Ashlandil

“ASHLANDIL!”
I jerked, my head rising from the pillow.
What the fuck?
Kenali?
“Knli?” I mumbled, struggling to rise to my feet, staggering out of the sheets and towards the bathroom where I’d heard her high pitched shriek.
Jesus.
What time was it?
Fucking five thirty?
I’d only been asleep an hour!
“Kenali?” I rasped, pushing the white door the rest of the way open. She was standing in front of the wall mirror, a horrified look on her face as she stared at herself. She had her hands pressed against her stomach, her face bleached of color.
“Baby, what is it?” I sighed, stepping towards her as I rubbed my eyes.
I had to be at the studio at eight.
What the fuck?
“Look!” She whispered, and I blearily stared at her for a couple seconds before looking down, trying to figure out what the issue was.
Oh.
Oh my.
Well shit.
“Well,” I ran my hands through the back of my hair. “That’s a bit quick.”
“Quick!?” She practically shrieked, whirling to stare at me, tears welling in her eyes. “Ashlandil, the shows next week —.”
“Baby, it’s fine,” I cooed, slipping her into my arms and rocking her back and forth, amused.
She was showing.
Not much, you wouldn’t even notice it if you didnt know she was pregnant. I doubted it would make a difference in her clothing, so she didn’t have anything to worry about.
“It’s just a little, no one will even be able to tell,” I murmured into her hair, hugging her tightly.
My eyes were fucking burning.
And I hadnt told her about Iriel yet.
He’d been here a week or two now, and he’d gotten Andy under control; he’d told me to wait about Cronus, but I was getting tired of taking orders. I didn’t see why we couldn’t just kill him and be done with it.
And I kept meaning to mention it to Kenali, I just hadn’t had time. Everything had been so hectic, and we’d barely gotten to see each other this week. I'd been at the studio, and she'd been at hers, teaching her students and practicing for the impending show next week. I knew she was worried about it, but I also knew she would do wonderfully.
“But, but what if it messes with my costume?” she sniffles against my chest, her fingers cold as they pressed into my skin; someone was needing to feed again, apparently.

We hadn’t been together since before Andy had touched her, and though I had been feeding, I knew without a doubt she hadn’t.
She was really stuck on the whole monogamous thing, though I didn’t blame her. If it wasn’t for the fact I would die, I would be that way with her.
I sighed, tightening my hold around her.
“How much sleep did you get?” I murmured into her hair, and she shrugged.

She was asleep when I’d come in this morning.
“I’m not sure. I fell asleep waiting for you,” she pulled away from me slightly, gazing up at my face with narrowing eyes.

Uh oh.
I shouldn’t have said anything.
“Where were you, anyway?” she asked.

Should I tell her? I wondered, tucking a red curl behind her ear. Well, no time like the present.
“Iriel is in town,” I said after a moment, and her eyes widened. “I called him.”

“But you hate Iriel.”

“I know. But... I called him for Andy,” I sighed the name. “He’s the only one I would trust enough to take care of the idiot. Turns out someone has been feeding him their dark blood.”

“WHAT!?”

I winced as she shrieked in my ear.
“That’s what Iriel told me, anyway. He’s been keeping an eye on him.”

“How long has he been here!?”

“.... two weeks?”

“TWO ---- Ashlandil! Why are you just now telling me this!” she fussed, taking a step away from me and glaring, her hands going to her hips. “You should have told me this in the beginning!”

“I know, I just --- you were so happy about the studio, about the teaching,” I sighed wearily. “I just wanted you to be happy for a little while.”

And I did.
Kenali’s happiness on this earth was sparse, and so when she was enjoying herself, I didn’t want to ruin her.
I could see the anger in her eyes waver before they softened, and she stepped back to me, curling her arms tightly around me.
“Thank you, Ashlan,” she whispered after a moment.

“For what?”

“For taking care of him, when I can’t.”

Oh.
Andiel.
Right.
I shrugged my shoulders, and felt her lips press into my skin.
“I have a doctors appointment Friday,” she said after a moment, clearing her throat. “With that doctor lady. Do you wanna come?”

“Of course!” Shit, I’d have to reschedule recording, but that would be ea--- okay, I would just skip it. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Okay,” she chuckled, and then yawned.

Poor baby.
I knelt, and then lifted her abruptly into my arms, causing her to yelp in surprise, her arms curling around my neck.
“Ash!”

“You shouldn’t have to walk,” I grumbled, gently laying her down against the tousled sheets. I crawled over her, curling her body to mine, my hand going protectively to her swelling stomach. “You should be taking it easier.”

“Ashlandil, I’m only ten weeks,” she chuckled, her fingers running through my hair. “I’m barely even showing.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I huffed, feeling a wave of intense protectiveness roll through me.

I would break anyone’s bones who dared threaten my little family; sure, the baby wasn’t mine by blood, but I wasn’t going to linger on that. It was mine, she was mine, this was my family.
This was my chance, yknow?
And I didn’t want to blow it.
I rose up on my elbows over her, affectionately kissing her soft lips, her arms wrapping around my neck with a sigh.
My little family.....

“Ash!” Jake squawked angrily in my ear. “Where the hell are you!?”

“Uh, I’m at the doctors office,” I informed him, my arm slung around Kenali’s shoulder where she sat nervously; she absolutely hated it here, and I was pretty sure she’d asked me to come more because she wouldn’t have come if it had just been her.

“WHAT?”

“Kenna had to go to the doctor,” I glanced at her where she scanned through a pregnancy magazine, looking horrified at whatever it was she was finding. “I came with her. I’ll be there in a few hours.”

“A few ---- dude, this is ---.”

“Important, I know, I’ll be there. But this is important too.”

“Miss Dansereaux?”

“Whoops, gotta go, Jake.” I quickly clicked end before he could explode in my ear, and rose, tugging Kenali up with me.

She reluctantly rose, her fingers clamping in mine.
She really hated this place, and I didn’t think she was very fond of Aiyana either.
We followed the nurse to the room, and I hefted Kenali onto the table, ignoring the disgruntled look she sent me. She crossed her arms unhappily as she leaned back, and I chuckled, letting my hand rest on her thigh.
“What’s the face for?”

“I’m not supposed to show yet,” she muttered, shaking her head. “My show ---.”

“You’re show is going to be perfect,” I told her quickly, giving her a quick kiss. “Don’t worry so much. You’re not going to look like a balloon in the next week.”
Her eye twitched.
I grinned.
We heard a knock on the door seconds before Aiyana was walking inside, her hair in that familiar braid down her back. She sent us both warm smiles as she shut the door behind her, walking up to the table.
“Should I say congratulations about your impending marriage?” She chuckled as she neared, and Kenali rolled her eyes.

Someone had watched the Bryan Stars video.
As soon as it had been uploaded, our social medias had gone ballistic with the news.
There was a lot of hate, which I had expected, and I was perfectly good at shielding Kenali from it.
She could barely text, I didn’t expect her to be able to find Twitter or Facebook without help. She hadn’t asked about how anyone had reacted, I doubt she really cared about it that much.
All she was focused on was her show and our baby.
Because it wasn’t Andys.
Aiyana chatted a few minutes, informing us she’d bought tickets to Kenali’s show, that she was excited, blah blah blah.
Kenali relaxed a little, but she went tense again as soon as Aiyana instructed her to lie back against the table.
“So you’re about ten weeks now,” Aiyana said as she ran the stick across Kenali’s stomach, only the slightest roundness visible. “You’re not even showing yet, but it looks like everything is going fine,” she gave a kind smile. “The baby is forming perfectly. Its heartbeat is still strong.”

Kenali nodded, her eyes trained on the bigger screen.
“It’s not a blip anymore,” she muttered, and I glanced over.

Fuck.
It wasn’t.
“It looks like a peanut.”

Aiyana chuckled. “Here is the head,” she pointed, “and the body trails down this way. It’s growing a little quicker then usual, but that’s not surprising. You’re in excellent physical shape.”
Ahuh.
Kenali just nodded, her hand clenching in mine, and after a few more minutes Aiyana was finished, wiping the gel off my girlfriends stomach and handing us the new ultrasound picture.
Kenali stared down at it, her expression unreadable.
Uh oh.
She had been kind of temperamental.
“Thanks, Aiya, for taking her in so quick,” I said, and Aiyana nodded.

“Of course! What are friends for?” she sent me the quirky smile that I knew so well. I chuckled, and gave her a half-wave as she started for the door, my eyes going back to Kenali.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm?”

“I can tell something is up. What is it?”

“Oh.” Kenali hesitated, biting her lip. “I just... I’m worried, Ashlandil.”

“What about?” I absently brushed her hair behind her ear.

“Everyone knows now, about the baby,” she muttered, shrugging her shoulders. “What if.... what if it’s even more dangerous now? What if they want to hurt it?”

“They don’t know who the father is, Kenali, don’t worry,” I shook my head. “They don’t know anything about the parenting, so it doesn’t matter. For all they know, a mortal knocked you up.”

She didn’t look impressed with my phrasing.
“I don’t want to get married,” she suddenly burst, and I blinked at her a second, taken back.

“What?”

Her face reddened, and she quickly looked down at her hands.
“You said... you told everyone we were getting married,” she muttered after a moment, and I saw her swallow. “But we, we can’t, Ashlandil.... you know we can’t...”

Oh.
Was that what she was worried about?
“Why didn’t you say something before?” I chuckled, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and pulling me against her. “I wasn’t.... we’re not really going to get married, Kenali. I did that more as a punch to Andy’s face.”

“What?” she frowned at me.

“We don’t have to get really married,” I informed her, stroking my fingers through her hair. “But we can put on a damn good show, can’t we? For the kid, I figured it would help him out if his parents are actually married. We can have a big, fancy wedding, but that’s it.”

“So.... a fake... wedding?”

“Not necessarily. It’s gonna be a real wedding, just... we don’t sign any official papers, nothing that would make it... real.”

Okay, so a fake wedding.
Kenali hesitated, but looked down at the peanut in the picture she held.
“So you think it would be better for the baby?”

“I think it would be better in general.” I pressed my lips into her hair. “Besides, don’t you want to be called Mrs. Purdy?”

She wrinkled her nose at me, and I chuckled.
“I suppose it’d be better then the awful fake name you gave me.”

“What?” I gasped, my hand flailing against my chest. “It’s perfect!”

“Ashlandil, it’s terrible and you know it,” she chuckled, her eyes amused as she turned to look up at me. “I have no choice but to get another one. Though, with your choice of names, you’re not naming the baby.”

“What! Now that’s uncalled for,” I huffed, repressing my smile. “I pick wonderful names!”

“You named yourself Purdy. Ashley. Purdy.”

“Do I not look like an Ashley to you?”

“You look like a jackass to me.”

I grinned.

Touche.

Notes

So, what's the consensus? Boy or girl?
Ash seems pretty set on it being a boy, huh?


Oh, you guys guys guys ---- go look this up!
This dude --- okay, so I'm subscribed to this drummer dude on youtube, and he did a cover of MIW's Puppets 3, and it's fucking AMAZING!

You all need it in your life. I think I shared a link to his stuff here before.

Dylanrangodrums