Andy POV

"Which part is part 32?" CC asked, holding up a leg to the baby bed. "Because it says this attaches to it."
"Um," I looked around blankly.
Parts of the baby bed were sprawled across the pink room that still smelled of fumes, and my guys and Leahs had come over to try to assemble it.
Vale, of course, was enjoying eating a bag of cheetos while she painted the dresser white slowly, taking all the time in the world so she wouldn’t have to help us put the baby bed together.
"Why didn't you just get this thing sent together?" Ashley asked, looking confused as he gazed at the directions. "Why is half of it in spanish?"
"Because it cost an extra four hundred for assembly," I siged, holding up what looked like a hinge.
Why did it need a hinge?
Did the baby crawl in it like a swinging dog door or something?
I was confused.
This was really not going well.
CC scowled, trying to get two pieces to fit together, his eyes squinted. "Why is this so difficult? Next time you wanna have a kid, buy a baby bed that's already put together, man."
"Trust me," I snorted, "I'm not doing this again."
It got kind of quiet, and I glanced up, seeing everyone was staring at me.
"What?"
"Is it that bad?" CC asked hesitantly, Vale kicking him lightly in the butt from where she was. "Ow! I mean, well, is It?"
"I didn't mean it that way," I muttered, rolling the hinges at Ashley where he sat with what looked like part 74. "It's just... not what I expected it to be."
I heard a string of foul Russian start up in the other room as Leah dealed with one of the stores who hadn't sent something correctly, and sighed.
"Does she do that often now?" Vale asked me, still a tad touchy over the silent treatment my wife had given all of us for three days; Vale never got over anything quickly.
"Yep." I grunted, finally getting the bars to fit together. "Quick, the screwdriver!"
"Yes, doctor!" CC tossed it to me, and I quickly tightened the bars, not wanting them to fall apart.
I was really starting to worry about this; if we did a shit job, I definitely did not want my kid sleeping in this death trap.
Maybe I should just fork over the four hundred after all.
"Chto vy imeyete v vidu , v subbotu ?" Leah suddenly shouted.
I doubted they even understood what she was saying, I knew I didn't.
"You guys, I don't think this is working out," Ashley sighed, drumming his fingers on a wooden leg. "I can't even understand half the these instructions and I'm the smart one."
"Fuck, lemme jus call Clarke, okay? He was always good at this stuff," Vale grumbled, calling her brother before all of us created a even bigger catastrophe.
"YA khochu eto zdes' i seychas !"
She was really getting serious.
CC cast a nervous glance out the door. "Does she sound like that when she's mad?"
"Yeah."
"It's scary. And she has brothers that sound like that." CC suddenly shuddered. "That must be scary as hell, dude."
"I've only ever met Danny," I shrugged it off. "She doesn't talk to the other three. I don't think I even know their names, honestly."
"Clarke'll be here in a few minutes," Vale sounded relieved. "He said he would help us. Because we are so failing, you guys."
"We? You're supposed to be painting a dresser white," Ashley scowled at her. "How can you mess that up?"
She glared at him. "Says the guy who can't put two legs together!"
"Well I have always been better at separating them!"
For the love of god, this is why I didn't get these two together in a room; I'd almost forgotten how much they hated each other.
CC rolled his eyes, stuck between the two of them.
"Can you guys can it and at least look productive?" I snapped at them, and both of them glared at each other before looking back down at their projects.
"YA khochu , chto ya chertovski prikazal!"
I grimaced; she would have a fit if she didn't calm down.
"Yes, fucking thank you, you incompetent morons!" She suddenly shouted in english, and all of us jumped in surprise, her voice reaching new octaves.
Jeez.
"Look busy!" I hissed, and all of us started studying the baby bed parts, Vale hastily resuming her painting as Leah came to the door, huffing.
"How is it going?" She asked after a moment.
"Good," I told her with a smile. "We're just... reading the instructions."
"For two hours?" Leah looked amused, and her eyes scanned the mess. "Why does it have hinges?"
"Fuck if I know."
She chuckled. "I would help if I could get down in the floor."
"It's okay," CC told her with a smile. "We got this, don't worry. We'll have this thing up and operational in... a couple days."
"Who would've thought you guys could play instruments but you couldn’t put a baby bed together?" She chuckled, and we all grimaced.
"This is why we're not builders," Ashley commented.
"Say cheese!"
We all looked over, blinking, as Leah snapped a picture suddenly.
"Leah, I'm covered in paint!"
"I look like I'm eating the leg!"
"I can't have my picture taken without wearing sunglasses!"
I chuckled at the protests."
Leah grinned. "Calm down, you guys, it's for the baby. She needs to appreciate all the work you guys did. I've decided I'm gonna make a big album and ----." She turned in surprise as there was a knock on the front door, and Vale nearly fell over herself as she hurried to open it and let Clarke in.
"You guys called in the Calvary?"
"We really needed help." I sighed, getting to my feet, my ass going numb from sitting in the floor. "This is surprisingly hard. Next time I'm just gonna pay the extra for assembly."
Leah chuckled.
I was surprised she was in a good mood after screaming at whoever was on the phone.
"Wow, okay, did you guys look at anything before you put it all in the floor?" Clarke asked as he stepped into the baby room, seeing everything everywhere.
"We were supposed too?"
He sighed, and took the wrinkled instructions from CC, glancing down at them. "Okay, first things first, gather all the bars in one place, over there by the wall. Put all the legs over here, and any screws and hinges also separate into two piles."
Right.
I stepped out of the room and trotted to the fridge, quickly grabbing a beer out of it and chugging it; I was going to need this if I intended on working with all of them again.
"Is it that hard?"
"Half of the instructions are in Spanish," I sighed, turning to look at her over the bar. "I have no idea what's going on in there. Vale can't even paint."
"Well, I figured that would be a no go," Leah sighed, propping herself against the island with a grimace. "She hates doing stuff."
I already knew that.
"You okay?" I asked, seeing her press her hand tightly against her stomach.
"Yeah, just ---- Andy!"
"What?" I was at her side immediately, my hands hovering.
"Feel!" She ordered, and forced my hand against her stomach.
I didn’t feel ---- oh.
I blinked.
"Is she ---?"
"Kicking?" Leah suddenly beamed. "She's kicking!"
Holy shit she was.
I stared down at her stomach, feeling the movement under my hand.
"That’s amazing," I murmured.
Our baby was actually moving.
"She must be excited about her bed," I joked, and Leah rolled her eyes.
"Or worried. It sounds like a disaster."
"Because it Is," I chuckled, and leaned down to give her a kiss thoughtlessly.
Leah hesitated, but let me, which had to be a start.
"So," I asked, pretending I hadn't noticed, "you think Clarke can salvage our mess?"
"Probably, he always was good with putting stuff together." Leah shrugged, walking away from me to sit down on the couch, propping her feet up. "I'm just waiting for Clara to destroy him."
"I can hear you!"
"Then you shouldn't be surprised I think she's a two-faced bitch!" Leah called back to him, completely unashamed.
I hesitated as I sat on the coffee table.
With pregnancy came a loss of shyness, apparently.
Leah really hated Clara, but I didn't blame her. I'd been an idiot and had slept with her, as had her brother, and now her bassist?
It was like Clara was taking over the band.
And honestly she wasn't that good of a lay, not near as good as she thought she was.
I snorted at the thought.
"What?" Leah asked, and I shook my head.
"Nothin', what do you want for dinner? I'll pick something up."
"Cheese!"
I blinked. "Cheese?"
"Anything with cheese," Leah looked earnest. "I need cheese in my life right now."
I chuckled. "Cheese it is then."
"How about pizza?" Ashley called from the baby room.
"Pizza?"
"Pizza!" Leah agreed, an Vale popped up in the doorway.
"I'll pick it up!" She said, a white streak of paint in her dark hair. "I volunteer as tribute!"
Leah grinned. "May the odds be ever in your favor!"
What the hell were they talking about?
The girls laughed, leaving me completely clueless as usual, and I turned away, shrugging as I found the pizza places number in my phone and called them.
Vale left a few minutes later to pick them up.
I glanced at Leah where she lounged on the couch, pecking on her phone, and then towards the baby room where our bands tried to assemble the baby bed, Clarke already making progress where we had failed.
I could see most of the bars together, even a leg attached.
Maybe this was gonna work out after all.
If Leah didn't leave me as soon as the baby was born.
I had that fear.
She thought I didn't want her when I did, and I was so afraid as soon as Gracie was born she would file for a divorce and just leave, taking the baby and disappearing.
I didn't want that to happen.
I wanted to be with her.
But I couldn't …. fuck, I couldn't stay here with her all the time, not when I had my music to work on too. She might be pregnant, but I had to make sure my career didn't wither; I had new tracks to work on, the guys had almost finished all their parts and I was the one holding all of us back.
I'd meant what I said when I had called for a hiatus until the baby was born, I wasn't doing tours or shows or any of that shit.
But I did need to get to the studio occasionally.
It just made me feel bad to mention it because I knew Leah couldn't do that all, that her music career WAS suffering because of her pregnancy.
She had been so excited for Warped, and I'd ruined her experience of it by knocking her up midway through it.
Or had it happened before Warped?
Hell, I didn’t remember.
I fiddled with the end of my paint splattered shirt, pink still dried on it from the other painting. I hadn't been able to get it out, but at least it made for memories, I guess.
God, I needed a smoke.
Leah would kill me if I lit one up right here, so I stood, moving toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I need a smoke, I'll just be a few minutes," I said, and she sighed, nodding.
Yeah, I know, I should quit, but this was one of the few things I had left for myself.
Everything was for the baby, but at least smoking was still for me.
I sighed as I sat down on the steps outside, lighting one up and taking a quick draw off of it, exhaling in relief.
I watched as the smoke drifted up into the city sky.
This was going to be my life now.
And I wasn't sure how I felt about It.

Notes