Gift of Song

Another five days passed and they were spent conducting last-minute packing for the imminent tour. The guys all wanted to make sure that they weren’t forgetting anything, be it something of their own or something that belonged to Rori or Logan. Even Shelby was doing some last-minute packing to be sure she didn’t forget anything of hers since she’d be gone for over a month since the tour didn’t end until early-May. Thankfully, they were all ready to go when the band’s manager, John, called and said that the bus was on its way.

Of course, CC was still feeling a bit rundown from his morning sickness, which they’d decided to let John in on once they saw him in person. He seemed to be paler than normal more often than not, which wasn’t surprising to any of them, especially Ash. The bassist knew exactly how the poor drummer was feeling right now and, along with the rest of the guys, did everything he could to help.

John immediately asked what was wrong with the poor man the second they got on the bus, the roadies making sure everything but their suitcases was packed in the compartments underneath it. He wasn’t able to answer him right off the bat since he had to make a mad dash for the tiny bathroom, Jake hot on his heels to make sure he was okay. The confused manager and his bandmates all took seats in the living area, Shelby taking the kids back to the bunk room with Sammi and Amy. It was going to be hard enough to tell him with his brothers around; she knew the kids didn’t need to be out there for that kind of announcement. Jinxx thanked her before she walked away, giving her a gentle smile as he took his seat once more.

When CC was finally feeling better, he emerged from the back of the bus with his arm wrapped around Jake’s shoulders, the guitarist’s arm wrapped around his waist as he helped him back to the living area. He helped him get settled on the only available couch before gently taking a seat beside him. He’d learned after the night he broke the news of his pregnancy not to make any sudden movements if they were uncalled for, lest he upset his boyfriend’s stomach. Considering that CC was mean enough when he wasn’t feeling good, he saw no need or reason to make it worse than it already was.

“So what in high Heaven is going on?” John asked curiously.

“Okay, first off, CC and I have an announcement to make,” Jake answered, pulling the other man into his arms. They all heard a soft sigh as the drummer snuggled into him.

“And that would be…?” The manager merely cocked an eyebrow at them.

“CC and I have been dating since June of last year,” he told him. “It wasn’t that we thought you wouldn’t accept us, why we didn’t say anything; it’s just that no one would’ve expected it, so we weren’t sure how to break the news.”

“I’m happy for ya, guys. As long as you’re happy together, it shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks.” He’d dealt with Andy and Ash enough to know better than to be anything but accepting.

“That’s not all of our news, though,” the guitarist continued. “I think I’m gonna let CC explain this, though.”

“Let Ash,” he whispered. “I don’t feel well enough to talk much.”

“Ash, he wants you to explain it,” Jake said, his voice raised slightly so the bassist could hear him.

The manager gave them all a curious look, wondering why it had to be the bassist who explained things and why it couldn’t be one of the other guys.

“Well, you obviously know that Andy and I are both Rori’s biological parents,” he started off, looking at their manager.

“Yeah. She has features from both of you, so it would be kinda stupid to say she wasn’t,” he answered.

“Well, that’s because I have a…gift, of sorts. You see, we didn’t use a surrogate and egg donor the way a lot of people think we did,” Ash said. “I can conceive and carry children like a woman. I’m the one who got pregnant with and gave birth to Rori.”

“Seriously? Wow…” John breathed, apparently in shock. “But what’s this gotta do with CC?”

“Unbeknownst to pretty much everybody except us guys, CC has the same ‘gift’ that I do,” he explained. “He, too, can conceive and carry children like a woman. He wanted me to explain because, in having the same ‘gift’, he knew I’d be able to explain it best.”

“That makes sense,” he agreed, nodding. “More sense than him looking so sick for no apparent reason.”

“Oh, there’s a reason.” Ash couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled up from his throat. “We found out last week that he’s pregnant.”

The manager’s eyes widened so much that they looked like dinner plates. “Well, I guess congratulations are in order. But who’s the…other father? And how the hell is he supposed to perform?”

“I’m the ‘other father’, as you so kindly put it, John,” Jake spoke up. “And as to how he’s supposed to perform…so long as his morning sickness isn’t too bad, he said he’d give it his all. If he can’t, we’ve already called in a favor to Aaron Stern, drummer of D.R.U.G.S. He doesn’t know why CC’s sick, but he said he’d be more than willing to fill in for him, should the need arise.”

“And what if he has to leave and come back home midway through the tour?”

“Again, Aaron said he was willing to fill in for him.” Jake bowed his head and kissed CC’s forehead. “We’re hoping neither of those things happen, but at least if they do, we don’t have to completely drop out of the tour.”

“So…are you guys planning on coming out to the fans? Or are you just gonna keep it under wraps for now?” John asked, genuinely curious.

“Actually, we were all planning on coming out to them at the end of our first set,” Andy spoke up. He tightened his grip on his sweetheart and nuzzled his hair. “Ash and I were already planning to, and we said we’d help them if they wanted.”

“But you two have been together for far longer than I’ve known you,” he said.

“Yeah, over three years. That combined with have a two-year-old daughter together made us decide that we might as well finally come out,” Ash explained.

“And since we’ve been together for nine months and have a baby of our own on the way, CC and I decided to come out when they did,” Jake agreed, smiling at the other couple.

“I hate to ask this, but…what about Jinxx? He planning on staying with Sammi, or am I gonna have to worry about him finding a boyfriend and coming out, too?”

“I’m sticking with Sammi, indefinitely,” the multi-instrumentalist chuckled. “We’ve been together for nearly five years, we’ve got a nearly three-year-old son, and I finally grew the balls to propose to her. After all this time, there’s no way I’m giving up on all that just to be exactly like my brothers. Besides, one of us has to be the oddball of this little group of outcasts.”

Everybody laughed at Jinxx’s comment, knowing that it was the truth. The laughter ended abruptly, though, when CC jumped up and darted for the bathroom in the back of the bus again. Apparently even the slightest bits of laughter could make the poor guy’s already-iffy stomach decide to act up, and for that, all of them were genuinely sorry. It wasn’t long before Jake managed to help his Animal back to the living area, where they all apologized for setting off his stomach.

Having never been one to hold a grudge since he was too happy and outgoing, the drummer wrapped his arms around each of his friends one-by-one. Normally he would’ve yanked them into a group-hug, but he just didn’t feel like being squeezed by four pairs of arms at the same time right now. His stomach was just too upset from his hormones being so out of control, and even if no one else understood it, thankfully Ash did. He gave him a quick, gentle smile, which conveyed everything he refused to say aloud about understanding where he was coming from since he’d been through it himself before.

Shortly thereafter, everybody decided to head to the bunks for bed. They’d decided to leave pretty late so the kids would sleep most of the trip, but that also meant it was nearing the adults’ bedtimes, too. CC and Jake curled up together in what was usually CC’s bunk, the drummer closer to the aisle, Andy and Ash curled up in their normal bunk, and Jinxx dragged Sammi into their bunk.

Now that everyone was settled and the lights were turned off, sleep overcame them within a matter of minutes.


The following morning, as they drove through New Mexico on their way to Texas, CC was the first one up yet again. He’d woken up at the crack of dawn, which wasn’t normal for him in the least, because of his stomach roiling like a hurricane-tossed sea after the bus hit a particularly nasty bump. He’d tried to fight off the nausea as long as he could, but the ending result was the same as always: him on his knees in front of the toilet, his body heaving as he retched miserably.

It wasn’t long before he felt well enough to attempt standing, but when he tried, even with the counter for support, he found his knees were too weak to support his weight. He knew that his was so weak because the vomiting combined with lack of solid food since he couldn’t keep anything down had sapped his energy. With a soft groan, he was forced to sit on the floor and wait until one of his friends found him.

Being the one who was usually the first up, it was Andy who stumbled sleepily to the bathroom to take his morning piss. When he opened the door, which wasn’t locked, he gasped at the sight of his friend sitting weakly on the bathroom floor. He immediately knelt down and asked him what was wrong, and he could barely get out the words that he was too weak to move after losing the remnants of last night’s dinner. As gently as he possibly could, the frontman slid an arm under his back and knees, clutching his head close to his chest, and barely made it to his feet so he could carry him to the living area.

“Ash,” he said softly. His sweetheart was already sitting on the couch with their daughter, a cup of coffee in his hands.

“What’s wrong?” He could hear the worry in the bassist’s voice.

“You still got any of that anti-nausea medication Dr. Morgan prescribed you when you were pregnant?” Andy asked. “If he keeps throwing up like this, I’m afraid we’re gonna have to take him to the hospital.”

“Yeah. I kept it and bring it on the road with me every time,” Ash answered. “I figure even if it’s out of date, it still might work if one of us needs it.”

“Go get it for me,” he told him. “I found him nearly passed out in the bathroom after his morning sickness started acting up.”

“I’ll be back in a minute, mio profeta,” he agreed. “Hang in there, Ceece. I know it’s a bitch, but it’ll get better soon.”

Unwilling to speak since he didn’t know when he’d get sick again, he smiled weakly and gently nodded.

“Did your OB/GYN ask you how bad your morning sickness had been before we left?” Andy asked, kneeling on the floor by the couch.

“Yeah, but it’s gotten worse in the past week or so,” CC answered.

“All right. Ash’s morning sickness did the same thing when he was pregnant,” he told him. “We’ll try the old medication his doctor gave him then, and if that doesn’t work, we’re gonna have to take you to the hospital.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. You know how much I hate hospitals,” he said weakly.

“Yeah, I know. You’ve had to spend way too much time in them because of Casey, and I don’t blame you.”

“It was also a hospital morgue where I had to ID the bodies of my parents after the murder-suicide.”

“Jesus. Yeah, we’ll definitely do everything we can to keep you outta there, then.” Andy looked stern, yet thoughtful. “But I’m telling you, if it doesn’t slack off a bit soon, we’ll have no other choice.”

“I’d rather exhaust all the other alternatives first,” CC told him.

Ash then returned with the little pill bottle that had his name and his old doctor’s name on it, the lid in his hand as he tapped out a couple of the pills. He handed them to his lover while he put the lid back on the bottle and grabbed a glass of water for his friend to down them with. Having gone through this before, he told him to take them one at a time and with small sips rather than huge gulps. He told him that’d helped him keep from throwing those right back up when his morning sickness was giving him Hell.

Nodding, the drummer tossed one pill into his mouth and took one of the tiniest sips of water he’d ever taken in his life. After a moment of waiting, he repeated the process, hoping that he wouldn’t get sick just from taking the medicine that was supposed to lessen or stop his morning sickness altogether. Andy leaned over and whispered something in his sweetheart’s ear, which he answered with a nod, then stood up with cracking knees and headed toward the back of the bus. He figured he was going to take his morning piss, so he didn’t expect his own lover to come back out with him.

Jake immediately dropped to his knees beside the couch where the frontman had laid him a short while ago, gently stroking his hair back while speaking to him in French. The other couple took their daughter and headed into the tiny kitchen they used while on the road when they actually felt like cooking. CC smiled at his lover weakly and pulled him down for a good-morning kiss, then released him. Even though it’d only been a few minutes since taking the medicine their friend had handed him, he was glad to realize it was already working as his stomach stopped roiling as bad. In fact, the scent of the bacon, eggs, and pancakes coming from the kitchen actually smelled good to him, causing his stomach to growl ferociously.

With a soft chuckle, Jake called over his shoulder to make sure there was enough for everybody, especially a ravenous pregnant man, which made him blush. He couldn’t help that he hadn’t really been able to hold much down lately, and now his body was crying out its displeasure at that fact. But the guys, Sammi, Amy, and Shelby all knew that, and didn’t tease him too much.

“All right. Here’s your food, Ceece,” Ash said, handing him a small plate.

“Damn it, I’m so fucking hungry,” he whined, looking at the tiny amount. “Besides, I’m eating for two!”

“I know, Ceece. Just see if you can hold that down first,” his friend said, smiling. “I’ve already made Andy hide another plate for you if you can.”

“Okay,” he grumbled, picking up the fork that lay on the plate’s edge.

“I learned the hard way that eating a smaller meal is sometimes better,” the bassist chuckled. “Be glad I’ve already gone through this a know a few tricks.”

“Maybe he’s right, mon animale,” Jake said softly, nuzzling his ear as he sat down with his own plate.

“I never said he wasn’t,” the drummer chuckled, blushing. “I just feel like I could eat a horse.”

Everybody chuckled when he said that, though Ash was the only one besides Amy and Sammi who truly knew how he felt. Yeah, being pregnant was a bitch when one had to deal with morning sickness, especially when it was really bad, but the constant hunger wasn’t a walk in the park, either. He was just thankful to have brothers who loved and cared about him, alongside his own lover.

Notes