~No One Knows~ A Green Day Story

•Chapter Forty Nine•

****Mike's POV****

I sit down in the chair next to Velvet's bed and watch the color come back to her cheeks as they pump more blood into her veins.

She has her eyes trained on mine and she's not looking away. She's been staring at me for a while, just looking at me as if she thought I was going somewhere. Finally she sighs and looks away.

"He's so tiny..." Her voice wavers a little bit as she looks over at Holden who is laying crying in a clear plastic box.

They have oxygen pumping into the "incubator" and she watches him now, sticking her hand into one of the available holes to touch his hand.

A tear slips out of the corner of her eye and I brush it away with my thumb.

I look over at Holden again.

He weighed about four pounds, and he wasn't a healthy pink color. He was more...grey...purple even.

"Everything seems to be running okay. Your baby will stay in here for a few weeks until he gains enough strength to leave. He will be healthy in no time, he's expected to make a full recovery" Velvet looks up at the nurse who tells us this.

"So I have to stay for two weeks, also?" The nurse shakes her head.

"No ma'am, you can leave as soon as you get the doctor's release" Velvet already gets that protective look in her eye.

"I'm not leaving without my baby" I grab Velvet's hand and she takes it away from me, crossing her arms at the lady.

"Look, I just went through over two hours of the most terrible pain I have ever felt in my life. Either I stay, or the baby goes home with me. Take your pick" I try not to laugh as the nurse nods.

"I'll see what I can do" The nurse walks out and Velvet scoffs.

"Such a kind lady" She sends me a look and I can't help but laugh and shake my head.

"Two weeks, huh? Until he's strong enough" Velvet touches my cheek and smiles.

"If he's anything like his father then we'll be out of here in no time" She kisses my cheek and I smile.

I cringe when I see all the blood still on the sheets and she looks over at Holden, closing her eyes shortly after.

I lean back in my chair and close mine before hearing her faint whisper:

"I'd do anything for you".

****

Finally, our son would come home.

I lift Holden out of Velvet's arms and into the seat in the back of the car. Figuring out all the straps and buckles was confusing, but after a while I seemed to have strapped him in well enough.

Velvet jumps in the front seat and we drive home, ready to take care of our new family member.

Soon we're in the door, and nothing felt more real than carrying your own child through the door of which it would grow up.

Holden is awake and staring at his new surroundings. All he saw for the first two weeks of his life was the inside of a plastic box and a white ceiling. This must've been a lot to take in for the little guy.

Velvet turns and looks at me, a large smile on her face.

"Can you believe all this, Mike? This is where it's all going to begin. Me and you and Holden...just the three of us..." She sighs and looks down at Holden in a carrier.

I set it on the floor and she kneels to grab him out of it.

She grabs him and with the smallest gesture I've ever seen, Velvet holds Holden to her shoulder and closes her eyes.

A hushed whisper comes from the kitchen and we both look at each other.

She smirks and looks towards the corner.

"Alright you guys, come on out. Come on Joe, don't be afraid" And so Joey is the first one to run out from behind the corner.

He runs towards us and plops down on the floor next to Velvet.

He smiles at this new life as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"I want to hold him, Auntie V" Velvet looks like she's deciding on an answer as Billie, Adrienne and Jakob come out too.

"Why don't you let Daddy hold him first, Joey?" Billie asks deeply, everyone now sitting on the floor surrounding Velvet and Holden in a large circle.

Velvet and Billie look at each other and it's pure admiration from Velvet's side.

She looks at her brother and it's the same look that's been developing over the last few months. Every time she looks at him the look grow a stronger.

Billie's finally proving to her that he's there for her, that she can count on him. It was a beautiful look.

Velvet nods and hands Holden over to Billie.

I was there for Joey's birth. And I see the same look of love in Billie's eyes that I did the day he looked down at his son for the first time.

Everything was falling into place. I was finally a father. Velvet finally found her missing piece. Billie finally proved himself to his sister. Everything was...perfect.

I finally had everything I wanted, and all of it was sitting right in front of me.

****

I stroke Velvet's hair as we lay on the couch. It was midnight, everyone had gone home. We just sat there and watched our baby sleep.

Velvet's head is on my shoulder, her eyes wide open. I look down at her, my lips on her hair.

"Tell me something, Velvet. Something you've never told anyone" She never takes her eyes off of Holden.

I knew her too well, and I knew that she was practically waiting until she could hold him in her arms again.

"I was fourteen and I hid at the top of the basement steps and watched you play at your band rehearsal with Billie. All my friends had had their first kisses and I was the odd one out" She looks up at me. I want to tell her how much her eyes haven't changed.

"And I looked at you and knew that you were the one I wanted to share it with. But that didn't happen...and then everything just went downhill until you picked me up again" We stare at each other and a smile comes to my lips.

I lean my forehead on hers.

"Tell me something else"

She smiles.

"I used to watch you everyday from the top of the steps for years, even when you thought you were never going to see me again. Or when you thought I was never home. And I was right there the whole time....you just didn't look far enough" I press my lips down to hers and she kisses me back softly.

"I just need to know one more thing, Velvet" She smiles and pulls away with a chuckle, that same mischievous look in her eyes.

"Must be serious, you've been calling me Velvet all day" I smile as I stare deep into her eyes.

I don't say anything, and her eyes go through a series of looks.

She narrows them, looking at me with a different look than I've ever seen before.

She backs away to look at my face more.

I can feel her heart beating in her chest, she whispers.

"Mike?" I brush my thumb along her arm and swallow.

"Velvet..." Without words she cups my face in her hands and kisses me deeply.