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Forever Rising Phoenix	By : ImagineLayla131 Category: S through Z > The Walking Dead Views: 7147 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH THE WALKING DEAD FRANCHISE. ALL PROPERTIES OWNED BY FRANK DARABONT, AMC, ROBERT KIRKMAN AND TONY MOORE. NO MONEY/PROFIT IS BEING MADE OFF OF THIS FANFICTION!

Chapter List
- 49
- 50
- 51
Hello world and my wonderful readers! There's apparently some glitch on FF, so I decided to post today. This chapter really explores things from Billy's POV, which I feel is imperative to the story. I think now there's a lot of angst between Rick and Delilah and everybody is catching on.
I know a lot of you don't like the sudden change in Delilah's demeanor, but she has a chemical imbalance and emotionally disturbed. She also made a VERY huge AND selfless sacrifice for the sake of the twins by allowing Billy and Christine to stay at Jellbany, her sister and the love of her life that deceived her, Billy was practically dragged into it. Naturally, Delilah is going to be feeling and acting very confused and angry and discombobulated. I know I would!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH THE WALKING DEAD FRANCHISE, HAUNTED, WILD WORLD, BLACKBIRD, YESTERDAY, OR ANY OF THE DISNEY DANCE ROUTINES MENTIONED. ALL PROPERTIES OWNED BY FRANK DARABONT AND AMC (TELEVISION SERIES), ROBERT KIRKMAN AND TONY MOORE (COMIC BOOK SERIES), TAYLOR SWIFT, CAT STEVENS, THE BEATLES, DISNEY AND ABC, RESPECTIVELY. I ONLY OWN MY OWN ORIGINAL IDEAS AND CHARACTERS.
Chapter Fifty: Light in Dark Black
Delilah was forcing herself to push everything away, and because of that, she was on the verge of explosion. She shouldn't be having mixed feelings, but she was and she couldn't hide it. What scared her is that she didn't know if anybody had caught on, even though she was sure Billy had a feeling. She was starting to feel suffocated and she couldn't be there anymore. The song personified how she felt, haunted, haunted by what might be the truth. Delilah got up, still looking at Billy before turning around and almost running out of the factory, with everybody only having a guess as to why.
They all watched Delilah scurrying off as the song progressed into lyrics.
"You and I walk a fragile line
I have known it all this time
But I never thought I'd live to see it break."
"Should somebody go after her?" Eugene asked.
"She seemed pretty upset about something." Abraham added.
"It's getting dark, and it's all too quiet
And I can't trust anything now
And it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake."
The two of them and Rosita looked at the quartet, while Rick, Billy, Glenn, and Maggie looked at each other. They were a bit hesitant on what to do. Should they go after her or give her space?
"I think Eugene's right, one of us should check on her." Maggie said.
"I'll go." Rick volunteered.
"Oh, I'm holding my breath
Won't lose you again
Something's made your eyes go cold."
"Wait." Billy spoke up, causing everybody to focus their attention on him. "Give it a minute. I know how Delilah is when she gets like this, and she wants to be by herself. She told me a long time ago to stop going after her and that she needed to learn to calm down on her own. Delilah will come back, don't worry. She always does." His answer was greeted by quizzical looks.
"Are you serious?" Glenn asked.
"Yeah, that can't be true." Maggie said.
"Come on, come on, don't leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out."
Billy held up his hands in surrender to them. "Hey, I'm right there with you, I really am, but it's what she told me. Then again, it's been over a year and a lot has changed, maybe one of us should go. Not trying to sound rude or selfish, but as much as I want to, I probably shouldn't. Also, I have a feeling I'm the last person she wants to see right now, so I think you're the best person to go to her, Rick." As much as it killed him to say that, it was the truth. Billy didn't want to make Rick angrier by admitting that he was most likely the reason why Delilah ran, he could already tell her new boyfriend was getting disconcerted the more they even talked.
"Something's gone terribly wrong
You're all I wanted."
Rick nodded. "You're right, I am. I'll see you all later." He walked out, leaving the others behind.
"Come on, come on, don't leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out."
A great sadness hung in the air. With the exception of Billy, they hadn't seen Delilah like this. He felt her pain, for he was just as haunted as she was, both being tortured by their inner demons and not being one hundred percent sure how to banish them forever. "I'm going to tell Madison that the speakers are working just perfectly."
"Can't breathe whenever you're gone
Can't turn back now, I'm haunted."
As soon as Billy left, the song turned off just as quickly as it had started.
OUTSIDE DELILAH'S ROOM, FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
Rick had looked throughout Jellbany and couldn't find Delilah, ultimately figuring that she was in her room. He knocked on the door, hearing "Wild World" by Cat Stevens on the other side, another one of her depressed songs. "Isla? It's me, Rick."
Delilah opened her eyes and set down the brown paper lunch bag that she had been breathing into, something she almost always did whenever she had a panic attack, her back against the door as she sat with her knees up. "Hey."
"Are you ok? You ran off in quite a hurry."
She nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, Street Fighting Man, I'm fine."
Rick could feel that she was leaning against the door and slid down to the ground so they were back to back with just the wood dividing them. "Are you sure? You seemed upset."
Delilah breathed through the bag again before answering, feeling his weight against the door. "I know, that whole scene back there was a little too overwhelming for comfort and brought me back to a dark place, I just needed to be alone is all."
He could hear the despair in her voice and it pained him that she wouldn't let him in to comfort her. "There's some things we need to discuss."
That statement alone made her all the more panicked. She couldn't face him right now, there were too many emotions infesting her being. Confusion, sadness, fury, anguish, melancholy, worry, and it was all thanks to Billy. Delilah was way too conflicted and she wasn't ready to discuss it with Rick yet, at least not until figuring things out. "I know. I'm pretty exhausted, I think I'm going to stay up here for the rest of the night, though. It's been a long and extreme day, I'm drained, emotionally and physically. Can it wait until tomorrow, hun?"
No, it can't wait until tomorrow. I've been hiding a huge secret and the guilt is eating away at me. Oh, and I'm worried you still have feelings for your ex. "Sure, baby. I understand." Rick really didn't want to wait, but he didn't want to upset her further by calling her out and making accusations about Billy. "I love you, Delilah."
"Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Ooh, baby, baby it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl."
Delilah was well aware that Billy wanted to talk to her, but she was worried that if she did, things would get worse, that she'd trick herself into thinking they should get back together again and knowing he'd be all for it. The thought of that brought tears to Delilah's eyes. She wasn't sure if they were tears of joy to be reunited with her first love again and thinking it could be fate, or tears of sorrow for being the one responsible for breaking her new love's heart who brought her back to life again, but knowing that whatever decision she made, somebody besides herself was going to get hurt, which was the last thing she wanted. Two single tear drops fell without even having to blink. "I love you, too, Rick."
LATER THAT EVENING, 10:30 PM
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free."
Billy glanced over his guitar at the double stroller to see that the twins were still awake. It wasn't "Billy Boy Blue", his trusty electric blue Fender Stratocaster, it was a maple wood 1948 D-18 Martin acoustic guitar that he found abandoned in a music store in Louisiana. When he returned the keys to the x5, Delilah had actually given his Fender Stratocaster back. She had taken excellent care of it, which left him a little surprised considering she could have pulled a Pete Townsend and smashed the damn thing to smithereens, but Delilah cherished music too much.
He had spent the last hour trying to lull the twins back to sleep after Serena had woken up, with Santino following, resulting in both babies crying. Santino seemed to be more relaxed in the back seat while Serena was still fussy in the front seat. He thought the crisp night air would be serene for them, with the sky nearly pitch black, the scatter of stars doing nothing for it as they sat on a bench near Leisure Zone.
Sometimes, it was difficult being both their father and their mother. The only mothering Christine did was breast feeding so they'd get the 500-600 nutrients from breast milk, and she had pumped. She had only changed about ten diapers give or take. Billy figured he had some making up to do, considering after they were born, he avoided them for the first week. Once they were delivered on a murky September 20th night, he ran out of the room, looking at them was unbearable. Inconsolable, he locked himself in the car and cried for hours, thinking of Delilah, and kept it up until finally falling asleep. Exactly a month later, Billy had decided to kill himself, because a life without Delilah was one not worth living, and he wanted to be with her wherever she was, even though he couldn't shake the feeling she was still alive. He had written a suicide note instructing Jennifer to take the twins far away from Christine and was staring back and forth between his wrist and the blade when the baby monitor went off. Hearing Santino and Serena's cooing was what made him stop. It would be selfish of him to leave his children without a father, and he was the only responsible parent they had, considering Christine couldn't even take care of a cactus plant. From that day forward, Billy made the effort and gave it his all to be the best father he could be.
Billy started rocking the bottom of the stroller back and forth with his foot.
"Please go to sleep for Daddy, princess? It's been a very long day for all of us." Indeed it had. The rough housing from Daryl and Abraham, then seeing Eugene being beaten up after being exposed, it was catastrophic. The only good parts of the day were the brief moments he had with Delilah, but he felt so confused. One minute, they were reminiscing and he was helping her, the next minute she was running out of the factory seemingly haunted, but before that she was particularly cold. Billy couldn't figure her out and was dying to talk, but she barely gave him the time of day.
While he understood her distance, there was a lot he needed to clarify, there had to be a way for her to hear him out and it was driving him crazy. All he wanted was his Delilah back, but there was no way in hell things would ever be how they once were, except he was determined to reach a point of solace with her. Just the touch of her hand made all the warm fuzzies from years ago return, she had to have been feeling something also, right? Why else would she have talked about the past for so long, even going as far as complementing him? Why did they keep exchanging these sad and forlorn looks at the most unexpected times? There were so many things he wanted answered, and he had to figure out how to get her alone.
Back in Dallas, he was still consumed by an vast amount of misery and blame, brought on by weakness of himself. Jennifer had tried to get through to him, but he would only reveal so much, knowing she'd lose it if she found out what he and Christine did. She was a true friend, cradling Billy's head and stroking his hair as he cried in her lap, sometimes crying right along with him over how much Delilah was missed. When she was gone, he felt truly alone, and considered the hotel being overrun by walkers as a sign of finally getting away from Christine, but she had managed to escape. Now that he was under the same roof as Delilah, Billy felt hopeful again, but were they meant to be after all that happened? Even if they did get back together, what about Christine? What if she did something horrible again, but this time worse, such as possibly harming the twins?
Billy was pulled out of his thoughts by a whiny Serena.
"Come on, Rini. It's time to go to Disneyland in your mind." "Rini" was a diminutive of Serena, both derived from the North American dubbing of Sailor Moon, just like "Chibiusa" was the equivalent of "Usagi" in the original Japanese version of both the manga and anime. It was for this reason why Delilah had picked out the name Serena for their daughter, because Sailor Moon was one of her early childhood idols who taught her to believe in herself, love, dreams, and to believe in the dreams and love of others. She insisted that her nickname be Rini, which was actually the name of Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon's (established in the 30th Century future story arc as King Endymion and Neo Queen Serenity) daughter in Crystal Tokyo, also known as Sailor Mini Moon amongst the Sailor Scouts, and that's what Billy called her since the day she was born. Delilah had also taught him to imagine going to Disneyland in your mind when you couldn't sleep, she had used it on all of his nieces and nephews and it worked. He meant what he said about naming the twins to honor Delilah, and the always unoriginal Christine was more than happy to go along with it, even going as far as claiming that they were her names in the first place, which the three of them and Jennifer all knew was false. Billy loved his children, but there would always be a void that couldn't be filled, because they should've been his kids with Delilah. Unfortunately, thanks to a combination of his betrayal and the apocalypse, both of them were deprived of a pleasant pregnancy experience. Going shopping for the nursery, registering for the baby shower, watching Delilah's pregnant belly grow with their child inside, rushing out at 3 o'clock in the morning to get her peanut butter Twix and birthday cake ice cream or anything else to satisfy whatever craving she had, holding her hand during the delivery and seeing their bundle of joy for the first time, living happily ever after exactly like they had planned.
You've got nobody to blame but yourself, asshole. Yourself and that bitch on wheels Christine. It's time to right your wrongs once and for all, no matter how long or how much work it will take.
That had all been taken away from them, and at this point, it might as well remain a fantasy forever. They had spent five years together, he knew she was feeling something, she had to be. Billy heavily sighed as he picked up the guitar again. For as long as he could remember, he had always been a huge fan of The Beatles, it's what inspired him to be a musician. A real musician, not the preppy auto tuned crap that the generations had become so accustomed to and that the record company tried to mold the band into. He took up the guitar and piano around the same time he started basketball, and singing lessons. Billy wrote about 95% of the songs before and during the times he was in Led Monkey/Delilah's Ass, which he had formed himself. Later on, he had collaborated with Delilah on writing a few songs. They had similar taste in music, but what really bonded them was The Beatles. She actually choreographed a bunch of routines to their songs and performed them at competitions. The Jive to "Help!" and "Can't Buy Me Love", an interpretive number to "A Day in the Life" where her and Angelo dressed in brightly colored British military fashions, The Rumba to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", a mashup of the original version and the version from LOVE. Her routines were always so out there and creative, they usually won first place more times than not.
Angelo.
His name made Billy think of all the problems that stemmed from his presence. How Delilah could never see how two faced he was or how she was sometimes oblivious to his advances, it was never clear if she really was or not. Billy remembered one time in the summer of 2008 when they were competing in a dance competition sponsored by Disney, which had also been a $5,000 a plate charity dinner for Livestrong, and it was mandatory that the couples perform to a song from a Disney movie that was selected in a drawing along with a dance, with Delilah and Angelo getting The Quickstep to "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin, which had always been one of her favorites. Delilah looked insanely hot in the mint green Princess Jasmine two piece costume while Angelo fit the part in Aladdin's "Street Rat" get up. Things had started off very well but had gone down hill quickly right before and during when they were dancing side by side to a projection of The Genie and Angelo kept putting his hands in places only Billy's hands were allowed. Delilah accidentally pushed him off of her a little too hard and he fell, which everybody saw because that was when the projection had ended. Billy had been gritting his teeth watching it all unfold from his seat at one of the front tables, with his brothers elbowing him at the next table, Rachelle and Christine both having worried looks on their faces.
Due to this little blunder, Delilah had to carry the rest of the routine and improvise, with Angelo following suit. She had a smile plastered on her face the entire time, but Billy saw the tears in her eyes, and what's worse was that the entire thing was taped and streaming live on the Livestrong website. They received a 5.6, which had been the lowest scores they ever earned in their partnership, losing to a near flawless Salsa routine to "I Wanna Be Like You" from The Jungle Book, executed by Oksana and Xavier, one of their frenemies. Delilah was devastated, but didn't hold back on screaming at Angelo afterwards, who groveled at her feet before and after getting into a scuffle with Billy, even Christine scolded him and comforted her baby sister. Delilah was his girl, and it was his duty to protect her.
When their names came up on the roster to perform at the event the following spring, they were almost overlooked thanks to that disaster, but the same Disney executive that contacted Delilah for the screen testing after seeing the DDR video was on the board and insisted that she be included. Delilah and Angelo got their second chance, performing a wet n' wild African Samba-Cha Cha/Jazz to "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" from The Lion King and ultimately won the competition, beating Oksana and Xavier's splashy Samba performance to "Under The Sea" from The Little Mermaid. Delilah's whole ensemble for the African Samba had definitely been eye catching. She was tanned and glittered from head to toe, which made the blue and green hues of her irises and the whiteness of her spectacular megawatt smile absolutely pop, her hair teased and crimped, her makeup smoky and sultry, wearing a fur two piece halter top and mini skirt with fur cuffs on her wrists and ankles and an elaborate ebony and ivory necklace. Delilah looked incredibly stunning, like a 1950's pin up girl with a King Kong esque vibe, his Italian goddess. Angelo was stuck with a ridiculous black and leopard print toga style loincloth. It made Billy smirk with pride that that was his girl. She rocked the house that night, and everybody was on Cloud Nine when Delilah won.
He remembered when they went to the opening night of The Beatles: LOVE by Cirque du Soelil at The Mirage in Las Vegas and how "Sassy Girl" had gotten them into the VIP after party, where Delilah struck up a random conversation with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr about The Marx Brothers in a rare moment they weren't hounded by the press. Delilah introduced them to Billy like they were old friends, rendering her boyfriend dumbfounded and speechless to meeting two of his childhood idols, who absolutely loved his girlfriend. That was the thing about Delilah, she had confidence and strive that people would practically kill for. While Billy had been something of a ladies man, a hot shot athlete, and a rock star in his own right, he was actually kind of shy at times. Delilah, on the other hand, could walk up to just about anybody (famous or not, but especially celebrities), and strike up a conversation. She always lit up the room wherever she went.
Billy chuckled to himself as he thought back on the little things about Delilah, like how she'd sing Carly Simon songs in his mirror when blow drying her hair or when he'd sleep through his alarm clock, she'd imitate Robin Williams and shout "GOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!", which would always do the trick. Most people would have found it incredibly obnoxious, but Delilah had managed to make it adorable. That was another thing about Delilah, not only could she make him laugh, but they laughed a lot together as well. Whether it be from one of her comedic heroes Robin Williams, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Jerry Seinfeld, or more current comedians like Dane Cook, Louis C.K., and Bob Saget, or simply Delilah doing one of her wacky characters or watching a Frat Pack movie, they'd just laugh for what seemed like hours and sometimes it would be for so long they forgot what started it all in the first place. What Billy would give to have those moments back again, or the opportunity to create new ones. This time, it was Santino's babbling which brought him back to reality, and he picked up where he left off on "Blackbird". While he loved the band, he'd never replicate any of their songs by doing a cover, but it was alright to sing to the twins because they were learning about great music early on.
"Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise."
"Hi, Billy." A little voice squeaked out behind him when he hit the last note and finished the song.
Billy looked over his shoulder to see Mika standing there, taking him a bit by surprise. "Oh, hi, Mika. How's it going? Isn't it past your bedtime?"
She twirled her hair, a nervous habit she had picked up years ago, and nodded. "Yes, it is, but I can't sleep. Can I sit with you for a little while? Please?"
He offered her a small smile with a nod of his head and a pat of the bench seat. "Of course, go right ahead."
The little girl smiled widely. "Thanks." Mika skipped over and sat down next to him, and just like that, she had gotten shy again, turning away. After a few minutes of staring up at the sky, Billy broke the ice.
"Are you doing okay? I saw what happened earlier with Lizzie."
She nodded, looking down at her little pink and white sneakers with sparkly silver shoelaces. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He could tell by the sound of her voice that she wasn't. It broke his heart, but he didn't want to pressure her into discussing something troubling, so he decided to take a more comforting approach. "I know what it's like to be the younger sibling, getting teased and what not. It isn't always fun."
She glanced over at him. "You're the youngest?" For as intuitive as she was, Mika's questions never really delved into something personal, they were more along the lines of "What's your favorite color?" and "Do you believe in unicorns?", things that normal little girls her age should be inquiring about.
Billy nodded. "Yes, the youngest out of eight. Four boys and four girls. My older brothers loved rough housing me and my sisters tried to dress me up as a girl, but we were always very close."
"Wow, that's a lot!" Mika giggled.
"You think that's a lot, there's over 200 people in my whole family. Here, I'll show you." He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open. Ever since the apocalypse started, there was obviously no real use anymore for credit cards, so he kept them with his birth certificate and other important papers, in case the world was ever fully restored again. Now, his wallet was used as a photo album, he had to preserve his electronics, which also held the pictures.
Mika scooted closer and looked down at a picture from Mamie and Papie's 50th wedding anniversary, which had also served more or less as a Steverson family reunion, they all had on custom shirts as well. "There's my grandparents, Mamie and Papie, there's my mom and dad, too. The one next to my dad is my brother Robert, he's the oldest of the boys, and then my sister Michelle, she's the oldest of the girls. After that there's Kyle, he's with his son Little Archie, my second oldest sister Brooke, Rebecca and Michael, they're all with their spouses. Next to Michael is my older sister Kayla, the youngest of the girls. She's with her husband Tommy and their two daughters, Sadie Belle and Anna, and then there's me with Delilah, her mom, and our friend Jennifer." He pointed to all of them and watched her curious expression become excited.
It had been such a fun day, the whole weekend had been a blast. Billy, Delilah, Rachelle, and Jennifer had all flown out to Texas on a Friday, where they stayed with Tommy and Kayla. The next day, Sadie Bell and Anna competed in a pageant, Delilah and Kayla coaching as usual, with Anna winning Grand Supreme and Sadie Belle winning Ultimate Grand Supreme, and the following day was the anniversary party. The picture was taken back in 2008, which was right around the time when Billy had decided he was going to propose to Delilah and started planning it out with Rachelle, Jennifer, his mom and sisters. It was also the last time all 200 Steversons had been together, making it sink in that much more that he was the only one left. To this day, whether he was tricking himself into believing this or not, Billy still wasn't sure if the walkers at Steverson Ranch were in fact his family, with the exception of Mamie, Papie, Little Archie, and Kyle. It made him wonder if somehow they actually had made it out alive and escaped, if he would ever see any of them again or if they were as good as dead. God, how he missed them so much, but at the same time, if they found out what he did to Delilah, they would all give him an ass whoopin'.
Just like Billy did, his family had fallen in love with Delilah the first day they met her, and she was immediately accepted. She watched the Turner Classic Movie channel with Mamie and baked with his mom Sharon, chatted Papie up while they fed the farm animals and learned how to throw horseshoes from his dad Vance, played touch football with his brothers and did makeovers with his sisters. If only they could get the good times back... "You remind me a lot of my niece Sadie Belle. She was always really bubbly and asking a thousand questions, a little firecracker with immense spirit. I know you get a little timid at times, but I can tell you have that same spirit, don't let anybody bring you down or tell you otherwise, not even your sister."
Mika further blushed. "Thanks, I won't." She looked at Billy as he gazed at a picture of him and Delilah in Candlestick Park, feeling that he also has something on his mind. "Do you miss Delilah?"
Billy glanced over at Mika, taken aback that she would ask that question. "More than anything. She's my one true love and I let her go. I don't know how much she's told others or what you may have overheard, but I was pretty much tricked into leaving her by Christine. Biggest mistake of my life."
She watched his dismayed expression and felt his pain. "Why didn't you stop her?"
"I tried, but I didn't try hard enough, I was going through a really rough time back then and I lost control over so much. After we left her behind, everything just got that much worse. Believe it or not, I did go back and look for Delilah. I had a feeling she was still alive and I was right. When you're older, you'll understand more what it's like to be in love, what it's like when you meet someone that makes the whole world a better place just because they're with you, or how being around them makes everything else insignificant but the two of you together."
Mika dreamily sighed. "I can't wait to grow up and fall in love!"
Billy looked over at her and chuckled. She really was so much like Sadie Belle and Anna, hopeless romantics at a young age, and a very sweet little girl all in all. "Hey, don't be in such a hurry to grow up. Enjoy being little while you can, because all of us older people wish we could be younger also. You'll find your Prince Charming one day, I'm sure." He ruffled her hair, which made her giggle. The feeling of being around a younger person was odd, but also familiar and comforting.
"Do you want to be with Delilah again?"
At that moment, Serena started crying again, which prevented Billy from answering. "Serena, you were just falling asleep again. Don't cry, little one." He picked her up and held her in his arms, rocking her in attempts to get her back to sleep.
Mika watched him trying to calm the baby. It made her miss her own father, and her mother, too. "They're such pretty babies. Can I hold her, please?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." He gently placed Serena in Mika's arms. "You got her?"
"Mmhmm." She nodded, holding the baby in the correct swaddling position.
"You're pretty good with her. I was around your age when my first nephew was born." Billy switched Santino to the front stroller seat.
"I have experience, I was actually the one that grabbed Judith at the prison and I rocked her to sleep at night until Delilah and Maggie found us." She used the same rocking technique with Serena, who quieted as she reached her tiny hand to the brightly colored beads in Mika's braid, gurgling with glee as she moved them with her little fingers, which made Mika and Billy laugh.
"Looks like she likes you, she's only responsive to a few people, I'm glad she warmed up to Judith and now Delilah." Since the twins were so different, Billy worried and prayed every single day since they were born that they hadn't inherited any of Christine's psychoses, especially Serena. It would be an absolute nightmare when she grew up, because he didn't really know how else to help her other than love and support. Even though Delilah also had problems, Freud would have packed up shop from not being able to fix Christine. Billy wasn't sure if this drug cocktail was really working or just an act, she could never be fully trusted. "Now I can sing them back to sleep." He positioned his guitar, starting up the beginning cords of "Blackbird" again before going into another slow guitar melody and began singing.
"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm."
It was actually the Cirque du Soelil version of "Yesterday", entitled "Blackbird/Yesterday". Billy remembered the first time he sang that song to Delilah, it was to cheer her up after one of her crying episodes. He had taken her downstairs to her backyard, lit the fire pit, and sat in front of her with his guitar as he belted out the lyrics. Music was one of the many things that brought them together, The Beatles had always been amongst their favorites. After he finished, her sad face was now in her signature deep dimpled grin, eyes sparkling, feeling out of this world happy, resulting in her crawling into his lap and kissing him affectionately. They stayed like that long after the fire had died and fell asleep in the chair in each other's arms, waking up when the gardener's blowers were turned on hours later. Billy saw that the twins were sleeping and Mika was amazed.
"Wow! You're better than Justin Bieber!" She whispered excitedly as he chuckled and set his guitar down.
"Thanks, kiddo. I would hope so. I used to be in a rock band until the outbreak."
Her eyes widened as she handed a now sleeping Serena back to Billy. "You were?"
He put the baby back in the stroller. "Yes, we had our fifteen minutes of fame once upon a time. I actually taught Delilah how to play guitar and sing. She was a natural at both, just needed a little fine tuning." Billy smiled, thinking back on how he taught her back when they were first dating, and after a while, she started performing with Led Monkey. Due to that and the five musical performances Billy had done with Delilah, Christine sarcastically nicknamed them "Sonny and Cher", which only boosted Delilah since Cher was another one of her many idols.
"Do you want to be with Delilah again?"
Billy nodded. "Absolutely, that's why I went back to look for her. Delilah is the love of my life, but I ruined everything. There are a lot of things that need to be explained and cleared up, but she won't even talk to me, and I don't know if she ever will. As much as I hate to say this, I wouldn't blame her." He hoped that she would eventually talk to him, he knew how her mind worked better than anybody there, and he knew she had to have had things to say as well.
Mika watched how gloomy his face was again, and it made her sad, also. "My mommy used to say that everything works out the way it's supposed to. Jasmine didn't like Aladdin as Prince Ali, but then she gave him a chance and they lived happily ever after. If you believe enough, it will happen. You believed that Delilah was still alive and she is, nothing is impossible."
Billy was blown away by how insightful her words were. She was right, it had to have been in the cards for him to wind up here with Delilah. "You're a very wise little girl, Mika, and far beyond your years."
"Thanks." She giggled and then let out a loud yawn.
"You should probably head back to bed. It's what we're going to do in a few minutes."
Mika nodded. "Yeah, I'm tired. Thanks for talking to me and asking how I was."
"No problem. Now that we've talked, you know me a little better and you don't have to be shy anymore, right?"
She nodded again but still blushed. "Yeah."
Her reaction made him smile. "Good, and don't be a stranger, ok? I'll always be here when you need somebody or just want to talk. You've got a friend in me, sunflower."
Her eyes shone with happiness. "That's what Delilah told me, too!"
Billy chuckled, already picturing her saying that. "She did?"
"Uh huh. She told me to dance through life and Hakuna Matata! Before that it was keep calm and carry on, but she said it was before my time and probably hers."
He let out a laugh. "Yep, that sounds like Delilah, and she's right."
"I agree. She's a really good friend, I wish Delilah was really my older sister, or that Lizzie would be more like her." She got up and walked around the stroller, giving Billy a big hug. "Bye, Billy."
It had been so long since a little kid had hugged him, not counting the babies, but it brought back another happy feeling as he returned the hug. "Bye, Mika." She pulled away and walked off. "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."
Mika turned around and waved as she skipped to Home Base. "I won't! Good night! Sweet dreams! See ya tomorrow!"
Billy chuckled to himself. "Good night and you, too!" He watched until she had made it safely inside. Although they had just met, Billy felt a need to protect her, he felt a need to protect all the kids at Jellbany, even Carl and Judith. If Delilah ever did go back to Billy in his wildest dreams, it would hurt the two of them almost as hard as it would hurt Rick. Billy didn't want to be a relationship wrecker, but he couldn't just let Delilah slip away, not again. "I've got to try harder to get her to talk to me. Mika's right, I have to believe that Delilah will eventually come around." He got up, slinging on his guitar strap, and rolled the stroller back towards Home Base, determined to sleep on a plan.
What neither Billy nor Mika knew was that Delilah had heard him singing "Yesterday" from her window, along with the rest of their conversation. Despite everything, it made her feel even more conflicted. It made her long for yesterday.
WHAT A SWEET MOMENT! IT'S CLEARLY OBVIOUSLY THAT BILLY IS IN IMMENSE PAIN OVER THE PAST AND THAT HE LOVES DELILAH. CHAPTER FIFTY ONE, BELIEVE FROM YESTERDAY, WILL BE COMING SOON! PLEASE VOTE IN THE NEW POLL ON MY PROFILE ABOUT WHO IS BEST SUITED FOR DELILAH!
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW AND SPREAD THE WORD! NO FLAMES!
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Forever Rising Phoenix