Status: Completed

Best Thing In Town

I Think We're Alone Now

The start of a new year, a fresh start overall. 2006 had been a chaotic one, personally, for Mike and Audrey. Living together, getting engaged, planning a wedding, being pregnant, the wedding and honeymoon, giving birth, birthdays galore, studio time, working out, writing a book, kids going to school, getting pregnant again, then the accident which left Audrey in a coma and causing her to lose the baby.

And 2007 was brought in with a bang. Pun intended.

This upcoming year would still be chaotic, but in the organized sense. The guys were almost done in the studio and aiming to have the album done by April and out in stores by May or June. They had their doubts. Somehow they new it wouldn't be the giganamous hit 'American Idiot' was, but they were proud of their work nonetheless. And Audrey was still working on her book which she was getting close to finishing. This would be a year of professional accomplishments, indeed.

January was just one of those months that seemed to end as soon as it began. Life seemed to returned to normal. Any bruises Mike and Audrey had from the accident were more or less healed and things were just fairing well for them over all. There had been one fight between them over how her feeling suffocated by his watchful eye, constantly asking her if she was feeling fine and if there was anything he could get her. After that argument...and make up...they agreed he would lay off the worried questioning and just be happy she was there.

It wasn't until the beginning of February that anything eventful happened in their lives. Mike and Audrey were sitting on the couch one morning, watching Ellen with Gloria. With a coffee in his hand, Mike turned to his wife and place his free hand on top of hers and they shared a smile. They were feeling rather well rested lately seeing as how Lorelei was finally sleeping more regular hours. They were also giddy over how their baby girl was already crawling. She was almost eight months old and a picture of beauty. Her blonde hair and blue eyes made her like a very tiny, female version of Mike when he was a kid. In a good way.

Estelle loved coming over to the house now, playing with Katarina, who she'd finally accepted as her sister, along with cooing over little Lorelei. Mike's firstborn also enjoyed spending time with Audrey. She would ask her stepmom to come play Barbies with her and Kat, to which Audrey would happily oblige. It was another excuse to get in touch with her own inner child and play with the dolls again.

But, just sitting there now, Mike and Audrey, albeit enjoying their calm and collected morning, were growing a bit stir crazy. They hadn't done anything as a couple in a few weeks with the exception of sexual romps. They really just wanted to get out. Something Gloria seemed to take notice of without missing a beat.

"It's a beautiful morning," the older woman commented during a commercial break.

"Yeah, it is," Audrey agreed. She turned to Mike. "Have I told you I love Northern Californian winters?" He smirked. "Usually rain, sometimes a little brisk but still nice enough to walk outside in just a thin jacket."

"Yep. I could never leave here," he commented.

"Oh, but I could leave Buffalo?"

He gave her a sideways glance and frowned. "You came willingly."

"True. But you didn't offer to move out there."

"Well, of course not. My career requires me to work with the guys. It's my way of life and I can't very well say, 'Hey guys. I'm moving to Buffalo. You hafta uproot your families so we can be within driving distance of one another.'"

Audrey gave him a faux scowl and pinched his arm. He cried out and 'ouch' and pinched her back, wherein garnering him a punched to the leg.

"If you two don't go out and enjoy the day, you're both gonna end up black and blue," came Gloria's voice.

Audrey lifted her head and laughed a short laugh. "What? Oh. I don't wanna take Lorelei out in this though. It's still kinda drizzly out. I don't need her catching something."

"Aw, be rebellious," Mike said.

"There's a difference between rebellious and just plain irresponsible."

"I'll stay with Lorelei. She's too cute to not spend time with," Gloria offered.

Audrey and Mike looked at each other and shrugged. They stood up and asked if Gloria was sure, and she only insisted the more, making Mike smile at how much grandmother and granddaughter were alike in their stubbornnes. Audrey leaned over and grabbed up her grandma in a hug, thanking her.

As the couple made their way into the garage, they got into the car and buckled their seatbelts right away.

"Whatever we do, let's get it done before Katarina gets out of school. I was thinking maybe we could all go out to dinner later tonight as a family," Audrey suggested.

"Sounds good to me. Where do you wanna go?"

"I dunno. Maybe Pizza Hut or something cheap and cozy."

"No, I mean right now," Mike amended. "What do you wanna do right now?"

"Oh...um..." she trailed, thinking about it to herself as the car back out of the garage and down the driveway. "Oh!"

"What?"

"Tattoos. Remember how I said I wanted to get a couple after the baby was born?" Mike nodded as they drove off down the road. "Well, since we lost the baby, I was thinking maybe I could do it now."

He smiled. "If that's what you want."

"It is. I want something permanent, emblazened on my body for all time as a sort of declaration for the ones I love."

"Am I included in that declaration?" he smirked playfully.

"Of course you are. You're my love."

"Likewise, babe."

* * *

They got to the tattoo parlor not that long after. The artist in the shop greeted Mike on a first name basis, because this was the shop the guys always came to whenever they had gotten a tattoo while at home. Audrey began purusing the designs on the wall, trying to figure out what she wanted. And where.

"Any ideas, Aud?" Mike wondered, coming up from behind her and lacing his arms around her waist.

She shrugged. "Kinda."

"Well, just tell Rob what you want."

"Okay, um..." she began to make her way over to Rob, the tattoo guy. "Um, can you do names? Wait. Dumb question. I want to have my daughters names on my wrists. One on each in a sort of script-like font. Can you do that?"

"Sure I can," Rob nodded. "What's their names?"

"Katarina and Lorelei."

"Alright, just write how their spelled down on this piece of paper so I don't wing it and misspell anything."

Audrey did so and then got in the chair, nervously. Mike took up a seat beside her and watched as Rob slowly went to down on her right wrist, writing Katarina's name. She was biting her lip from the needle buzzing along her skin, forcing a smile, thinking, 'OW OW OW OW OW.' But then thinking, 'Hey, I survived a car wreck and a coma. I can survive some tattoos.'

When all was said and done, they all sat back and looked at the tattoos. On her right wrist was 'Katarina' and on the left was 'Lorelei.'

"That hurt," Audrey muttered with a laugh.

"You all set?" Mike asked, ready to help her up out of the chair.

"No. Can I, uh...can I get another?"

Rob shrugged. "Of course. I have no appointments until 5. So, I got all day."

"Okay, um..."

"What else are you gonna get?" Mike wondered. Audrey had looked like she could barely deal with getting the ones on her wrists. What else would she want this soon?

"Around my belly button. The female symbol, but also with the male one. Like, the two blended together. The femal plus sign pointing down and the male arrow going upward and to the side...you know what I mean?"

"Draw it," Rob said, pushing over a piece of paper. She did and then wrote something above it which he looked over. "Baby Pritchard?"

"Yeah."

Mike raised an eyebrow.

"The baby we lost," she informed.

He nodded to his wife and place a hand gently on her back. Rob instructed her to get back into the chair and then he lowered it back so she was laying in it. Her shirt was rolled up and the top button of her pants undone and then pushed down a little so Rob had working room. Audrey reached out for Mike's hand as the needle made its first poke. She clenched her hand tighter around Mike's so he leaned forward, pressing his lips against her forehead and then resting his head on her shoulder as both watched Rob.

Finally the tattoo was finished. And Audrey was feeling a tad sore. But the tattoo looked awesome. Audrey had to leave her pants undone a little but pulled down her shirt as Mike went to pay.

They thanked Rob and as they left, Mike and Audrey rounded the corner of the shop and stepped over to where the car was parked. It was almost 3. Katarina would be home from school soon. Audrey always loved seeing Katarina bouncing off the school bus to excitedly tell her mommy about her day, so Audrey didn't want to be late.

Mike, however, had a way to insist they had some time to kill way of pinning his wife between himself and the passenger's side door. He leaned down and kissed her ever so deeply before bringing his lips to her ears and whispering, "You have no idea how much I love you." He kissed her again. "God, I love you..."