Good Man

"And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in a masquerade."
- Lord Byron



By six in the evening on Halloween, Caroline and Tre were walking down the sidewalk of Tre's heavily tree-lined street in Piedmont with their respective children in front of them. The twins were seated in a double stroller, dressed as a skeleton and a fairy, complete with wings which Rhiannon had, of course, put up a fuss about. Avarielle was holding onto her daddy's hand despite herself and was dressed like a little lady bug. For the life of her, she could not seem to steal her hand out of her father's grasp so that she could scamper off toward the older kids ahead of her. She whined, but Tre just squeezed her hand tightly and looked down at her, telling her to be a good girl.

Several feet away, Frankito played the ringleader to Mikey and Chloe, keeping them in check for Caroline. Dressed like a ninja, it was the only way for the teen to hide who he was in case he ran into someone from school and became embarrassed.

He was a teenager now, after all. Heaven forbid he be seen out Trick-or-Treating with his dad and step-aunt, baby sister and step-cousins.

Then there was Mikey, who was dressed like his godfather Billie Joe, complete with a dark, shaggy wig, a long-sleeved black dress shirt and a red tie, black Dickies and all-black Chucks. To top it off, Caroline had put eyeliner on her son and even drew on some tattoos with a washable marker so Mikey could match Billie Joe to a T.

But even in complete Billie Joe regalia, Mikey could really only pass as a miniature version of his father, dressed like Billie Joe.

The funniest costume was definitely Chloe's.

Since Mikey was his godfather, Chloe was dressed like her godmother.

Caroline had spent what felt like forever twisting and ratting out a long, dark brown wig to make the fake hair into dreads, even going as far as to clip in some blonde extensions and doing the same with them. She teased the wig and sprayed it with hair spray then pulled it up to some sort of ponytail to make it look as close to Adrienne's hair as she could manage and it turned out pretty damn similar. Slipping Chloe into a little black dress that Adrienne had sewn for her goddaughter, and placing Chloe in a pair of black, patent leather shoes, she began to do the same with Chloe that she did with her son.

Whipping out the washable markers, she drew fake tattoos on her daughter's right arm that said 'Billie Joe' with same motif Adrienne had, as well as the flower tattoo around Chloe's right ankle. With red lipstick on her lips, blush on her cheeks and eyeliner to boot, Chloe ended up looking like a smaller version of Caroline, dressed like Adrienne.

But who they were really supposed to be was still obvious.

And Tre couldn't stop laughing over it.

Shaking his head with a grin, he looked over at Caroline. "They look awesome," he commented. "How in the hell did you get Chloe's wig to look like that?"

Caroline just shrugged and smiled. "Sheer force of will."

As their kids bounced from house to house, they gradually rolled around to block after block until Caroline's feet began to kill her and it was getting darker out. They wrangled the kids back up and led them home toward Caroline's house where her parents were waiting to take over kid duty.

Estelle was there to assist, as would Frankito, for when the adults got ready to leave for a party in the city later on.

Paul and Joanne Woods cuddled the twins who squirmed and were eventually set down onto the living floor to crawl around in all their seven month old glory while Avarielle climbed onto the couch, then slid back down, bounced around behind her grandpa's back, then climbed back down to the floor, only to repeat the process.

Tre was standing in the archway, a garment bag draped over his arm that he had brought into the house from his car as he watched the kids fucking around in the living room with their grandparents.

"I don't envy you guys tonight," the drummer remarked as Avarielle ran up to her dad, pulled on his leg and jabbered about something he couldn't decipher, only to run away and throw a toy phone at Chloe's head. "Hey! Avrie, no!" he scolded.

Chloe sat there on the ground, a Charms Blow Pop in her mouth, as she turned and looked at her cousin, rubbed her head and began to cry.

Frowning, Tre set the garment bag down on the back of the couch and sauntered up to his niece, picking her up.

She was still dressed like Adrienne, just minus the wig because all that mass of hair on the top of her head was just weighing the poor girl down.

Placing a kiss on the three and a half year old's cheek, he rubbed the spot the toy phone had hit her. "You gonna live to see another day, booger?"

Chloe scrunched her nose at her uncle and placed a hand on her hip. "I'm not a booga, Uncle Tway. You a booga."

Smirking, Tre kissed her again then set her down and made a mean face at Avarielle. "If you throw things again I will chop off those pretty hands, Miss Wright."

In response, Avarielle just cocked her head up toward her father, scowled right back at him and then rambled about something.

Shaking his head, Tre picked his garment bag back up and excused himself from his in-laws to go change into his costume in the downstairs bathroom.



Twenty minutes later, Tre was dressed in full late 18th century dress, like that of a British lord, complete with a powdered wig on his head and buckle shoes on his feet.

The shoes clacked on the tile floor of the downstairs hallway as he came out to model his costume for his children, nieces and nephews and in-laws. He began spewing a bunch of random comments in his best British accent and acting like a general jackass until the sound of a voice clearing from the stop of the stairs stole everyone's attention away from Tre.

Estelle was standing on the staircase, halfway between the top and the bottom.

"May I present to you, her royal majesty, Queen Caroline of Piedmont," the seventeen-year-old giggled as she descended the remaining steps and joined Tre at the bottom.

Paul and Joanne got up as well to see their daughter and all smiled when they saw her.

"Mommy, you look pretty," Mikey cooed, still dressed like his godfather, and also sans wig like his sister.

Caroline walked down the stairs slowly as she could in the black, corseted gown with cream lace done up along the bodice for a frou frou design of some sort. Her hair was piled up on her head, but it was not all hers. A lot of it was extensions to add to the largeness. And on top of her mass of hair was a feathered, black hat with cream flowers to match her gown. Her make-up was pristine and she really looked as if she had just stepped out of a time machine from 1793 France when Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

"Mikey summed it all up," Tre agreed, offering his arm immediately to his bandmate, sister-in-law, and former girlfriend.

Hooking her left arm through his right, she adjusted the pouch-style purse hanging from her right wrist which was carrying her license, credit card, debit card, cell phone, compact and lipstick.

"Why, thank you, my lord," she spoke in her own British accent. "Shall we be off to the ball, straight-away?"

Tre nodded. "Indeed," he spoke, again in his fake British accent. "Indeed."

Kissing their children, stepchildren, nieces and nephews, parents and in-laws good-bye, Caroline and Tre left the house and headed toward Tre's SUV which was bulkier and therefore better to transport their costumed asses to the themed Halloween bash in the city.



Every member of the Reprise family -- recording artists, producers, executives and the like -- were each given two tickets to attend the First Annual All Hallows Ball, which would be held at The Argent Hotel, since the label had used the hotel for several occasions in the past and the space as well as the service provided had always been exemplary.

Billie Joe used both his tickets for Adrienne and himself, but it was Tre and Caroline who had passed off their second tickets to the affair to Billie Joe for him to give them to Joey and Nicole. It had been Caroline's suggestion; stating that pretty soon, Nicole wouldn't be able to fit into anything that didn't resemble a tent and once their baby arrived, their free time would go out the window and their lives would revolve around their little one.

The younger Armstrong male walked arm in arm into the Argent with his pregnant girlfriend who was only just over a month pregnant and obviously not showing yet. They were bedecked in period costumes just like everyone else; since the theme for the Halloween Ball was 'Vive la Revolution!' which meant all guests in attendance, on top of presenting their ticket at the door, had to be dressed in 18th century style clothing.

Billie Joe and Adrienne filed in behind their son and Nicole, with Adrienne dressed in a dark pink satin gown and a tall powdered wig somehow covering her dreadlocks. Meanwhile, Billie Joe was dressed more like an American minute man, with the three-cornered hat, and looking more like Jack Sparrow minus the long hair, bandana, mustache and braided beard.

But he still looked good.

About fifteen minutes later, in walked Tre and Caroline, scouring the place for familiar faces and spotting their friends right away. They parted ways as soon as they stepped inside the hotel's ballroom and made beelines for their respective sexes; Tre went right up to Billie Joe and Joey, while Caroline practically skipped over to Adrienne and Nicole.

Everyone remarked on how each person was dressed, offered compliments and playful teasing and then went about snatching beverages being carried around on silver trays by men dressed to the theme as well, complete with the powdered wigs, tights and buckle shoes.

"You look amazing," Caroline gushed happily over Adrienne once her first glass of champagne had begun to work its magic. "Did you lose weight? You look so thin."

Adrienne shook her head, nursing her own glass of bubbly just as her arm shot upward as quickly as she could to catch her wig before it toppled off her head. She laughed and leaned forward to reply over the din of chatter and Reprise artists' music being performed in a classical way. "No, it's this corset, which I can't breathe in. But it does do wonders, you know? You can't tell I have a gut!"

Caroline giggled. "I know. Goodbye baby fat," she agreed, reaching her hand out to squeeze Adrienne's left arm. "But your arm looks thin, too."

"Well, I've been using small, five pound weights when I go in the pool. It's worked and gotten rid of a good amount of my bingo wings," the older woman remarked as she looked to her son's girlfriend who was nursing a glass of Pepsi, since she was both under the legal drinking age and pregnant. "You having fun, honey?"

Nicole beamed. "Oh, you have no idea. I'm totally in my element, right now. I'm glad I got to use this costume again." The nineteen year old looked down at her own gown and smiled back up at Adrienne and then to Caroline.

"Oh, yeah, you wore that for Halloween last year," Adrienne chuckled. "I completely forgot."

"You did?" Caroline questioned rather rhetorically.

Adrienne answered for the teen. "Oh, yeah. You weren't here last year when we had our Halloween party at the house. Yeah, her and Joey dressed in the same outfits then."

"Sounds like I missed out on a good time..."

Across the ballroom, Billie Joe was seated at a table with his son who had swiped an unattended glass of champagne from a neighboring table; each scanning the crowd and playing the 'People Watching' game that consisted of staring at strangers and commenting on who was ugly and who wasn't and making up personal backgrounds for them.

Billie Joe pointed subtly toward a young woman no older than twenty-five who was very good looking and the corset she was wearing as a part of her costume only amplified the full bosom she already had. "She's pretty," he commented to his son. "And I'm gonna go with her being here because she's a new artist signed to Reprise and she got a sweet deal by way of sexual favors."

Joey grimaced at his dad. He might be considered an adult now but that didn't mean he wanted his father to openly talk about anything to do with sexual favors. Rolling his eyes, he pointed to another female, who was in her mid to late forties and was wearing a bright green gown and could barely fit into it.

"Record exec's wife who used to be hot, but as she got older and her looks faded, her husband's eye strayed and she turned to booze for comfort and in about twenty minutes she'll make a fool out of herself by being way drunk and her husband will have to pull her aside and force her to go home," Joey deduced as his dad looked at him over his shoulder with amusement all over his face. "And then once his wife is gone, he'll join the hot, new artist and they'll excuse themselves to one of the suites upstairs."

Billie Joe laughed out loud. "See, now you're talking..."

As father and son shared an entertaining moment with each other, Tre was wandering along the edge of the dance floor and snuck up behind Adrienne and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ahh," the 45-year-old woman exclaimed in mild fright. "Shit, Tre. Don't do that."

"Sorry," he apologized before asking her, "May I have this dance, milady?"

Throwing her friend a smirk and curtsying as best as she could, she obliged him. "Yes, you may, Lord Tre of Cool."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," he replied smugly as he led Adrienne off to the dance floor, leaving Caroline and Nicole on the sidelines.

But not for long.

Another tap to a shoulder came, but this time to Caroline's.

As she turned around she found herself face to face with Gerard, who she hadn't seen in almost a year and a half.

"Oh, wow, hey," she greeted lamely, taking in how he was dressed like an 18th century pirate, worthy of the Disney franchise.

Gerard smiled. "Hi ya. Long time, no see, huh?"

"Tell me about it."

There was a moment of awkward silence then he spoke up. "I, uh, tried calling you several times, but I kinda hung up before you answered."

"When?"

"Right after you left for Buffalo. I tried your cell a couple times, then your house phone there. But I felt weird with how things ended and the circumstances surrounding why you left, which I totally get your line of thinking. I just, you know, wish things didn't have to end so abruptly and all..."

With that, Nicole slinked away from the pair and toward Joey, to allow Caroline and Gerard the space to talk without her being like that of a third wheel.

"I know. I'm sorry, but I had to do it. For me." She then added, "But we both knew it wouldn't last long. I told you in the beginning I wasn't ready for a full on relationship and that we were just friends with benefits." Caroline frowned. "I mean, I thought it was understood."

Gerard nodded vigorously and put his hands up as if to prevent being attacked physically, but smiling a little. "No, no, I understood what you wanted, needed. I just...I dunno...I guess a part of me wanted more. I mean, I always thought you were incredibly sexy and was kinda envious of both Tre and Mike who actually had meaningful relationships with you, but I was happy enough to be friends. Especially when it became the whole friends with benefits thing. Not gonna lie: it didn't suck."

Caroline laughed, but it was a slightly uncomfortable laugh. She knew that the conversation was gonna lead down a particular road at any minute and she didn't want to have it tonight. But she hadn't seen or spoken to Gerard in sixteen months and if he was good at math at all, he'd be able to figure out that despite the story she was going with about the twins, that it is possible he could be the father. Very possible, indeed.

"Is there anywhere more quiet where we could talk, maybe?" he asked.

Yep. There it was. Here it was about to come.

"Uh..." Caroline stalled, her hazel eyes momentarily flitting to the dance floor where Tre was spinning Adrienne around to the sound of none other than Green Day's 'Warning' set to classical music.

She wished, in that moment, that Tre could read minds and would look her way and come to her rescue, figuratively speaking, and interrupt her and Gerard so she could avoid the inevitable. But Tre didn't read minds and he was too distracted with laughing about something with Adrienne as they waltzed around with everyone else on the dance floor.

"Um, sure," she continued. "There's a table in that far corner over there and it looks like a generally empty area." Gesturing toward the direction she was talking about, Caroline folded her hands in front of her and walked in front of Gerard, leading the way.

As soon as they were each seated at the table in question, they were each silent for a moment.

"So, um," Gerard began lamely. "I have been wrestling with this one thought for a few months now and wanted to wait till I saw you in person to ask you..."

"Ask me what?" Caroline played dumb.

Lifting his green eyes to stare into Caroline's hazel ones, he just held her gaze. "Your twins," he answered. "I did the math and counted back. And I know you've stated you went with in vitro fertilization, privately, as soon as you got to Buffalo. But it's possible, Care, that maybe you were already pregnant when you went for the in vitro thing."

Okay, Caroline, she thought. Come up with your fantastical lies.

"I know how it may seem," she started, the wheels in her head turning at top speed. "But after I got to Buffalo, I got my period. I got the IVF done afterward, when I was ovulating again and knew I'd be most fertile."

Gerard scrunched his nose and began to shake his head. "But that doesn't make sense, 'cause I remember it was about two weeks before you left, you had gotten your period. I specifically remember you rolling around on your bed, holding your stomach because you were having bad cramps."

Shit. Okay, Care, you can work with this...

Caroline shrugged. "I know, but I got it again; early." Off Gerard's disbelieving look, she added, "I was so emotionally a wreck with losing my sister, another person I loved, that my whole body was clearly out of whack." She held his gaze and wouldn't allow herself to falter or cave in anyway to make him realize she was lying. "It's not the first time I've gotten my period twice in a month, and it probably won't be my last time."

"Oh," was Gerard's only reply, as he sat back and reevaluated the situation. "So, Mike really froze his sperm for you?" he wondered, rather amused and impressed.

Caroline nodded through her ongoing lie. "Yep. It was a back up plan of ours. In case we wanted more kids down the line and he began to shoot blanks." She then offered up, "I even froze some of my eggs. I mean, you never know. I could've become all dried up or infertile, too. Or both of us. So there could've been the option to use a surrogate."

"Ah."

"We wanted to be prepared for anything," she spoke lowly, her mind wandering to her next statement long before she uttered it. "Of course, we didn't prepare ourselves for the possibility of losing the other."

"I'm still sorry about that, you know," Gerard smiled sympathetically, reaching his hand across the table to cover Caroline's. She was looking down and she could feel his eyes searching her face, but she didn't look up. "I'm glad you came back to California, though, to be with your friends and family, and that you're getting your life back to some normalcy."

"I had friends and family in New York, too," Caroline insisted, her eyes finally lifting toward Gerard.

"Oh, I know, but you know what I mean." Gerard frowned and looked away, then back again with more of a grin and an expression of approval. "And hey, you got a new band and you're recording a new album. Who would've thought Caroline Pritchard would join forces with Billie Joe Armstrong and Tre Cool to form the ultimate supergroup if ever there was one?"

Caroline nodded her head and smiled. "Yeah, it's been a great experience so far, and we're only two and a half months into the process. We're working out the kinks still, but it just felt right, the three of us coming together this way. We fit like a glove, I guess you could say."

"Who fits who like a glove?" came the all-too-cartoonish voice of Tre as he approached Caroline from behind and placed his hands on the back of her chair and leaned forward over her shoulder to look down at her, then over at Gerard with a smirk. "Is it a love glove?"

Oh, bad form, Tre. Bad form. Not the subject to bring up, considering Gerard could be my baby daddy and I just convinced him otherwise!

"We're talking about how you, Billie and me have formed a new band," Caroline informed.

"Oh," Tre nodded. "Yeah, our still currently unnamed band."

Caroline turned her head upward and looked at Tre just as he happened to look down at her and she sent a message to him mentally that she hoped he got.

"Hey, uh, Gerard, mind if I steal my bandmate for a dance?" Tre inquired, as if he actually needed the younger man's permission.

Gerard shook his head and smiled, gesturing for the pair to go trip the light fantastic. "Not at all." But he did throw in a, "But I get a dance later."

Standing up with Tre's help, since her gown was beginning to be a bitch to function in, she sent the first of her three possible baby daddies an assuring smile. "Sounds good to me."

Turning away and walking off with Tre, she leaned into him slightly and sighed. "Thank you so much for saving me. It was very awkward to do that."

"Did you have 'the conversation' with him?" Tre asked, on the same brain frequency as Caroline. She nodded and he smiled as he grabbed her right hand and twirled her around in a circle as soon as their feet made contact with the dance floor. "Then I am glad to have been of service, mademoiselle."

"Madame," Caroline said in a correcting tone, as she was pulled against Tre's chest to dance to a classical version of Reprise recording artist Sarah McLachlan's 'Elsewhere.' "I am still married, widowed or not."

"My apologies, Madame Pritchard."

"Actually, I like what Stella called me; Queen Caroline of Piedmont," Caroline muttered as the two of them swayed side to side; always having been good at dancing together since the first dance they shared at Reprise's Christmas party nearly nine years earlier. The very same night Tre had shuffled her off to the dance floor while Mike had been going to get the two of them drinks, only to return to find his friend and his crush getting their groove on.

"Oh, well in that case," Tre paused to part from her and bow deeply. "Long live the Queen!"

Letting out a cackle that seemed to carry above their heads and over the din of the party chatter and music, Caroline brought her hand to her mouth and giggled a little more demurely as she was pulled back in by Tre and his arms slid around her extremely tiny waist due to the corset she was wearing. His arms were strong, as they always had been, and as the song progressed and they laughed together, Caroline was struck dumb by a thought that appeared in her head from seemingly out of nowhere.

Tre looks so handsome tonight...

As he spun her about the dance floor, as a classical version Reprise recording artist Neil Young's 'The Needle And The Damage Done' started up.

And a single thought surprisingly penetrated Tre's mind.

She really is a beautiful woman.



I love the time and in between
The calm inside me
In the space where I can breathe
I believe there is a
Distance I have wandered
To touch upon the years of
Reaching out and reaching in
Holding out holding in