Best Thing In Town

Mike stood beside the stairwell in the front hall, talking with a camera crew from MTV that was doing a feature on all three members of Green Day for MTV Cribs. They were gonna show all three of the guys' homes to be aired in the half hour program. Audrey had forgotten about the camera people and producer coming up until a half hour before. She had been sitting around in her pajamas, sitting and drinking tea with her grandma and Adrienne in the kitchen when Mike came in and shooed her upstairs to get dressed.

When she was upstairs she had never gotten ready in such a hurry. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, applied some light make-up and put on pink, J.Lo sweatsuit with a pair of white and red converse. Moving about like she was, she'd gotten slightly dizzy and had to lean over on the bed and grab onto the bedspread to keep from passing out. Shaking it off, she picked up after herself and straightened up the room a little before heading back downstairs just in time to rejoin Gloria and Adrienne in the kitchen as MTV showed up.

Mike was now making his way into the living room and Audrey could hear him talking about how she helped redesign and put her feminine touch into the room. The tone in his voice sounded proud. And it made her smile.

MTV was there for about two hours, gathering footage and interviewing Mike as he gave the crew a tour throughout the entire house and backyard. It wasn't really raining weather in California anymore. It was, only slightly, but the warm spring air was rolling in.

It was March. Adrienne was rolling her eyes, complaining lightheartedly about how Joey was claiming he could be left alone for hours at a time now because he was 12. Almost a teenager. Adrienne, however, didn't think so. The three women talked back and forth about raising children, passing off their tips, listening to the others' advice, making fun of the male species, et cetera. But when Mike walked back inside from the backyard with the camera crew, he had Audrey join him as they 'kicked MTV out' at the front door.

She didn't know if it was because she'd gotten up too fast or what, but Audrey got woozy as soon as the front door shut, her knees buckled and she just about passed out. Fortunately, Mike caught her, staring at her with concern carved into his forehead.

"Audrey?" he blurted, feeling his face get flustered from fear and worry. She hadn't passed out or anything, but the way she practically went limp on him...the way her eyes seemed to dilate as if she'd been ready to fall asleep after a long day of working in a coal mine made him nervous.

"Uh, sorry about that," she apologized. She pressed her hand to her forehead and let Mike stand her up straight.

"What just happened?"

"Nothing. I just...I just got a little dizzy. I think I stood up a little fast before and it's just hitting me now..."

"But, Aud...you've been tired a lot lately. Not to mention the headaches. Are you sure you're okay?"

Audrey nodded her head. "I'm sure I'm fine, Mike. Just tired. And I got up fast. Doesn't help that I was rushing like crazy to get ready for the camera crew."

"I guess you're right. But why don't you go lay down anyway. I'll come check up on you in a bit. Okay?"

Slowly, she nodded, turning to step away from him, but he stopped her and pulled her into his arms. She smiled, pressing the side of her face against his lean chest and inhaling the scent of his cologne she loved so much. When she lifted her face to meet his, he pressed his lips against the tip of her nose, then brushed the tip of his against hers like an Eskimo kiss. Mike hunched downward a tad and cupped his hands under her ass and lifted her up some to hold her up against him in a deeper hug.

"Go get some rest," he whispered, his warm breath passing by her ear like a comforting breeze.

Audrey gave him another smile and headed up the stairs as soon as he released her from his arms. He said he'd tell Adrienne and Gloria about her feeling tired and going for a nap, which she appreciated. As soon as she was upstairs, she didn't have to worry about checking on Lorelei because her baby daughter was downstairs in her playpen with her grandma while Katarina was yet to come home from school.

She climbed into bed with her clothes on and laid down on her side, snaking one hand under her pillow and the other resting on top. Audrey stared at the wall for what seemed like forever. She was only a little tired. Mostly her mind was running with thoughts as to why she'd felt so blah lately. What was with the headaches and dizziness? The weak knees and passing out? Granted, she'd actually only passed out the once on New Years when Tre caught her. This time didn't count because she hadn't fully conked out. Just felt woozy.

Audrey wasn't even sure how much time had passed since she'd laid down, but she must've fallen asleep at some point, because she woke up and noticed that it was dark outside. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and padded her way out of the room and downstairs. She found Mike in the kitchen, alone, and putting all the dirty dishes that were in the sink into the dishwasher. Seeing him standing there like a Mister Mom with a dishtowel thrown over his left shoulder made her smile all sleepily.

"How long was I asleep for?"

Mike almost jumped at the sound of her voice cutting through the silence. He turned his head and glanced over his shoulder at her. "Six and a half hours," he replied blandly, almost as if he was mad.

"Oh god, how come you didn't wake me up? I was just supposed to be taking a nap."

"Well, each time I checked in on you, you just seemed so peaceful. I didn't have the heart to wake you. Plus, you said you were tired," he said, shutting the door to the dishwasher and turning it on. He turned around to face her, leaning his lower back against the counter and placing the palms of his hands on the edge of the counter. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah. Feeling well rested. And kinda hungry," she commented. "I missed dinner."

"We ordered out, so I saved you some slices of pizza," Mike smirked. "I wrapped them in cling wrap and put them in the microwave to keep them warm."

Audrey cooed in appreciation. "I knew there was a reason I married you."

"You mean it wasn't for my chiseled, Adonis-like good looks or my charm? Not even for my money?"

She laughed. "Nope. Simply for your ability to cling wrap leftovers," she joked, pulling a slice from the clear, clingy material from within the confines of the microwave. She stood there, chowing down only a slice as Mike watched her with a smirk.

"Not even gonna warm it up?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I like cold pizza." She poured herself a glass of water from the tap and faced him, leaning her weight on one leg. Audrey simply smiled at how he watched her take a few sips of tap water and then dump the rest into the sink.

Walking over to her husband, Audrey wrapped her arms around Mike's waist and rested her chin on his chest, staring up at him with a silly grin.

"So...now that you're up and rested...what do you wanna do?" he asked, staring into her eyes. "Katarina and Lorelei just went to bed about a half hour ago. And your grandma said she was going to watch a movie on Lifetime she'd been looking forward to, so...the house is ours for the taking."

As he wiggled his eyebrows at her, she giggled. "Ours for the taking, huh? Sounds promising."

"Oh, I promise, it's very promising."

"That was kinda redundant," Audrey teased.

Mike's response was to simply lean down and kiss her. "Mmm hmm." He continued to leave a trail of kisses from her lips down her neck to her shoulders as he crouched down a little to tug on the tops of her pants. Slowly he pulled them down her legs until she stood there in just her top and her underwear. Mike playfully slapped her ass as he lifted her up in his arms and carried her over to the kitchen table and sat her down on top of it. Walking on tip toe, Mike turned off the lights in the room and the only thing to illuminate the area was the minimal but warm glow of the few candles that had been burning for nearly an hour.

Making his way back over to Audrey, Mike seemed to saunter like a sexual predator taking in the sight of its prey. The glimmer of candlelight flickered mischieviously in the film of his blue eyes that seemed to give more of an appearance of the shiniest and darkest onyx the earth had to offer. She just sat there, leaning back on her hands and kicking her legs back and forth over the edge of the table, watching as he lifted his gray work shirt with the name 'John' over his head. He let it fall to the floor as he began to unbuckle his pants and slowly step out of them.

The closer he came to Audrey, the further back she leaned until he placed a hand over her chest and pushed her down. Climbing up onto the tabletop, Mike bent forward and kissed her languidly, then biting at her bottom lip. He snaked his hands up under her top and slowly lifted it over her head and threw it onto the floor. As Mike looked up at her through his eyebrows, Audrey wanted to just scream out his name right there at how incredibly sexy he looked.

It had this naughty/dangerous feel to it, staring at her like she was an innocent virgin and he was a rebel ready to rock her world.

And that's exactly what they did. In the fifteen months she'd been living with him in their house, they'd never - not once - made love on the kitchen table. On the floor, sure. On the countertop, of course. But not the table. Claiming his wife on that certain location was a new high for both. After the scare he'd felt earlier when Audrey almost passed out, he reveled in this assurance that his wife was right there with him, sharing this delicious moment.

All the times they had made love in the past three months had not been as carnal as this. Each thrust was hard and passionate, every kiss was hungry and wet, every touch was rough and arousing. They rolled around on that table for a good while until somehow, a couple hours later, they realized they'd somehow migrated into the living room where they were making love on the floor.

When all was said and done, Mike pulled the afghan off the couch and wrapped it around their naked bodies that remained entwined and entangled in a mess of sweaty limbs. Audrey moved to lay more on top of him, resting her head on his chest as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her so serenely and then held her gaze. They studied each others' eyes and his smile faded.

"What's wrong?"

He evaded the question only slightly and responded with, "Promise me you'll never leave."

"You know I'd never leave you," she insisted.

"Just promise. We're almost at our first anniversary and we haven't gone through anything as chaotic as what's on the horizon. When this new album comes out, and the touring...you're gonna probably resent me and hate me for never being around...and I don't want you to be so mad that you'll leave me. I've gone through that twice already. A third time..."

"There won't be a third time. I walked into this knowing damn well what to expect. I didn't have to say yes when you proposed. But I did. Because I love you enough to make it work no matter what is thrown at us," Audrey spoke adamantly. "Okay?"

He nodded slowly and lifted his head up to kiss her. "Okay."

"I'll never leave you," she reassured. "I'll always be your wife. Always at your side."

He rested his head back down and smiled as she pressed her lips to his. "Good to know," he responded. "Very good to know."