The next morning when I woke up, my body had finally caught up with my seizures, soreness taking over me.
I whimpered as Ashton helped me out of the bed so I could escape to the bathroom to freshen up.
I went back to the bed and Ashton buzzed the nurse in to see if we could get me a pain pill and she went to go get one when Ann, Ender, and Gracie walked in.
"Hey guys." Ashton smiled at them and Gracie immediately climbed up on the bed and flung herself into my arms.
"Mommy!" She hugged me tightly.
"Morning Gray. How was your night?" I smoothed my hand across her hair, ignoring the ache in my sides.
"Grandma made cookies and played dress up with me!" She smiled and leaned her head back on my chest.
"Aw, that sounds fun. Did you tell her thank you?" I began to caress the little girl behind her ear.
"Thank you Grandma." Gracie turned to beam up at Ann.
"Of course Gracie. I had fun." Ann smiled at her.
Ender walked up to the bed.
"Do you feel better?" He asked me.
"I'm a little sore but I feel okay." I reached out to pat his hand.
The nurse came back in and handed me a cup of water and then a little plastic cup with the pill inside.
"What's that?" Ender asked.
"It's just a pain pill End, don't worry." I assured him before downing the pill.
I glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that Ender needed to go to school.
"Hey you gotta leave for school bud."
He let out a loud sigh.
"Fine. But you'll be home when I get back?"
"I should be." I squeezed his fingers.
He nodded. "Wait Ashton, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure mate." Ashton slid out from beneath me and walked out of the room with Ender.
"What's that about?" Ann asked.
"I have no clue." I replied.
"So I hope you don't mind that I used your kitchen." She said.
"Oh no not at all. You can make yourself at home there." I smiled.
"It's a very pretty house, Ender showed me the boat too. And as your future mother in law I can say this, but it's a nice home for you and Ashton to have a family."
A blush heated up my cheeks at her words.
"Thank you." I laughed nervously.
"I mean it Carter, Ashton loves you so much, Gracie and Ender too, and I know that one day you and him are going to have an even more beautiful family together."
"I think we will too." I smiled and pulled Gracie up so I could hold her better.
A minute later Ender and Ashton came back in, both of them with smiles on their faces.
"Okay, I'm ready to go now." Ender said.
"Alright, I'll see you later. Love you." He came up so I could kiss his cheek.
Ann placed her hand on Ender's shoulder and led him out of the hospital room.
"What did he talk to you about?" I asked Ashton when the door was closed and they were out of the room.
"He said he was worried about you, and I told him that you were going to be fine, but that he was a good brother for being so concerned. And then he told me thank you for being here and for taking care of you." Ashton smiled happily.
"Aww." My heart fluttered a little bit. "I feel bad for making him go to school because I want him here, but he needed to go."
"I know love. And he understands, I think he just wants you home." Ashton said and I nodded.
"Daddy come cuddle with us!" Gracie said excitedly and Ashton came around the bed to get in, pulling me and Gracie close to him.
"Hmm, my two girls." Ashton hugged us both and Gracie threw her head back to laugh adorably.
We laid there for a little bit until a woman came in with a thick stack of paperwork for me to fill out and sign.
Ashton handed Gracie his phone to play with while we filled things out.
"I need to add you as my emergency contact." I said when I reached that page and Ashton smiled, taking the form from me and writing in his information.
Ann came back later on and breathed a sigh of relief when she reached our room.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"There's a bunch of fans camped out by all of the hospital doors and some paparazzi too." She said.
"Oh great." Ashton sighed.
"Well what do we do?" I asked.
"Brave the storm I guess." Ashton shrugged. "Find the least crowded one and leave from it and just hurry to our car."
I nodded.
Gracie slid off the bed to skip to the private bathroom, dropping Ashton's phone on his lap. When he picked it up he began to laugh.
"Look what our daughter did." Ashton handed me his phone and I laughed as a video of Gracie making silly faces showed up on the screen.
Ashton and I had been filling in papers and chatting amongst ourselves while she was taping, occasionally getting mine and Ashton's faces in the shot as she tilted the phone up.
"She's so cute." I laughed and so did Ashton, going to Instagram to post a little clip of the video.
When Gracie came back I cuddled her up to me, kissing on her cheeks and playing with her hair, Ashton taking cute pictures of us with his phone.
"Daddy take a picture of me."Gracie said Ashton laughed as he took a selfie of the two of them, both of them grinning widely. If I didn't know that Gracie was not biologically Ashton's daughter, I would've have thought she was because they were one and the same.
I so wished she was actually mine and Ashton's, and that we had had her together, but I would settle for getting to love her and raise her and call her my little girl for the rest of my life.
"Mommy take a picture with me and Daddy!" Gracie said as she and Ashton continued making silly faces in the phone.
"Okay." I smiled and moved closer, beginning to take photos with them, Gracie loving every moment.
In several of the photos Ashton had kissed my cheek and Gracie had looked up at us smiling.
Ashton quickly turned his phone to video.
"Hey Gracie." He said as he held the phone in front of them.
"What?" She asked, grinning happily, her eyes not looking at the phone.
Ashton suddenly leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek, Gracie squealing and flopping back on Ashton's chest, giggles spilling from her mouth while the rest of us laughed.
"You two are so silly." I chuckled, and leaned in to press my own kiss to Gracie's cheek; Ashton capturing the whole thing on video.
He posted that one as well and then he and I got up so we could get dressed in order to leave as soon as I was discharged.
Dr. Thomas came in later on in the morning to say I was free to go, handed me my prescription and told me to take it easy.
I thanked him for all he had done and so did Ashton before we gathered up our bags.
Gracie wanted me to hold her so I did as such while Ash put our small duffel over his shoulder and put his arm around my waist, leading us out of the room.
Apparently there had been a security guard outside our room the entire time because when we left he joined our group and walked ahead of us. He led us to a set of double doors and outside we could see around 20-30 teenage girls waiting for us.
"This is the least crowded one, I'm sorry." The security guy said and I gave him a smile.
"No it's okay, thank you so much for all you've done for us. We really appreciate it." I said and he nodded at me with a smile of his own.
"Yes, thank you." Ashton said and shook the guys hand. "Okay you ready babe?" Ash turned to ask me and I took a deep breath before nodding.
"I'll go first." The security guy said and then I noticed another security guy outside. Our guy inside pulled a radio from his belt. "We're a go." He said into it.
We watched as the security guy began to talk and his voice was so loud it carried inside the building.
"Okay, I'm going to have to ask you not to scream, yell, shout or make loud noises. There will be no stopping for photos, no flash photography, and no touching or grabbing. I know you're excited to see them but let this guy get his wife home so she can heal." He said.
At the mention of the word wife a small smile appeared on my lips and Ashton pressed a kiss to my temple; he had heard it too. Ann sent me a wink and I blushed.
"10-4." The security guy outside said and out guy nodded and began to walk. Ashton tightened his arm around me and Gracie squirmed in my arms, hiding her face in my neck.
The moment we walked out the doors there were excited squeals, gasps, talking and whispers.
People called out our names and had their phones out either videoing or taking photos.
I turned my head so that my hair covered my face, Ashton's fingers squeezing the skin at my waist. We made it past the girls with no problems and Ann walked in front to lead us to where she had parked Ashton's car.
I put Gracie in her seat and Ann joined her in the back while Ashton walked me to the passenger side to help me in and then got in the drivers seat.
I kept my head down as he backed out of the parking spot and then drove from the car park, getting us on the road back to our house.
A sigh of relief escaped me once we were on the road.
Excitement took over as well when Ashton pulled into the car lot above the marina. The four of us walked down the docks until we came up to the shop, walking on the side and to the house.
Ashton used the key above the door to unlock it and we stepped into the house, my body, mind, and everything relaxing.
"Happy to be home?" Ashton asked when he saw me and I nodded, laughing lightly.
"Extremely happy."
"Well I'm happy you're home too." He smiled and pulled me into a hug.
"Me too! Me too!" Gracie said and ran to mine and Ashton's legs to wrap her arms around them.
Ashton moved a hand down to Gracie's head, smiling down on her.
"You're one cute little girl, aren't you." He chuckled.
"Mhmm. I your little girl." She grinned up at him and he picked her up to bring her between us.
"You are my little girl." He kissed her cheek and squeezed us both.
I looked up at Ashton when he said those words, a look of love in my eyes.
Gracie put an arm around both of our necks as we held her. Biologically or non-biologically, this was our baby girl.
After we had hugged I set her down and Ashton went to go put our things away while I went to get Gracie something to eat.
I set some grapes in a bowl and sat her at the bar so she could snack on them.
Looking through our refrigerator I realised since I had been in the hospital no one had gone grocery shopping and I knew if we were going to have dinner we would need to go to the store.
I started making a list of things we needed and asked Ann if she would like to stay for dinner which she said she'd love to.
Ashton came back downstairs and I showed him the list.
"I need to go to the store."
"I'll go for you and then get End from school, you need to rest." He said and took the list from me.
"Okay." I nodded.
"Hey Gray do you wanna come with me to the store?" Ashton asked her and she nodded happily.
"Alright, be safe you two. Love you." I kissed them both and watched as they walked out the door.
Ann and I both took a seat on the sofa when they left, me covering up with a blanket.
"So I know you and Ash just got engaged, but have you two made any plans?" She asked and I laughed.
"Um no we haven't yet." I smiled. "We are going to do a long engagement I think because I feel like we're still a little young."
"That makes sense. So how did he do it?" She asked, wanting to know the details.
"Well, we had gotten in a little fight that day, and he had left. And then he came back to the house and I didn't know this but he asked Ender if it was okay to ask me to marry him, and Ender said yes. So Ashton came up to where I was sitting on the roof and we talked for a long time, and then he asked me to marry him, and I said yes."I shrugged still smiling.
"So how long do you think you are going to wait until you get married?"
"I don't know, he told me whenever I feel ready to then we will."
"He really does love you so much.He talks about Ender like he's his younger brother and he loves him like he is. And Gracie..." She shook her head, "you both have made that little
girl your child. I always dreamed of he day when he had his first baby but it's like he already has. He just loves her so much and I think he loves it even more that he gets to raise her with you."
"That honestly means so much to me, thank you."
"But it's so true. Seeing your children become parents is one of the most amazing things to watch."
"He really is such a great dad to her. I didn't even have to ask him to he just implemented her into his life. I was so scared about being a mom to Gracie and he just stepped up and helped me and her so much. And now when I think back on it, it's like he was always meant to be that father figure to her."
"I totally agree." She smiled. "So for when you and him do get married, how do you imagine it, like what is your dream wedding?"
"I don't know," I laughed, "I guess I'd want something small and pretty, and just really intimate. But I feel like Ashton probably wants a big wedding."
"Well whatever you two decide on, I know it will be beautiful."
"Thank you." I grinned.
"But I do have one request... I get to help wedding dress shop." She said and I laughed.
"Of course! I'm going to need your help." I smiled and we had a good laugh, chatting away until Ashton and the kids came home.
--
here's the next part!
hope you all had a lovely weekend!
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