August, 2012


Six months after the birth of his beautiful daughter, Ashley Purdy was still adjusting to having her other father, his best friend, bandmate, and lover, Andy Biersack, in their lives. He’d spent the entirety of his pregnancy with no one but their friend, Jinxx, and his fiancé, Sammi, to really support him, mainly because he didn’t want anyone to know his secret. Once he’d finally ’fessed up to the remainder of their band, Jake and CC, that was two more people to help him out in any way he needed, but it just wasn’t the same as having the love, support, and help of the man he loved.

The baby girl in question, Legacy Aurora Biersack, was thriving and hitting every milestone she should at the proper time. He’d actually gotten her on a fairly decent schedule the first couple nights after her birth that she’d been on ever since, and she was one of the happiest babies he’d ever laid eyes upon. The times she threw temper tantrums or gave them any kind of problems were few and far between.

At the moment, said beautiful baby was in her crib napping and Ash was in his home office working on some bass riffs for Black Veil Brides’ new album. Sighing as he admitted defeat for the moment, he put his notorious Porn bass back on its stand and leaned back in his chair, his fingers laced together behind his head. Andy was out with CC for a day to unwind because he claimed to be feeling too stressed, and that irked him a bit. He barely did anything to help with the baby, or around the house.

“Knock knock,” someone said, bringing him back to reality as they stuck their head in the door.

“Hey, Sammi,” he greeted, sitting up as he grinned. “What brings you by here?”

“Oh, just a little birdie that told me Andy wasn’t here,” Sammi answered slyly. She was referring to Jinxx, whom she probably had in tow, and they both knew it.

“Rotten little brat,” the bassist grumbled, frowning again. “You’d think having a baby would give him a little bit of maturity, but nooo…”

“What’s wrong?” the wild child asked, sitting down beside him.

“I’m more stressed than he is, yet he’s the one that gets the day out to unwind,” Ash said, dragging a hand down the length of his face.

“Yikes… I sense a pressure valve about to blow…” she said jokingly, but that was her way of telling him to let it out.

“Well, ever since the day Legacy was born, he barely does anything to help with her or around the house. He sleeps more than she does, which isn’t normal. We’ve never really been closer than best friends, although you’d think having a child together and professing to love one another would change that. Basically, he’s just acting more like a child than ever before, and it’s really getting on my nerves,” he said, unloading everything that was on his mind.

“And this after promising to do everything he could for both of you?” Sammi asked, shocked.

“You’re damn straight,” he growled, gently banging his fist on the desk. “Sammi, I can’t tell you the numer of times he’s gone out partying when it was his night to take care of Legacy, leaving me to do all the work when I was drop-dead exhausted.”

“Sounds like he needs a swift kick in the pants and a fire lit under his ass,” she grumbled.

“Tell me about it. And to top it all off, even if it weren’t for those things stressing me out, I feel neglected by him, in a romantic sense.” He paused, suddenly on the verge of tears. “It’s almost like ever since he watched me push a baby out of my ass, he doesn’t love or want me. Hell, I think the last time we kissed, never mind serviced each other, much less actually had sex, was three months ago.”

“Sweet Jinxx.” Sammi gasped in shock, covering her mouth as her eyes widened. “No wonder you’ve seemed so miserable lately.”

“No shit, Sam. I’m going insane from all the shit I’ve gotta make sure gets done that Andy’s not helping with, worrying about Legacy, and I’m not getting any action.” He slammed his head into the desk in front of him. “It’s killing me.”

“Ya know what? Enough’s enough.” She rose from the chair she was in and started pacing. “Since Jake and Ella aren’t doing anything that I’m aware of, how ’bout we have them babysit so you and I can go out for a while?”

“You sure?” Ash asked, brushing his hair back to look at her.

“Look at you, Ashley,” she said. He knew she was concerned because she never called him Ashley unless she was. “You’ve been worrying about everybody but yourself since you found out you were pregnant. It’s taken such a toll that you can’t even come up with, much less track, bass riffs for the upcoming album, and that’s never a good sign in a musician.”

“You’re right, Sammi,” the bassist sighed miserably. “I do need a break from everything that’s been going on the past year or so.”

“I’ll call ’em and talk ’em into it,” she told him, pulling out her phone. “You go start packing her things, then grab anything you’ll need while we’re out. We’re gonna make this day all about you, one way or another, come Hell or high water.”

Grinning at his wild friend’s attitude, Ash rose from his chair and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug before heading to the nursery. When he got in there, he saw that Legacy was beginning to stir a bit as she always did right before she woke, so he took the next few minutes to pack everything Jake and Ella would need into her diaper bag. That included several clean outfits so they could change her if she spit up or her diaper overflowed, tons of clean diapers and wipes, and several bibs and burp rags to try to contain any messes she might make. There were several other things he included, just in case, but that was the main things he thought they’d need for the afternoon, and possibly overnight.

By the time he was done gathering everything that could possibly be needed for a babysitter, he heard his baby making soft snuffling noises as she always did upon waking. When he looked over the rail of her crib with a warm, loving smile on his face, he saw the same icy-blue eyes as his lover staring back up at him. Legacy greeted him with as good a wave and a “Hi, Mommy!” as she could muster at six months old, which made him chuckle softly at her antics.

Supporting her head with the palm of his hand, even though she could hold her head up on her own, Ash lifted her from the crib and cradled her to his chest. She immediately began pawing at his shirt, gently nuzzling right where she knew his nipple was, in a clear sign that she was hungry.

As he made his way over to the rocker next to the changing table, he gently pressed his cupped palm to her crotch to see if she needed to be changed just yet. After a moment, he decided that, while she was wet, it wouldn’t hurt to let her diaper go unchanged until he’d fed her, and sat down in the padded chair. With his daughter lying across his lap, her face scrunched up as if she were about to cry, he pulled his shirt over his head and took off the padded sports bra he’d taken to wearing lately, then lifted her up again. Once she was cradled with her face in front of his chest, she quickly latched onto his swollen, tender nipple, drawing a wince from him.

“Ouch, Princess,” he hissed softly, continuing to wince. “Ease up a bit, okay?”

As if understanding that she was hurting him, Legacy stopped suckling quite as hard.

“Thank you, sweetpea,” Ash murmured, bowing his head to kiss the top of hers.

“You got her stuff packed?” Sammi asked, stepping into the nursery.

“Yeah, just feeding her real quick,” he answered, using one foot to move the rocker he was sitting in. “She woke up hungry.”

“It’s all right, Ash. Better to feed her the good stuff, anyway,” she chuckled, sitting on the floor at his feet.

“I’ve got breast milk pumped in the fridge that I’m gonna pack up when I’m done feeding her,” the bassist said, using one knee to support his elbow.

“So you haven’t been feeding her formula?” the wild child asked.

“Not if I could help it,” he answered, shaking his head. “I mean, till my body got used to producing the amount she ate and when I caught that cold in March, I formula-fed her, but otherwise, she’s only been nursed or fed breast milk.”

“No wonder she’s such a healthy little girl,” she chuckled.

“Well, that’s what Rebecca advised that I do while I was pregnant.” Ash shrugged one shoulder since he couldn’t shrug both. “Besides, she’s healthier than even her pediatrician expected her to be, and hitting milestones far earlier than she should be. I’d rather her hit ’em early than late, to be honest.”

“How ’bout I go get the bottles packed up for ya while you finish up?” Sammi asked, rising.

“Sounds like a plan. If there’s no more than four or six in there, pack her formula, too,” he told her. “They might need it if she keeps eating like she has been lately.”

Nodding, his friend left the nursery and headed to the kitchen with the baby’s diaper bag, leaving him to finish nursing her before he got her ready to go. Jake and Ella had always been more than willing to babysit her whenever he needed them to, but he preferred not asking any more favors of them than he had to. He loved Legacy with all his heart and she was his and Andy’s child; if anyone should have to care for her all the time, it should be them, not their friends.

After she let go of his nipple and sighed softly, Ash lifted her up onto his shoulder to make sure she burped. He didn’t really have to burp her as much now as he had when she was first born, but he found that the extra pressure of lying against his shoulder helped her a bit. Moments after getting her settled, a soft burp filled his ear as the air rushed out of her little belly, followed by a soft sigh of relief.

Chuckling softly as he rose from the rocker, he held his little girl as close to him as he possibly could. Sure, she’d been even closer when he was pregnant with her, but he was glad she was living outside his body now, and doing so well, too. He gently laid her down on the changing table, where he stripped her to her birthday suit, wincing as he took note of the small red mark on her little rear. It was the beginnings of diaper rash and, although she didn’t seem bothered by it now, he knew she would be if he didn’t do something about it before it got too much worse.

“All right, Princess,” he said softly, standing her up to pull a pair of purple jeans over her lavender onesie. “Ready to go see Uncle Jake and Auntie Ella?”

Unable to say more than “Ma-ma”, “Da-da”, and what sounded more like gibberish than English at this point, Legacy giggled and squirmed her excitement.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, Princess,” Ash chuckled, heading toward the living room.

“Ready to go?” Sammi asked, setting her diaper bag down next to her carrier.

“I will be once I get her strapped in,” he answered, nodding. “Remind me to warn them about the diaper rash I just found on her rear.”

“You grab the stuff they’ll need to put on it?” she asked.

“Crap, I had my hands full,” he said, kneeling as he gently laid her in her carrier.

“Don’t worry; I’ll run and grab it for ya,” the wild child said. “Baby powder and Destin, right?”

“Yep, those are what I need,” the bassist answered over his shoulder.

“I’ll be back in a sec, then.” With that, she took off down the hall toward the nursery at a jog.

Continuing to chuckle a bit, Ash got his daughter settled in her carrier, which he hung a receiving blanket over the visor of. Not only was she so young and prone to sunburn that she needed to have her skin protected, but she needed her eyes shielded since she wasn’t old enough for sunglasses. With his baby ready to go, the only thing left to do now was wait on her Auntie Sammi to grab the things he’d forgotten from the nursery.

Moments later, the wild child in question came back into the den with the baby powder and Destin ointment in hand. She knelt down and opened her diaper bag to put them in it while telling him that she’d had only four bottles of pumped breast milk in the fridge, so she’d packed the formula and an extra, clean bottle. After double-checking the diaper bag to make damn sure they weren’t forgetting anything this time, the bassist grabbed his key chain off the hook by the door and took one ring off. The ring he took off had his car keys on it, and while he was locking up, he let his friend get Legacy settled in the back seat of his Mustang.

Sammi’d always been good with the little girl and was almost as good at getting her carrier locked into the base as he was, so he trusted her. Course, even as wild and crazy as she was known to be, it wasn’t like she’d ever purposely do anything to endanger her, so he had no reason to distrust her. After he made sure the house was locked up, he made his way down to his car, which gave him a good view of his friend’s ass as she leaned into his back seat with the carrier in hand.

Had he been straight like most of the population thought he was, and nowhere near as good of friends with her as he was, he likely would’ve made some smart remark or playfully slapped her ass as he rounded the hood. But he was far from being straight, and he didn’t want to piss her or, all deities forbid, Jinxx off by doing anything like slapping her ass. The insane remarks were one thing, but even he knew where to draw the line in regards to touching her, and quite honestly, he valued his life and the placement of his genitailia as they were a bit too much to tempt fate like that. With a soft chuckle that she didn’t hear, he settled himself behind the wheel and waited for her to sit the seat back up and hop in.

“So the plan is to drop Legacy off at Jake and Ella’s, right?” he asked, depressing the clutch and brake as he turned the key.

“Yeah. They were more than willing to watch her when I said I was getting you out of the house for a while,” Sammi answered, nodding. “I didn’t give them any details; just told them enough that they know you need some time without Legacy or Andy for a bit.”

“Thanks, Sam,” the bassist said, disengaging the E-brake before putting the car in Reverse.

“It’s not a problem, Ash,” she answered, gently patting his arm.

“I’ve needed this day out for so long; I just didn’t know how to go about getting it,” Ash admitted, stopping at the end of the driveway to check for traffic.

“Well, you’re too stubborn for your own good,” she told him. “I understand wanting to do as much as you can for Legacy on your own, but with Andy not pulling his weight, there’s only so much you can do before you need to start calling on friends for help.”

“I know that now,” he said sheepishly. “If I’d known Jake and Ella wouldn’t mind watching her before, I’d have done this a long time ago.”

“Well, you best believe that Andy’s about to get an earful.” She winced as she glanced down at her phone. “I texted Jinxx to let him know that Jake and Ella were going to be watching Legacy for a while so I could get you outta the house. When he asked me why and I told him the same thing I told them, he started going berserk, to say the least.”

Ash sighed as he got caught by a stoplight, holding in the clutch as he pressed on his brakes and downshifted to slow down. “This can’t possibly end well.”

“Nothing ever does when Jinxx’s temper gets riled up,” she agreed sadly. “But he’s had it coming for a while now. Better to go ahead and get it over with, if you ask me.”

“Is he gonna hunt him down, or just wait for him at the house like a mother hen?” the bassist asked.

“He told me he’s just gonna wait for him at the house,” Sammi answered. “There’s not very many places he can go from there, and we all know it.”

“Just tell him not to hurt him unless he takes a swing at him first, please,” he begged. “I don’t want him to hurt Andy unless he’s defending himself.”

“You know that, no matter how pissed Jinxx gets, he never turns violent unless it’s in self-defense.”

Ash nodded as he let out the clutch and hit the gas, quickly upshifting to Second as he took off from the stoplight they’d been caught at. Luckily, they didn’t get caught at very many more and arrived at Jake and Ella’s house safe and sound shortly thereafter. The guitarist and his own fiancé were awaiting them on the front porch, and before he could stop her, the blue-eyed bombshell was running off the porch and down to the car. Just as Sammi got her seat belt unbuckled, she flung open the car door and hauled her out to give her a bear-hug.

Chuckling, Jake followed his rambunctious fiancé at a slower pace, his arms crossed over his chest as he grinned. He was a bit calmer about greeting his brother, whom he merely hugged and clapped on the back a couple times before turning him loose. Thankful that he’d been gentle on him, considering that his chest was still tender from nursing his daughter, he returned the grin as he closed his door and headed around the car.

Sammi’d gotten Ella to turn her loose so she could grab the carrier once she handed Legacy’s diaper bag to him, although the young model was still bouncing on her toes from excitement. He couldn’t blame her, though; everyone was always excited to have such a well-behaved baby in their presence, and since she saw her even less often than Sammi and the guys, it was no wonder. Ash took the diaper bag and slung the strap over his shoulder, only to have Jake snatch it away from him and sling it over his own. He merely gave him an innocent look when he raised a brow at him, which caused them all to dissolve into chuckles.

Legacy, being the well-behaved baby she was, never made a sound from where she lay in her carrier, despite the noise the rowdy adults were making. The wild child insisted on carrying her into the house as if she were her mother, leaving the rest to follow in her wake. She wanted a chance to say bye to her before they left her with the other couple, something the bassist understood all too well since she really was his child and he wanted the same thing. Once the carrier was on the floor, she flipped the blanket out of the way and began unstrapping her, then gently lifted her out. She looked around for a moment to take in her surroundings, then focused on the woman holding her so tenderly.

“I’ll have Mommy back to you safe and sound in a few hours, sweetpea,” she cooed, gently tapping the tip of her little nose.

“Ma-ma!” Legacy cried, reaching out for him as she giggled.

“C’mere, Princess,” he said, holding out his hands. “Mommy’ll be back before you know it.”

“She’s such a sweet baby, Ashley,” Ella said, her British accent strong.

“I don’t think she’ll give you guys any problems, but don’t hesitate to call if she’s not acting right,” Ash told them, gently kissing her head as he told her bye.

“Don’t let him scare you, guys. Legacy’s never been much of a Hell-raiser,” Sammi told them. “She’s always so well-behaved that Jinxx and I barely know she’s there when we babysit.”

“We’ll keep all of that in mind, Sammi,” Jake chuckled. “Besides, Ella’s really good with kids, especially babies. Hopefully she can calm her down if she starts fussing.”

“Bye-bye, Princess,” Ash murmured into his daughter’s raven hair. “Mommy’ll see you later.”

The little girl clutched his neck for a moment as if she didn’t want to let him go, then reached out to Sammi for a goodbye-hug.

“Auntie Sammi’ll have him back soon, sweetpea,” she promised, kissing her nose this time. “I love you so much.”

“Mommy loves you, too,” the bassist whispered in her ear.

Once Sammi turned the baby over to Ella, who cuddled her close and rested her chin on top of her little head as they waved to them, the pair headed back to his car. Legacy looked as if she were torn between giggling because she was with her Uncle Jake and Auntie Ella, or crying a river through their living room because she wanted her mommy. It broke Ash’s heart to see anything but happiness in his daughter’s eyes, but he knew they needed some time apart so she didn’t have separation anxiety later in life.

As he cranked his car again, he asked his crazy cohort what on Earth they were going to do today since it was only around eleven in the morning. She told him that, considering how stressed he seemed, she thought about dragging him to a spa for some pampering, but it was ultimately up to him what they did. He didn’t normally go to spas, despite how girlie he tended to be, but this time, he was really liking the idea of a good massage, along with various other forms of pampering. The bassist readily agreed to the idea, grinning as she searched for the closest one on her phone.

The rest of the day’s plans after their spa adventures consisted of a bit of shopping, where he found as much cute stuff for Legacy as he did himself, going out to lunch, and lastly to see a movie that he’d been wanting to see for a while. Not once while they were out enjoying themselves did his slacker of a boyfriend cross his mind, which was unusual to those who knew how much he loved him, but it was a good thing. That boy’s antics had been stressing him out for far too long and, considering that he wasn’t doing anything to endanger his health or life, it was about time he cut loose and had some fun. A day out with Sammi Doll had been just what he’d needed all along, and now he knew just how worth it it was.

From Sammi’s perspective, though, she was just glad to see him loosening up and not sweating the little things for a while. If she’d known he was as stressed as he was when she’d stopped by earlier, she’d have dragged him out for this little excursion ages ago. But all that really mattered was that Ash was safe, healthy, and finally happy, and since he was, she had no worries.

Notes