Living on Love

As time passed and January grew nigh, Ash began to wonder if he’d be able to partake in the first leg of the Church of the Wild Ones tour, which would be in support of their new album, Wretched and Divine: the Story of the Wild Ones, or Wretched and Divine, for short. Right now, he was relaxing in the house he’d bought the previous summer, watching his daughter ripping open her Christmas presents with help from Daddy, something she hadn’t gotten to do the previous Christmas since he was still pregnant with her.

He was currently seventeen and a-half weeks pregnant and, just as he had around the same time during his first pregnancy, he was beginning to feel the first fluttering kicks of his baby. They were still weak enough to almost be mistaken for gas at first, and definitely not strong enough for Andy to feel if he pressed his hand against his belly, but he could feel them, nonetheless.

Something else that was similar to his first pregnancy was that, due to how fit he’d been before conceiving, his abdominal wall was still pretty strong and he wasn’t showing very much. Another factor that added to how little he was showing was that, like he had before, he was carrying nearly in his ribcage, right behind his infamous “OUTLAW” tattoo. Considering that he already knew the reasons why he wasn’t really showing, if he was showing at all, it didn’t bother him nearly as much as it had the first time around. His lover, however, was greatly concerned and wondering if there was something wrong with the baby.

“Ready to give Mommy his present?” he asked their daughter, whom seemed to be having more fun throwing torn wrapping paper around than playing with the actual toys she’d gotten.

With a squeal of delight, Legacy grabbed the present in question from her daddy and, amazingly, got to her feet and toddled over to him on her own.

“Oh!” Andy gasped, covering his mouth as those icy-blue eyes they shared widened.

“You go, Legacy!” Ash cheered, grinning as she toddled closer. “Come to Mommy. C’mon, Princess.” He held out his hands and made a “come here” motion with her to encourage her.

Moments later, she came to a stumbling halt in front of him, nearly losing her balance till he picked her up to hold in his lap.

“That was great, Princess,” he said, kissing her temple as he held her close. “Now, what’s this you’ve got here?”

“You!” she cried, her speech surprisingly good for someone that was only ten months old.

“Is it Mommy’s?” he asked, feigning surprise.

Grinning and squealing, his sweet daughter nodded her head and clapped.

“Well, let’s open it and find out what it is,” the bassist said.

His lover continued kneeling in the floor in front of the Christmas tree, though he watched them intently instead of making any effort to clean up the mess they’d made just yet. Ash allowed their daughter to help him tear the wrapping paper off his present, which he’d seen on the tag was from both her and her daddy. In the box he’d had to use to make it look right while wrapping it, he found what was obviously supposed to be a box for a necklace, and a longer one that was meant to house a bracelet.

With baited breath as he wondered just what his lover’d gotten him, he opened the longer box to find a charm bracelet one would normally see a woman wearing that was covered in stars and guitars, two of his favorite things. In its little box was a note saying that it was meant to be from Legacy, and he couldn’t help but grin as he hugged and kissed her again.

Now that just left him wondering what Andy’d gotten him that was supposed to actually be from the younger man, not their daughter or a combination of them both. Curiously, he opened the box to see a star necklace like he was seen wearing in pictures taken of him and the band more often than not, but instead of being an outline of a star, it was solid. The entire front of it was embedded with onyx and amethyst, two of his favorite gems because of their coloring, and it was beautiful. However, he wasn’t expecting what he saw when he flipped it over and saw that there was something engraved on the back, a special message from his lover that showed this was definitely meant as a present from him.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he read the words engraved in a beautiful cursive font, which read, I love you more than I can ever scream. Forever my Outlaw. Even after he’d gotten the infamous tattoo across his upper belly during his time with his old band, Stolen Hearts, no one had ever considered him their outlaw. To realize that Andy considered him his, and gave him a pet name that meant something special to him, made him realize that, even if he didn’t always show or say he, he really did love him. He turned to look at him, but his vision was too blurry to see him clearly, even though he’d moved right beside where he sat on the couch.

“I take it you like it?” the frontman asked, wiping away the tears that streamed down his cheeks.

“I don’t like it; I love it!” he answered, wrapping his arms around his neck. “You have no idea how much this means to me, Andy.”

“Oh, but I do,” he argued playfully. “The tears you’re crying right now speak volumes.”

If only he were saying “I do” for another reason, the bassist thought, sighing as he glanced down at his bare ring finger.

“What’s wrong, Ashes?” Andy asked, turning his head so that he was looking at him again.

“It’s nothing; just wishful thinking,” he answered, sighing again.

“What? Wishing that I’d do this?”

Before he could even register what was happening, his lover slid off the couch so that he was facing him on one knee and pulled something out of his pocket.

“As far as I’m concerned, this moment is long overdue, but better late than never.” His lover took a deep breath, then looked him in the eye. “We’ve been through so much together since we met, more within the past year and a-half than I think either of us would’ve ever dreamt. Some of those hurdles have left me wondering if I was going to lose you, but in the end, faith, hope, and love has won out.

“I can’t possibly tell you how much you mean to me, how it’d take every ounce of strength and willpower I possess to carry on for Legacy if something were to happen and I lost you. No amount of words could possibly express all I have to say, so I hope that this will.” He opened the tiny box he held, then continued. “I hope that you, Ashley, my Outlaw and Deviant will do me the favor of accepting this ring, which should say all that I can’t find the words to express, and become my loving and lawful husband.” There was a hopeful gleam in his eye as he extended his arm, waiting for his response.

Ash gasped as he stared in awe at the engagement ring nestled in lavender velvet, barely able to comprehend what was happening well enough to continue breathing, if only for their unborn baby’s sake. He saw a small band, no more than three millimeters in width, that was pure platinum. Anchored atop the band was a heart-cut amethyst surrounded by three onyx on either side, the onyx creating what appeared to be a tiny pyramid. It was absolutely beautiful and, even without the speech, he couldn’t have brought himself to say no if he’d tried.

Squealing like a besotted teenage girl, the bassist leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his neck, nodding as he did so. Andy heaved a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around him in return, the ring set aside for the moment so he wouldn’t lose it in the midst of their hug. He was so happy that the older man had accepted his proposal, even after all the shit he’d put him through, that he was choked up from the tears that’d welled up in his eyes. Nothing could make him happier right now besides the safe and healthy delivery of their baby, but he knew it’d be a while before that happened, so instead, he’d just hold the daughter he had and the man he loved as close as physically possible and never let them go.

* * *

Later that evening, after Sammi’d dropped by to “kidnap” Legacy for the night yet again, Ash was enjoying a bubble bath while his lover did Hell only knows what in their room. The warm water that rose almost up to his chin was soothing, gently relaxing any knotted muscles he hadn’t even known about. The scent of the bubbles, which just happened to be lavender, also relaxed him into a fairly sleepy state.

With a sigh, he shifted so that his knees peeked above the water a little more than they had before, their baby kicking gently within him. It was almost as if the bubble bath was making the baby sleepy as well, but then again, Legacy’d never kicked him very hard unless he’d failed to eat for a while. He sighed softly as he rested his hands on his belly beneath the water, enjoying feeling the child within gently prodding at them through layers of muscle and flesh. There was no happier time in his life than when he was pregnant, other than when dealing with morning sickness, but he knew there were only so many times he could do this.

Just as he almost dozed off in the tub, he heard the door open and looked up to see Andy standing there, ready to help him out of his little cocoon and to their room. He gave him a sleepy smile as he accepted his hand, shivering as the chilly air lapped at his skin upon standing. Chuckling softly, his fiancé quickly got him dried off and wrapped in his robe, not wanting him or his precious cargo to get too cold. Ash couldn’t help but continue smiling as he got him settled into their warm, soft bed.

“Well, I’m thinking that wish is just gonna have to wait,” he heard his lover murmur.

“Hmm?” he hummed sleepily.

“Don’t worry about it, Ashes,” the younger man chuckled, gently kissing his temple as he tucked him in.

“No, I wanna know,” Ash insisted, beginning to perk up a little as the curiosity kicked in.

“Well, I’d been hoping for a romantic evening with you after your bath, but it’s pretty obvious that you’re tired,” Andy told him. “Like I said, looks like that’s just gonna have to wait.”

“I’m not so tired that I’d pass up a romantic night with you,” the bassist insisted.

“Too bad. You’re pregnant and tired, and I’m not gonna have you bitching at me tomorrow because I kept you up past your bedtime,” he said firmly.

“Hmph.” The older man rolled over so he wasn’t facing him and, despite laying on his side, somehow managed to get his arms crossed over his chest.

“Oh, no. The cold-shoulder trick ain’t gonna work this time, Ashes,” the frontman chuckled.

“It will if I let it continue for the next two or three weeks,” he said.

“You’ll just be aggravating yourself more than me at that point,” his lover laughed. “You’re the one who’s pregnant with a hyperactive libido, not me.”

“That’s what you think.” The bassist shot him a devious grin over his shoulder, then turned away again.

“Well, I’m not gonna stand here and argue about it all night,” Andy told him, gently caressing his arm in what was meant to be a soothing gesture.

“That’s it.”

With little warning, Ash rolled over and wrapped his arms around his neck, drawing him down for a passionate kiss the likes of which he wasn’t expecting. When he’d made the crack about having a hyperactive libido due to his pregnancy, Andy hadn’t realized that just hearing his voice could make him wind up with a hard-on that could up-end a Mack truck. In fact, he was so surprised that he couldn’t hold back the gasp that allowed him entry to his mouth, a slightly dominant move he wasn’t used to.

After regaining his senses, the younger man took control and forced him backward on the bed, crawling over him once he was laying back. They both knew that he couldn’t be on his back for very long, not halfway through his pregnancy, but a few minutes wouldn’t hurt. The frontman braced his hands to either side of his fiancé’s torso to keep his weight off him as he fought the battle for dominance in his mouth.

It wasn’t long before the bassist sighed and gave up, allowing his lover to win as he began to gently grind against him. They’d never really gotten a chance to make love with one another, but definitely not between keeping the house clean and being creative for the band, all while taking care of Legacy, who was normally in the house. The times they actually got to now where like little slices of Heaven for both of them, but especially Ash since his libido seemed to be like a jackrabbit’s while pregnant. He was just thankful that, unlike during this stage of his last pregnancy, he wasn’t having to sleep with every groupie and hooker he could find to sate himself enough just to sleep.

By the end of the night, both men were happily sated and so pleasantly exhausted that they couldn’t have stayed up any later if they’d tried. Now that they were sated and exhausted, their baby having settled down within the older man, they cuddled up like they always did at night: both lying on their right sides, Andy behind his sweetheart as he spooned him, his arm draped over his waist. Ash sighed softly as he turned off the lamp on their nightstand, falling peacefully asleep before he’d even fully settled down. With a soft chuckle, his lover gently kissed his temple as he told him good night, then promptly fell asleep himself.

Notes