Together Burning Bright

The entire house smelled wonderful and as Andy stood beside his daughter, changing her diaper and listening to her babble and talk to herself, he couldn’t help but smile. It was the holidays-it was Christmas day-and the little family were finally home where they belonged. The rest of the summer had been crazy on Warped, then the fall had come and with it a very small tour around the US and Canada before they went on their holiday break. His mother and father, along with Dess’ mother, had all come to the house for Thanksgiving, but they had decided that the small family needed a break for Christmas.


“Did you sleep well my lovely girl?” Andy asked as he finished changing the diaper in front of him and he smirked down at his daughter. Twenty one months old and this little nugget was filled with more energy than Andy could have ever predicted. Constantly moving, constantly talking and she always wanted to be around him.

“Ya!” She giggled as she kicked her legs out and then moved to stand up. Andy quickly took the opportunity to pull her jammie pants up, the red and white stripes bright in the morning sun. Soon enough he had her matching shirt over her head and they were ready to rock and roll.

“You ready to see what presents Santa brought you?” Andy asked as he picked the small girl up, kissing the side of her head, her light blonde hair tickling his nose. She faced him, smiling that lopsided grin and Andy felt his heart melt.

“Santa!” Arabella giggled, throwing her arms in the air and Andy only laughed lowly as he held her in his arms and then began to walk down the hall. The whole house smelled like cooking bacon and sugary pancakes and it wasn’t until he hit the stairs that Andy realized how hungry he was.


Dess, of course, had gotten up at the crack of dawn to start breakfast even though she was seven months pregnant-almost eight-and exhausted. Andy had played Santa Claus the night before and he couldn’t wait until Aria got downstairs and saw all of her presents. The guys had all mailed their own things to the family since they would be spending the holidays with their families this year. Jake and Ella-new parents to a baby boy named Henry-were in England with her family. CC and his fiancé Christy were on vacation in Hawaii, while Jinxx and his girlfriend Melissa were with her family in Maine. Ashley stayed behind in LA-enjoying his own lovely lady.

Things had changed for the guys-they were all beginning to settle down and realize that there was more to life than partying and women. Andy had completely changed-he traded in his whiskey bottle for bottles of apple juice and he was trying to quit smoking…which was not going over well. As the two of them hit the bottom of the stairs, Aria giggling and tugging at his long black hair, Andy smiled once he looked around. Dess had decorated this year with flair and their house looked like something right out of one of her favorite movies-A Nightmare Before Christmas.

Black and white striped bows were on all of the garlands, with orange bulbs and sparkly candles on all of the end tables. Their Christmas tree was still in the den in all it’s purple, black and orange glory. Andy smiled as he popped his head through the kitchen door and saw Dess standing behind the counter. Her large belly was sheathed in a festive red sweater, her blonde hair piled on top of her head with small tendrils hanging down into her face. She looked beautiful and as she noticed their presence, Dess looked at Andy and her daughter and smiled wide.


“Merry Christmas!” Dess smiled at them, a spatula in her hands as her husband and her daughter approached her. Aria’s hair was ruffled and in her eyes, the blonde tresses now coming down almost to her ears and Dess slowly ran her fingers through it.

“Berry Istmas!” Aria laughed, clapping her hands together as Dess leaned down and rubbed their noses together. Talking was slow going for the small girl, but it was adorable and funny to hear her try and say some of the bigger words.

“Merry Christmas baby. It smells so good in here, right Bells?” Andy asked and the small girl only nodded her head, rubbing her tummy. Andy only laughed as he kissed Dess on the lips quickly before moving to put Aria in her seat. The little girl whined for a minute as he moved away from her, but Andy quickly tickled under her chin and all was well with a few giggles.

“You know you didn’t have to get up early-we could have gotten up together and done this…I know how tired you are.” Andy said as he came up from behind her, wrapping his tattooed arms around her swollen belly. Dess said nothing as she leaned up against him, resting her head right underneath his chin as she flipped the pancakes.

“I wanted to-it’s tradition at this point.” She murmured, closing her eyes slightly as Andy’s fingers ran over her scalp gently. Everything had been so nice and peaceful the past few weeks and Dess wasn’t looking forward to getting back on that bus.

“Yeah, but traditions can change. How’s baby doing?” He asked as his hands trailed down her stomach. Andy smiled as he pressed on her skin and then felt a soft kick in response.


They both had noticed that this baby was much more subdued, laid back and easy. Not a lot of kicking and Dess’ stomach was sitting differently-lower-which made her slightly more comfortable. She was ready though-ready for baby to come and she hoped that the time would come soon. She was given a tentive date of February 17th, which made everyone laugh because that was the anniversary of the latest album. They were ready though-Aria more than anyone because she wanted her ‘baby-doll’ to get here. Dess laughed every time Aria talked about the baby because to the little girl it was something she could play with.

Andy had talked to her, in the best way that he could, about being an older sister and being gentle with the baby. Aria would only giggle, batting those eyelashes at her father and Andy was almost always a puddle on the floor by that point. That was one thing Dess noticed-Aria got away with a lot of things because her father was such a softy when it came to her. He would let her sleep with the couple instead of in her crib and when Dess said something to him about it he only defended that fact by saying that pretty soon she wasn’t going to want to be around them.


“Good, awake. You ready to eat Bells?” Dess asked and the little girl looked up, her blue eyes wide and excited. She loved food and as Dess made her a plate and cut everything into very tiny pieces, Andy ruffled the small blonde head, kissed her nose and then took his seat at the kitchen table.

“Food! Food!” She clapped her tiny hands together, shouting as Dess only laughed, shaking her head as she walked over to sit in front of the small girl and began to feed her bites of food. Andy laughed as Aria smacked her lips together, smiling and laughing as she chewed on a piece of pancake.

“I can do that babe.” Andy said and Dess only shook her head, smiling at him from over her shoulder as she slipped another bite of pancake into the small girl’s mouth. Dess smirked-Andy always wanted to help with Aria and sometimes he would bump Dess out of the way. It was funny and it was his way of helping, so Dess didn’t mind it so much.

“I got it. Right Bells-say ‘we got this’.” Dess laughed as the little girl looked at her, one eyebrow cocked and in that moment it was like she was looking right at Andy. This little girl was going to be a handful-she already was, but they both knew it was only going to get worse.

“E got tis daddy!” She said, raising her hands into the air and opening her mouth wide as Dess placed a slice of bacon in to her mouth. Andy only smiled, sipping his orange juice as he finished his food and moved to take his plate to the sink.

“Oh I know baby…I know.” Andy said as he made Dess a plate and set it down on the table in front of his wife before he began to clean the dishes and wipe at the counters.


Finally Arabella had had enough and was amusing herself with a small song that she was mumbling, thus giving Dess enough time to scarf down her food. Andy was busy washing dishes, which was nice as it meant that they could just go into the livingroom after Dess was done eating. The cats were in there, sleeping together in Winnie’s abandoned dog bed-the poor thing had been evicted from his favorite spot, but had found a new one on the loveseat closest to the fire. As Dess finished up, Andy smiled down at her and took her plate, while she rose and moved to pick up Aria.

The small girl clung to her mother, her tiny feet resting on Dess’ stomach as they walked into the den and took a seat on the floor. Arabella loved the decorations-all of the shining things that were hanging on the tree and she loved the village that Dess had sitting on the mantle. Dess looked over all of the presents-ones that had been sent by the guys, her mother and Andy’s parents and also the ones that ‘Santa’ had brought the night before.

Aria had made out like a bandit-she usually did, but Dess knew this would be the last year for this as next year there would be two babies. She could remember what it was like before Moira had come along-they were five years apart-and Dess remembered that Christmas before her sister came that she had gotten a lot. The following Christmas had still been big, but year after year she got less and less.

She couldn’t believe that she was having another baby. It hadn’t been planned, but both she and Andy were excited for their precious peanut to come along. They knew what it was going to be and had picked out a name, but they weren’t telling anyone. Dess had turned her father’s study into the nursery, painting the walls a light teal and yellow color. The theme in there was polka dots-she had wanted to keep things simple this time around. Bells loved her mural and she had become quite the Batman lover. Dess would wake up in the middle of the night, alone, to find Andy passed out on the couch in the den, old Batman cartoons running across the screen and Aria would just sit there and watch.


“You ready to see what Santa brought you?” Andy asked as he entered the room and walked over towards the tree. The guys had gone over board-again-and Andy could see a small child piano sitting in one corner and Ashley had sent a pink child Mustang car, which was sitting in the other corner.

“Santa!” She laughed and Dess said nothing as she let Andy take the lead and hand out the presents. Watching Aria rip into the paper-she had been too young last year to get very far-was more amusing than anything and soon they were all covered in tape and wrapping paper.

“This is for mommy…” Andy said as he smirked and handed Dess a small box and the girl only shook her head. They had said no big presents this year because they wanted to focus on Arabella and the new baby, but of course neither of them listened. Dess had gotten Andy one of the most rare Batman comics in existence and she should have known he was going to do this.

“You weren’t suppose to-oh my God!” Dess cried out as she opened the black velvet box and there in a little cushion was a huge diamond ring. Andy smiled as he watched Dess pull the ring out and hold it up into the light. It sparkled, just like her, and in that moment he knew this had been a good choice. She had done so much for him-giving him a family and a home-that Andy felt like Dess deserved the world and so much more.

“Merry Christmas Odessa-I love you…” Andy said as he bent down and pressed his lips against hers. Dess kissed him back, placing a hand against his cheek and then when he pulled away they just stared deeply into one another’s eyes.


So much had happened to them in the past three years. They had lost and loved. They had lived and they had fought. They had brought a wonderful, amazing girl into the world and as the little family sat by the fire and opened their presents, they knew that another amazing baby was coming and they could not wait.

Notes

Another Christmas with the Biersacks! You guys have been very good with your guesses and the next chapter you will finally get to see Baby Biersack #2!

Review<3
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