This Is How You Remind Me

Billie Joe laughed slightly, emerging from what I assumed to be his and Adrienne's room. He made his way over to me.

"Sleep well?" I nodded with a smile. "That's good. So, are you up to meeting the runts?"

"Hey!" was the word that I heard screamed from the same room the high pitched voice came from a minute ago.

"Sure," I laughed at the name he had for his kids.

It was as if my mind hadn't wanted to accept the fact that I was adopted quite yet. It was if I didn't understand that this was my new home. As if I couldn't grip the concept completely. I was feeling as if I was just sleeping over at a friend's house for a night, not living in the house that I was going to spend a few years in.

I followed him into the aforementioned room to go and meet the 'runts'.

"Boys, this is Carmella. Carmella, this is Joey, and that's Jakob."

"You're our new sister?" the younger of the two, Jakob, looked up at me from the computer game he was playing. He stayed looking at me for a period of time, but not long enough for me to answer him. "That's cool. I'm Jakob; welcome home."

I gave him a smile as I looked inside, what I assumed to be, the computer room. It was a very pretty, bold shade of blue, not really matching the other stuff that I had seen. A bold blue that contrasted with the two green bean bag chairs that were set up in the corners of the room. There was a metal desk set up with a desktop computer sitting on it, a bunch of games stacked next to it. The older of the two kids was sitting in one of the aforementioned bean bags.

"Hey," was the unemotional response from the older of the two, without looking up from his Nintendo.

"Joey!" Billie scolded.

Joey flinched at the use of his name in such an intolerant tone. He quickly stole his eyes away from the video game and set them on me. With a smile he added, "Glad you're here."

"Thanks," I spoke awkwardly.

I wasn't sure what to say, I mean, I had hardly even gotten the chance to actually explore. Hell, I didn't even know what the other door in my room lead to.

"Well, I'd let you stay and visit with them, but I was thinking that I could show you around the house before dinner? Then maybe later I'd show you some of the places to hangout around here?" Billie asked apprehensively.

"Sure, Mr. Armstrong," I agreed. I wasn't sure what to call him.
Was I supposed to call him? Billie? Dad? Father? Sir?

He chuckled slightly, "You can call me Billie, or Billie Joe, if you'd like. I mean, sure, the term 'God Almighty' has a nice ring to it, but what are the odds of you calling me that?" Billie asked rhetorically before he winked at me and laughed out loud.

"Alright, boys, dinner should be ready in a few. See you downstairs," he spoke to them as we disappeared from the doorway.

"So, what do you think so far? I know you fell asleep, but did you check anything out?" he asked me.

"Yeah, sort of," I replied, staring at the floor. I mean, it just seemed so…new to me. "I took a look around after I woke up and before I came down here."

"So…?" he prodded. "Do you think you'll mind living here?"

"No, no, I think I'll love living here," I spoke the honest-to-God truth, wondering how anyone could not like living here. "It's just…hard to adjust from before. I mean, they were practically my…" I trailed off.

"Your…what?" he asked, trying to pull the answer out of me. It took him a second, but he understood what I meant. "Listen, Carmella, I know they were your family; I really do. And I totally understand that and sympathize. And I think once you spend a few days or weeks here, you'll start to like living here just as much. Were aren't that horrible of people, I promise," he told me with a smile

"I'm sure I will," I told him with a weak smile, although I wasn't sure who I was trying to assure with that statement. Was it really Billie?

Or was it me?

"So, enough of this downer," he chuckled. He does a lot of that. "Let's go check out the other two floors!"

"Two?!" I asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. The main level and the basement," he told me while nodding. He started down the steps, me close behind.

"That's…crazy," I told him in astonishment. "I don't think I've ever lived in a house so big."

"Well, welcome home," he smiled up to me, a cheesy grin plastered across his face.

"Hey Billie," Adrienne called from somewhere to our right. I noticed her walking out of a room and into the foyer, plates in hand. "I know you're showing Carmella around the house, but could you please set the table for me?"

"Sure," he answered. He walked up to her and grabbed the plates from her. "Want to help me, Carmella? Yes? That's so sweet of you!"

I laughed at the fact that he didn't give me time to answer. "Alright, what should I do?" I asked, not knowing what to do or where to go or what to put on the table. God, I didn't even know where the table was!

"Come on, follow me. We'll go grab the silverware; it'll only take a few minutes and then I'll show you the rest of the house."

I followed Billie Joe and Adrienne back through the swinging door that Adrienne came through, and found the kitchen, filled with stainless steel appliances. The dark grey, marble counter tops lined amazing, light wooden cupboards. The tiled floor was a gorgeous slate color that complimented the beautiful wine colored, almost purple, walls.

I heard the clank of plates as they were set down on the smooth countertops so Billie could grab the silverware, "Nothing like helping set the table to welcome you to the family, eh?"

I laughed awkwardly while receiving the utensils, not sure if I should answer the question or not and decided on responding with a meek, "Yeah."

"I hope you like stir-fry, Carmella. I was going to ask you what you wanted for dinner, but you were sound asleep and I didn't want to wake you up," Adrienne announced.

"Yeah, stir-fry's just fine with me," I told her honestly.

"And into the dining room we go," Billie Joe laughed at his cheesy warning as I followed him back out the same swinging door we had entered through.

Basically, the rest of the evening continued on as it was going. Billie then showed me the laundry room that was on the other side of the house as the kitchen, the dining room, and the foyer.

After that, he led me downstairs to show me, what he dubbed, the jam session room.

I was in awe the moment I saw it. It held one of the best- and nicest- drum sets imaginable, a bass in the corner (that happened to be in, practically, mint condition), and then several different guitars. Of course, I saw the famous guitar; Blue. I also noticed a piano sitting in the corner of the room.

"Do you play any instruments?" Billie asked me during the 'tour'.

"Um, yeah," I told him. "Guitar, piano, and sort of the viola. I kind of gave that up in middle school."

"Really?" Billie asked, now interested. "Well, any time you'd like, you're more than welcome down here, then. Just let me know that you're going down there so I don't think it's just Joey or Jakob screwing around."

"That's so cool," I smiled graciously. "Thank you."

I heard the door to the basement creak open, and Adrienne yell down, "Billie, Carmella, dinner's ready."

"And that's our cue to get upstairs," Billie Joe laughed. "After you," he stated with a cheesy, wide gesture to start walking up the stairs.