I Left My Heart in San Diego

My mom was walking behind me with my daughter in her arms, because I was carrying her dismantled crib across the cul-de-sac. With the protruding wooden leg of the crib, I knocked on the Armstrong's door.

I heard my mom quietly cooing to Cadence while Ollie opened the door. "Arizona!"

"Hey, Ollie." I smiled at her.

"What do you have there?" The she noticed my mom and Cadence. "Oh, and you brought Nat and Cadence! How are you, Nattie?"

"I'm fine, Ollie. Well, as fine as I could be seeing my daughter move out," my mom answered.

Ollie chuckled. "She's in good hands here, Nat, you know that."

My mom nodded. "I know, it's just one of those mom things."

Ollie nodded now. "I have six kids, I've been through it five times. And I have to go through it one last time when Billie Joe finally moves out of this house." My mom chuckled. Ollie then turned to me. "So what's going on here?"

I smiled. "My mom kinda just told you," I said.

Ollie grinned. "I know, sweetheart, I was just teasing. David! Holly!" Two college-age-looking kids came meandering to the door. "Kids, I need you to help me get boxes from Arizona's house. We're bringing them over here."

"Okay, where are we putting them?" David asked.

Ollie turned to me. "I'll be in Billie's room setting up Cadence's crib, so just come by me and I'll tell you where you can put them," I said.

"Alright. Mom, lead the way!" Holly said enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit!" Ollie squeaked, then beckoned for her kids to follow.

When they had left, my mom turned to me. "You lead the way to Billie Joe's room, Arizona."

I smiled at her. "This way."



Many hours, many boxes, and many pitchers of lemonade later, all my boxes were in Billie's house. Of course, they weren't all unpacked; hardly any of them were. The only ones I had actually opened were the ones with my clothes and the couple with Cadence's stuff. Not even all the boxes were in Billie's bedroom! What was probably the majority were stacked in the back of the basement, and I felt bad for David, who sleeps there when he's home in the summer.

"Arizona!" I heard my mom call from the bottom of the stairs.

I stood up from the box I was unpacking and walked to the top of the stairs. "Yeah, Mom?" I called down to her. Her face was red, as if she'd been crying earlier.

"I'm going home. Aran has to go to work for a little while and we can't leave Alaska alone," she said thickly.

I smiled softly at her as I descended the staircase. "It'll be okay, Mom. I'm right across the street," I said as I enveloped her in a gentle hug.

I could feel more tears on my shoulder as my mom returned the hug. "Just remember that if you ever think that you have nowhere to go, you'll always have Aran, Alaska, and I."

I felt my eyes start to water. I pulled away from my mom and smiled at her again. "Of course, Mom," I said.

"I love you, Arizona."

"I love you, too, Mom. Now get going before you make Aran late!" I patted her shoulder.

"That's my girl," I heard her mumble as she walked out the door, smiling.

When she left, I turned to Ollie and smiled. "Well, Arizona, you're finally on your own now. How does it feel?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not on my own. Sure, I've left the nest, but I've been making my own nest for a while. And yeah, the nest is kinda empty at the moment, not to mention primitive, but this is finally me really building my own nest. So I'm never really gonna be on my own."

Ollie grinned. "You are quite ahead of your years, Arizona."

I grinned back at her. "I guess so, but I think that being a teenage mom has made me that way," I replied.

"By the way, Arizona," Ollie started, "If you need extra closet space for your clothes, because they shouldn't stay folded up in those boxes like that for too long, just ask and I'll make some space for you."

"Aw, thanks, Ollie!" I squeaked and enveloped her in a hug.

"No problem, kiddo." She winked. "I dunno about you, but I fancy a grilled cheese sandwich. How about you?"

"Could it be a grilled ham and cheese?" I asked.

"Of course, dear," Ollie said, walking into the kitchen.



A few days later, I came downstairs one morning to Ollie sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee watching a soap opera. I went and sat down next to her, trying to figure out what exactly was on TV.

It took her a moment to notice me. "Oh! Arizona! How long have you been sitting there?"

I chuckled. "A couple minutes."

"I apologize for not greeting you right away; sometimes I just get so into these soap operas." She set her cup down on the coffee table. "Would you like some breakfast?"

I smiled a little sleepily. "Yes, please."

Ollie picked her cup back up and stood. "What would you like?"

"What are you making?" I asked.

"Whatever you like, sweetheart," she said, and smiled.

I smiled back and thought for a moment. "How about an omelette?"

"Good idea! What would you like in it?"

"Cheese - lots of cheese - and...green peppers," I answered.

"Sounds delicious. Coming right up!" I heard Ollie set her cup on the kitchen counter and I stretched out on the couch, just laying there for a second.

I had set my phone on the coffee table, and I wasn't expecting it to ring. The glass of the coffee table amplified the sound of the ring, and I jumped, answering the phone without checking the ID to make it stop. "Hello?"

"Izzie!"

"Billie!" I shot upright.

"Hey, babe!"

"Hi! How are you?"

"Great, even though I didn't get sleep much last night."

"Aw, why?"

"We played what was probably the best show of our entire tour last night, so I was on this huge adrenaline rush, like, all night."

"That's awesome, Billie!" I settled into the couch cushions and pulled my knees to my chest.

"And how are you, babe?" he asked.

"Pretty good. Your mom makes me food all the time, so I can't complain." I laughed.

Billie chuckled. "My mom?"

"Oh, yeah, I moved into your house a couple days ago."

"Okay! I assume you and Cadence are in my room?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yep."

"How is Cadence?" Billie asked.

"She's good. She's asleep right now, because she was up a couple times last night, but she's good."

"Well, it sounds like everything is awesome back home," Billie said, and sighed. I giggled quietly. "How are you and the other one?"

I giggled again. "Good so far. I mean, there hasn't been much time for much to happen, but it's been pretty uneventful so far."

"Well alright. Hey, listen, babe, the guys and I have to get cleaned up and ready for tonight's show, so I gotta go."

"Okay. You have fun tonight!"

"I will! You take care of yourself now, sweetheart. I'll be home in a few weeks. I love you, Arizona."

I grinned. "I can't wait. I love you, too, Billie Joe."

"Bye, love."

"Bye." With a small click, I heard my husband hang up. I placed my phone back on the coffee table and sat back, grinning widely. I closed my eyes for a minute and just imagined the day when Billie comes home at the end of August.

"Arizona?" I heard Ollie call. I opened my eyes and turned around to look at her. She had a plate in her hand, and the contents were steaming.

Mouth watering, I sprang up from the couch and sat down at the kitchen table. "Thanks, Ollie, this looks great!" I picked up my fork and twirled it around with my fingers while I waited for Ollie to sit.

"Oh, you didn't have to wait for me, dear," she said as she sat.

I smiled. "It's habit. I would always wait for my mom to come sit down at home when she made dinner after she came home from work."

Ollie smiled back at me and picked up her fork. "Well that's very sweet of you."

I didn't say anything and just took a bite of my omelette. "This is great, Ollie, thank you so much."

She smiled again. "I'm glad you like it and it's no problem. You're part of the family now, Arizona, I'm more than happy to." There were a few moments of omelette-eating silence, until Ollie said, "I was listening to you on the phone with Billie Joe."

I looked at her. "Oh?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't help but notice how happy you sounded."

I grinned, and I could feel my cheeks flare a light shade of pink. "We haven't spoken in a little while," I said.

"He doesn't call often?" Ollie asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, it's about once every other week," I answered.

"And you're okay with that?"

"Well yeah. I mean, he's on tour with his band, the other members of which are basically his best friends. And I know Mike and Tre have Zie and Mary Jane, Zie is even pregnant now, but we're all the same way. We know our men are busy and out playing shows and having fun. We know they weren't gonna call us all the time, even if they said they would when they left. And I think that the guys kinda figured that out within the first couple weeks, so it kinda became a mutual acceptance of the fact that we weren't always gonna be in constant contact."

Ollie didn't respond right away; she just sat and stared at me for a good few minutes. I was about to prompt her to say something, when she set down her coffee cup that she had been holding and looked back up at me, like she was finally going to speak. "When Billie Joe told me he had a girlfriend, I immediately wondered not only who she was, but what kind of person she was," she began quietly. She then sat back, smiling lightly, her hands clasped across her stomach. "So when I met you, I was very surprised. Pleasantly surprised, of course, but surprised nonetheless." I smiled. "Honestly, I didn't think Billie Joe was capable of finding a girl that was so perfect for him so early in life.

"I thought that he was going to go to college, have fun, do well, get a degree, get a good job, and maybe date a few girls along the way before finally finding that right girl and settling down. But his father gave him that guitar when he was still pretty young and impressionable, and I knew when Billie first held it and put it across his lap to strum it for the first time that he wasn't going to college, and he wasn't going to do any of the things that I thought he was going to do. And after seeing him so passionate about what he does, I knew that I was going to be okay with that whatever he did do. And look at him now! He's out traveling the country, playing his music, living his passion!" Ollie paused for a moment. "That's all I've ever wanted for him; it's all I've ever wanted for all my kids. I've wanted them to do something that they love and find someone that they love and will love them back."

I waited for a minute to speak to make sure that Ollie was finished speaking. "Sometimes we find that what we think of people and what they're going to do is completely different from what they actually do."

Ollie looked up at me. "Do you remember when I said that you're quite ahead of your years, Arizona?" she asked.

I smiled lightly. "Yes, what about it?"

"It just becomes truer with every word I've heard you say since you came here." She grinned.

I just grinned back at her and thought of how I had never planned for any of this to happen in my life - meeting a guy like Billie Joe, falling so in love, getting married, having children all by eighteen - but how I wouldn't have it any other way.