LP’s POV

“Alan, move your face.” I grumbled, tossing the sheets around us. His arms wrapped around my waist and held me closer. A quiet chuckle echoed my sentiment. The blue walls came into view as I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. From the foot of the bed, a tabby cat meowed as Alan pushed him off.

“Okay, I will move my face.” Alan sighed in his morning voice. His hot morning voice was probably the reason I woke up every day, or maybe it was because I had the most amazing job in the world. He pressed his mouth against my cheek, giving me a long kiss when I turned to him.

“Not what I meant, Ashby.” I groaned. Alan just kissed my neck in response.

“You can’t keep calling me Ashby since you’re an Ashby as well.” He snickered happily. Sighing, I knew it was true. We had been married a year and I still wasn’t used to not being able to call him by his usual nickname. Despite Alan being thirty six years old and me being twenty one, it felt as if we didn’t have that age gap. I mean, Raelyn’s twenty seven! Austin’s elven years older than her, but love knows no age bounds.

The tabby that got kicked to the floor meowed unhappily as Alan peeked over to one of two cats we had. The feline prowled around on the white carpet, rubbing against the wooden nightstand.

“You get cuddles latter, Crackers.” Alan scolded. The cat replied with an indignant meow and stalked off for water in the kitchen. Something tickled at the back of my mind as I stared out the window. There was something important today…

“We have to go over to Rae’s!” I exclaimed at the realization. It was eight in the morning. We had ten minutes to get ready before a fifteen minute drive to my sister’s house. Alan looked up sleepily. The ginger mop made his head look like it was on fire and moved gently as he just looked at me.

“Woah, what’s today?” He questioned. I threw a shirt at him and a pair of jeans before quickly throwing on my own nice pair of clothes.

“Rae is coming home from the hospital!” I explained breathlessly. After we were both changed, Alan scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the kitchen. The muscles he gained from guitar playing bulged as I wriggled in his arms.

“Calm down, LP! You were never this excitable as a little kid. We have time.” Alan silenced me. I stopped moving as he sat me down and started preparing a quick breakfast. We had five minutes! That was not enough time! Being a manager had taught me valuable time managing skills. Always give yourself fifteen minutes before needing to head off, just in case you forgot anything. Right now, we had five minutes before we needed to head off.

Rae had been stuck at the hospital for the past week, and Austin had spent each night sleeplessly by her side. I would assume that the tan walls and boring pictures would get old after a while. Tino and Phil had offered to take shifts so that Aaron could take Austin out to get coffee, but the loyal husband had refused. Aaron had made multiple coffee runs that week for poor Aus.

I think I would go crazy if that happened to me. With Alan, I don’t think I could have kids right now. Being a manager put me on the road 24/7 and I didn’t want to have a kid to suffer when I was gone all the time. I was lucky to get a break this week before having a meeting next Tuesday!

“What day is it again?” Alan asked, pouring two cups of coffee and swinging the car keys into his hand. The tile felt warm against my skin as I padded with quiet steps to collect my shoes.

“Monday, the fourth of June, 2027.” I told him. He smirked and pulled me out the door, locking it behind him. In the back was a car seat, blankets, and other assorted items. We were assigned to transport Beth, Rae, and Aus back to their house where the others were waiting.

“Who was watching JC and Arabelle?” I asked. A note of panic rose in my voice as I forgot who was watching the other children. Alan patted my hand as he drove through the streets of California with ease.

“Kenadee Lucker, remember? She was out here visiting for a few weeks and offered to watch the kids today.” Alan was always confident in everyone. I had talked to Kenadee before and she seemed exceptionally kind and happy. Rae and Kenadee were really good friends. They meet about five years ago and had really hit it off.

Driving through the hospital parking lot, we found a place to park close to the doors. Alan closed the car door after checking through everything about twenty times. Eventually I had to pull him away and go get the two parents. The glass windows extended many stories up in the main lobby of the hospital. My excitement was starting to bubble out as we neared the room. The clicking footsteps of nurses and doctors echoed through the wordless halls as hushed voices talked back and forth.

Alan knocked on the door and entered. Austin was helping Rae sit into a wheel chair Dr. Vic had brought in. Rae turned to me and smiled. It was amazing that my sister was already up and impatient to get out. Beth was cradled in her arms, sleeping peacefully despite the excitement of leaving. Of course, Rae had picked out an “escape the hospital” outfit. It was a tiny little blue one piece with a tiny music note embedded in the heart.

“Ready to go?” Austin asked her. Rae nodded and together, the five of us started our descent.

Alan drove the car up to the side of the hospital as we helped Rae in. Dr. Mike had come out to witness the farewell. The brothers waved goodbye as we all piled into the car and drove off. The ride back to the Carlile’s house was filled with Austin and Rae both cooing over their newborn and Alan attempting to drive slow in the infuriating traffic that had backed up along the highway. Little pink balloons were tied to the mailbox outside their driveway as we pulled up.

“Here we are!” I said excitedly. Little Beth had been securely strapped in to her seat. Aus gently picked it up and we climbed the steps to the door.

Pushing it open, the party of people turned their heads as they watched Rae and Austin climb in. JC and Arabelle immediately stepped forward to welcome the newest sibling.

“Welcome home!” The rest of the band cheered. Aaron blew on one of the little party gags that popped out and hummed. Rae set the carrier down and picked baby Beth out of the seat. The little child woke up and blinked curiously at the new people surrounding her. Arabelle slowly approached and held out her arms silently.

“Go sit on the couch with LP.” Rae told her. Taking Arabelle in my own hand, we sat on the couch. I was excited to be able to hold Beth again. Rae gently put down the child in Arabelle’s lap, instructing her to support her head.

“She’s cute.” Arabelle whispered. Tino looked down from behind and laughed. The drummer reached a finger and stroked the baby’s soft head, causing Beth to hiccup.

“Bets.” JC patted the baby’s hand. I could see Austin hold in a breath, ready to tell his son to be careful, but the boy was gentle. JC may have been a little over enthusiastic sometimes, but he touched the baby like one might pet a small dog.

Speaking of dogs, their older pit bull, Echo, walked into the room. The entire room fell silent as we watched the interaction between the dog and the child. The pit bull nosed up to the little baby, gently touching the baby’s hand with her nose. The baby looked over and eyed the large animal nervously before giggling.

The chatting started to pick up again and I moved around the crowds. Aus and Rae were thanking everyone for coming and letting all the people take time to hold the newest arrival to the OM&M family. Uncle Tino, Uncle Phil, and JC’s own A-a-ron were playing with the boy in the corner. JC called Aaron A-a-ron because when he first met him, he pronounced it like that. Aaron couldn’t be any happier.

Kenadee and Jolie had made it down to visit Rae. They sat by the coffee table in the living room. Arabelle gladly sat near Kenadee as she flipped through a magazine. Arabelle loved to look at all the pictures. As I wandered through the kitchen and dining room, I saw Sara Falk and Oliver Sykes hanging out in the doorway. Sara was Arabelle’s best friend and was in a very close relationship with Oli. We teased him about it, but he always said he wasn’t dating her. Oli was the lead singer of Bring Me the Horizon, a band that had hit it off and gained popularity about six years ago.

Sighing, I found my way back to Alan. Through the people, I made conversation but had left just as quickly. Alan wrapped one arm around me and kissed my cheek.

“What are you thinking about, babe?” He asked softly. Rae and Aus were talking to Sara and Oli right now.

“Oh, nothing much.” I answered truthfully. Ugh, when I got home I would have to write up a report for another manager at Rise Records, and the clean the house, and after that I would have to negotiate travel deals for possible concerts. The band agreed they wouldn’t do too much traveling for Austin’s sake, but we could let the band not travel for to long…

“Your brain is always running. You have the week off, so relax!” He teased me. I smiled and stared out of the window to the back deck. There was an automatic fire pit out there with many lounge chairs. A play set adorned the back yard and made it feel more closed in, less empty space. Palms crowded the edge of the lawn and leaned over in the morning light.

A figure flickered into my view. I glanced at his face for long enough for memories start turning. He seemed familiar, with the tall stature and about the age of Alan. Tattoos extended down both arms and his eyes seemed dark but held a soft gleam in the pupils.

Looking over my shoulder to see who else saw the person, I found everyone wrapped up with their own conversations. Turning back, the figure was gone. Alan stared down at me.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. The man seemed so familiar, but I couldn’t place a name on him. All I felt was a knot twist up in my gut. I swallowed it down and turned back to Alan.

“Oh, I was just seeing things.” I responded. With another glance out the window, I confirmed that the man was gone.

Notes

So I've been having problems with people not being able to see chapters, so if you want to comment and say that you can see this chapter, that would help me out :)

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