It Gets So Hard When I'm Missing You

I'm Missing You...

**Ding ding.**

The vibration from Norah's phone startled her, making her gasp: a gasp that normally wouldn't have been loud enough to echo off the living room walls of the more-than-spacious 6,900 sq. ft home she shared with her husband, Billie Joe, but she was there all alone right now, aside from their two boys asleep upstairs. Retreating from the romance novel in which she'd been indulging herself, she picked up her phone and smiled, tapping eagerly on the new text message that lit up her screen. Her face also lit up as she read her better half's words:

"I miss you, baby. Can't wait until I'm home again and in your arms. I love you and our boys so much. All my loving. - BJ xoxo"

He gave her butterflies - whether he was at home or a thousand miles away, and that "all my loving" default text he had programmed just for her made her weak in the knees every time. She pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to keep the tears from flowing, but that didn't work. Palming at her eyes, she studied Billie's handsome face in the profile icon and mustered a smile through wet lashes. She missed him, too - so much. He'd been across the country for three weeks now touring with Green Day. Meanwhile, she'd chosen to stay home and be with their little ones, Noah and Ronan. She'd hit the road with Billie and the Green Day guys before, but not since their boys were born. Now their boys were two and three, and as much as Norah loved being a mommy, she missed traveling the world with the man who not only rocked her world, but the worlds of millions.

She wiped at her eyes again to see the keyboard clearly and started to type when her phone dinged once more. It was a video from Billie. Norah cocked her head, trying to figure out what the video was of. The cover of it was bright; a bunch of off-white, pixilated streaks across it, and the gray "play" button obnoxiously filled the center of the video, begging to be pressed. Norah was just about to investigate this mysterious video further when the little "..." popped up below the video, followed by this:

"I recorded this for you tonight. Hope you enjoy it. I know I did ;) All my loving. - BJ xoxo"

Smiling, Norah finished her text and hit "send."

"Miss and love YOU so big, Mr. Armstrong...my forever love. Thx. Gonna watch it now! :)"

"Sounds good, babe. Make sure you're all alone when you watch it, ok? It's special...for your ears and eyes only. Call me when you're done. All my loving. - BJ xoxo" 

"Okay, baby. Loves <3"

"Big loves <3 All my loving. - BJ xoxo"

"When I'm done?" Norah thought to herself. Her heart pitter-pattered. Maybe it was a song? She always loved when Billie would sing to her, even when he was miles away. Sometimes, after a gig, he'd take out his acoustic guitar and sing something just for her. It was something sweet he did to let her know he was thinking about her.

Bubbling with anticipation, she clicked on the video and leaned back into the couch, smiling. Billie appeared vertically in the camera view, wearing nothing on top but a smile; his black denim pants hanging just below the waistband of his orange-red boxers, and phone propped up on the little hotel room table. He waved into the camera, flashing her a crooked smile. He was close enough to the camera that she could see his beautiful body with all its striking features quite well, but also far enough away that she could completely see the upper half of his body all the way to the middle of his thighs.

"Hi, baby," he said softly. He sounded sleepy. Norah squeezed the side of her phone, making sure her volume was turned all the way up. "I hope you and the boys are good. If you're watching this, I, uh..." He paused briefly, tired eyes wandering the room until they lit up again. "Oh, there's the clock," he giggled. "It's 1:30 am here in Boston. We finished our show about an hour and a half ago, and I just got out of the shower. I'm fucking tired," he breathed, running a hand through his damp hair. "Even more than that, I miss you. I miss you so much, baby." His eyes fell away from the view of the camera briefly as he busied himself with something below that Norah couldn't see.