Adolescence

Baby Liberation Day: 6 weeks and counting. Honestly, I don’t want the thing to come out, because then I’d have to take care of it. I couldn’t tell Billie’s excitement anymore because he was hardly at home. None of them were ever home because they were on tour. I’m surprised I’m not diagnosed with depression. But I really don’t know when I became dependent on other people. I thought I was going to live my life alone until I was 15. Right now, I’d even settle for my parents yelling at me; at least they know I’m there. Wait, I take it all back, I take it all back. Damn. Too late.
I was out getting food at McDonald’s when I saw her. My mother. She looked so different, but I didn’t know how. Just like I didn’t know how she found me.

“Jessica, may I have a word?”

I just stood there, too afraid and shocked to speak. I thought about what she was thinking; she hadn’t seen me in three years. She didn’t know I was pregnant or now a redhead and I wondered how she recognized me. So, without speaking, I sat down at a table with my food and she sat across from me.

“I left your father. I realized he was an emotional pollutant and I wasn’t going to get anywhere in life with him always putting me down…So, I see you and Billie have taken your relationship to the next level.”

I didn’t want to piss her off, but I just wanted to get something. Uhh, revenge. “I’ve been having sex since I was 16. He just got past me this time.”

She wasn’t pissed! I shared my personal information with her for nothing. What if she turned Billie in for having sex with a minor? He was 20 our first time. Way to go Jessica.

“When’s she due?”

“…About six weeks…How did you know I was having a girl?”

“You look like I did. You look more feminine. Speaking of which, where is Billie?”

Feminine? “Uh, he’s coming home in 3 weeks. He’s on tour. And I knew it wouldn’t be good for me to go with him, so I offered to stay behind alone.”

“Would you like me to stay with you? I could take care of you until he gets back, and I promise I’ll leave when ever you want me to, I’ll even leave now if you want,” she said picking up her purse.

I know I didn’t want her to stay, but let’s admit that the truth. I didn’t wan to be lonely and she knew a little more about being a parent than me. “No, mom. I want you to stay.”

She grabbed my hand, pat it, and smiled. I grabbed my sack and led her to my car. She gaped in awe as I pulled into the driveway. Yes this would be satisfying.

“What do you mean your mother is in our house? How did she find you? Do you want me to come home?”

“No, Billie, it’s fine. Let’s face it, I’m lonely and I need to be taken care of, but you can’t do it because I want you to do want you want. And that’s being in a band. But everything’s really okay here. If things get out of hand, I swear I’ll drop everything and call you.”

I heard him sigh. “Okay. I hate to give the bad news, but it’ll be a few more days than planned before I come home. I have, I mean me and the band, to go to New York for some award show because we’re getting nominated for best video or something like that.”

“Bill, are you kidding? That’s not bad news! That’s amazing! Just be back before Juliet gets here.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Me and the guys are getting on the bus as soon as the show’s over, and we’ll drive all night to be back home ASAP. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I placed the phone on the nightstand and cuddled next to Billie’s pillow, like I did every night; another night alone. If I wasn’t so in love with him, I’d be pretty sick of this.

****

My mom brought the popcorn into the living room so we could watch the award show. Don’t get me wrong, I thought their music was great, but I didn’t think they were going to win anything up against U2, Nirvana and Metallica. But what do I know?
The best pop video, rap, and country videos came up and accepted their awards. It was about an hour into the show because every genre had it’s five sub-categories and they were finally getting to the rock part.
“The nominees for Best Rock Video…Metallica, Enter Sandman…U2, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me…Green Day, Longview…Nirvana, Heart Shaped Box…And the VMA goes to…Green Day, Longview!” some actress said and the camera went to Billie. I was excited to see him on TV.

“Um, I’d like to thank my beautiful fiancé Jessica and Rob Cavallo and of course these guys behind me.” Tre and Mike didn’t say anything; they looked like they were gonna throw up. Before they got off the stage, they called them back and gave them two more awards. In all, they won Best Rock Video, Video of the Year, and Best Incoming Song. I’m surprised I didn’t go into early labor. My mom looked like she was pretty proud too. Yep, I’m dating that guy.
The most exciting part was when I realized that they’d be home tomorrow. I couldn’t handle all this excitement, so I took some Advil PM and went to sleep. Let me tell you something…best sleep of my life. I was out cold for about 15 hours, 10 more than last night. My mom had breakfast read for me at two and the guys were home at five.

“I missed you so much,” Billie said, immediately attaching his lips to mine after he set down his bag. “I’ll never leave you again.”

“No you’re not. I was too miserable here without you.” After our kiss, he held me. “So, I heard about your mud fight.”

He looked embarrassed. “Oh…yeah. Woodstock was intense. It was fun thought…the fight lasted three days.”

I laughed and put my arms around him. “Tell me a story. About songs you wrote for me,” I said, brushing my finger on his chin.

“Hmm. Which one do want to hear? Paper Lanterns or Dry Ice?”

“Both of them.”

We’d moved to the couch and positioned myself to where I was laying against him and his legs were on either side of me.

“Well they were from 39/Smooth and I was dating Adrienne. Then I saw you that one day at 7-11 and my world changed. You had that quality about you that she didn’t and I wanted to know you; to see how you compared to her. You were so different. Better. Then we started hanging out and you had Ed; that’s when I wrote Paper Lanterns. I was your friend and I wanted to know if we could be something more.” He paused and kissed my cheek. “And then, after knowing you for a while, I realized I was in love with you. I didn’t want Adrienne anymore. I wrote Dry Ice and then the next day, you called me and came over. The day I told you I loved you and our first kiss.”

I turned around and we kissed again.

“I can’t wait to marry you,” he said.

-The Next Day-

I turned over in the bed and saw Billie next to me, and I threw my arm around him. I so was not used to him being there. He breathed in and looked at me. “Good morning.”

My face changed. I know this because his face changed. I felt something weird. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Oh God. I think my water just broke.”