I Left My Heart in San Diego

CURRENT STORY DATE: 01/15/12

"Who just knocked on the door?" Billie asked me, standing up.

I glanced up at the clock on the wall. "That would probably be my mother. And she would have Aran and Alaska with her." I began to stand up, and Billie rushed to my side, giving me his hand and helping me up. "Thank you, love," I said with a smile, giving him a quick kiss. "But I haven't seen my mom since I moved in with you while you were still on tour, so I think it would be best if I opened the door."

Billie smiled at me and kissed my cheek. "Alright, sweetheart, I'll go check on the chicken for you."

I opened my mouth, then closed it. I waited a moment, the doorbell ringing for a second time, then said, "I love you so much."

Billie laughed from the kitchen. "I love you too, Izzie. Now go answer the door."

I smiled to myself and noted to go up to him and kiss him extra special for using the nickname he gave me when we first started dating. I waddled over to the front door and opened it to my grinning mother and a smiling stepfather holding my baby sister. "Arizona!" my mom squealed.

"Mom!" I exclaimed, grinning back as she threw her arms around my neck and drew me close to her; well, as close as could with my six-month-pregnant belly.

She looked down at my belly. "Wow, sweetheart, how far along are you now?"

"Six months," I answered, and Aran shouldered his way in next to my mom. "Hey, Aran! I haven't seen you in a while! You weren't there when I moved out."

He smiled while he handed Alaska to my mom. "Why don't you go inside, love?" he suggested.

"Yeah, Mom, Billie's inside, he's perfectly fit to entertain, and you can see Cadence, too." She smiled and I stood aside to let her in. "Why don't you come in, too, Aran? It must look awkward with you just standing in the doorway. Besides, we're letting out the heat!"

Aran smiled and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. I smiled back at him and led him into the living room. "You have a truly wonderful apartment, Arizona," my mom said to me as she and Billie returned from the bedroom, each carrying a baby.

Billie walked over to me and sat down next to me, holding Cadence. "Do you wanna take her, love? I'm gonna go finish the peas."

I smiled at him and gave him a small kiss before he handed our daughter to me. "Hello, sweetheart," I cooed to her quietly, my face close to hers. She reached her tiny hand out and I put my index finger in front of her. She grabbed it and I grinned, kissing the tiny hand that was wrapped tightly around my finger.

"I agree with your mother, your apartment looks quite nice," Aran said casually. "And I must also agree with her on the fact she keeps repeating about Cadence being absolutely beautiful."

I looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you so much."

He nodded at me, and then my mom came in and sat down next to him, pecking him on the cheek. I smiled at them. "I always tell Aran that whenever I see pictures of you and her or Billie and her together. She looks so much like you already."

I smiled at my mom and glanced up at Billie walking towards the living area. "Thanks, Mom." I looked at her holding Alaska. "How's my little sister been?"

My mom smiled at me again and looked down at Alaska. "She's been great, everything's perfectly normal."

I cocked my head slightly. "Are you worried or something, Mom?"

She looked back up at me. "About Alaska?" I nodded. "A bit. I mean, it's been about eighteen years since I've raised a child, so I'm a bit out of practice. Besides, times have changed a lot since you were born, Arizona. I wanna make sure there's nothing new out there that can harm Alaska," she said.

I smiled. "You don't have to worry about being out of practice. I think once you're a mother, it doesn't matter how long it's been since you raised a child from a baby, you never forget what it's like to hold a baby in your arms."

"Almost like riding a bike," Billie chirped.

I giggled and looked up at him, standing next to me by the couch. "Yeah," I said. "Almost like riding a bike." He leaned down and kissed me sweetly.

There was another knock at the door. "Who's that?" Billie asked, his face still close to mine.

I thought for a moment, then kissed Billie again. "Either my father and his family, or your mom," I said.

"Want me to go answer it?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I got it. I haven't seen your mom in ages either, so I think it'd be good if I answered the door in either situation."

Billie just extended his hand towards mine and helped me off the couch again. He sat down in my place as I waddled to the door, and saw a tall, dark-haired man standing with a shorter, blond woman and two other, younger people. I smiled at all of them, and gave the first hug to my father. "Hey, Dad, how are you?"

"I'm great, Arizona, and you look it, too. How far along are you now?" he asked.

I smiled, placing a hand on my belly. "Six months," I said.

"Wow," was all my dad said before I turned to Morgana, smiling at her.

"Hello," I said.

She smiled back at me and took a step forward to hug me. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm damn well," I answered.

She chuckled. "Well, that's good to hear."

I smiled at her again and then turned it to Tabitha, who appeared to have brought her new husband, whose name I couldn't remember at the moment. "Tabitha, I see that you still have that newlywed glow about you."

She grinned back at me, and her husband kissed her cheek affectionately. "Yeah, Venn and I are leaving for our honeymoon tomorrow, so we're pretty excited."

My eyebrows shot right up. "Tomorrow? Wow! Well come on in, all of you, and tell me all about Tabitha! I'm letting all the heat out," I said, stepping aside to let everyone in.

I forgot that my parents hadn't even spoken in about eleven years, so I wasn't surprised by the immediate silence that followed my father's entrance into the living area. Seriously, when I entered, no one had moved and no one had spoken; all eyes were on my parents. I knew it wasn't wise to input anything either, so I just stayed back and waited for everything to play out.

"Everett," my mother said stiffly, breaking the silence like a hammer to glass.

"Natalie," my father said in reply.

My mom looked him over once. "You're looking well. Since you left."

My father nodded once. "I decided to clean up my act a little after I left."

My mom looked over at Morgana, who had gone rigid when the silence had fallen. "Hello," Morgana said, sounding slightly afraid.

My mom looked her over and said hello back. It was very stiff, though, so I knew she didn't approve right away. She then looked over at Tabitha, who looked to have steeled herself for when my mom noticed her. "Hello," Tabitha said politely. She then pointed to her husband. "And this is my husband, Venn."

My mother looked them both up and down and then did her pursed-lip-smile that said 'I acknowledge your existence, but I have nothing to say to you in way of greeting.' She turned back to my father. "You seem to have done well for yourself in my absence," she said, much more politely.

He nodded and inclined his head towards Aran and Alaska. "And you. That must be your new husband, is he not?"

"Aran," Aran interjected politely.

"And a new baby, too? Well, it's good to know you haven't been out of practice," my father said coldly.

"Dad!" I yelled.

He snapped his head to look at me, and then his gaze softened. "Arizona...I'm sorry. I got, uh, I got a little carried away."

"Yeah I'll say," I said, muttering a quiet excuse me to Tabitha and Venn so I could get through to the kitchen to check on dinner.

The peas were about to boil over, and the mashed potatoes weren't quite warm enough, thanks to my father's icy comments. I don't care whatever grudge he held against my mother - and I don't see why he should be holding the grudge, he was the one who left my mother and I - but he was going to leave it at my fucking front door, because this was the first meal as a complete family in my first house, and I was not have some eleven year feud fuck it up.

Billie came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, right above my belly, placing his chin on my shoulder. "You okay?" he whispered into my ear.

I sighed angrily. "I just wasn't expecting my dad to do that." I turned around to face him. "I know my parents haven't heard head or tail of each other in eleven years, but why would my father have any sort of grudge against my mom? He's the one who left us, not the other way around! And it's not like he has anything to be jealous of my mom for! He has a wife, and a stepdaughter, and she just got married. My mom has a husband, and a new baby. Why can't we all just be happy for each other and just get along?? I mean, I'm having a baby in a couple of months, this should be a happy time, I just..."

Billie placed his hands on my shoulders and spun me back around, wrapping his arms around me right above my belly and kissing the top of my head. "Arizona, sweetheart, you have to relax. You had to have known somewhere deep down that something like this would happen. Your parents haven't seen or spoken to each other in eleven years, and judging by what you've told me about the night your dad left, things didn't seem to end on a particularly good note. So yeah, there's bound to be some tension."

I sighed again and turned back around to face Billie. "I love you so much. You always know just what to say to me," I said, and kissed him sweetly. "Now come on, let's get the chicken out of the oven before it burns to a crisp."



"Would anyone like more wine?" I asked, holding up my glass as an example, even though there had been no alcohol in my glass all night. There were nods of general assent. I turned to Billie and muttered, "Could you go get the bottle out of the freezer, please, love?"

He nodded and stood up, walking over to the refrigerator and retrieving the bottle. He went around to everyone, pouring their glasses and then came around to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek before returning to the kitchen with my empty glass. He came back a minute later with a full one of water, and I grinned as he set it down in front of me, kissing him sweetly on the cheek when he sat down next to me. "You're welcome," he whispered into my ear. I giggled.

I took a sip of the water out of my glass, and then my father asked, "Will there be dessert, Arizona?"

I smiled at him. "I bought an angel food cake and mixed together some berries for a topping. Would anyone like some?"

"Is there whipped cream?"

I laughed. "Of course!"

"Well, then serve it up, sweetheart."

Billie stood up quickly and led me his hand. I smiled at him and took his hand. "Thank you, love," I muttered to him, and he followed me into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out the berry bowl, and I opened the angel food cake on the counter, grabbing a knife from the block on the end of the counter. Billie set the bowl next to me, cling wrap folded off to the side, and kissed me on the cheek.

"You need any help, sweetheart?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "No, it's fine, I got it."

"I'll carry them out when you've finished putting them together."

I grinned to myself. "You're so helpful, even when I don't ask. I love you so much."

Billie smiled at me, and then moved in and gave me a sweet kiss. "I love you, too."

I sprayed some whipped cream on top of the first bowl of cake and berries and handed it to him. "Give this one to my dad, since he was asking for dessert," I said. Billie just smiled and walked into the living room, and then back to me.



Tabitha and Venn were the ones to leave first, mainly because they were ones who lived the farthest away, but when they left, we all giggled and snorted about how they wanted to get home in time to fuck. Shortly after, though, my mom and Aran left with Alaska, because she had fallen asleep and they wanted to get back home before she woke up and kept them up half the night.

It was just Billie, Cadence, and I, and my father and Morgana by ten thirty pm. "Aren't you two going to be off soon?" I asked when I glanced at the time.

"Are you trying to get rid of us, Arizona?" Morgana said, winking at me obnoxiously.

"Were you trying to be subtle?" I asked. She shook her head. "Okay, good. In that case, no, I'm not trying to get rid of you, I'm just concerned about the time. Don't hotel doors close at a certain hour of the night?"

"I didn't think so," my father said, checking his watch. "Besides, the night is still relatively young. We have some time to get back."

I smiled and took a sip of my water glass. "I have to pee," I muttered to Billie, kissing him quickly on the cheek and standing up, keeping a hand on Billie's shoulder so he wouldn't stand up to help me up off the couch.

He chuckled and watched me stand up carefully. "Thanks for that, love."

I turned to him with a smile when I was standing. "I tell you these things because I love you," I said.

"I suppose I shouldn't complain, then, sweetheart. I love you, too."