Together Burning Bright

Dess laughed as she looked in the rearview mirror and saw the amazed look on CC’s face. His hands were up against the window, his breath fogging over the glass as they bumped down the road. The snow was falling around them in sheets and while the guys had all seen snow before-none of them except Andy had ever had a white Christmas. CC especially seemed to be in awe and Dess knew it was because he was from LA and didn’t see snow all that much.

Andy was sitting right behind her, his fingers rubbing against her shoulder as Dess rested her head against the back of her seat and looked out the front window. They were almost there-having gotten a driver to bring them to the house since neither Andy nor Dess had driven to the airport back in November. God that seemed like such a long time ago and Dess only sighed happily as she looked forward to some time off.

As she looked out the window, Dess noticed that there was at least six inches of snow on the ground and it didn’t seem like it was going to be stopping any time soon. Dess couldn’t wait to get home to her babies. Dove, Crow and Winnie were probably missing her and Andy like crazy and she knew that the three little critters would be attached to them for a few days.

The first thing Dess had planned for when they got home was to start all of the laundry-she had volunteered to wash all of the guys clothes with the promise that they would all help her fold their things when they came out of the dryer. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and Dess was looking forward to having a night alone with Andy. The guys had all planned to go out to some clubs in the DC area and Dess knew that that would afford she and Andy some alone time.

Finally Dess noticed that they were coming up to their driveway and she heard a collective gasp from the backseat and she could only laugh. They were driving up the driveway now, the trees that lined either side covered in icicles that were dripping off the long branches and brushing up against the roof and sides of the car. The ground was covered and Dess felt tears come to her eyes as they finally pulled into the upper driveway and she could see the house.

It was covered in snow from the very top of the roof to the eves over all of the upper windows-it looked like a gigantic gingerbread house and Dess had really missed this place. Finally the car came to a stop and Dess thanked the driver as she opened her door, pulling her coat around her shoulders more as she just stood there and looked up. Trish and Brady had done a good job of keeping the walkway decently shoveled, but Dess knew that Andy and the guys would have to get out tomorrow and take care of the newly fallen snow.


“It’s so perfect.” Someone said behind her and Dess only smiled as she looked over towards the side yard. The old swing hanging from their gigantic Oak tree was swaying in the wind and the seat was covered in about three inches of snow.

“It looks just like a Christmas Card…” Dess laughed, holding a gloved hand up to her nose as she turned around and looked behind her. CC was standing there, his mouth wide open as he looked up with big eyes and took everything in. Dess had to admit that their house did look magical when it was covered in snow.

“Quit gawking Coma and help us get these bags inside! Babe will you run in and unlock the side door-I think it will be easier to go through the kitchen instead of the front hall!” Andy called out to her from towards the back of their car and Dess only smiled, nodding silently as she moved towards the house.


Dess walked up the front steps, smiling as she noticed that the two girls had even hung up some of their outside lights. She would have to do something for those two-they had gone above and beyond, which was proved further as Dess opened the front door and smiled. The banister was covered in a lighted garland, the lights twinkling at her softly as she passed by and Dess hurried towards the side door so that she could unlock it.

She walked through the kitchen on her way and Dess poked her head in to the living room and saw that all three animals were curled up together on the couch. Winnie popped his head up as she whistled at him softly and Dess only smiled as she unlocked the side door and then bent down to take the small dog in her arms.

Dess headed off towards the rec room and she smiled as she noticed that not only had the girls set the tree up, but they had also brought all of the presents in, wrapped them and placed them under the tree. All of the guys had sent their presents for one another to their house and Dess only rolled her eyes as she looked in one corner by the tree and noticed four things sitting there. A small drum kit that was hot pink and sparkly, a Hello Kitty bass guitar, a light purple and pink guitar and what looked to be a violin-all of these instruments were child-sized and Dess only shook her head as she stood there with her hands on her hips.

Winnie was running circles around her feet and Dess only smiled as she picked him up and moved over to the iDock. Soon enough Christmas songs were playing through the house and Dess smirked as she heard the guys grunting and groaning as they tried to get all of their things inside. The equipment would all go in the studio and Dess was sure Andy would give them all a tour of it since it was finally finished and exactly how he wanted it.


“Wow…” Someone said from behind her and Dess turned around to find Ashley standing there with his mouth open as he looked at the room she was standing in. The tree was huge and it looked so beautiful there in the corner with all of the presents sitting under it. Ashley also noticed that there was lighted garland hanging around the ceiling and Dess was standing in the middle of it all with Winnie in her arms.

“Hey Ash…did you guys get everything inside?” Dess asked as she turned to face him and just smirked at his dumbfound look. The guys were all soon spilling in to the room, their eyes traveling from the tree to the fireplace where seven stockings were hanging and then back to Dess.

It was like Christmas Magic.

“This place looks awesome Dess. How did you manage to get it all done from the road?” Jake asked as he moved into the room and took a seat on the couch. Winnie jumped from her arms and curled himself in Jake’s lap and Dess only laughed as she looked towards Andy and winked.

“Elves and a little bit of Christmas spirit…” She smiled and all of the guys only laughed as they all took seats. They would sit and relax for a bit, but soon enough they would have to get going on getting laundry settled in time for something that Dess had been looking forward to all tour:

Gingerbread House Building Contest



Andy could only smile as he sat at the bar in their cozy kitchen, sipping the hot chocolate that Dess had made while all of the guys fought over the pile of boxes on the kitchen table. They had been home for a few hours now-the laundry was all but done and Dess had managed to scrounge together a delicious dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Now they were getting ready to start something that Andy hoped would become a new tradition-Gingerbread house contest. He laughed as Dess tried to keep order and she only looked at him over CC, who was bent over the table, and gave him a ‘will you stop fucking laughing at me and come help?!’ look.

Andy only shook his head, tipping his mug to her as she stuck her tongue out at him and pulled down her ugly Christmas sweater. That was something else that she had surprised them with-ugly Christmas sweaters for all of them to put on and wear tonight and Christmas morning. Andy looked around the room and he couldn’t help but smile softly.

Dess, Ashley, CC and Jinxx were all bent over the kitchen table going through the candy to try and get the best pieces for their own houses. Jake and Ella were in the other room, Ella having arrived shortly after they did and Andy was happy to see the couple reunited. He laughed as Dess shouted out that everyone needed to back the fuck up before she used her growing belly as a weapon and suddenly both Ashley and CC took a healthy step back from the table.

Dess wasn’t usually a competitive person, but he could see it coming out in her. Andy sighed, closing his eyes and in that moment he felt at peace. It was good to be home and it was nice to have his bandmates around for the Holiday. Andy loved living out in Virginia, but he did miss the guys some times. There again he saw them eight months out of the year and Andy knew that secretly he was happy to not live in LA anymore.


“Okay! If everyone has their candy and their house pieces then we can start!” Dess yelled, standing up straight as she placed her hands on her hips and Andy could only laugh. She would make such a good mom-if only because she already knew how to control five child-like men.

“You not gonna join us man?” CC asked as he stood up and looked over towards Andy. Andy only shook his head as he took a sip of his drink and sighed. God he had missed Dess’ cooking while they were on tour.

“No-no I just want to sit here and watch the four of you go at it like five year olds.” Andy laughed as Dess only flicked him off and took a seat next to him at the bar.


Andy watched as she laid everything out and with very close precision she began to glue things down. First it was the two sides of the house and as those dried he watched as Dess crunched up Jolly ranchers in red and green and then placed them in the window of the front of the house and the window that was above the tiny door outline. She moved slowly, with the piece flat in her hands, towards the microwave where she then zapped the gingerbread for a few seconds and came back, walking very slowly as she sat back down. Andy watched, in stupefied awe as she continued to glue things down and he noticed that the candy had made almost a stained glass effect.

After getting everything glued down, her tiny blue painted fingers were careful to get the roof on top. While that dried Andy watched as Dess began to break colorful wafers in half and line them up. He watched her for what seemed like hours, but he knew they all only had an hour to complete everything until finally she had finished. He looked at her, seeing that Dess was sitting next to him, her chin resting in her hands as she looked over her shoulder at the other guys who were all working silently at the kitchen table.

Dess only laughed lowly as she watched the guys all work on their own houses and Andy smiled as he looked down at her finished one.Her house was so well done that Andy kind of felt bad for the other guys-her walls weren’t sagging like CC’s, her roof was not only on straight-unlike Ashley’s- but it also had shingles in bright colors like red, green, pink and yellow. Her candy was placed on her house strategically instead of just thrown on like Jinxx’s and CC’s and Andy only smirked as he looked down at her Candy Cane Christmas tree that was sitting on a pile of white frosting.

Dess was still sitting there with her chin resting on her hands as she watched the other guys rush to get their own houses done. Andy only smiled as he moved to wrap his hands around her waist, his hands resting on her stomach as his chin sat comfortably on her shoulder. Dess remained silent but she did turn to him, quickly kissing him on the nose as she cleared her throat and then laughed.


“Alright! Times up guys!” Dess shouted over the groans that were coming from the three guys sitting at their small kitchen table. Andy only smiled as he watched Dess stand up and jog off towards the living room to get Jake and Ella-the two of them along with Andy would be the judges.

“Okay! Guys put your houses up on the bar so that our judges can take a look at them!” Dess laughed as she entered to room. Andy only shook his head as he looked at each house as they were placed on the bar and each one looked worse than the next.

“God CC-is that even considered a house if there’s no roof?” Ella asked as she walked up and rested an arm on Andy’s shoulder. The singer only laughed as CC flicked them all off and moved to the table to grab his beer.

“Now, Judges keep in mind that favorites should not play a part in this and know that with holding sex is not a motivation at all…” Dess giggled as she tweaked Andy’s nose gently and Andy only kissed her fingers as they passed over his lips.

“Hey! No fair! I was really hoping that doing Jake a sexual favor later tonight was going to up my chances!” Ashley laughed and Andy only shook his head as he looked down at all of the houses before him.


Dess’ looked fantastic and professionally done and as he slowly walked down the line Andy just felt worse and worse for the other guys. Ashley’s was sitting right next to Dess’ and it actually didn’t look too bad-except for the fact that his roof was lopsided and missing pieces from where he had been snacking. Ash had used his candy pretty well and Andy liked the fact that his snow man was rocking a BVB t-shirt made out of black licorice and white frosting. Next was CC’s and Andy actually had to cover his mouth from laughing too loudly.

The poor guy had his roof collapse in on him half way through and he had tried to make the best of it by just throwing as many sprinkles and candy canes into the mix. Andy only shook his head as he moved on, getting a glare from CC as he looked down at Jinxx’s creation. Of course Jinxx’s didn’t look too bad, but Andy could tell that Jinxx had had a little much fun with his candy as it was so randomly thrown on there that it was hard to tell where the front door was. After quietly deliberating with Ella and Jake, Andy cleared his throat and addressed the room.


“After much deliberation-we decided that while Ash’s house and snow man looked pretty awesome and we know CC and Jinxx both put in a good effort…this one has to go to Dess!” Andy laughed as Dess jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck as she kissed his skin and then turned to face the others. They all laughed as she stuck her tongue out at them and then moved into hug them all.

“Not fair! This judging panel was biased!” CC shouted after finishing off his beer and all of them only laughed as Dess just leaned forward and pecked Ella right on the lips. Of course Andy and Ashley’s mouths dropped open and Dess only shook her head as she sat back down in her seat.

“Oh yes-because pregnant women are so my thing!” Ella laughed as she kissed Jake on the cheek and the two of them bid the group good night.


Dess and Andy watched as one by one all of the group began to head up stairs or into the living room to head to bed. It had been a long day and an even longer tour. After everything was shut off, Dess picked Winnie up and Andy laughed as Dove and Crow both ran up the stairs ahead of the couple. It would feel so nice sleeping in his own bed with Dess once again. As they walked down the hall, Andy smiled as they passed Dess’ old room, which was currently under construction to make way for the nursery. Dess refused to let him see it until it was all done-which she promised would be before they left for their tour in February.

Andy entered their room and smiled as Dess began to undress and he watched as she peeled back their black and purple covers, the moonlight making her skin look ghostly. Soon enough he was curled up next to her in bed, bringing her close as they both drifted off to sleep. He loved this woman and he was so happy that her sickness that had scared them all had actually turned into what he considered to be the best thing in the world.

Their daughter.

Notes

Could you imagine spending Christmas with these guys? Oh my...

Review and I'll update on Saturday <3

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