Together Burning Bright

Odessa rolled over, a groan escaping her lips as she heard a soft cry coming from down the hall. They had been home for a month-Arabella was now a month old and the peaceful nights had ended a week ago. When they had first brought her home she slept through the night, but now that she was growing and awake more than a few minutes at a time, all the little girl did was cry at night. Dess rubbed her eyes, looking around and she was shocked to see that Andy wasn’t in bed with her.

Looking at the clock, Dess saw that it was almost four in the morning-all of the guys were asleep in their beds, except Andy. As Odessa sat up, stretching her arms over her head, she groaned as the crying got louder-she needed sleep, but she knew it wasn’t going to come for a few more months.

Slipping her knitted slippers on her feet, Dess stood up, arching her back to stretch as her short pajama shorts rode up her legs and her ragged BVB shirt moved up to expose her still slightly puffy tummy. She had been doing yoga religiously and also Dess had taken up jogging every morning before the baby needed her. All in all she was almost to the weight she was at before Arabella and Dess was pretty proud of herself.

As she walked down the hall, all of the doors shut and light snoring coming from behind most of them, Odessa sighed as the moonlight lit her path. Andy and the guys had been at this recording thing for a month and while they were making good progress-Dess was ready for a small break.

The guys were helpful around the house-Odessa hadn’t had to take out the trash, mow the lawn, do the laundry or clean anything in a month, but keeping up with baby Arabella was work enough. She was also working tirelessly on her t-shirts, Trish was finally home from college and they both were getting inventory ready for the upcoming summer on Warped Tour. Odessa wouldn’t be going, but Trish had hired two other girls-Caroline and Kelly-to come along.

The new mom was also busy with her comic work-having taken on a new issue of Batman and she was helping out with some of the story boarding for the new Superman VS Batman movie. As Odessa finally made it down the hallway, she noticed that Arabella’s door was open a crack and she could hear a low voice speaking to the child.

The moon was shining down on Andy as he cradled his baby daughter in his arms, her pink and black blanket hanging from his shoulder as he looked down at the child with the most loving face. Dess felt her breath catch in her throat as she watched the two and she tried to stay as quiet as possible so as not to interrupt. Andy was naked from the waist up, his tattooed torso pale in the light coming from the window. Arabella was laying in his arm, her tiny hands up in the air as she babbled and cooed. Andy had a bottle in his free hand and he was trying to get her to drink. Dess only crossed her arms as she stood there silently and listened to her husband address their daughter.


“Oh baby girl-my precious girl-I know you can’t understand me, but I want you to know how special you are to me…” Andy was pressing his nose against her tiny one and Dess felt the tears spring to her eyes as she continued to listen.

“Your mommy means everything to me and I love her, but I think I may love you just a tiny bit more. But that will be our secret-I won’t tell if you won’t.” Dess smiled softly, her ringed fingers swiping under her eyes as she stood out in the hallway.

“Are you hungry-yes, that’s a good girl. Eat for daddy and then he will sing you a song. Tomorrow Uncle Jake is going to show you his guitar. Would you like that baby girl?” Arabella was now slowly sucking on a bottle and Dess only smiled as she pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

“Isn’t she a little young for guitars babe?” Dess asked and smiled softly as Andy’s head popped up. He had been smiling before as he looked down at their daughter, but now as he caught site of his wife, Andy felt his smile grow.


Odessa was standing there, her pale legs covered in her Mickey Mouse sleep shorts and ending in a pair of knit slippers. She was wearing one of his old BVB tees and her hair was sticking up in the adorable way that it always did. She looked breath taking and she had lost almost all of her baby weight-not that Andy cared either way, but it was nice seeing Dess take care of herself. She walked towards him, wrapping an arm around his waist as she looked down at their baby girl.

Arabella, with her chubby cheeks and crystal blue eyes-yes, she developed Andy’s gorgeous blue eyes-was looking up at the two with a look of joy and wonderment. Dess said nothing as she kissed Andy on the cheek and then pressed a finger to Arabella’s nose softly.


“It’s never too early to get her interested. Besides I figure I would take her with me tomorrow so you can get some work done.” Andy said as he rocked the baby slowly and Dess watched as she began to drift back to sleep.

“You are absurd. If you want to-I don’t want her to be a distraction to you or the guys…” Dess as she watched as Andy cradled the baby for another moment and then moved over to her crib. Arabella wiggled around alittle bit as Andy placed her down in her crib and then bent down to brush his lips against her tiny forehead.

“The guys love her. Besides, we’re going to start tracking tomorrow and we’re starting with Jake-pretty simple.” Andy explained as he walked back over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her. They stood there, Andy holding Dess to his chest and she felt content in that moment.

“So you’re done writing then?” Dess asked as she looked up and met Andy’s eyes. He had been all consumed over the past few weeks-writing constantly, staying up until all hours of the night and it was making Dess feel lonely.

“For now. I’m sorry baby-I know I’ve been pretty distant.” Andy said lowly as he placed a finger under her chin and brought Dess’ face up towards his. His lips pressed against her own and she all but melted into his touch. The couple had been intimate soon after Arabella was born and Dess had forgotten how much she missed her husband.

“It’s okay-I have Arabella to keep me company now.” Dess laughed as she pulled away from him and Andy grabbed for her hand as the two of them walked back towards their room.


All was silent through the house-the guys were all sound asleep, which was something that didn’t happen often, but they had been hard at work. They were all trying very hard to get this new album mostly done during the summer-the plan being to start touring again sometime in the fall for a short stint around the US. Then after the holidays it would be back on the road, hopefully to support an album with a drop date being sometime in January.

There was no concept for this album and they had over twenty songs written but probably a quarter of those would make it to tracking. Andy was enjoying this whole process and it made him happy to be able to do it from home instead of flying out to LA and having to be away from Dess.

The couple made it back to their room and Andy picked Dess up, smirking as she squealed and he let her flop down onto their bed. He moved to hover on top of her, his lips capturing hers again as his hands roamed over her body. He loved this girl-loved everything about her, including every dimple, curve and fading stretch mark. She was the mother of his child-she had given him something that he never thought he would want and she was still the same person. Some people changed after they had kids-some mothers didn’t want to have fun anymore because they didn’t want to seem like bad examples. Not Odessa-she was just as loud and wild as ever.


“What are you thinking about?” Dess asked as she let a finger brush away his black bangs. This had been the longest that Andy had ever kept a hair style and she figured it was because it suited him so well. He only smiled as he rolled off of her and was now laying flat on his back.

“How perfect you are.” He whispered as he stared up at the ceiling of their room, but soon his site was blocked by a beautiful pair of moss green eyes. He had hoped that Arabella would have her mother’s eyes, but after two weeks her grey eyes grew lighter and lighter until they finally turned blue. She did have Dess’ blonde hair and dimple, so that made him happy at least.

“I’m far from perfect, but you’re wonderful to think so.” Dess laughed as she crossed her eyes at him and then sat back on her legs. Andy moved to sit up, leaning back on his hands as he looked over at her. Dess looked down at his arm-his Batman sleeve was almost complete, but a lot of it still needed to be filled in.

“You are perfect-to me at least. Three years with me and you haven’t figured that out by now?” Andy laughed and Dess joined him. It had been almost three years since they had met for the very first time-over two since Moira had passed.

“I still remember seeing you that first day. You were towering above me, that black hair of yours teased to the sky and I thought you looked ridiculous.” Dess laughed as Andy made a pouty face and reached out to tickle her side gently.

“I looked awesome thanks very much. What about you Miss Priss? Walking around in shorts and teal tank top, all brooding and feeling like you didn’t belong.” Andy teased her right back and that was something she loved about him. They could joke with one another and not feel like they were hurting feelings.

“Those feathers were absurd…” She teased him further as Dess moved to get under the covers and Andy followed her lead.

“Alright I’ll give you that one, but it was just a phase…” He defended as Andy held out his arms and Dess collapsed against his chest. She placed one hand against his skin and Andy shivered as her wedding and engagement ring felt slightly cold to the touch.

“You go through a lot of those…” She said, her voice growing sleepy and Andy said nothing and only smirked. He held her tightly, his eyes drifting closed as he brushed his lips against the top of her head and felt her twitching legs against his own.

“I do…you…never…know…”He drifted off then and Dess only smiled as she allowed herself to succumb to the same thing.


The couple were fast asleep within moments, any thought of private time forgotten as they needed the rest. They would be up in a matter of hours however-Arabella woke up every four hours for a feeding. It was nice that they were able to take turns, but the sleepless nights were getting to the couple and they sometimes rarely slept at all. Andy took the opportunity to work on some songs-sitting on the floor in her nursery with a small lamp as he listened for her cries for food. Dess would take the baby down into her workspace at times, drawing or painting while the infant slept peacefully. Not this night-Dess had retired to bed at eight o’clock and Andy wasn’t far behind her.

The guys used to tease them when they went to bed early or took naps in the middle of the day, but even the band was starting to see how tiring it could be. They didn’t wake up every time, but Dess knew that Jinxx-who was a light sleeper-woke up and sometimes would keep Dess company. They would talk, he had confided in her that he had found someone who made him happy and while Dess was over joyed for her friend, she couldn’t help but feel wary.

All of the guys were attached at this point. Jake and Ella were getting married in upcoming winter, Jinxx was with a girl named Melissa, CC was dating a nice girl named Christy and Ashley still had his mystery woman.

Everyone had someone and it seemed like all was well for this extended family. Dess knew, even as she slept she knew that things were coming their way that would make them happy. But there would always be things in life that would be hard and trying-as long as they all had one another they would get through. They were a family…

Notes

Little blue eyed Arabella! I have to say-I loved writing Andy and Arabella moments the most throughout the rest of this story so there's quite a few. Please keep in mind that from here on out there are going to be some massive time jumps-months and even years. This is the last story-sorry-and I want to get everything wrapped up by chapter 50. <3 you guys and please review for an update on tuesday<3

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