Intimate Secrets

In the midst of pain the likes of which he’d never felt, Ashley Purdy couldn’t help but reflect on the past year of his life. Most would say he was luckier than anyone currently walking this planet, but he considered himself to be one of the unluckiest people alive. He’d fallen in love with someone he couldn’t have, resulting in his writing the song “Love Isn’t Always Fair” by the band he was the bassist and backing vocalist of, Black Veil Brides. He’d subsequently made an idiotic, drunken mistake that led to his current torture, and if it weren’t for someone who depended on him, he’d have ended his life already.

He had one person that depended completely on him, which was what made him consider leaving the band altogether. Not just to hide his intimate secrets, but so that he could devote himself to that one person, the one who’d already stolen his heart more than the love he couldn’t have. That one person was…his unborn daughter, the very same one he was currently in labor with.

Sammi Doll and all but their frontman knew that he’d spent the last nine months carrying another life beneath his heart, and that was just how he wanted it. He didn’t want to tell her…other father, if you will, that she existed because he was pretty sure the man wouldn’t react well. He was sure that the guy was as straight as a stripper pole, and that the night he’d conceived was exactly like it was for him: a drunken mistake. The only difference was that he was pretty sure the love he couldn’t have didn’t even remember said mistake, while he did.

“Oh, my Godsmack!” he screamed, holding a pillow over his face that he clutched so tightly his knuckles turned white. “This hurts so fucking much!”

“I warned you that a natural birth was going to hurt, Ashley,” his midwife, Erica, told him. “We could always try a hot bath to ease your pain, though.”

“Anything to help with this God-forsaken torture!” Ash cried at the top of his lungs.

“All right. I’ll get the bath started. You let me know when the contraction ends,” she told him.

Nodding as best he could, he continued reflecting upon the past year. He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made the right decision when deciding to keep his daughter a secret from his lover. He knew what it was like to grow up without both his parents, although they’d died due to circumstances they couldn’t control, and he honestly didn’t want the baby to go through that. However, not only was he pretty sure the guy was as straight as a stripper pole, he was already in a steady relationship, as far as he knew. Even if he couldn’t have the love of his life, he didn’t want the man to be with him and in an unhappy relationship just for the baby’s sake. However, he had no idea just how much the man loved him, and that he was currently on his way over to check on him.

Notes