Feed the Fire

The morning of the 19th began as any other day when the alarm went off at 7am. As the sounds of 'Walkin' the Dog' as recorded by Green Day during their Dookie demos filled the room with the voices of Mike, Tre and then the sound of a bong hit; the woman yawned stretched and lumbered out of bed as well as she could being almost 6 months pregnant and starting to get into the ungainly stage of pregnancy.

After getting cleaned up she ambled to the kitchen where she grabbed some Cheerios and orange juice for breakfast, grumbling at the fact that she wasn't a big morning eater but only doing so for the baby. Grabbing the Fed Ex package from Toby that was delivered yesterday, Sabrina begin thumbing through the items relating to the European leg of the tour which was set to begin on March 1st. She glanced through the itinerary at the dates which took them from the first show at Wembley Stadium to ending in Australia on the last day of the month. It was a rough schedule with only a few days off during the month, a side effect from her being pregnant and everyone wanting to be done with touring in time for her to 'nest' as Billie Joe called it.

She stood up and went over by the desk in the den and pulled up a floor board to reveal a safe. Twisting her wrist she spun the dial and keyed in some numbers on a keypad and opened up the object to show its treasure. Reaching down she plucked out a thin booklet and then closed up the safe and replacing the floor board. She walked back over to her cereal and opened up her passport. She flipped through the pages looking at her past few years of over seas travel since this was the fifth passport she had after filling the pervious four. Her eyes flitted over the stamps and with a sigh she flipped back to the beginning to check the date to make sure it was ready to go in less than two weeks. Upon getting her answer she closed the book and checked one thing off her list of things to do before the tour.

The day went on for Sabrina with minimal interruptions. She wasn't calling attention to her birthday and she hoped that others wouldn't either, but as luck would have it that didn't happen. The calls started around noon from this person and that person. No one really special; just the typical Hollyweird elite paying respects since she was in the news and on the charts this year. The flowers started to arrive not long after that. Arrangements upon arrangements filled her kitchen as the local florist made a special trip just for her with the van filled to over brimming. As she skimmed through the bouquets pulling off the cards so she could write thank you notes, she came across one which had summer field flowers. Nestled in the middle of the black eyed susan's, daisies, and queen anne's lace was a single black rose. She smiled at the gesture from her old friend.

By dinner time, Sabrina was exhausted from all the phone calls, emails and the like. She sat perched on a bar stool at the end of the counter half asleep while eating her Chinese take out she was craving. She was jonesin' so bad for it that she actually drove the 10 miles into town just to get it. As she dipped her egg roll into the duck sauce she thought about the people she had talked to today and realized that none of them were her good friends but rather all were just acquaintances of sorts. The ones who she considered her real friends hadn't contacted her yet with the exception of Mike, Beth and Toby. She shook her head as if to rid herself of that thought. 'They don't owe me anything' Sabrina chided herself. As she dunked the egg roll again; she shivered as a feeling of loneliness overcame her.

The end of the month was rapidly approaching. Sabrina was scheduled to fly down to JFK airport to meet the others and catch their flight to London on the 27th. They were flying commercial since Sabrina's jet wasn't equipped to fly overseas. When Sabrina did arrive at JFK, Toby was there to meet her with airport security to escort her to the Virgin Atlantic Airlines VIP Lounge where everyone else was waiting. She greeted the man warmly as he grabbed the biggest suitcase she was rolling and fell into step beside him to the cart that would transport them across the airport.

Not many words were exchanged between the two until they reached Virgin's terminal. Toby then leaned over to Sabrina and whispered in her ear, "Jill isn't coming along yet. There was a mix-up with her passport so she can't fly overseas until it's resolved."

The woman raised an eyebrow at the man, "And she is still allowing him to leave? I would have thought we would have postponed the tour until the problem was fixed," she muttered darkly. Toby just chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his charge. "Great,' she said rolling her eyes. "This is going to be interesting," she mumbled as they pulled up to the VIP Lounge.

The flight was going smoothly as the members of Green Day and Sabrina's band occupied the first class section of the plane. The supporting band members were treated to the upgrade since it was to be a such long flight. The two managers sat together discussing tour business while everyone else was with their significant others; all except Tre and Sabrina. They were the only two not paired up and sitting alone.

A couple times Tre looked over to the mother of his unborn child and wanted to move next to her, but something in her body language stopped him. Finally when she got to a point where she kept moving around and was not able to find a comfortable position, did he reconsider moving next to her. He mind was made up when he saw her bite back a grimace of pain catching her lower lip in her teeth, biting down hard; did he get up and walk to where her row was and slid into the seat next to her.

Tre nudged her arm, "Are you okay?" he asked quietly as not to be noticed by anyone. The burgundy haired woman shook her head but did not remove her lip which was being tortured by her teeth. The man grabbed a hold of her hand and squeezed as if that would help her problem; what ever the problem was since she wasn't telling him.

Sabrina glanced over at the man sitting beside her and waged a war in her mind. A war of if she was going to allow herself to open up to him or to continue to protect what was left of her sanity and emotional wellbeing. As another ripple of pain passed through her body, she bit down harder on her lip and soon was rewarded with the taste of copper.

Seeing the small trail of blood trying to run down her chin spurred Tre into action. He let go of her hands and gripped the sides of her face forcing her to look at him. His breath hitched in his throat as he saw the pain etched into her face. Panic began to set in as Tre took a shaky breath and exhaled slowly; trying to get control of his emotions. Losing that battle he spoke softly to her. "What is wrong Sab? Why are you hurting? Is it the baby? What is happening?" His words tumbled out of his mouth like water that had overflowed over the river's banks.

Seeing the terror and helplessness in his eyes broke Sabrina down enough to damn her soul to hell; "I hurt all over... my back is killing me and my kidneys are hurting like hell. I feel like someone is twisting a knife in my back over and over again," she whispered with tears forming in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. "Normally I'm okay but being pregnant I can't take some of my normal medicine and the lack of not having them in my system is catching up with me..." she trailed off biting her lip again to keep from crying out.

When she got control of herself to an extent she continued. "My kidneys are shot. They have been for a long time; it was a side effect from that bad accident in '82. I have been taking medicine forever for my kidneys to function enough to live and I can't take it now being pregnant. I am risking a lot for this baby, Tre... a lot. You have no idea what this child means to me, this is my last chance... I'll never have another; I have pushed my body to its breaking point right now and slowly it's beginning to rebel against me. I can feel it... it's shutting down. It's harder and harder to make it through the day... and I'm doing it all alone without any support and it sucks donkey dick." When she finished speaking she took her hands and removed his from her face and she turned back towards the window; gazing out into the sky, not really seeing anything.

Tre let his hands drop to his lap as her bombshell exploded in his consciousness. He knew in the back of his mind that she had all these problems with her health. He knew what meds she took since they did live together for a time but it never occurred to him that she wouldn't be able to continue these meds being pregnant. A frown flitted across his face as he thought about the implications of her not taking the needed meds and suddenly he felt like a heel. He hadn't been there for her as much as he wanted to be; Jill made it so hard to do what little his did do; which wasn't much at all in actuality. He knew that Mike had been to more baby doctor appointments with Sabrina then he as the father had been to and that was not something to be proud of.

The muffled sound that came from Sabrina seemed to again spur Tre into action. He looked around and saw that there were a few empty rows in the back of the first class section and the lights were dimmed in that area. Tre gripped Sabrina's elbow and stood up bringing her with him to an upright position. He then guided her out of their seats and back to the rows that were devoid of life. He stopped her and moved around her to navigate the seat closest to the window into a bed like stance and moved back into the aisle and gestured for her to take the now flat seat. Once she was lying down he reached up and grabbed a light blanket and pillow from the overhead compartment and covered her up and placed the pillow under her head. He then lowered himself into the seat closest to the aisle and turned to her, "Sab, no one is around us so you can let your guard down for a bit. I'll watch over you until we land."

Sabrina nodded her head and sighed as she gave herself up to his administrations, thankful to give the burden over to him for a scant period of time. She turned onto her side toward the window and curled up into a small as possible ball. The last thing she felt before giving up and letting sleep claim her was the warmth of Tre's hand rubbing her back.

On the 28th of February the bands arrived at Wembley Stadium to sound check and get around for the show happening the next day. They decided to do everything today to give Sabrina a chance to rest up for the show tomorrow night. Once Sabrina was asleep on the plane; Tre had gone to Toby and got him up to speed on the woman's condition; so the managers conferred and re-arranged her schedule to give her the most down time as possible.

Since Sabrina's confession on the plane Tre was stuck to her side like glue. It seemed as though they were together again the way he guarded over her condition and made sure she had everything she needed. Those closest to the pair knew that this was all short lived and as soon as Jill arrived things would go right back to the way they were; Tre not being allowed anywhere near the pregnant woman.

Sabrina made a conscious choice to enjoy what little attention Tre was bestowing on her for as long as he would do it. It was nice to not have to put on a brave face at all times; to be able to be weak but knowing that someone was right there to pick you up and hold you high above the ground. She had forgotten what it was like to be able to lean on someone else since she never really ever had that in her life at any time. She always was alone during the worst parts of her life and this was a welcomed change even if it was short lived and did more damage to her mental health then was safe. She weighed the risks and these few days of support was worth the pain of when it would end.

As the bands did their sound checks, Beth was making her way as best as she could since she was still on crutches. Once everything was over the bands were making their way back to a bus which was waiting to take everyone back to the hotel. All people were present on the bus except Mike who was walking along with Beth. Billie Joe rolled his eyes at the woman slowly making her way down the corridor. He got up, slid his window open and leaned out of the waiting vehicle. "Jesus Christ, Gimpy; we're getting older by the minute waiting on you," he shouted to the two people as they finally came up to the bus. Mike rolled his eyes at his friend and Beth surprisingly was quiet as they climbed onto the bus. As the pair went past Billie's seat Beth brought one of her crutches back as if she was taking a step and flung it forward as hard a she could. When the sound of the metal striking Billie Joe's skin resounded though the bus which was followed by his howl of pain; the woman just smiled and continued past as if nothing was the matter.

That night at the hotel Tre actually stayed with Sabrina in her room rather then his own and the woman didn't say anything. Sabrina was readying herself for bed when she watched Tre came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of boxers and a tight tee shirt and felt her body respond to his in that familiar way that it always did. She ducked her head as she pulled off her own shirt slipped over her head a long nightshirt over her sports bra. She unzipped her jeans and took them off and slid under the covers.

As Tre came out of the bathroom he saw Sabrina changing for bed. When she pulled her shirt off he got a full view of her baby bump encased in jeans and her heavy milk laden breasts filling her bra to capacity. He felt a familiar pull in his groin as her pregnant body was on full display until she pulled a sleep top over her head. When she pulled off her jeans; just a bit of her tattoo on her thigh was visible as she quickly dove under the bed sheets. Turning his back to her to hide his now aroused state, he quickly flipped back the sheets and clambered under them himself. He kept his back toward her as he clicked off the light, "Good night," he said to the wall.

"Good night Tre," came her response. She sighed as she turned over onto her side with her back to his. To her surprise she felt the bed move as he turned over towards her. She soon felt a hand move towards her and pull her into his body. As they spooned, his hand ran down her body barely touching her skin but it was enough to set her senses on fire. Her already high hormonal levels from being pregnant now shot through the roof as her breath quicken at his touch. She felt him kiss the back of her head as his other hand snaked underneath her flipping her over to her back. As she lay there he let his hands explore every inch of her new body shape as they once again came together in the shadows of the night.