around her body and stepped from the room, leaving Mike on the bed, grimacing at his bad timing.

Or, actually, Bailey's.

Slipping off the bed completely stark naked, the blue eyed bassist reached for where his pants were and stepped into them one leg at a time, zipping them up as he began to walk from the bedroom and out toward the living room, stopping in his tracks as soon as he registered the fourth person in the room.

Billie Joe stood near the door, his hands in the pockets of his pants, looking from Beulah to Mike, and then back again.

"Just friends, huh?" Billie Joe remarked with a sarcastic laugh, eyeing Mike.

"Bill, I---" Mike began as Billie Joe shrugged it off.

"Whatever," he cut his friend off, looking at Beulah. "Is it okay if I take Bailey out for a little bit?"

"Uh..." she trailed. "Uh, no. He'd like it."

"The way I figure it, it'll give you and Mike some play time of your own," he commented, then looking down at his son. "You all dressed and ready to go, kiddo?"

Bailey nodded. He was, in fact, dressed. He'd done it all by himself for once and managed to pick something that matched.

Beulah knelt down and kissed her son on the cheek before standing back up as Billie Joe took Bailey by the hand.

"C'mon," the guitarist said with a smile meant only for his son. "We'll be back later," he muttered to Beulah, foregoing a look at Mike as they slipped out of the apartment.

Mike and Beulah were left to stew in the tension Billie Joe left with them as the blue eyed bassist turned to her and touched his hand to her shoulder, but she shook it off.

"I think I'm just gonna...take a shower."

"Beulah. Are you okay?"

She forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just in the mood for a shower now."

Mike could tell by the look in her eye that she wasn't fine but he didn't pester her any further, allowing her to just go off and take the shower she so desperately wanted at the moment.

And when she disappeared from the living room, a part of Mike's heart lurched with a longing.

I think I'm in love with you, Beulah.