Hanging by a Moment

Upon arriving at the airport in London, Ash was incredibly nervous. He hadn’t told the rest of the guys about his new-found fatherhood, nor that he’d asked Rebel to come with him as a babysitter. Bringing the young woman he’d befriended in the past couple weeks entailed bringing her daughter, Logan, whom was a little sweetheart and seemed enthralled by the baby easily half her size.

He’d been too busy taking care of Legacy the past couple weeks to find a moment—and the energy—to invite the guys over to introduce them to her. Additionally, he’d spent the last week packing everything that he and said baby would need, and between that and taking care of her, he just couldn’t find a spare moment.

Now he was incredibly nervous that they were going to get mad and kick him out of the band for being stupid enough to impregnate some random chick. Then again, if they were anything like he thought they were, he doubted they’d do anything but embrace both of them with loving, supportive hugs. They might decide to get a second bus for him, Rebel, and the babies so they weren’t kept up, but he could deal with that. He couldn’t deal with being kicked out of the band and losing his dream, even though it was no less than he deserved, if he were honest with himself.

Apparently sensing his anxiety, Rebel nudged herself up against him, considering that her hands were full with their suitcase handles as she dragged them behind her. His own were full of their babies’ carriers since they were heavier, so they couldn’t really grab each others’ hands. Still, Ash knew damn good and well that if they’d had at least one free hand, she’d have grabbed his and given it a reassuring squeeze. He was thankful for that, and he showed his thanks with the tender, relieved smile he shot at her.

“Ash!” he heard several voices yell at him.

Flinching slightly, he looked up to see the guys jogging toward him.

“What the?” Andy asked, taking note of what he held in his hand.

“Who’s this, Ash?” Jake asked curiously, eyeing the woman at his side.

“I know what I’ve got in my hands is shocking, but only one of ’em belongs to me,” he said. “I’ll tell ya once we get to the bus, though.”

“All right,” Jinxx agreed on the behalf of everyone. “But again, who’s this?”

“The name’s Rebel,” the young woman answered, holding her hand out. “Why I’m here will be explained on the bus.”

Nodding their agreement, Jake and Jinxx took the carriers since they could see his arms and shoulders straining under their weight. Andy and CC nodded as they took their suitcases from Rebel, making her smile in thanks. Sighing softly as he stretched, he followed his friends back to where they’d parked the bus, his new friend still at his side.

On the bus, Jake and Jinxx set the carriers on the table, knowing it was the steadiest place for them at the moment. Rebel immediately pulled the blanket off her own daughter’s carrier, greeting her warmly as she started unbuckling her since she was awake. That wasn’t too surprising, though, considering that they’d been on a twelve-hour transcontinental flight, which she’d slept through most of. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if Legacy was also awake, and with a sigh, took the blanket off his daughter’s carrier.

He smiled warmly when he looked down into the carrier and saw eyes just as dark as his own peering back up at him. Legacy looked a bit surprised for a minute, then apparently recognized him and let out a soft little coo. Chuckling softly, Ash unbuckled her before gently lifting her out, then cuddled her against his chest. It was how she seemed happiest, and since she was in strange surroundings, he wanted her to be happy and comfortable.

“So who’re these little beauties?” CC asked, sounding awed, yet excited.

“This is my daughter, Logan,” Rebel said, chuckling when the six-month-old turned to him with a grin. “Can you say hi to Chris?”

Logan babbled at him, gently slapping at him as if trying to pat his arm.

“She’s a cutie, Rebel,” the hyper drummer chuckled. “Oh, so you wanna come to me?”

The little girl was reaching out to him, and he gladly took her when the young woman offered to let him hold her.

“Just don’t drop or otherwise hurt my baby, or we’ll have a hurt drummer,” she said.

“You a fan, or just a friend of Ash’s?” Andy asked curiously.

“Both, actually,” she chuckled, obviously remembering when she’d finally told him she’d known who he was right from the get-go. “I stumbled across your music a little over a year ago, but acted like I didn’t know who Ashley was when we met.”

“I’m still kinda curious as to how you met,” Jinxx said thoughtfully.

“It’s a long story,” Ash spoke up, now sitting on the couch with Legacy cradled in one arm.

“I think we’ve got enough time,” the multi-instrumentalist chuckled.

“Well… The night we got home a couple weeks ago, I heard a knock at my front door a couple hours after I actually got home, but I knew it wasn’t any of you guys,” he said after taking a deep breath. “When I opened the door, I didn’t see anyone and almost closed it…till I realized Tokyo and Killer were sniffing at something.

“Lo and behold, when I looked down, I saw a baby carrier with a note taped to it sitting at my feet. Needless to say, I was surprised and confused, but no more than when I read the note after I took the carrier inside.” He took another deep breath, sighing heavily as he looked down at the baby he held. “This little beauty that I’m holding…she’s my daughter, Legacy Aurora Purdy. Her mother wanted nothing to do with her, saying she was giving her to me because she couldn’t take care of her, but didn’t wanna give her up for adoption.”

Rebel was gently rubbing his shoulder, trying to reassure and comfort him without ever saying a word.

“Oh, my…” all of the guys trailed off at once, wanting to watch their filthy mouths in front of the babies.

“I’ve had her for the last week, and I’ve got full custody of her. After a trip to social services, officials were able to contact her mother, who all too eagerly waived her parental rights, even visitation,” he continued.

“No wonder you brought her along with you,” Jinxx managed to say. “It’s pretty obvious she’s pretty young, but just how young is she?”

“She was born on Valentine’s Day, of all days,” the bassist chuckled, smiling warmly down at his daughter.

“All right, you having the one baby with you makes sense now,” Andy said. “But what about Rebel and Logan? Where do they come into the story?”

“Good question,” Rebel spoke up. “I was doing some shopping the morning after Legacy was left on his doorstep and took pity on him when she started screaming in the middle of the store, and he couldn’t calm her down.”

“She helped me calm her down, as well as find what I needed there at the grocery store,” he said, blushing sheepishly. “I dunno if it was because I asked nicely or not, but she also helped me shop for and set up Legacy’s nursery.”

“Mostly because I knew you needed the help, but also partly because you asked so nicely,” she admitted, chuckling. “How cute you looked while you were blushing like you are now was also a nice touch.”

Her words made Ash blush even more furiously than he already was, which made the guys start laughing and teasing him.

“But in all seriousness,” Jinxx said when they calmed down, “I’m guessing Logan’s father isn’t a part of her life?”

“Actually, he is, if only because the courts forced me to let him be.” Rebel frowned at the thought, and he reached over and wrapped his arm around her. “I might tell you guys why I don’t like him eventually, but it’s a pretty personal thing. I don’t wanna talk about it right now, if I’m honest.”

“That’s perfectly fine, Rebel,” Jake said soothingly. “After all, you just met us; it’s not surprising you don’t wanna talk about anything too personal.”

Smiling her thanks, she glanced over at CC, who was still holding the baby in question. “I hope you guys aren’t offended by, or gonna make crass remarks about, me nursing her.”

“Why would we do that?” Andy asked, his deep voice reverberating off the walls of the enclosed space. “Yeah, we’re guys; I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say we all like breasts and love complimenting them. But jeez, the girl’s gotta eat, and if that means seeing a nude breast, so be it.”

Once again, the young woman sighed as she smiled her thanks.

“I think she’s starting to get hungry, Rebel,” their crazy drummer piped up, looking down as she nuzzled his bare chest. “While I wouldn’t care if she latched onto me, I don’t think she’d be very happy when she didn’t get anything.”

“C’mere to Mama,” she said, holding her hands out after pulling her shirt off.

“Ma-ma!” Logan cried, happily returning to her mother’s arms.

Even though he was the most notorious about making perverted, or even crass remarks about nude breasts, Ash kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to offend his friend, even though he doubted she’d be too offended by anything he said. Besides, he was too busy focusing on his own baby to really care if there was a partially undressed woman beside him.

When Legacy started nuzzling his chest the same way, he sighed as he dug in her diaper bag. Hoping he still had a bottle mixed up for her, he was dismayed to find that he didn’t, knowing she was well on her way to crying if he didn’t get one mixed up soon. It was only a matter of time, and even though he loved her with every fiber of his being, he was sick of hearing her cry. Aside from being upset when she was uncomfortable, a crying baby had always been a pretty big pet peeve of his.

“What’s wrong, Ashley?” the young woman beside him asked.

“She’s starting to get hungry, and I don’t have anymore bottles mixed up,” he answered, starting to get up.

“I can nurse her, if ya want,” Rebel offered. “I might not be her mother, but it’s still better for her than formula, in the long run.”

“You sure about that?” the bassist asked, looking worried. “I don’t wanna impose more than I already have…”

“It’s not an imposition if I offered,” she chuckled, nodding.

“She’s got a point, Ash,” Jinxx said. “While being fed is essential to her, breast milk is always better for a baby.”

Cocking a brow curiously, he just looked at his friend.

“It’s something my mother told me when I was babysitting in my teens,” the other man chuckled. “I didn’t really get why my charges’ mother wanted the youngest fed breast milk unless I absolutely had to mix up formula. Think of it this way: the difference between formula and breast milk is similar to organic and non-organic food to us.”

“Ahhh,” Ash said, nodding. He gently reached over to help unclip the other side of Rebel’s nursing bra before handing his baby to her.

“Yeah, that’s a good way to think of it, Jinxx,” she agreed, motioning for him to turn her so her little legs were curled up against the back of the couch like Logan’s. “It’s easier to hold a nursing baby like this, especially if there’s multiples.”

Once Legacy was settled in her arm, she stared at the nude breast presented to her as if she didn’t have a clue what to do. It’d been easily a week since she’d been able to nurse, if her mother’d nursed her at all, but her instincts kicked in within moments. The young woman pulling her closer to her breast and murmuring encouraging words to her helped with that, but thankfully, she was able to nurse.

Rebel sighed softly as she latched on, showing no outward signs of discomfort as she suckled at her greedily. When she sighed, it made the bassist glance at her curiously, wondering if she was okay or not. Chuckling softly, she reassured him that she was fine, that the relief of pressure just felt really good.

As a man, he was a bit confused as to what she meant, and she quickly explained that as the milk built up, so did the pressure in her breasts. Pumping and bottling her milk helped with that, as did the occasional leakage she suffered, but nursing helped just as much. It was a bit clearer to him that her breasts had gotten uncomfortably full during the flight, considering that she was unable to nurse during that time. Too many people around them had complained when she’d tried, so she’d just given up and used the bottles in Logan’s diaper bag to feed her daughter.

It wasn’t long before both babies spit out her nipples, which glistened and puckered in the cool air from their saliva. Ash quickly took his daughter, gently holding her against his shoulder as he patted her back like the young woman’d shown him. The guys were concerned that he was hitting her too hard, and before he could even say anything, Rebel explained it the same way she’d explained it to him. They were relieved to know that he wasn’t hurting Legacy, that the blows simply sounded harder than they really were.

“There we go,” he chuckled softly when she let out a soft burp right next to his ear. “Feel better now, princess?”

Legacy sighed softly, gently nuzzling his throat as she cuddled closer to him.

“She okay now, Ash?” Jake asked.

“Well, other than needing a diaper change, I think she’s fine now,” he answered, nodding at him.

“You? Changing a diaper?” Andy snorted softly. “Why do I get the feeling it’ll just fall right back off her?”

“Actually, he’s not as bad at changing diapers as you seem to think,” Rebel chuckled, having finished burping her own baby. “His very first attempt needed a bit of correction, but it was still pretty good, despite that.”

“Really?” the young frontman asked, looking and sounding surprised.

“Really. Maybe because he watched me change her diaper first, maybe not.” She shrugged before grabbing Logan’s diaper bag. “You want some bananas now, baby girl?”

The six-month-old seemingly cheered as she clapped clumsily.

“She’s already old enough for baby food?” CC asked, sounding a bit surprised himself.

“She’s been eating baby cereal since she was four months old; six to eight months is about the age most babies are ready for stage one baby food.”

“How old is she?” Jake asked, gently tickling the little girl as her mother popped open her jar of bananas.

“Six months,” Rebel said, smiling proudly. “She’s my little sweetheart.”

“Awww,” all of them but Ash cooed.

“You can feed her, if ya want, Jake,” she offered, holding out the jar and baby spoon she’d grabbed.

“You sure she’ll actually eat for me?” he asked, sounding a bit uncertain.

“Oh, yeah,” she chuckled as he took the offered items, setting them aside long enough to settle the baby in his lap. “She loves bananas so much that she doesn’t care who’s feeding them to her, so long as she gets ’em.”

Chuckling, he gently nuzzled the top of her head as she whined and reached out to the jar. “Okay, okay, sweet pea…here’s your bananas.”

Rebel watched as he made silly sounds and played a couple games, letting her think the spoon was an airplane or some such silliness, as he fed her. Her baby giggled and let out peals of laughter at his silliness, but she also loved it when whoever was feeding her did that. It even encouraged her to eat, especially if what she was being fed wasn’t necessarily something she liked.

All the while, the others were lounging around, trying to give Ash space as he changed his own daughter’s diaper, yet still get a good look. They weren’t being perverted and specifically wanted a glance of her crotch; they were just curious as to how well he could change a diaper, which made him smirk.

They were all surprised when he unbuttoned her onesie and stripped her dirty diaper off her with the same dexterity he used on his bass. Cleaning her up was no trouble either, not even holding both her little ankles in a crossed position between his fingers. Granted, he grimaced at the texture as he smeared some Destin ointment on her little rear, which was still a bit red from the diaper rash she’d gotten the previous week. Still, it didn’t bother him much, especially since he knew it’d help his little angel feel better. Besides, it wasn’t like he couldn’t wipe the excess off his fingers and be as good as new.

Once she had the ointment smeared across her little bottom and the baby powder sprinkled over the rest of her crotch, he spread a fresh diaper under her. He chuckled as he noticed she was looking around curiously, not even paying attention to his actions as he changed her. By the time he got the fresh diaper secured around her chubby little belly, he knew his friends were thoroughly shocked. The diaper wasn’t too tight or loose, nor was it wrapped around her crookedly.

“Well, I’ll be…” CC cut himself off, remembering not to cuss in front of the babies, even though they likely couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“I can’t believe it…” Andy trailed off. “The man can actually change a diaper.”

“I told ya he could,” Rebel chuckled, handing Jake some baby wipes to clean her daughter’s banana-covered face. “Yeah, he’ll need a bit more practice to be on par with me, but for someone who’s only been doing it a week…”

“Thanks, Rebel,” he laughed, lifting Legacy up off the couch cushion to cradle her.

“Think she’ll flip out if any of us hold her?” the drummer asked curiously.

“I don’t think so since she’s almost ready for a nap, but so help me, if you hurt or drop her…” He trailed off as he shot him a stern look.

“Ash, I’ll letcha castrate me, if something happens to Legacy,” his partner in crime swore as he held his hands up in surrender.

Nodding his agreement and saying he’d hold him to that, Ash gently passed his daughter to him. He sat back, a worried expression on his face as he tried to relax, while his hyper partner in crime cradled her as gently as he did himself. Legacy looked up at him with an unreadable expression, then cooed at him softly.

The bassist sighed softly in relief, thinking she probably thought the man holding her was him. Rebel’d told him that, until they reached about four months old, babies were effectively blind since their vision was very blurry. Since she was only a month old, she could probably see colors, but not distinct features. Considering that he and CC both had long, black hair and very tanned skin, it wouldn’t have surprised him if she couldn’t tell the difference between them just yet.

Andy and Jinxx sat on either side of the drummer, Jake sitting on the floor at his feet once he’d handed Logan back to her mother. They all smiled at the little baby in their friend’s arms, and he was glad that they seemed to be accepting his new-found fatherhood as well as he was. Sure, having a baby, or rather two, when one counted the six-month-old, on board would take some getting used to, and he knew it.

Shortly thereafter, after she’d been passed to Jinxx, Legacy slowly dozed off in his arms. Her little body curled up against his chest, her face turned toward it as she nuzzled him through his shirt. She wasn’t hungry again, but like any baby, it was pretty obvious she found sucking on something comforting as she fell asleep. Knowing that, although she wouldn’t start fussing if she didn’t have anything to suck on, but wouldn’t sleep as well, Ash dug her pacifier out of her diaper bag. He was able to gently turn her head enough to slip its nipple into her mouth, smiling when she sighed softly again and started sucking on it. Hearing the soft sounds she made in her sleep were always comforting to him.

Once she was deeply asleep, he took his baby back from his friend, gently cradling her for a bit before putting her back in her carrier. They still had to modify the bus to hold a couple of portable cribs, so her carrier was the safest place for her. Their manager assured him that they’d stop at the first Babies ‘R’ Us, or its equivalent, that they came across so he and Rebel could stock up on supplies for their girls. Considering that he’d gotten so little sleep during the past week, he decided to catch a nap of his own while he could. Thankfully, there were many more ears listening out for Legacy, so he was able to sleep in peace.

Notes