A/N: Here's the link to the house that Ash and Sammi look at online later in the chapter.
http://www.estately.com/listings/info/19241-superior-street
~Cyn


Only a day and a-half later, Ash had been released from the hospital in Denmark and was looking at his front door, Sammi Doll by his side. Since she had nothing else to do and, by doctor’s orders, he needed to have someone with him at all times, Jinxx’s selfless fiancé agreed to come back with him, even though she wanted to be with her man. He understood all too well how she felt, but the man he wanted technically wasn’t his. Hell, as far as he knew, he wasn’t anybody’s at the moment since he and Juliet had broken up.

After entering his apartment, he sat down on the couch, only to be dog-piled by Tokyo and Killer, who were excited that he was home early. He had to keep them from pouncing on his belly since, even though they were really light, there was no telling what the impact could do to his baby. Sammi took her things to the guest room, which would be a nursery before it was all said and done, and his to his room.

With their suitcases in their respective rooms, she came back out to the living room, where she joined him on the couch to watch TV and talk about the changes that were going to have to be made. He started considering buying an actual house, rather than continuing to rent an apartment, since he had a little one on the way. She honestly thought that was a great idea, since it would give him more space and a yard for said little one to run around in when they were older. She affectionately patted his belly, making sure not to use too much force so she wouldn’t hurt his little one.

Shaking his head, Ash chuckled at her nonsense, but didn’t stop her from patting his belly. Unlike a lot of pregnant women, he didn’t mind anyone touching his belly if they knew he was pregnant; it was the ones who didn’t that he didn’t want touching it. They continued chatting about what needed to change and decided that, first thing the next morning, so long as he felt up to it, they were going to start his house hunt. Sammi was adept at picking things apart and helping people choose what suited them best, so he trusted her judgment. If he didn’t get the very best when he bought his first house, he’d either be mad at her, or teamed up with her to sue the pants off someone.

“Whaddya want for dinner, oh-Mommy-to-be?” she asked playfully.

“Hey!” he snapped playfully. “Who said I was gonna be Mommy?”

“Well, you are the one who’s pregnant,” she said, shrugging. “It just seems natural to consider the pregnant one ‘Mommy’.”

“I guess so,” Ash agreed. “Honestly, I don’t even know what’s in the kitchen.”

“Lemme go look, then,” she said, hoisting herself off the couch. “Looks like we’ve got the stuff for lasagna.”

“Sounds great, Sam. You make some of the best lasagna I’ve ever had the pleasure of stuffing my face with,” he told her.

“You want me to substitute the meat for veggies?” Sammi asked.

“What difference does it make?” the bassist countered.

“Well, you need more veggies in your diet, for starters,” she answered. “And secondly, some women get nauseous when they smell meat. I know you’re not a woman, but…”

“Eh, it doesn’t matter either way to me.” He shrugged. “Hell, you could just make it both ways, I can lock myself in my room, and just eat the veggie lasagna.”

“That might actually work, Ash,” she chuckled.

“And people say I’m air-headed and stupid,” Ash scoffed playfully.

Shaking her head, Sammi headed into the kitchen to get started, knowing that even if they weren’t quite ready to eat now, it’d be a while before it was done. The bassist decided to just stay on the couch and relax, knowing that he needed to now more than ever. Being hospitalized for a migraine so bad it made him bleed out of his ear was one of the scariest things he’d ever gone through, even though he was unconscious for most of it, and he didn’t want to have to go through that again. That, and he didn’t want to be so stressed out that it hurt his unborn baby.

As he lazed around, not really paying attention to anything, he gently caressed his belly. He was only a little over a month into his pregnancy, and he already couldn’t wait for the baby’s arrival. He and Andy might not be on the best of terms at the moment, and the younger man might not know about the baby, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be happy and excited.

Not long afterward, the scent of ground beef cooking to perfection for Sammi’s meat lover’s lasagna wafted into the living room and tickled his nose. With a face of disgust, Ash’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as his stomach lurched uncomfortably. Knowing what was about to happen, he jumped up and darted down the hall to his bedroom, thanking every deity out there that he had the master, and slammed the door shut. His friend hadn’t been kidding when she said that some pregnant women got sick from smelling meat, and even though he was male, that was obviously true in his case, as well.

KNOCK KNOCK! “You okay in there, Ashley?”

“You were…right,” he choked out, spitting into the toilet bowl again.

“The scent of the meat make you sick?” Sammi asked.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” the bassist grumbled, somehow rising to his feet.

“Guess I won’t be bringing meat near you till the morning sickness goes away,” she said, chuckling. “And even though it’ll be a while, yes, it does go away. You won’t be like this the entire pregnancy.”

“Well, halle-fuckin’-lujah! That’s a relief to know,” Ash grumbled sarcastically.

“You wanna stay in here, or you want me to open the windows so you can actually stay in the living room?”

“I’ll stay in here.”

Nodding, Sammi turned and left his room, gently closing the door behind her. Being lazy, especially since he didn’t feel good now, he grabbed the TV remote off the dresser and stretched out on his bed so he could watch TV, be close to the bathroom, and not have to smell the meat quite so much. A sigh escaped his lips as he got comfortable, his stomach still bothering him a little.

It wasn’t long before the wild child knocked on his door, waiting until he called out to her, and brought his food to him. He found that the scent of the meat wasn’t quite as upsetting to him now that there were other scents mingling with it and told her she was more than welcome to stay if she wanted to. Nodding her agreement, she set their plates down on the nightstand and helped him sit up so he wouldn’t choke or make a mess of himself. Grateful to her, he smiled and nodded as he took the plate she’d brought for him, quickly digging in as she set a glass of ginger ale nearby.

The lasagna was delicious as always, but now that he was pregnant, Ash felt as if he could taste the flavor of each and every individual ingredient. Laughing, Sammi told him that that was perfectly natural because one’s senses tended to be heightened during pregnancy. Just because he was male didn’t mean that his senses wouldn’t be heightened while he was pregnant. Chuckling and shaking his head, he soon finished off his meal, hoping he’d be able to hold it down for more than a few minutes.

Once they were done, the wild child took their dirty dishes back to the kitchen to wash while he got showered. Even if she came back to his room to check on him or just relax with him, it wouldn’t matter since the bathroom door was closed and she couldn’t see anything. He actually left the door unlocked for once so that if he needed her, she could get to him quicker. Sighing from the thought of something happening to him or the baby while he was showering, Ash stepped under the warm spray, which wasn’t nearly as hot as he liked it. It was one of the things Rebecca’d advised against while pregnant, seeing as the heat could hurt the baby, but that was fine by him.

“Any particular area you wanna move to?” Sammi asked when he entered his room again. She was relaxing on his bed with her laptop in her lap.

“Well, right now I live in the heart of Hollywood. Far as I’m concerned, that’s entirely too urban for me, now that I’ve got a baby on the way,” he answered, joining her.

“So pretty much anything that’s not as urban as Hollywood,” she said.

“Yeah, pretty much. Long as I’ve got a yard the little one can run around in when they’re older and plenty of space for myself, them, and maybe a mini studio, I’ll be happy,” Ash told her.

“Well, you’ve gotta think about your budget, too,” the wild child said. “Can’t buy a house that’s too expensive and has too big a mortgage. Especially not with all the money you’re gonna have to spend on setting up a nursery and getting clothes and other essentials for the baby, too.”

“True enough. Jeez, I’m glad Jinxx sent you home with me,” he chuckled, hugging her. “No one’s quite as sensible as you besides him.”

“I’ll take that as a back-handed compliment, Ash,” she chuckled. “Here’s a house on Seabury Lane, pretty much a hop, skip, and a jump from Stone Canyon Reservoir.”

“Hmm… I think that’s a little too rural,” Ash laughed. “Rural, but not so much that I feel like I’m back in Missouri, okay?”

“What about this one? It’s over on Superior Street,” Sammi said, opening another link in a different tab. “Four beds, three baths, with a total of two thousand, seven hundred and thirty-six square feet to play around with. Course, I don’t necessarily like the price tag on it.”

“Yeah, $789,000 does seem a bit pricey,” he agreed, wincing.

“Hmm… Let’s look at some of the pictures. Maybe they can shed some light on why it’s listed for that much,” she suggested. “Just don’t get your hopes up if you don’t think you can afford it.”

“Works for me,” he told her, turning his attention back to the screen.

There were seventeen pictures to scroll through on the real estate’s website, but that was fine by him. From the looks of things, he’d be changing color schemes in pretty much all of the rooms if he bought the place because they were too light and airy for his tastes. The living room was beautiful and spacious, big enough to easily entertain a crowd of guests, which would likely just be the guys and their significant others.

In pictures of the kitchen and dining room, he saw an old-world style that he actually liked, and doubted he’d do much to change them. Yeah, the kitchen was a bit too light and airy for his liking, like the living room, but nothing a bit of stain on the cabinetry and wall paneling, and some new hardwood, couldn’t fix. He especially liked the darker scheme in the dining room and the exposed box-beams, so that was a plus in and of itself. The den that was a continuation of the dining room, of sorts, was much the same style, and smaller than the living room. It’d be the perfect place for quality time with his baby once it was born.

Further into the set of pictures, there was what appeared to be a home office, which Ash decided would be used for exactly that. Whether he was working on stuff for the band or the custom clothing line he’d been thinking about starting, it was the perfect place to get his work done when he couldn’t get out of the house. However, changes were going to be made to all the bathrooms, which had too much of an old granny, nursing-home type feel to them. Even the master bedroom would be redone since it gave him the same kind of feel, but that was perfectly fine. Besides, he already had redo at least two more bedrooms, one to use as a nursery, another as a guest room, and he had no idea what he’d do with the last one.

Outside in the back yard was a huge, beautiful pool with what looked like a sand pit next to it to give it a beach-like feeling. It was surrounded by a brick patio and nestled in one of the corners of a spacious back yard, which would give the baby room to run around and play later on. There was even what appeared to be an outdoor kitchen and bar, which would be good for barbecuing on nice, warm days, especially during the summer. It seemed as if this house had everything he was looking for, and then some.

“So what do you think?” Sammi asked curiously. “Does it meet up to your standards?”

“Hell, it surpasses them,” he answered excitedly. “I can see why this place is listed as high as it is now.”

“Yeah, so can I. With all the custom details that the owner put in, it’s understandable,” she agreed, nodding her head.

“I mean, there’s some things that I’ll change if I buy it, like the color schemes of most of the rooms,” Ash said seriously. “It’s just too light and airy for my taste.”

“I know what you mean. I’d go nuts in a house that bright if I couldn’t redecorate,” the wild child laughed.

“And even though it’s in a much more urban area than what I originally wanted, it doesn’t matter,” he continued. “I mean, look at how spacious both the house and the yard are for being on a lot that’s only a little over a third of an acre for where it’s at.”

“Seriously. I don’t think I’ve seen a house and yard quite this spacious in an area this urban in a while,” she agreed.

“I say we get up and go look at it tomorrow,” the bassist told her.

“You sure you’re up for it?” Sammi asked, still concerned about his health.

“Hell yeah! Other than the morning sickness, which is no doubt gonna act up no matter where I am, I feel great!” he answered.

“I meant as far as the migraines went.”

“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it till now, but my head hasn’t hurt all day,” Ash said.

Deciding that it was best to just go along with his wishes, especially since his mood could change without a moment’s notice because of his hormones, Sammi caved and agreed. He was so excited about getting to see what could be the first house he ever bought and his child’s childhood home that she didn’t want to dampen his spirits. Besides, if he didn’t feel good, he’d let her know and would likely trust her to go look at it, as well as take better pictures for him, on her own.

With that settled, she closed the lid to her laptop, although she left the browser open, and laid it on the nightstand beside his bed. Yawning, Ash stood up long enough to strip his pajama pants off so he didn’t get too hot while he was asleep, then turned back his covers and settled down. She tucked him in just like she would a young child, gently kissing his forehead as she did so, before heading to the guest room.

Before she’d even gotten changed for bed, much less crawled into the spare bed, she heard soft snoring coming from the master bedroom. Chuckling softly, she checked on her friend one last time before locking up and turning off the lights in the kitchen and living room. Those tasks done and the pregnant man sleeping peacefully in his room, she made her way back down the hall to the guest room, chuckling softly when Killer jumped up beside her. Tokyo was in the master bedroom with Ash, and Killer’d always seemed to like her more anyway, so Sammi didn’t mind. Now settled down with the dog at her side, she fell peacefully asleep relatively quickly.

Notes