Together Again

After the frantic, terrifying call he’d gotten from his lover, Ash was too wound up to really think straight. His mind was just as muddled as it was right after he’d read the results on that pregnancy test that’d sent him packing all those years ago. He wasn’t thinking very clearly, but he was trying his damnedest to calm down for the sakes of the babies he was currently carrying.

The younger man had a point in wanting him to calm down, considering that if he stayed too wound up for too long, he could very well go into preterm labor. Having Legacy and Magick in the hospital was bad enough; they didn’t need him in the hospital, too. The fact that he was already had a higher risk for miscarriage, preterm labor, and stillbirth due to his age really meant that he needed to calm down. The worry he had for his oldest child made that harder than one would imagine, though. He feared she wouldn’t live long enough to come out to LA and see him again, that he’d be forced to bury his baby.

When Jinxx got there and found him frantically cleaning the house, despite doctor’s orders that he stay off his feet as much as he could, he was shocked. His friend forced him to sit down and rest, even though that brought on tears he’d been trying to hold at bay. It took a while for him to calm down enough to tell him what was wrong, as he was sobbing too hard to speak clearly. Naturally, this worried the younger man greatly as he held him in his arms and rocked him back and forth.

“Let’s try this again,” he said gently, using a thumb under his chin to raise his head. “What happened, Ash?”

“L-Legacy,” the older man managed to gasp out.

“Legacy? What’s wrong with Legacy?” Jinxx asked, now concerned.

“She’s in the hospital, Jinxx.” Looking up, the pair saw that Jake and CC’d come in, completely unheard by them.

“What? Why’s she in the hospital?” the multi-instrumentalist asked.

“From what Andy was able to tell us, she could’ve very well laid down her life for Magick,” Jake answered. “Her sister was attacked outside the theatre they were going to with some friends by a bully from school. She jumped in to defend her, like a good big sister should, and the bully sicced her boyfriend on Legacy.”

“Have you got any kinda update on her condition?” He was asking this because he knew Ash couldn’t since he was still crying.

“Apparently she took a hard enough hit to the head to knock her out,” he answered. “He hasn’t found out anything else beyond the fact that they’ve taken her in for a CAT scan.”

“So there’s no telling if she’s got a concussion yet or not,” Jinxx said, still gently rocking their friend.

“Not yet. He said he’d call with an update as soon as he got one,” the guitarist answered. “I don’t even have to ask if Ash knows yet…”

“Considering how frantically he was cleaning the house when I got here, I’m guessing he was the first Andy called, which is understandable,” his friend answered. “I mean, he’s the girls’ mother; if any of us should find out first, it’s him.”

“H-he called m-me to a-ask if I’d l-listed h-him as th-their f-father,” Ash managed to stutter out, reaching up to wipe his eyes.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say the answer to that question is yes,” CC said, sounding a lot more subdued than was his norm.

The oldest of their group could only nod weakly where his head lay against the multi-instrumentalist’s chest.

“I’m not even gonna ask how you’re holding up, Ash,” Jake said, sitting down on his other side. “This has gotta be incredibly hard for you, seeing as you’re clean across the country from them.”

“As h-hard as b-being told M-Magick was g-going into d-distress t-twice during l-labor,” he managed.

“Oh, my Godsmack,” the trio breathed collectively.

“No wonder he’s practically losing it,” Jinxx said. “Having that kinda scare while giving birth would be hard enough, but to be told something like this while you’re nearly three thousand miles away?”

“I say we all stay here with him,” CC piped up. “I honestly don’t care what Nixx says; he needs us right now.”

“I think you’re right, Ceese,” the guitarist agreed with a nod. “If we can’t get him calmed down, he could cause himself to go into premature labor. That’s the last thing we need since it’s not very likely the babies would survive if they’re born now.”

Hearing those words come out of his friend’s mouth drove home the reality of the situation, and Ash gripped his belly in fear. “No… I can’t lose my babies…”

For the rest of the evening, the trio did everything they could to distract him from what was going on out in Tennessee so he could calm down. Jake and Jinxx, as much as they sucked at it in comparison to him and Andy, even went so far as to get out one of the younger man’s basses. Even though he couldn’t hold it as well as he’d like, they’d managed to get it in his hands and get him to playing.

Shortly after he’d warmed up and recalled things he hadn’t played in nearly twenty years, they started teaching him the bass riffs from all their songs after their debut album. The pair was right in thinking that it was the perfect distraction, considering that Andy’d come up with some pretty complicated riffs that took a lot of concentration.

Before they knew it, Ash’d caught on to the riffs from every song on Set the World on Fire and Wretched and Divine. Despite their complicated nature, he was able to catch on pretty easily since he’d been a killer bassist all those years ago. In fact, he’d caught on so well that they’d moved on to teaching him the bass riffs from their self-titled album and were working on that when the oldest man’s phone rang. Startled, he almost dropped the bass he was holding, but managed not to as he scrabbled for his phone.

“Hello?” he asked tentatively, terrified when he saw it was Andy’s name on the caller ID.

“Hey, sweetheart,” the younger man greeted him. “How’re you holding up?”

“Pretty well,” Ash answered, rubbing his belly again.

“We’ve been doing pretty good at keeping him distracted, at least, till you called,” Jinxx said. “He’s caught on to all the bass riffs from Set the World on Fire and Wretched and Divine, and we were working on Black Veil Brides.”

“Thanks for going over there, guys,” he responded with a sigh. “I knew he was gonna need someone to be with him, maybe even distract him till I could give him an update.”

“So how are the girls?” he asked, still terrified about their health.

“Like their friend told me, Magick’s just a little banged up; a few cuts and whatnot that shouldn’t take long to heal,” Andy reported. “Legacy just got back from her CAT scan, and thankfully it’s just a mild concussion.”

Ash couldn’t help the sigh of relief that came out of him as he seemingly deflated, falling limp on the couch as his phone rested on his lap.

“She’ll have to stay in the hospital for a couple days, but since they’re exempt from the exams and all they’re doing is studying for those, she won’t have to worry about school,” his lover continued. “She should be out in a couple days, although I’ve still gotta talk to the doctor about her flying out to LA in the next couple weeks.”

“I’m just glad to know she’s gonna be okay,” he said, finally able to smile.

“So am I, Outlaw…so am I,” he agreed. “I’ve been terrified she wouldn’t live long enough to see you again…”

“I was just as terrified…maybe worse, considering that scare I had while I was in labor with them,” the older man admitted.

“He was frantically cleaning the house when I got here,” Jinxx cut in. “Considering that he’s under doctor’s orders to stay off his feet as much as he can, that’s why Jake and I chose to bust out one of your basses and teach him those riffs.”

“Which you suck at, by the way,” Ash laughed.

“Hey, I’m more of a guitarist; even CC’s said I suck at drums,” Jake said defensively.

“And you know I’m more of a classical man,” Jinxx agreed.

“Well, still…thanks for going over there, guys,” Andy chuckled. “I’d rather you suck at teaching him bass riffs than him go into preterm labor from being too upset and on his feet too much.”

“So would we,” the trio chorused.

“And you, Outlaw…if the doctor ordered you to stay off your feet as much as you can, don’t be defying those orders,” his lover said with a semi-stern tone.

“I was just as mentally turmoiled as when I found out I was pregnant the first time, Batman,” he shot back defensively.

“Still, I don’t want anything happening to you or our babies,” he told him.

It wasn’t long before Andy had to go, saying that the doctor taking care of Legacy and Magick wanted to talk to him again. His fear ratcheted up a notch again, but considering the good report he’d just gotten, he wasn’t quite as worried. Nothing would stop him from worrying completely till he knew Legacy was going to be okay, though.

After ending the phone call, Jake and Jinxx went back to teaching him the bass riff to a song they’d called Crown of Thorns, which they’d been working on before the interruption. It was the perfect song to work on at the moment, considering that it could be taken as a promise to stay by someone’s side until the end of time. If there was one thing Ash planned to do, it was stay by the sides of his lover and children for as long as he could, even if he had to come back as a ghost after his death.

From the time the call was ended till then, he was distracted enough by that bass riff that he barely realized he was starting to get tired. Granted, the others eventually stopped him and said it was probably getting close to bedtime when he yawned so hard his teeth snapped when he closed his mouth. Unable to argue with their logic, he nodded before heading upstairs, grateful that they agreed to spend the night so he wasn’t alone.

Notes