✰ Ashland's POV: ✰
It was a sunny, bright morning when I had felt the bed dip and move all around. It was Jon, of course. There would've been no way in hell that it was either Dolly or Whitley making that much movement in the bed, haha. So after feeling all that movement, ironically, Whitley had jumped up on the newly empty spot where J had just got up. Haha, I love my boys! They do like to fight for my love, however.
Sometimes when Jon has late hours in the studio, he'll obviously get home late, whereas me, I'm just snuggled up all nice and comfy like on the couch, it sounds heavenly and great, right? That's where that ends. The second my man walks through the front door after a long day of work, he notices me cuddling with his dog and starts to tease me, plus make all kinds of jokes about it.
Of course, they are harmless and funny, so it isn't like he's genuinely upset or anything. Besides, what kind of person would I be to not give Jon love and affection like I do with Whitley. I love them both equally. That, and Dolly warmed up rather well to Whit, which makes me so super happy. She's picky about who she does and doesn't like in her space. Which is pretty ironic considering me, her owner, is the same exact way.
As I had got up, Jon cut his eyes toward me and the bed, looking as pissed off as possible. That's weird, he isn't mad at me right? I'm sure hoping that he isn't.. I mean, there's nothing that I can recall doing anything bad or out of the ordinary to J...
"Uh... Good mornin'. You okay, my handsome?" I questioned, smiling softly up at him.
"Dammit.. Dammit! God dammit, what am I goin' to do...?" He asked, putting his face into the palm of his hands.
"Calm down, wait just a dang second, honey.. What are you talking about? What's goin' on? Talk to me!" I kindly demanded, sitting up in the bed, the comforter still wrapped around my body.
"Ash, baby girl, the person I've been renting my house from, they are telling me that if I don't pay my monthly mortgage this month, I'm losing the house. I can't have that happen... My savings are starting to run low. Yeah, being a musician makes a lot of money, but this mortgage isn't cheap by any means. What will I do..? I-"
"Baby, come on, come sit with me, Whitley, and the twins even though they aren't here physically. I get it, you're stressed about the whole money and mortgage thing, but you've got this.." Jon ran over to the bed and slumped down, scaring Whitley in the process, thus making him jump down from the bed, where he then met Dolly at the doorway of the bedroom. The two pups decided to play around with each other while me and J decided to talk things through.
"I can't do this anymore.. This is all so hard on me. Song sales aren't doin' as well as they normally are, and don't even get me started on the super long studio hours for absolutely nothing. It feels like my career is failing slowly and surely.. Ashland, I'm so scared. Then not to mention the whole thing about us having twins; they need to have a good upbringing. Losing my- our house would fuck that all up. That would make me worst dad of the year. I don't want to be known as that," J stated, very heartbroken about everything.
I won't lie, hearing how sad Jon was, it made me feel so sad for him, plus the things he was saying. None of that is true, most certainly not! If anything, me and him will find a way to figure out the whole house payment problem thing. My mama always told me, "if there's a will, there's a way." And that's what I'll always live by for the rest of my whole entire life!
"Please don't say you can't do this- or anything anymore... And for the record, you would never ever be the worst dad. It isn't humanly possible for that to be a fact. Baby Langstons love you so very much, and so do I! I promise, we truly and really do. What would make you feel better about this whole situation? I'll do absolutely anything for you, sweet pea. Whatever you want," I suggested, kissing his forehead.
"Does that mean we can take a day trip to a beach?!" Jon grinned from ear to ear.
"Which one you wanna head to, lover boy? Florida? South Carolina? Georgia, perhaps? You say the name and we'll make a whole weekend out of it. I know the money situation is a bit tight, but I'll pay for all the expenses. No need for you to lift a single finger at all, my handsome.." Nodding my head quickly, my lips landed onto his lips.
"You'd do that for me? Seriously?! I've got the best girlfriend and our babies have the best mama. Let's start packing up right now!" Jon exclaimed excitedly, hopping off the bed and ran straight to his closet.
"Slow down, cowboy! I haven't even got out of bed today at all. Give me a sec, please?" I laughed as I got up and went to my own closet to start packing up some summertime clothes.
**
Alas, the two of us packed everything up into the bed of Jon's truck. It was a tough feat, but since the both of us worked together, packing everything went quicker than expected! I'm actually so stoked to go on a vacation with the love of my life. This is all just so exciting! Plus, if it helps J feel a little better and less stressed about everything that's going on, sign me or us up, am I right?
After all the luggage was in the tailgate, J had propped his elbows up on the tailgate and looked at the midday sun through his sunglasses. Talk about a mysterious yet hot look on that man! Yes, it's only sunglasses, but he makes them look uh-mazing!
"You okay there, bubs? Is there anything on your mind or chest that you need to get out of your system? I'm right here, please always know that," I looked over at him worriedly as possible.
He huffed out and nodded his head ever so slightly. It was like he was kind of skeptical to even let me in on what was going on. It definitely hurt me a bit. Well, even more so now with the whole pregnancy and its hormones messing with my brain, it makes all my emotions ten times worse.
"Talk, please.. Don't let it eat you up inside. It's better out than in, Jon. I will not tell you again. You're worrying me so much..." I started to cry softly to myself.
"Fuck, Ashland, I'm so sorry... Apart from the shit goin' on with the situation of the house, Anna texted me while you were busy packing up your stuff.." Jon then admitted to me, hanging his head down in defeat.
"W-what? You're kidding, right? This isn't real..." My teeth were biting down super hard on my bottom lip after hearing what he had just said.
"What did she say? Was it anything bad, say a threat or something? If so, you can turn that into the police. Be honest, Jonathan! I am not mad, I'm just worried. Show me what she texted you. No matter what it is, I'm never goin' to be mad or anything. Please, honey?"
"I- okay, here... Take my phone, read it if you want to. I didn't reply, I just read it. And read it over and over again. The more my eyes scanned that text message, the worst it hurt," He sighed, handing over his black colored iPhone to me.
It popped up saying the phone needed a passcode. So after informing J about that, he told me what it was. Not going to lie, once he told me, I laughed. It was so hard, I wasn't even sure if he's even able to remember it half the time, the amount of numbers he had with it. I didn't even know you could do more than four numbers on a phone password. I've always used four numbers. Maybe that's just me, haha.
Once the phone was unlocked, me and my thumb found the iMessage app. The first contact that it opened up to was of course, the devil herself, Anna Taylor. Aka the girl who tore my poor boy apart. She needs to stay in her lane. Just because I'm carrying two babies and everything, doesn't mean that I won't fight. She best be careful, my parents raised me to take up for not only myself, but those I genuinely care about around me.
Anna (the ex) 🥱😑:
Hey... I know it's been a long time since I've even thought to reach out, but just thought I'd say hey! I saw you, Ashland Craft, and HARDY on the Signed Sober You Tour in South Carolina. You seemed happy and everything with Ashland on stage. Not to be nosy or anything like that, but if that's your new girl, I'd like to take a moment to say something:
First of all, she better know that you, my dude, are a very sensitive man. If she ever raises her voice at you, always know you can find me. I promise that I'll always, always, always be by your side. Even though things ended off rocky for the both of us, it doesn't mean that I don't care. There's still a special and soft spot for you in my heart. Always! Next thing she should know is that there are things about you that absolutely no one knows. Things that I don't even know. Don't ever say any kind of information to her, you never know if something is even going to last. Anyways, that's enough from me! Ciao, talk to you later!
x Anna ❤️
Reading her messages, my jaw dropped. If it could've dropped all the way down to the ground, it totally would've, no doubt in my mind. It's not her fucking place to say a damn thing about us or our relationship! Why can't anyone leave us the hell alone?! So annoying! Either way, I'm the one who's bearing his first two children, not Anna, so there's that piece of knowledge that she wouldn't know nothing about- and perhaps, never will...
✰ Jon's POV: ✰
So things took a very sharp and interesting turn. So on top of the house bills situation, my ex, the one and only, Anna, decided to be a dumbass and text me this morning. Genuinely, that makes me so damn angry! She's still as snooty and bitchy like she's always been. How dare she act like nothing ever happened between the two of us?! She makes me angry!
Then she has the audacity to tell me not to tell my so-said information to Ashland because obviously "you never know if you guys will last" or some dumb bullshit like that. What she doesn't know is that she is wrong; dead wrong. So help me God if Anna ruins everything between Ash and I, she will eat those words. Lord knows that's the truth and nothing but that.
Since I had told Ash about it, she wanted to see the messages she had sent me. Her reaction was just as I expected; shocked, jaw dropped onto the floor, things of that nature. I sure hope that me dropping that bombshell doesn't make Ashland upset or anything like that... It'd kill me if I did that.
"Let's just, uh, start the drive. It's goin' to take us 13 or more hours to get down there. You sure you want to do this? Will it make you feel better, honey?" Ashland asked me, getting me out of my thoughts.
To answer her question, I nodded my head a bit, "Yeah, we probably should head on out. You just go on ahead and get settled in the truck. I'll go double-check to make absolute sure we have everything we need for this trip. I love you."
"You're too sweet, baby. I love you more. Come back when you're done!" Ash laughed, gearing up to sit in the passenger side of my truck.
"Was already planning on doin' exactly that, Ashland Leigh. Don't be peculiar, you pesky, adorable ass!" I laughed, shaking my head, making my way to the front door and into the house.
**
"In the words of the country music singing, joint-rolling, bandana-wearing legend, Willie Nelson himself; on the road again! Just this time, it's just me and my buddy, Jon Langston here for the ride- no pun intended!" Ashland was on Instagram live. It was kinda cute seeing all the people watching us from home or wherever they were at currently. Social media is an interesting, yet cool place... Sometimes!
"Hey, hey y'all. What's poppin'? Hope all is well Insta fam! Me and Ash decided to uh, hangout and do a nice songwriting getaway down in Florida. And to enjoy some much needed beach time. I can already feel the sunburn coming onto me right about now, honestly," I laughed, joking with both Ashland and the viewers on the live video.
"Oh my, this guy is a hoot. I love him so much! He's my best friend! Jon Langston everybody, he's wild, let's put it as that," Ashland replied in response to what I had said, putting the phone near my face while I was focusing on driving, my eyes staying completely on the road.
Ash stayed quiet for a second while presumably reading through the comments that everyone was leaving in the little section where you can send things to the creator of said live video. One of the comments really threw her for a loop, however.
"I heard a rumor going around that you and Jon aren't only friends and everything, but the two of you are dating and are expecting a baby; is that true?" She repeated the question that was left.
I may or may not have said "holy fuck" to myself quite loudly. Dammit, I wasn't expecting anyone to catch onto anything of that situation. How did they find out the so said "rumors"? There are too many damn questions I've got about this whole comment thing that fan posted.
"First of all, it's not your place to ask if our relationship or personal life things are true or not. If we wanted everyone to know, we'd announce that, but for now, don't believe in rumors until something is said between me and Ashland proving that everything is true or not. No rudeness intended, just thought I'd put that in the air. Thanks for your concern, however!" I snapped as kindly as possible to the very nosy commenter.
Look, being mean or shunning someone was the last thing I was expecting to do today, but it isn't anyone's business but mine and Ashland's when it comes to our personal, love life.
The way I see it, it'd exactly like how Kacey Musgraves sings; mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy. But no, let's pry into people's business, right? Keep your nose out of places it don't belong. I said what I said. Yes, it sounds bitchy to say, especially coming from me, but I've always been a private person. It'll stay that way regardless of if or when I announce to the world that yes, me and Ashland are together, and the two of us are having babies. But until then, we're the only ones who needs to know- which is perfectly okay!
Afterwards, Ash soon ended the live and looked over at me, her eyes starting to fill up with tears. Oh God, let me guess, one of the dumbass internet trolls are fucking with her emotions. People are testing me to all sorts of limits today, gah damn. That's different. Maybe it's just from the lack of sleep, energy, touring, and non-stop work that's been going on in my life for the past 6 or so months. It sure enough takes a toll on the body, without a doubt.
Since she was crying silently by herself, looking out the window like she does when she's upset, my surefire way into making her happy was to mention something about food, of course! If it were me upset, then the whole subject of food or eating it would make me happy in an instant!
On a serious note though, me and Ash, we have our differences, that we do, but also, we're similar in a lot of ways that it's pretty crazy to everyone who knows us, haha. And one of our many obsessions we share is our love for food. We love food. Honestly, we need it to survive and live, so it isn't merely a horrible thing per se.
"Hey, baby girl. Do you think us stopping somewhere in Georgia or maybe even in Florida to go out to eat at a fancy restaurant would make you feel any better?" I suggested softly to Ashland, my hand caressing her upper leg, but not near her thigh though. I know what that ends up doing to her, I don't need any setbacks on this drive; except for the one where we get something to eat, ha.
"Sorry, J for crying like that. The things that person asked on my Insta live worried me heavily. Where on Earth did they find this "rumor" of us dating and expecting our twins?" She asked, using her fingers as air quotes. "Like literally! We haven't said or leaked anything online that would pinpoint to a solid relationship or something personal like that... But to answer your question, I'd love to stop soon and get something to nibble on. I'm quite famished. Between the live, the packing, and the long car ride ahead of us, it worked me up quite an appetite."
"Oh, ha ha. I'm sure it did. Well let's see, right now we're about to be in Dalton, aka North Georgia. Heyo, I know this place very well. It's a quaint, nice café. I think you'll like it. I went here with my mom one year for Mother's Day. So without further ado, let me go and put in separate directions to this restaurant. I ain't tryna lose my directions to the beach. That's a pain in the ass to get back," I replied, a small chuckle coming from me.
"Mmkay, you do that. Will I have enough time to take a tiny nap or no?" Ashland questioned, her voice as drowsy as possible.
"Uhh, yeah, of course. It'll probably take forty five minutes to possibly an hour, judging by the way traffic is right now. You rest up, Mama Bear. You deserve it. Especially all that work with carrying two little ones. When do you go in to find out the gender? And how would we go about doing a gender reveal? I'm new to all of this, ha," I giggled, rubbing my thumb on her leg.
"When they find out the gender, you can request to have the slip of paper in a little envelope, then give it to someone else, so they can kinda help out with the gender reveal. Since both your band and crew, plus my band and crew know about us and everything, I'm hoping that they will be okay with knowing the gender and doin' the reveal stuff for us. I want it as a surprise for us two!" Ash giggled as well right after explaining everything to me.
"Makes sense now that you put it that way. Anyway, you can take a small nap, baby girl. You're goin' to need the rest especially for when we get down to our actual destination," I softly stated to her, planting a kiss on the side of her forehead...
~ awww my book characters are going to a nice lil weekend getaway to the beaches of Florida- Sunny Isles to be exact. If you don't know what it looks like, nor never been, google it! Super gorgeous!! 😍 Personally, I've been to quite a few Florida beaches, but that has been one I haven't been to, yet! I'd kill to go, to be honest!
~ the next chapter you will get to see their very lavish and gorgeous condo i have them renting on the beach, it's going to be incredible, just you wait. It's so beautiful, im low-key (ahem, high-key) jealous of it. 🤣 But I swear, these next chapters will be well worth it as I haven't been updating as much, hopefully that changes as I'm taking a social media detox for a bit, so writing on Wattpad is going to be my main source of entertainment for a while. Hope you guys like me, lol! 😛
~ Anna gets mentioned in this chapter AND messages Jon. How interesting!! Do you guys think this will cause anything to happen between Ash, Jon, and Anna? Well....... I can't say! 🤯👀 But you all will know.. in due time, that is. 😉
~ if you guys enjoyed this chapter, lemme know, vote, comment and add this story to your library. thank you in advance!! 🤍💕
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