Living on Love

Over the next week, the couple managed to get the nursery painted between caring for themselves and Legacy. That didn’t include taking time off for an odd interview or two, now that the press had caught wind of the bassist’s pregnancy, as well as when they finally tied the knot four days after finding out their baby’s gender on the twenty-sixth.

By the time all but Ash left for the third leg of the Church of the Wild Ones Tour on the third, the nursery was painted and the furniture was put together. However, the latter still needed to be arranged and the crib’s bedding set still needed to be put on it. Sammi and Ella, who’d both decided to all but move in with him for the next month or so, were a huge help with little Legacy, who missed her daddy and spent hours crying the day they dropped the rest of the band off at the airport. It broke the older man’s heart to see his daughter so depressed, but he knew it wouldn’t last forever.

Since he was now thirty-three weeks pregnant with her little sister, Ash was trying to kick back and relax as much as he could. The further into his second pregnancy he got, the more he noticed his feet and ankles swelling, just as he had during his first pregnancy. Not only that, but they were prone to hurting quicker and easier now, and the wild child had taken to giving him nightly foot rubs just so he could get to sleep. And that wasn’t counting the constant backache he had, alongside just generally feeling drained.

“Morning, Ash,” Sammi said, immediately handing him a cup of coffee on the morning of his next appointment with Rebecca.

“Morning, Sam,” he answered, his voice gritty.

“You okay? You sound like you didn’t sleep last night,” she told him, concern marring her features and lacing her voice.

“I didn’t. Not much, anyway,” the bassist admitted, yawning. “I’ve gotten too used to having Andy beside me, and this little she-demon wanted to kick me all night.” He gently caressed his belly, trying to get the baby girl within to settle down.

“Aww, she misses her daddy, too,” the wild child cooed, sitting on a stool so she was eye-level with his belly. “Ya know, even though you miss Daddy, you shouldn’t keep Mama up at night.”

His unborn daughter chose that moment to stretch, pushing her head into his bladder in an uncomfortable manner.

“Shit. Make sure Ella doesn’t steal my coffee,” Ash said, then darted to the bathroom.

“He okay?” he heard the other woman ask as he got the door to the half-bath closed.

“I think the baby kicked him in the bladder,” Sammi chuckled, handing her her own coffee mug.

“More like head-butted!” he called loud enough to be heard in the kitchen.

“No wonder he took off running like he did,” Ella chuckled.

“It’s no fun, little missy,” the bassist scolded as he rejoined them. “Just wait until you and Jake start trying for kids. You’ll see what I mean.”

“You two stop your arguing and eat up,” the wild child said, thumping plates of food down in front of them both. “Ash’s appointment is at ten, and we don’t wanna make him late over something petty.”

Both settled down on bar stools at the island counter to eat as they were told, although the bassist took note of their friend’s sudden mood swing. Even when she was PMS’ing, she’d never been known to have a mood swing like that, and he wondered if she, too, might be pregnant. Obviously not with Andy’s baby, but rather Jinxx’s, but pregnant, nonetheless. He decided that now wasn’t the time to ask about it, that he’d ask her later, both after his appointment and after she’d calmed down.

Once they were done eating, he and Ella headed back to the master and guest bedrooms, the latter of which the two women were sharing, so they could get dressed. Now that he’d gotten something solid in his system, although it wasn’t much since he couldn’t eat as much as normal this late in pregnancy, his little one was settled down. He suspected she was asleep and would be rudely awoken when Rebecca started pressing the probe of the ultrasound scanner against his belly, but that was just tough shit. She could sleep later, after he’d gotten through the appointment.

With their clothes and makeup on and their hair brushed, the pair returned to the den, where Sammi’d already gotten Legacy ready since the trio were accompanying him today. The wild child handed the toddler off to Ella since he couldn’t really pick her up and hold her much unless he was sitting down, then headed to the guest room to get herself ready to go.

Shortly thereafter, they all piled into his Mustang, Ella sitting in the back behind him and next to his daughter since she had the shortest legs. Sammi joined him up front by riding shotgun, and he was the one driving since he wouldn’t even let his own fiancé drive his precious car. As the women got themselves settled and buckled in, Ash stomped the clutch and brake so he could throw a flame in his dragon, so to speak, grinning at the roar that turned into a purr as his unborn daughter kicked him in fright. Before he put the car in gear so he could back out of the garage, he chuckled and reached down to caress his belly, the gentle touch settling her down, although not as well as when Andy would caress it.

“Morning, Ash, Sammi,” Rebecca greeted them. “Who’s this?”

“Morning, Becki,” he answered, moving to hug her. “This is our friend Jake’s fiancé, Ella.”

“Nice to meet you, Ella. I’m Ashley’s OB/GYN, Rebecca Lane,” she said, extending her hand. “And it’s good to see you again, too, Legacy.”

They all chuckled as the toddler shied away from the OB/GYN’s touch, something she didn’t normally do with others.

“Let’s head on back so we can get the ball rolling,” she said, gesturing for them to follow.

“Erica’s gonna be taking over my care full-time again within the next couple weeks, right?” Ash asked as he stepped on the scale.

“Mmm hmm. It’ll probably be easier on you that way,” the OB/GYN answered, recording his weight. “And are you planning on having a home birth again?”

“As long as there’s nothing stopping me, yes,” he told her, nodding.

“He doesn’t really like hospitals,” Sammi told her, grimacing at the thought of the last word.

“Yeah, he’s never really struck me as being a big fan of medical facilities,” Rebecca laughed, nodding her agreement. “And unfortunately, the folks that’d be caring for him during his labor probably wouldn’t exactly be warm and welcoming, either. Most have to compartmentalize so much that they don’t feel any emotions while they’re at work so they don’t get attached to the babies they know they can’t take back home with them.”

“That’s understandable, but I don’t want someone who’s cold as ice taking care of me and delivering my baby,” the bassist said. “Especially since it’s bad enough that I have to give birth the way I do, as is.”

“I agree there, Ash,” his OB/GYN chuckled. “Go ahead and strip to your boxers, then climb up on the table while I run and grab the scanner.”

“All right,” he agreed.

“Need some help getting your shoes off?” Sammi asked. Ella was sitting in the chair by the side of the exam table with Legacy in her lap.

“That’d be great, Sammi,” Ash answered, nodding. “I definitely can’t bend over that far anymore.”

“I’m surprised since you’re barely showing,” Ella said, sounding thoughtful.

“Well, Rebecca says that I look like I’m about three months, but I feel more like five or six, as far as how much I’m showing goes,” he told her. “As far as how pregnant I really am…well, needless to say, I definitely feel like I’m almost eight months.”

The trio burst into laughter as the wild child unlaced his shoes and pulled them off, then stepped back to let him shed his shirt. Once he’d handed that to her, he went to work getting his maternity jeans off, which he had to allow her to pull over his feet so he didn’t lose his balance and fall by trying to kick them off himself. The last thing he wanted was to hurt himself or his baby, and damn sure not in his OB/GYN’s office, or cause himself to go into labor too early by falling.

Moments after he got settled on the exam table, Rebecca returned with the ultrasound scanner, which she parked next to the table’s edge. The first thing she did besides measure his womb to make sure the baby was growing at the appropriate rate was to check for dilation again, during which she pulled a curtain in front of the women and his daughter for his sake. Even though they couldn’t see the mortifying pelvic exam he had to go through, and had likely been through something similar themselves, Ash still blushed like a tomato the entire time the OB/GYN was checking him since he had her fingers up his ass.

With a thoughtful expression, she removed said fingers moments later and pulled the latex glove off before helping him get his legs back out of the stirrups, asking if he’d felt any contractions as she did so. He shook his head and told her that he hadn’t felt any just yet, and having had a baby once already before, he should know what they felt like.

Rebecca looked thoughtful as she told him that, while he wasn’t effaced in the least, he was already two centimeters dilated. She said that it might just be from where his cervix was already a bit looser from having given birth naturally before, and didn’t think it was anything to worry about. However, she promised to mention it to Erica so she could keep an eye on it when she started dropping by his house for house calls to make sure he didn’t go into labor too early. Nodding his agreement since he was a bit worried now, Ash laid back and rolled the waistband of his boxers down as she pulled the curtain open, gasping as she squirted the cold gel on his belly once again for the ultrasound.

“Have you come up with a name for this little rascal yet?” she asked, smearing the gel with the probe.

“Not yet. I’ve been thinking though,” he answered, watching the screen.

“Hmm… Well, since you’re the one who named Legacy, whatever name you choose is bound to be beautiful,” Rebecca told him. “Looks like she’s doing great.”

“So there’s nothing wrong with her?” the bassist asked with baited breath.

“Nope, not a thing,” she answered. “Like I said, I’ll mention the dilation to Erica when she comes in this afternoon, but other than that, you’re both healthy as horses.”

“Whew,” Ash sighed, seemingly turning into Jello as he took in the news. “That finding had me pretty scared for a minute.”

“Like I said, I think it’s just from where you’ve given birth before,” the OB/GYN assured him. “The cervix never closes as tightly as it is before the birth of a child, so it’s easier for it to start opening again. That, and having gone through this before, your body is likely starting the process just a bit earlier than it should, but so long as you don’t go into pre-term labor, that means it’ll move faster when the big day gets here.”

“Really?” he asked, surprised as he wiped the gel off.

“Mmm hmm,” she answered, nodding. “Most first-time mothers take anywhere from twelve to twenty-four hours to deliver, on average. Some are lucky and labor for only six-to-twelve hours.”

“Erica said I was in labor with Legacy for nine,” the bassist recalled, cringing at the memory.

“That’s actually not too bad, especially since we thought you’d take longer since you’re male.” She really looked thoughtful now. “Don’t quote me on this later, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it only took about five for you to have this little one once you go into labor.”

“Wow… That’d be awesome since I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain for as long.”

“Either way, Jake and I are still kidnapping Legacy when you go into labor,” Ella piped up. “I know you’re gonna want Andy and Sammi there, for sure, maybe Jinxx. She doesn’t need to be around for that, and from what I remember them telling me, your screams might scare her if she was.”

“Yeah, I did sound pretty demonic,” Ash admitted sheepishly.

“You drew blood when you bit Andy’s shoulder while pushing,” Sammi recalled, laughing.

“Hey, it was no less than he deserved after everything he’d put me through!” he said defensively.

“All right. This was your last appointment with me; the rest until you have her are gonna be at home with Erica,” Rebecca piped up. “She’s not gonna make her first visit until May third, when you’ll be thirty-six weeks exactly, unless you call her earlier than that. Sound good to you?”

“Sounds awesome, Becki,” the bassist agreed, nodding.

“Hopefully I won’t have to see you again till your two-week post-partum visit,” she told him, smiling. “Get as much rest as you can, in the meantime.”

“I was planning on it. See ya.”

Sammi and Ella called their goodbyes to her as well, the former helping him get his clothes and shoes back on while the latter readjusted his daughter so she was perched on her hip. It was getting close to her naptime, so she’d likely fall asleep on the ride home, but that was fine by him. He already had plans of laying down for a nap himself when they got home, which would leave the two women to do whatever they wanted.

In the car, they told him that they were gonna rearrange the nursery so that the furniture was where he’d said he wanted it, then try to finish up some of the minor details. Getting the bedding on the crib and setting up little things like that were fine, but they said they were going to save the decals and wall art for after he woke up. Ash thanked them since, even if he didn’t hang them himself, he wanted to choose what spot on which wall they wound up on in the end. All in all, the morning had turned out to be a pretty good one, and for that and both his and his unborn daughter’s health, he was thankful.

Notes