Dark Magick

It took about two weeks after arriving back in LA for Ash to even begin looking for an OB/GYN to care for him and the baby throughout his pregnancy. First of all, he decided to get a social security card and number, along with a new license, under the name Ashlynn Aspen Purdy. He knew he’d need the IDs for his patient file, and just about anything else requiring ID these days, during his pregnancy. Considering that Ashley Abrocket Purdy was supposed to be a male, he didn’t want things getting confused, thanks to Andy’s spell.

That was a little harder to manage than he’d thought it would be, but at least he had a decent cover story. He claimed to’ve finally escaped an abusive home life on a Cherokee reservation back East, which was why he’d moved out to California. No one in the bureaucratic system need know that he was never abused, nor lived on a reservation.

Once he finally had his new identity as Ashlynn set up, that was when he finally started looking around LA for a decent OB/GYN. Sure, it was far more embarrassing than getting caught giving away his male virginity by his grandmother had been, but it was necessary. While between the two of them, Jinxx and Andy might be able to care for him relatively well because of their magick, there were things even they couldn’t predict, nor take care of. Besides, what if the baby was turned ass-down when he went into labor? They wouldn’t be able to deliver a breech baby, and if they could, it would be far too risky.

After finally finding an OB/GYN by the name of Clarissa Shepard, he was able to breathe a small sigh of relief. Given that he was single, Andy’d just decided to move in with him for the time being, and the second that was taken care of, he forced him to go lay down. Even if he didn’t fall asleep, he wanted him to get off his feet and relax, considering that, to them, his pregnancy was risky enough, as it was.

“You all right, Ashie?” his best friend asked, sounding concerned.

“I’m a little nauseous, and my feet hurt a little, but other than that, I’m fine,” Ash answered, giving him a small smile.

“I’ll be right back, then,” he told him, then disappeared from his bedroom door. Within moments, he returned with a glass of ginger ale in his hand. “Here. Mom told me ginger helps with nausea.”

“Thanks, Ands,” the bassist said, taking a small sip.

The young frontman then sat down on the edge of his bed before scooting back enough to lay his lower legs across his lap.

“What are you doing?” he asked suspiciously.

“Giving you a foot rub, dork,” Andy chuckled. “After all, I’m the one who did this to you—both turning you into a woman and getting you pregnant. To me, it’s the least I can do.”

Considering how bad his feet hurt and how good a point he made, he couldn’t argue.

“So when’s your appointment?” he asked, digging his thumbs into the soles of his feet as gently as he could manage while still making the massage effective.

“Mmm… Tomorrow morning…ten AM,” Ash forced out, purring.

“Feels that good, huh?” his best friend chuckled.

“Well, yeah,” he answered sarcastically. “You try being pregnant and on your feet all day for several days straight, then tell me how it feels.”

“According to Mom, just wait until later in pregnancy,” the frontman told him. “You’ll be wanting me to cut them off with a chainsaw, from what she told me.”

Confused, the bassist merely cocked a brow at him curiously.

“Well, bearing all the extra weight apparently makes them sore quicker,” he explained. “That, and apparently your ankles are gonna swell up, too.”

“Oh, lovely.” He shook his head at the thought. “How ’bout we just go ahead and have ’em amputated now?”

Andy couldn’t help but laugh at his sarcasm, but then again, he knew that he didn’t like pain. Sure, he had a high pain tolerance, which was what got him through face-planting on pavement outside their bus in North Carolina a while back, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Course, knowing that, it was a good thing he didn’t try telling him what his mother, Amy, had told him about labor; he’d be begging him to kill him, if he had.

It wasn’t long until the bassist began to doze off, his energy apparently sapped by the child growing within him. Once sure he was sleeping deeply, the frontman moved his legs and rose, bending low to gently kiss his belly. He chuckled as his hand rose and cupped his head in his sleep, then moved to kiss his temple before leaving him to nap in peace.

* * *

The next morning, the two of them were up at the crack of dawn. Ash had awoken because of his stomach roiling again, his best friend because he was concerned about him. Since his appointment was at ten, they saw no use in trying to go back to bed, despite it being around six-thirty, so they just lazed around the bassist’s house. Andy was even nice enough to walk his dogs, two Pomeranians by the names of Tokyo and Killer, for him since he wasn’t feeling good.

A couple hours before the appointment was when they finally left, knowing how LA traffic could be. Since a jam was guaranteed at some point, they wanted to leave with more than enough time to make it before the OB/GYN assumed they were a no-show and moved on to her next patient.

Upon arriving at Dr. Shepard’s office, Andy accompanied his best friend into the building, both for moral support and to see their baby for the first time. He knew this was going to be hard for the bassist, and because it was his fault he’d wound up like this, he felt it was the least he could do for him. Besides, other than the rest of their bandmates, he didn’t have anyone here in LA to lean on, so to speak.

While they were waiting to be called back, Ash was handed paperwork to fill out, mainly because he was a new patient. Of course, he put down his new identity of Ashlynn as his name and made sure to say that he was female. He really hated to do that since, before his best friend decided to teach him a lesson about complaining, he’d spent the last twenty-seven years of his life as a male. Shaking his head, he continued filling out the paperwork until he heard a nurse call out his new name. The bassist smiled as Andy rose and reached out to him in a silent offer to help him rise from his own seat.

“So what brings you in today, Miss Purdy?” the nurse, whose name tag read “Jenni”, asked.

“I found out recently that I’m pregnant,” he answered. “Or rather, that’s what the pregnancy test said. I just want it confirmed, and if I am, I wanna know how we’re doing.”

“Well, I’ll still give you my congratulations, anyway,” she told him. “This the father?”

“I am,” Andy answered, nodding.

“Well, congratulations to both of you, if that test was right,” Jenni said. “I need you to kick off your boots so I can measure your height, then step onto the scale for me.”

Ash nodded and did as he was told, allowing his best friend to pick his boots up and hold them. As it turned out, being turned into a woman had caused him to lose three inches of his height because, while he’d been five-eleven flat-footed before, he was now five-eight. That was fine by him, though, because there really wasn’t that big of a difference.

With his height measured and recorded, he stepped onto the scale as Jenni’d told him to do. Since he’d never been very heavy, and the majority of his weight came from muscle, not fat, anyway, he wasn’t surprised to find out that he weighed in at only a buck-thirty-five. The nurse thought he was a bit underweight, but he told her that his job required him to be pretty active and he’d always had a high metabolism on top of it. That was when she nodded as she led them to an exam room, saying that would do it.

In the exam room, she had him hop up on the exam table, telling him to open his mouth for her. She then stuck a covered probe in it and told him to close it, to make sure he held it in place with his tongue and lips, while wrapping a cuff around his bicep. A soft beep was heard moments later, and the nurse removed the probe, ejecting the cover into the trash while writing down his temperature.

“All right, time to get your blood pressure,” she said.

“Ugh, I hate this part of a doctor’s appointment,” Ash grumbled, wincing as the cuff tightened on his arm.

“Yeah, but it’s better than having an artery burst from hypertension, isn’t it?” Jenni chuckled.

“Well, when you put it that way…” the bassist trailed off.

“I thought so.” She unwrapped the cuff after the machine it was attached to beeped. “Looking good. One-ten over eighty-five isn’t too bad for someone of your size and physical activity level.”

“It’s not?” he asked, surprised.

“No, it’s not. Actually, that seems a bit low, considering what you told me, but it’s not too low,” the nurse answered. “If it were any lower, then I’d be a bit concerned.”

“Really?” Andy asked, sounding concerned himself.

“Hypotension, or low blood pressure, starts at ninety over sixty,” Jenni explained. “When a blood pressure reading is lower than that, it’s time to start getting concerned. Considering that she’s probably around six-to-eight weeks pregnant, it’s a bit low for her size and physical activity level, but otherwise, it’s actually really good.”

“Whew,” the frontman sighed, visibly slumping down in the chair he was sitting in. “It’s just that Ash is the love of my life, and with this being our first baby, if she’s really pregnant, I just don’t want anything to happen to either of them.”

“That’s understandable,” she agreed, nodding. “You two hang tight and I’m gonna go tell Dr. Shepard you’re here.”

“Thanks, Jenni,” Ash said, smiling at her.

“Not a problem. And here—you’re gonna need to strip and change into this for the physical exam,” the nurse said, handing him something that was folded up.

“Ugh,” he groaned, knowing it was one of those cheap, backless gowns.

Andy chuckled softly and drew the curtain around the table as she left the exam room, even standing on the other side of it as he waited. Even though he’d seen his best friend in the nude—both as a male, and as a female—numerous times, he figured he might want a bit of privacy while changing this time.

However, the young frontman didn’t know just how right he was. Even though he wasn’t really showing, Ash was a bit self-conscious about how he looked now that he knew he was pregnant. His breasts had even gained an inch or two since getting pregnant because, although it wasn’t obvious to the naked eye, he could tell since his bras were a bit tighter. He knew that if his breasts were already getting bigger than they already were, the rest of his body either was, too, or would be soon.

“You done, Ashie?” Andy asked a couple minutes later.

“If by asking that, you’re asking if you’re gonna get an eyeful if you open the curtain, the answer is no,” he laughed.

“Well, I don’t think it’d be very polite to be popping a boner in a doctor’s office,” his best friend chuckled, opening the curtain.

“Get your heads outta the gutter, Andy,” the bassist chuckled.

“Hey, it’s pretty obvious that I already think you’re hot,” the frontman said. “If I didn’t, I doubt this little one would exist.” He gently rubbed his belly through the thin gown.

“Stop it, you tease,” Ash said, faking an angered glare.

“What happened to you always saying, ‘We’re all in the gutter, but some of us are lookin’ at the stars’?” Andy asked, laughing.

“Don’t tempt me right now,” he growled. “Bad enough I wanted to—”

KNOCK KNOCK! “Everyone decent in there?”

“C’mon in,” the younger man answered, grinning at his unfinished thought.

“Morning, y’all. My name’s Dr. Clarissa Shepard,” a woman, who appeared to be in her early-thirties, said as she extended her hand. “I’m the head of this obstetrics and gynecology practice.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Shepard,” Andy answered, accepting her handshake. “I’m Andy, and this is my girlfriend, Ashlynn.”

“Ash, please,” the bassist told her, accepting her handshake, as well.

“Well, considering that you’re here together, I’m guessing this isn’t just a yearly check-up,” she chuckled.

“No, it’s not,” Ash answered. “I took a pregnancy test about a week ago, and it was positive. I just want my pregnancy confirmed, and if I am, I wanna know how we’re both doing.”

“Well, you came to the right place, Miss…”

“Purdy,” he supplied.

“All right, then. Jenni already got your vitals, so we’ll dive into the questions before the physical exam. Sound good to you?” the OB/GYN asked.

He merely nodded his head, not really knowing what to expect.

“So how long ago do you think you conceived?”

“Um, probably no more than a month and a-half ago,” Ash answered.

“So about six-to-eight weeks?” She grabbed something off the counter across from the exam table.

“That sounds about right,” he told her, nodding.

“All right. To be a little more accurate, do you remember when your last period started, Ash?”

He had to think for a moment before he remembered the date.

“Hmm… Well, by this little wheel here, I’m estimating that you’re probably about seven and a-half weeks pregnant, if you really are,” Dr. Shepard told him. “When did you first start suspecting you might be?”

“It was what, about two or three weeks ago?” Andy asked, sounding uncertain.

“Yeah. We’re in a band together and we were on tour,” he answered. “Things get kinda crazy on tour, so I barely noticed when I missed my period. It was only after I started waking up sick that I thought it might be something other than stress.”

“Ah, I see. That explains the high physical activity level Jenni noted on your chart, too,” she said, humming thoughtfully.

“All I told her was that my job required high physical activity; I never told her what my job was,” he chuckled.

“So what role do you fill in the band?” the doctor asked, typing his responses into his computerized record.

“I’m the bassist and one of two main backing vocalists,” Ash told her. “Our other backing vocalist, Jinxx, is the multi-instrumentalist. Our lead guitarist and drummer only join in when we’re doing gang vocals.”

“So what about you, Andy?” she asked.

“I’m the frontman and main songwriter, but I fill in for Ash on bass when necessary,” he answered.

“Mmm, I see.”

From there, the questions got a bit more personal before she finally started the physical exam. Despite being a bit uncomfortable with his best friend-turned-lover watching, he didn’t make him stand behind the curtain during the degrading act. The only time he really blushed and felt majorly uncomfortable was during the pelvic exam, but thankfully, Dr. Shepard put a thin sheet over his legs while they were in the stirrups.

After that part of the exam, she decided that it was probably best to go ahead and get an ultrasound. Not only would it help confirm the pregnancy, which she was pretty certain of at this point, but it would allow them to check on the baby and see how it was doing. That sounded like a good thing to both of them, and they readily agreed with no argument.

The OB/GYN had Ash pull the gown up to expose his belly, leaving the sheet over his legs, despite them no longer being in the stirrups, to cover his crotch. He gasped when she squirted a cold gel on his lower belly, for which she profusely apologized. It was nothing to worry about, though; he just hadn’t been expecting the sudden chill. With that out of the way, she unhooked a probe from the cart the ultrasound scanner lived on, using it to gently smear the gel before pressing a bit more firmly. The pressure was a bit uncomfortable, but if it meant confirming his pregnancy, he could deal with it.

He turned his attention to the screen as she ran the probe over his belly, Andy by his side and holding his hand the entire time. The OB/GYN finally lit on one spot and pressed a few buttons on the machine, her brow furrowed as she watched the screen. Moments later, she turned back to them with a grin on her face as she began to explain what she was seeing. Not only was Ash actually pregnant, but pregnant with twins, as it turned out, and judging by what she was seeing, she suspected they were identical.

“You’re kidding me!” he said, covering his mouth as his eyes widened in shock.

“Nope. There’s baby A, and here’s baby B over here,” Dr. Shepard said, pointing to each fetus, which looked like grains of rice.

“Oh, wow,” Andy breathed, shocked nearly speechless, as well.

“It appears that they’re not sharing a placenta, which could be dangerous for them later on, but just the outer layer of the amniotic sac,” she said.

“Huh?” they both asked in unison.

“There’s two layers to the amniotic sac, which holds the fluid they effectively swim in during pregnancy. The inner layer is where they, and their placentas, actually are,” the OB/GYN explained. “If they were sharing the inner layer, as well as the outer one, I’d be concerned about them sharing a placenta, too.”

“How can you tell they’re not sharing an inner layer, too, though?” Ash asked curiously.

“Well, you see this thin line right here?” she asked, pointing. “That’s the outer layer. If you look really closely right here—” she pointed to another thin line “—that’s the membrane of the inner layer separating them right there.”

“Wow,” the bassist breathed. “But what could happen if they were sharing a placenta?”

“This doesn’t happen in every twin pregnancy, but sometimes a condition called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome occurs.” She took the probe off his belly for a moment as she looked at them. “That basically means that while, for all intents and purposes, stealing nutrients from one another, one twin can get more blood flow than the other. That can result in one twin being bigger than the other, and the bigger twin can sometimes kill its sibling if it steals enough nutrients from them.”

Andy and Ash gasped in unison, glad they wouldn’t have to worry about that, as far as they knew.

“I’m still gonna keep an eye out for that as your pregnancy progresses, just to be sure, but in the meantime, do you wanna hear their heartbeats?”

Both nodded eagerly, wanting yet more reassurance that their babies were alive and doing well.

Dr. Shepard placed the probe back on the bassist’s belly, then moved it so that it hovered over baby A. She then pressed a button on the machine and the room was filled with an almost inaudible whooshing, which was followed by a soft ka-thump ka-thump ka-thump. Hearing the one baby’s heartbeat brought tears to both their eyes, but those tears began to stream down their cheeks when they got to hear its twin’s.

After she took the probe off his belly and hooked it back onto its cart, she handed him a towel to wipe the excess gel off. He quietly thanked her as she gave him some tips for how to take care of himself during pregnancy and said that she’d be sending a prescription for a prenatal vitamin to his pharmacy of choice.

Once the appointment was drawn to a close, Andy stepped to the other side of the curtain for him to get dressed again. When he got his clothes on, he found that he felt a little too bloated to bend down to get his boots on, and begged his best friend for his help. The younger man didn’t complain in the least about taking on the task, then let him lean against him as they made their way out front. It was obvious that he was getting tired again, and he figured he’d fall asleep on their way back to his house.

“So when are we gonna tell the rest of the guys?” the frontman asked as they got strapped into his Dodge Charger.

“Later tonight,” Ash answered, yawning. “I would call ’em over and tell ’em now, but I’m too tired.”

“So let’s invite ’em over for dinner,” his best friend suggested. “I’ll just have to make sure they don’t bring beer or anything.”

“I think that’s really gonna be the only down-side of pregnancy for me,” he chuckled. “I can’t drink now, and we all know how much I love beer, and especially Jack Daniels.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true enough.” Andy laced their fingers together where they lay on the console. “I really am sorry about getting you pregnant, though. I honestly hadn’t expected that to happen when I turned you into a woman.”

“It’s fine, Ands,” he swore, smiling at him. “You were just trying to teach me not to complain about trivial shit. And while you only meant to teach me that being a woman wasn’t as easy as they make it look, I guess I’m definitely learning not to complain about the trivial shit now.”

“Seriously. Not only are you pregnant with your best friend’s baby, but pregnant with twins, to boot,” Andy chuckled. “If you don’t learn the lesson I intended to teach you now, you’ve got some serious issues, Ashie.”

“Got that right. I doubt I could possibly fail to learn the lesson now,” he agreed.

The rest of their ride home was spent in silence, and he found himself beginning to drift off about halfway back. His best friend gently caressing the back of his hand with his thumb certainly wasn’t helping any attempts he made to stay awake, but considering how exhausted he was, he needed a nap.

When they arrived back at the bassist’s house, Andy gently disentangled their fingers before getting out and making his way around to the passenger’s side. He lifted his pregnant best friend from the seat bridal-style as gently as he could, trying not to wake him. The soft sigh that he released as he rested his head on his shoulder meant he was still asleep.

Once in the house, the frontman carried him upstairs to the master bedroom and gently deposited him on his bed. He’d intended to leave him alone and let him rest in peace, but when he whined softly and tried to snuggle into him in his sleep, he found he didn’t have the heart. Ash’d always been quite the cuddler, especially while asleep, even if he wouldn’t admit it; with him carrying his children now, he couldn’t bring himself to leave and make him sleep alone. Sighing softly, he gently laid down beside him, smiling as he wrapped his arms around his waist and used his chest as a pillow.

He gently kissed his best friend’s temple, trying not to disturb him if he didn’t have to. The sensation of having him in his arms was one that he couldn’t describe, but he knew it was going to end eventually. Unless he decided that he actually wanted to be with him after giving birth to the twins, they were going to go back to being best friends like they’d always been, as if nothing had happened. Knowing that’s how Ash looked at things hurt Andy’s heart, but he wasn’t going to force him to stay a woman forever.

Notes