Best Thing In Town

Mike staggered back into the house, looking like he'd seen a ghost. He shut the back door quietly just as Billie Joe entered the room, giving his best friend a curious look. By the looks of it, the phone call the bassist had received was undoubtedly a serious one.

"Hey, Mike, you okay?" he asked, pressing his hand against the kitchen islands' counter top. Mike raised his blue eyes toward Billie Joe and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "Mike?"

"Uh...remember Audrey, the interviewer from Buffalo I went out with after the show?"

Billie Joe nodded slowly, taking in the small bit of information. "Yeah, I remember her. Why?"

"Well, um...we kinda slept together that night. I mean, I fell for her pretty quick," Mike admitted. "I didn't plan on it. It just...happened. And, uh...well...afterward when I woke up, it was probably real early morning. Before six. And then she woke up and started regretting it all. Said she couldn't get mixed up with someone like me because she had her daughter and her job to think about. She left and I walked her to the elevator and she was gone..."

"Is that when you tore your hotel room a new one?" Billie Joe inquired.

Mike nodded. "Yeah. I was kinda upset."

"Kinda? You threw a lamp across the room and punched a whole into the wall." Noticing there was more Mike had yet to say, he took a step forward and urged his friend to continue.

"That was her grandma on the phone," Mike began. "Apparently Audrey's three months pregnant and wasn't even planning on telling me about it."

"Holy shit. I mean...are you sure it's even yours?"

Mike met Billie Joe's gaze and nodded. "My gut tells me yes. The type of person she was...is...I was the only person she'd been with in a while, and I highly doubt she jumped into bed with anyone else since then."

"Huh. So, um...what are you gonna do?"

Shrugging, Mike rubbed his face with the palm of his right hand. "I dunno. I guess after the holiday I'm gonna catch a flight to Buffalo. I need to see her, talk to her about this."

"That's probably for the best," Billie Joe agreed, nodding his head. Despite the seriousness of the matter, he couldn't help but smirk at the possibility of Mike being a dad again. "You think you'll luck out and get a son this time?"

The bassist had to smirk as well. The fact that he was gonna be a dad again made him happy. Would he have a son? Or another daughter? It didn't matter to him. He wanted the cliche healthy baby. Most of all, he wanted to see the mother.

* * *

Audrey sat on the couch on Christmas morning with her legs tucked up under her and holding a cup of coffee while watching her daughter rip through her presents. Audrey was glad she could get her little girl some nice things this year. Since her interview with They Who Shall Not Be Named had gone so well received, she'd gotten a raise at the Buffalo News along with a holiday bonus. Her grandma cooed over the coat and perfume set Audrey had given her. It made her happy that her family was content.

* * *

Mike tried stepping through the debris of wrapping paper and boxes and multicolored bows in his ex-wife's living room while somehow managing not to trip with his handheld camcorder, taking video footage of Estelle tearing apart present after present in a mad rush. Her elated expressions made Mike laugh.

"Hold it up. Show me what Santa got you," he said.

She turned to her daddy and held up a box. "Bratz!" she squealed. "A whole set!"

"Is that what you asked Santa for?" Mike asked. As Estelle nodded her head vigorously, Anastacia leaned forward to clean up some of the mess as Mike turned the camcorder on her. "Merry Christmas, Anastacia."

His ex-wife smiled and rolled her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Mike." She stood up with an armful of wrapping paper and walked passed the camera, muttering something about going to get a grocery bag.

Moving around, Mike sat down on a chair and turned off the camera as Estelle began playing with her new toys, since everything had already been opened in a mad hurry. He watched his little hero and smiled. Her brown hair, the way it lay tousled from sleep, and her eyes having the sleepy look as well; all puffy and narrowed. He set the camera down beside him and leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of Estelle's head and kissing the top.

"You happy with all your presents?" She nodded in reply and mumbled something he didn't catch, but he was glad to see his baby girl happy. As Anastacia came back into the room and began cleaning up the mess, he sat back a little and let his mind wander. He had a lot to think about and a lot to do in the next few days.

* * *

Subconsciously Audrey's free hand rested upon her stomach, lifting her eyes briefly to the television that was showing the Macy's Christmas Day parade in New York City, when the doorbell rang. Wondering who in the hell was at the door on Christmas morning, Audrey went to get up but her grandma beat her.

"I got it," she insisted.

Settling back on the couch, Audrey listened as her grandma opened the front door and exchanged some dialogue with whoever was there. After a moment, her grandma closed the door and stepped back into the living room with a long white box in her arms.

"What's that?" Audrey wondered.

"Something for you. I had to sign for it."

Taking the box from her grandma, Audrey turned it sideways so that it could lay across her lap. Picking at the tape on the sides, she broke it with her nails and lifted the top off, knocking it onto the floor as she looked down at wax paper. Folding that back she found herself admiring a beautiful mix of red roses and white calla lilies. Laid precariously across the ribboned stems was a tiny, cream colored envelope that she picked up. Pulling out the card within, her heart about stopped when she read what it said:

I know.
- Mike