Status: Completed

Same Time, Next Year

1997

1997

Billie Joe looked at the clock on the wall as he stood at the cottage's bar, pouring himself a glass of scotch. He moved over toward the window with the glass in his hand, peering at out the window at the sunset that was over the lake not far off in the distance. But he wasn't paying attention to that. Turning around, he down the scotch and went back to the bar.

Maybe she wasn't coming. Why was he still doing this? This would be their fifth year meeting like this, and he was a married man. He had a two-year-old son, Joey. And, damn, how he loved his wife, Adi. But still he came back every year to see Mary. He looked forward to it. He even thought about her throughout the year, wondering what she was doing at the holidays, how her own kids were, how much her looks may have changed. He found a unique companionship in her that he couldn't explain. A companionship that was different from the kind he had with Adi. His realization was that he was in love with Mary as well.

When the flash of lights shining through the windows and into the cottage distracted Billie Joe from his thoughts, he moved from the bar, setting down his glass. He was wary at first. Maybe it was Chalmers, the groundskeeper. But why the hell would there be headlights?

The doorknob wiggled and the front door opened slowly; Billie Joe moving in view.

It was Mary.

Billie Joe smiled while watching her holding a large bag in front of her. He was glad she finally made it. He just wanted them to skip dinner and hit the bed. "Here, let me take that," he offered. He took the bag and turned his back to her, placing it on the ground beside the coffee table, but when he turned back to her, he stopped in his tracks, looking her up and down. "Shit, you're--"

"As big as a whale?" She was very pregnant. Her stomach was large and low. "My feet kill."

"How far along are you?"

"Eight months."

"Boy or girl?" Billie Joe inquired.

"Don't know." She moved over toward the chair, but Billie Joe shook his head and guided her to the couch.

"I'll get you a pillow," he said. When she sat down very slowly with his help, he propped her legs up and placed a pillow behind her back and then looked at her. "You look great."

"You're hair's dark again. Wasn't it green or blue last year?"

"Something like that," he laughed. "You're hair's shorter."

Mary smirked. "It's easier to deal with when you have two kids and not enough time to fix it in the morning before work."

"Yeah, how's that going?" Billie Joe wondered, sitting beside her on the couch and lifting her legs to place her feet in his lap. He subconsciously slipped off her shoes and began to rub her feet. "And how was your birthday the other day?"

"Work's good. I've always enjoyed doing hair and make-up, but it's hard to get concrete work without a degree anymore. I thought cosmetology school would be okay...a few classes a night or during the day when Chris is in the fourth grade and Sean in preschool. But we don't have that kind of money right now," she explained. "But my birthday was pretty good. Andrew took me out to dinner which was nice. And we went and saw that new movie, 'Boogie Nights' with Mark Wahlberg, a fellow Bostonian."

"I take it that's your good thing," Billie Joe commented. She nodded. "What's the bad part about Andrew?"

"He makes a mess when he comes home from work at the garage. Grease stains everywhere," Mary smiled. "What about you?"

Billie Joe tilted his head back and thought about it, while resting his hands on the tops of her feet. "Adrienne doesn't think I'm home enough. This year me and the guys were finishing up the new album which comes out next month, and she's just been cranky about it with me. It's kinda hard to deal with. But...this is what I do. I'm in a band. I record music in a studio. She knew this when we met. When we got married and had Joey. I don't know why it's gotta change now."

"Maybe she's getting lonely. Do you set aside alone time with her?"

"I try."

"Well," Mary chided. "You're gonna have to make more time, if she's still feeling left out of your life."

Billie Joe looked at her and leaned closer, reaching out a hand and placing it on her protruding stomach. "You're really beautiful right now."

"And you're avoiding answering about something good with Adrienne, aren't you?"

"Mary, I've come all the way from California to spend the weekend with you. Could we maybe just talk about us and not our spouses?" he asked. There was a hint of desperation and annoyance in his voice.

"Sure. Okay. Want me to just slip into something more comfortable and we can...well...'talk about us'?" she smirked, wiggling an eyebrow.

He looked at her, then moved his hand over to the top of her stomach. "As much as I really, really want to...maybe it's not the best idea. I mean, you're pregnant."

"Yeah. So? What, like you didn't sleep with Adrienne when she was pregnant with Joey?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"...she's your wife. And I'm pregnant with my own husband's child. Numero tres." Mary moved her legs off of Billie Joe's lap and swung them over the edge of the couch, pulling herself up on her own. Billie Joe followed, standing up.

"I know, but..."

"Fine. If you're gonna be that prude about it, we'll just sit here the entire weekend talking about this and that while playing Yahztee." She gave him a tired look and began waddling like a penguin down the two steps into the bedroom. "I'll have you know that it was a bitch trying to get here at all. Do you know how many questions Andrew was asking me about why I still had to go away for the weekend in my 'condition'? But I gave him the same 'retreat' excuse so I could be here with you. We only get one weekend a year, you know."

Billie Joe stood at the stop of the two steps with his right hand on the short railing watching her stalk off as fast as she could toward the bathroom. He trudged down after her; his shoulders drooping. "Where are you going?"

"I gotta pee."

Mary closed the bathroom door behind her as the cottage phone rang. Billie Joe sighed and walked over to it. "Hello? Oh...hey, Adi. No...I'm fine. I know. I know...it's just an annual mini vacation. I-it helps me sort out my head. It gets really clouded with everything that happens in a years' time. I know the album comes out next month, babe. I don't start press tours till next week. It's okay...yes." He let his green eyes linger over toward the bathroom door and ran his free hand through his hair before placing it on his narrow hip. "Uh-huh. Yeah. How's Joey? Good. Well...yeah. Well, if anything comes up or you need me, just call me here okay? I love you, too."

As Billie Joe began to hang up the phone, he heard a moan from inside the bathroom. He rushed over to the door and knocked.

"Mary? Are you okay?" Another moan, that sounded pained. "Mary? I'm coming in," he announced. He leaned his body up against the door but when he tried the knob, it didn't budge. "Babe, unlock the door." This time a deeper, guttural moan. "Come on, Mary. Unlock the door or I'll bust it down."

Suddenly the door swung open and Billie Joe nearly fell forward.

"Don't be such a guy." Mary stepped out holding a hand under her stomach and waddling even more over to the bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

"No," Mary snapped, climbing up onto the bed and laying down on her back. "I'm in labor."

"What?!"

"Labor. L-A-B-Ooooohhhh..." She winced in pain and bent her knees as she sat up slightly. "The baby's coming now...I need to get a doctor..."

"Uhh...uh, okay," Billie Joe began to panic. He almost forgot where her left the phone and then ran over to it. He dialed 0 and waited until the other end picked up. "Front desk. Yeah, um...my friend is in labor. She's having a baby. Eight months. Like, now. When? I said fucking now! How many what?" He covered the receiver with his hand and looked over at Mary who seemed to be writhing with contractions. "How many minutes between contractions?"

She just glared and gave no answer.

Gulping, Billie Joe returned to the phone. "They, uh, just keep coming. It's happening really quick...what? Twenty minutes?" He gave a wary look in Mary's direction. "I don't think she has twenty minutes. Don't you have a goddamn doctor of your own here? This isn't the fucking 1950s!"

With an irritated huff, Billie Joe slammed the phone down and turned to Mary who seemed to be trying to push already.

"Whoa, hey! Don't do that."

"It's coming now," she growled. "You have to do it."

"I have to--Me?"

"Yyyessss..." Mary groaned, throwing her head back as if she'd orgasmed. But, didn't. "Billie Joe...please."

"But you're only eight months pregnant!"

"Oh," she shrugged, semi-sheepishly. "Did I fail to mention I have a history of early pregnancies?"

"Uh, yeah," Billie Joe nodded.

"It doesn't matter now. Help me..." she pleaded.

"Okay." Billie Joe replied, gathering his wits. He sat down beside Mary and grabbed her hand, placing a kiss on her forward then on her lips. "Let's bring your baby into the world, then."