Wild Side || N.S.

★ seventy ★

Nine Years Later

           The year is now 1997 and holy hell I'm not sure how we got here. Nikki and I have now been married for close to a decade. Audrey is ten years old and is now the big sister to her little brother, Dean, who I gave birth to four years ago to the day. I have the family I never thought I'd ever have. I never envisioned myself having children and settling down. But settling down is far from what I've done. 

Our band Infamous has gone on to make quite a name for ourselves. We've gone on many tours, some where we were the headliner. I think my favourite tour to date would be where we got to open for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. That was a dream for me. Getting to meet Joan and have her be like a big sister and mentor to me has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. One I never thought I'd have. It wasn't always easy though. Bringing your kids on the road is quite the challenge in it of itself. Once I was able to juggle mom life and tour life, it was a blast. Although incredibly difficult, I had Nikki by my side to help out. 

Motley Crue sort of imploded for a moment. Vince, god love him, has been through quite a lot. It was a tough choice but the boys decided to fire him because they felt like he just didn't want to be there. It was controversial to say the least. And it was painful. For a moment there, I thought I'd lost my friend. He felt betrayed by the guys. By me too, even though I had no say in the matter. But they've since made up and it seems like Vinny is back into creating and has found his love for music again. Thank fuck. I missed that guy. 

I don't always get to see the guys as much as I'd like to. Mom life has changed many aspects for me. I don't mind most of them. I just never thought I'd see the day where when I'm not touring my life actually slows down and I'm at peace. If you would've told me ten years ago that this is where I would one day end up, I would've laughed in your face so hard and probably dumped beer over your head. God, I was a menace. 

Currently, Nikki and I both had some down time so we took the kids to New York City for a little family getaway. Oh yeah, I said kids. About four years ago, Audrey became a big sister to her brother, Dean. I loved our little family before, but now it really feels complete. Oh yeah, I'm real cheesy now. It's cringe. But it's who I am now. 

And honestly? Nikki has been becoming quite the cheeseball himself. His sobriety journey has been going really well. He slipped up a few months before Riley was born and decided to go back to rehab as well as committing to NA meetings in our area. It hasn't been the easiest journey, but it's been so rewarding and so worth it. I'm very proud of him. Recovery isn't linear, but it is incredibly rewarding.

We spent the day in Central Park, walking around and taking in the scenery. We took the kids for ice cream and had a little picnic, just the four of us. Never would I ever think Nikki and I would end up like this. But I loved every minute of it. 

And now, it was the evening. We got invited to see Green Day at Madison Square Garden tonight. Yup. That little curly haired, bright eyed kid Billie Joe I met all those years ago at Gilman made it big. Back then he seemed so determined and the way he talked about music and performing, I knew something would happen for him. And they were playing at Madison Square fucking Garden. How full circle. 

We got box seats so the kids could watch the show and have the space they need to be, well kids. I hadn't been able to see Green Day live yet, so I was really looking forward to it. Nikki seemed pretty excited too. And if the abundance of gifts from the band (well, mostly Billie Joe) were any indicator, they were excited to have us here too!

It was a hell of a show. The atmosphere, the lights, the music, the band. It was all a lot to take in, in the best possible way.

"These kids are awesome!" Nikki yelled over the eccentric guitar riff, smiling at me. 

I rolled my eyes playfully at the fact that Nikki was calling these grown, established, musicians "kids". As if he hasn't listened to their 'Dookie' album more times than I have.

They wrapped up their song "Longview" and Billie Joe decided to say a few words.

"Wow, Madison Square Garden, you are fucking beautiful." he sounded a little out of breath and smiled wide, probably due to the incredibly loud cheers from the sold out arena.

"Y'know, this has to be the biggest venue for us to date. Something that didn't seem possible and something that was laughable. Actually, laughable. I remember many many years ago, I met a lovely woman at Gilman. She was inspiring, kind, and encouraging. Hell, she still is. I remember that she said she couldn't wait to see me play at this exact venue one day. Well Maria, I'm here. And here's that song you wanted" he winked at the camera, and the guys started off their song. 

Nikki pulled me into his side for a hug, and I hugged him right back. He placed a kiss on top of my head. Our children were running around by our feet, having the time of their lives. 

"He's right, you know. You're all of those things and so much more. You never gave up on me, even though I gave you thousands of reasons to. I love you. I love our life. This is all I'll ever need. Forever." He spoke, making me nearly cry. 

"I'll love you forever. This life is all I'll ever need." 

. . .

"Bring in the head of the government, the dog ate the document

Someone shot the president, and no one knows where Maria went

Maria! Maria! Maria! Where did you go?"

. . .

A/N: Whoops. That took a while to post. I'm sorry. Again.

Honestly, once Mick got kicked out of the band, I sort of fell off with Motley Crue. I'm still not 100% set on writing about them, but I owed it to myself and to you incredibly awesome and loyal readers to finish this story. 

Thank you all so much for reading this story. It's been an incredible journey that I've been on for five years, on and off. This story has seen me at my lowest. At my drunkest. At my highest. At my cleanest. I'm approaching five years of sobriety and I'm so thankful. Thankful for this journey. Thankful for this story. Thankful for all of you. 

It's been a hell of a ride. Thank you for reading! Until we meet again,

-coolliketre. <3