I Left My Heart in San Diego

"Ready to go?" Zie called from the driver's side of her car right after she pulled into my driveway.

I nodded, grinning widely. "Very ready. Let's go! The show starts in two hours and I wanna get up in the front."

"Ari, you're the lead singer's wife. I'm pretty sure the security people would let you up front no matter what," Mary Jane remarked as Zie backed out of my driveway.

I laughed. "Probably, but I'd have to get proof that Billie is my husband, and I just don't carry my marriage license around with me willy-nilly."

That made us all laugh. "Good," Zie said. "Because that would be weird."

I chuckled. "So who else are we meeting at the show?"

"Some old friends of mine," Zie said. I looked at her questioningly. She saw my look in the rear view mirror and laughed. "Don't worry, Jennah went through rehab and Serena only smokes pot now. They're not as hardcore as when I met them."

I patted Zie on the shoulder. "Because that's reassuring," I joked.



"Okay, this next song is dedicated to my beautiful wife. Let's go!" Billie said, striking a chord and jumping into the air. I grinned and jumped up and down just a bit harder with Mary Jane, Zie, and Zie's two friends, Jennah and Serena, because I knew exactly what song he was going to play.

"I don't want to go back home, I don't want to kiss goodnight, let us paralyze this moment till it dies."

I squealed, jumping up and down with the girls, getting lost in the moment of the beautiful song that I knew Billie Joe had written just for me. I remember when I first saw the lyrics to this song. I had watched Billie write it in intervals, and he never knew I was watching him until he looked up at me, at which times he was embarrassed he had been seen writing lyrics, but I had asked him what he was writing, and he answered, "A song, of course." I chuckled and asked him if I could see the lyrics. Billie then withheld the lyrics and told me that I couldn't see them yet.

The night that I brought Cadence home was the night that he gave me the lyrics. We were laying together in bed late that night, and I was falling asleep when I felt Billie's hand shaking me back awake. "Billie," I had whined. "I want to go to sleep! I just had our child yesterday."

That made Billie laugh and say to me, "Here. I just wanted to give this to you."

I opened my eyes and saw a piece of paper laying on the bed between us. I turned it over in my hands, and saw it was a song entitled "Cigarettes and Valentines." I began to read the lyrics, and I started smiling instantly. I had the biggest grin on my face when I had finished reading the song, and looked over at Billie, taking his face in my hands and kissing him. "Billie, this is beautiful," I had said to him.

He was grinning, too. "I'm really happy you like it. I started writing it when we first starting dating, but I couldn't think of the end lyrics until I asked you to marry me. I had finished the song, but I knew I had to wait for the right moment to give it to you," he explained.

I chuckled. "Well I think you found it," I had said, and kissed him again.

"Oh, come away with me tonight, with cigarettes and valentines, cigarettes and valentines!" Billie sang, bringing me back to the present. I was squealing and grinning and jumping and not giving a shit what anyone was thinking of me. I was just enjoying the end of the beautiful song that my husband had written just for me, his beautiful wife.



"Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming out tonight, everybody!" Billie yelled into the microphone, and the crowd cheered their version of "you're welcome." Then, Billie lifted his guitar off over his neck, Mike with his bass, and Tre stood up from behind his drum set and threw his sticks into the crowd. Billie held his guitar up over his head with one hand and threw his pick into the crowd, Mike with his bass and pick, and then they all bowed and ran off stage.

Zie told Jennah and Serena that she would meet them outside, and then her, Mary Jane, and I all forced our way through the mass exodus of the crowd and skirted around to the backstage area. The security guard waved us by, and we entered to see our respective men.

I gave Billie a huge bear hug. "You were awesome, babe," I muttered into his ear.

He released me and grinned. "Did you enjoy your tribute?" he asked.

I nodded vigorously. "It threw me back to when you first gave me those lyrics," I told him.

Billie's eyes lit up since he was already grinning. "The night we brought Cadence home."

I nodded, smiling, and kissed him. I then made a split decision in my head. "Billie, I have to tell you something before you leave."

"Yeah, babe?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant again." No beating around the bush with this one.

Billie's bright green eyes searched my face for some sort of indication that I was joking or something, but he found none. "Really?" he said quietly. I nodded. "From our...?"

"Parting remarks," I finished, nodding.

Billie took a deep breath this time. "Wow. Are you okay? Like, are you going to keep it?"

"Yes, Billie. I know it's going to be hard with Cadence only two months old, but we're going to get through this, okay?" I reassured him.

Billie finally smiled again and kissed me. "Okay. Keep me updated, okay, sweetheart? We have to pack up and get ready to go. I love you so much, Arizona. Two months is gonna go by before we know it."

I smiled and kissed him back. "Okay. I love you, too, Billie. And of course I'll keep you updated. You'll be the first to know."

Billie's eyes brightened again. "Good." He kissed me one last time. "Bye, love."

"Bye, Billie." I gave him one last hug, and he, Tre, and Mike all went back to the stage to take down their stuff and pack up for the second show in their tour. Zie and Mary Jane found me, and we all held hands as we watched our men walk out the door. We heaved a collective sigh and walked out the door to meet Jennah and Serena outside.

"Did you tell him, Ari?" Zie asked as we walked out.

I didn't answer her, just smiled.