Good Man

Much as we may wish to make a new beginning, some part of us resists doing so as though we were making the first step toward disaster.
- William Throsby Bridges



Caroline sat at her computer in her home office while she listened to the rain falling gently outside the window, checking her email and sending instant messages back and forth to her adoptive father, Paul, back east in Raleigh.

The light tapping of her fingers on the keys were rhythmic and quite soothing as she slowly became aware that she'd been on the computer for nearly two hours already. She knew she should be socializing with her sister Timmy and Seth, the man who would become her brother-in-law in the spring, but she was feeling too lazy to even get up out of her chair.

It was one of those days. Ironically, another rainy Monday.

Casting her hazel eyes upward at the desk calendar, she took note of what she already knew; that it was December 31st.

New Year's Eve.

Pursing her lips in thought, she told her dad she loved him and would be sure to kiss her kids on behalf of their Grandpa Paul and Grandma Joanne. Signing off of AOL, she shut the computer down and practically peeled herself off the swiveling, leather office chair and got to her feet.

Letting out a yawn, caused by such an overcast day, Caroline left the office and nearly tripped over one of Mikey's new toys from Christmas. Cursing under her breath, she went into the kitchen and opened the fridge door, peering inside even though she wasn't hungry or thirsty.

"You finally offline?" called Timmy from the living room.

Caroline straightened up her posture. "Yeah. My dad says hi. Well, my other dad, anyway."

"Tell him I said hi, too."

Raising an eyebrow, Caroline shut the fridge door and walked toward the living room. "Since I've already signed off, I'll give him your message the next time I talk to him."

Caroline's figure appeared in the archway to the living room as she took in the sight of her kids both sitting on the couch with their aunt and soon-to-be uncle.

Seth turned to give Caroline a smile over his shoulder as he looked up at her. "We were thinking that we'd go to Blockbuster and pick up some movies for tonight and maybe some party favors for the kids."

"Nothing small for them to choke on and you got yourself a deal," Caroline quipped.

Timmy smirked at her sister and reached her hand upward in the direction of the older brunette. "Gimme your car keys and we'll go get the stuff now."

"What are you? Suddenly a savant on my neighborhood and the surrounding Bay area?"

"I've got a great memory for details and I've visited here enough to know my directions well enough, thank you."

Rolling her eyes, despite the small smirk dangling on her lips, Caroline moved around to sit down on the opposite end of the wrap-around couch as she nodded toward the kitchen where she'd just come from.

"They're in my purse."

Timmy beamed and jumped to her feet. "Sweet. I love driving your car. I like to pretend it's mine and that I'm the famous rockstar."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"You're just saying that 'cause you don't wanna share," Timmy teased as she exited the living room in search of her sister's purse.

"I'd be more than happy to share it with you in a heartbeat, Tiff, but trust me when I say it's not all rainbows and butterflies."

"I ain't stupid."

"You don't speak properly either," Seth retorted at his fiancee. He shot Caroline a smile and looked down at Mikey who was looking back up at him. "Watcha doin'?"

Mikey shrugged. "I dunno."

"I feel ya, little man."

Caroline watched the interaction, thanking the Powers That Be for giving her son another male figure to look up to.



A few hours later, Caroline was cleaning up the mess Chloe had made when she dropped a piece of pizza on the living room carpet. On her hands and knees, scrubbing out the mess, it almost made her laugh out loud to think that someone such as herself, who's made millions of dollars touring and been to a bunch of countries, was scrubbing pizza goop out of carpet fibers and getting no where.

"Ooh, bad stain," muttered a familiar voice.

Looking over her shoulder and then rolling to her side to sit on the ground, Caroline smiled at the person with pleasant surprise in her eyes and face in general.

"Gerard? What the hell are you doing here?"

Holding a small duffel bag in one hand, and a large gift bag in the other, Gerard Way shrugged and stepped further into the living room from the foyer as his brother Mikey and sister-in-law Alicia entered into the Pritchard house not seconds later.

"Thought we'd surprise ya for New Year's," he replied. "But, if you're not up for the company, we can head back to our hotel in the city and party it up there. Though, between you and me, I think all of us could have much more fun here. I mean, the hotel doesn't even have its own lil' MJ or Chloe."

Caroline smiled and got to her feet, slightly gross rag in her hand that was tinged with orange from rubbing out pizza sauce. Throwing her arms around the generally pale man, she gave him a welcoming hug, then moved behind him to greet Mikey and Alicia Way.

"Hi," she smiled. "Sorry I look like hell warmed over, but I wasn't expecting anyone other than my sister and her fiance who're staying here with me for the holidays."

"Oh, don't be sorry. I told these two we should've called first instead of dropping in unannounced, but no. Heaven forbid either of them listen to a word I have to say," Alicia muttered, jabbing her husband in the side.

Caroline laughed a little and gestured to the gift bag in Gerard's left hand. "What's that?"

"Belated Christmas gifts for you and the kids."

"Oh God, what the fuck'd you go and do that for? My rugrats are spoiled enough as it is."

"Children of humble parents are humble by association and upbringing; and therefore they can never be spoiled enough."

Caroline simply opted for shaking her head and smiling at the New Jersey native. She took the gift bag from him and called her kids into the living room, which they did after calling them a second time and with the help of Seth who was carrying Mikey in, upside down, arms wrapped around the child's waist. Timmy had Chloe's little hand within her hand, leading the girl into the room.

Pulling the gifts from the bag and setting them down before her children, Caroline explained the presents were from 'Uncle Gee, Uncle Mikey and Auntie Alicia.' The kids, honestly, could've cared less as they ripped into the gifts as best as their stubby fingers would let them.

Chloe was still too young to really grasp the awe of what she got and was still at the age where the wrapping paper was more interesting than anything. God, himself, could've arrived in all his divine glory, with a dozen white doves sprouting from who knows where, and still Chloe would've been more agog over the simplicity that was the wrapping paper covered with little snowmen.

Mikey was a bit more excited, jumping up and down at the fact that he had a new video of the Doodlebops along with a number of other toys he would potentially spend hours occupying himself with.

With Caroline's insistence, she had her kids go to Gerard, Mikey and Alicia and give them hugs and kisses, and to tell them 'thank you.'

Gerard smiled at the little ones and looked at Caroline. "Considering we have no little kids to buy gifts for in our immediate family back home or wherever, we really find joy in this so don't think anything of it, Care. We wanted to do it as much as we needed to."

Caroline felt her heart swell at the thoughtfulness as she leaned into her sister, who she was now sitting beside on the couch. "Well, thank you anyway. It means the world to me that MJ and Chloe have even more people that care about them."

"Don't mention it," Alicia added. "We all feel like family to you three. Like one, huge, dysfunctional surrogate of a family."



The weather was ungodly warm and perfect as the breeze wafted into the presidential suite currently occupied by the Armstrong family. And although the full moon overhead in the Italian sky, above the city of Milan, was a sight to behold, the picturesque landscape wasn't enough for Billie Joe.

He had his wife of eighteen years, his two teenage sons, Joey's girlfriend and Jakob's best friend with him, but it wasn't enough.

The kids were joking around animatedly, playing music and throwing confetti off the balcony onto the street below, ringing in the New Year while Adrienne came up beside her husband who was on the other balcony -- the one that led out from their master suite -- and placed her hands on the back of his shoulders, leaning her face into his body.

"I feel guilty," he muttered, watching the fireworks exploding in the distance.

"Why?" Adrienne muttered, kissing the clothed skin between his shoulder blades.

"Here were are, a happy family, looking forward to the new year together. Yet, Caroline's back home in California, widowed with two kids, trying to figure out where she goes next with her life."

"She'll move on in her own time, Billie. This isn't going to be an overnight thing." She then added, "For any of us."

"I know. I lost him too, you know? We all did. But at least I had him for most of my life. It's a different situation for Caroline. He was her husband, the father of her children. It's not the same."

"I know," Adrienne repeated. "Life sucks donkey balls."

"Ain't that the truth of it."

"Well, this new year can't get worse."

"Shh," Billie Joe practically hissed, turning his body so that he could face his wife. "Don't say that out loud. You'll jinx us."

"Since when did you become superstitious?"

"I'm not. It's just...don't say something like that, 'kay?"

Adrienne held her husband's gaze and after moments of blank consideration, she shrugged and nodded. "Okay. I promise to never say anything like that again."

"Good. Thanks."

She gave him a 'you're a dork but I love you' look. "You're welcome."

Leaning forward, he placed a kiss on her forehead, then her nose, and finally her lips. "Happy New Year, you hag."

Adrienne giggled. "Happy New Year, dirty whore."



A couple hours later and a few time zones behind, Giselle clinked her champagne glass against her newly discovered, biological sister's matching champagne flute, a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye.

"Happy New Year, big sis," she toasted.

Ellis, with a nod of her head, smiled back. "Happy New Year, little sis."

Tre, on the opposite side of the room, was walking toward his wife and his brand new sister-in-law, wrapping one arm around Giselle's waist and kissing her cheek. "New Years in New York City always seem so classy." After a beat, he added, "A word I would never use to describe myself. Gassy, maybe."

Giselle giggled a little and leaned into him and then eyed Ellis. "Thanks again for inviting us here for the new year. We haven't gone anywhere in a while and I think we really needed this."

"It was nothing. Trust me. If anything, thank you. To not only find my sister, but to gain a brother," she said with a nod of acknowledgment to Tre, "and a niece or nephew," she gestured to Giselle's stomach, "is more than I could've ever wished for this holiday season."

Giselle wetted her lips, looked to Tre, then sheepishly back at her sister. "About that..." she began. "I don't want you to say anything Caroline. We haven't told her yet and I know she'd feel really hurt if she knew we told you first before her. She's been my sister all my life and---"

Ellis held up her hand, cutting Giselle off. "Don't say anymore. I understand." She smiled. "Territorial rights. I sensed it at Christmas."

"I'm sorry about that. Caroline's a bit, well, her personality isn't always exactly linear, and considering what she's been through -- what we all have been through -- I can't really fault her for being a bit more...territorial these days. She's clinging more to everyone in her life more so now than ever before to make up for the loss of Mike. It's a hard bump in the road to get past, but I know that someday she will..."

As an afterthought, Tre added to his wife's comment, "We hope she will."



Almost three hours to the moment later, three time zones behind New York's, California was celebrating the New Year with rainy weather that had seemed to come to a halt for the time being.

Caroline had let her kids stay up to pull some of the bottle poppers with the adults, but when the loud popping noise startled Chloe and made her cry, Alicia made Mikey join her in taking the little girl up to bed so that Caroline could enjoy herself downstairs for the rest of the evening.

About a half hour later, she was about to take her son up to bed when Timmy and Seth opted to do so, which Caroline thanked them for.

Timmy and Seth reappeared not long after, informing all that they'd be heading to bed, taking to the guest bedroom. Mikey and Alicia said they were gonna head back to their hotel in the city, which wouldn't be a problem since no one had consumed any alcohol. Therefore there'd be no drunken driving.

The wedded couple left the house, leaving Gerard behind to say goodbye.

The green-eyed lead singer for My Chemical Romance looked at Caroline and smiled, reaching forward and giving her a hug. She returned the gesture and welcomed it as well.

"I'll stop by tomorrow, if you want. We'll all go to lunch or something. 'Kay?"

Caroline nodded. "Sounds good. However I think my kids might be a bit unruly no matter where we go."

"Well, they wouldn't be children of rockstars if they didn't, now would they?" With an impish grin, Gerard placed his right hand on Caroline's left shoulder, leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "See ya later, Care."

Holding his gaze for a second, Caroline nodded. "Alright." As he ducked out of the front door and down the steps toward their rental car, she called out, "Drive safe!"

Stepping back inside her house, closing the door and locking it for the night, Caroline Pritchard walked through the downstairs and turned off all the lights.

Standing in the dark of the living room, preparing to head up to bed, Caroline touched the spot on her cheek where Gerard had kissed her, then looked at the spot on the mantle where her professional wedding photo of Mike and her sat.

"Here's to the new year, Mike..."

With a sigh, she turned on the balls of her feet, and moved onward and upward.