When I awoke in the morning the house was silent.
My eyes were a little puffy from my crying last night, and I stood up to stretch my sore muscles from the awkward position I had fallen asleep in on the sofa.
Quietly I walked up stairs and paused when I reached the top step, my body leaning against the wall.
Through Ender's open bedroom door I could see both him and Ashton passed out asleep. Ashton was on his back with Ender's head on his chest, Ashton's arm around the little boys shoulders.
A soft smile came to my lips at this.
I continued to the bathroom and then to my bedroom where Gracie had spent the night alone in my room, and woke up when I started to change clothes.
I finished sliding a black tank top on and jean shorts before going over to pick her up like she wanted.
Downstairs I set her on the counter, giving her a kiss before having her help me start making pancakes.
I was taking a sip of my coffee when Gracie gasped.
"Daddy!" She said with wide eyes and a pretty smile and I turned to see both Ashton and Ender coming down the stairs.
When my eyes met Ender's I turned back to look at Gracie.
Hands soon found themselves at my hips and Ashton pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth.
"Good morning love." He said.
"G'morning." I said back quietly.
"Daddy." Gracie smiled up at Ashton and he leaned over me to give her a little kiss as well.
"Hey sweetheart." He smiled at her.
He moved away to get his coffee and I went to put the batter next to the pan so I could make the pancakes.
"Car?" Ender's voice came out soft and slightly scared.
"Yes?" I asked, keeping my eyes down.
"I'm sorry for running away, and for yelling at you. I shouldn't have said those things to you and I'm sorry for hurting your feelings." He apologised and I looked up at him, letting out a sigh and dropping my tense shoulders.
"You do know how much I love you right?" I asked him with watery eyes.
"I know." He nodded and then came over to hug me.
"Don't you ever run away like that again, do you understand me?" I held him tightly.
"Yes ma'am." He said and I squeezed him once more before letting him go.
"I love you Car."
"I love you too." I said as he hugged my waist again.
I glanced up to see Ashton smiling at us from where he sat at the bar and I mouthed a thank you to him.
Everything was back to normal.
After that everyone sat at the bar listening to Gracie's aimless morning chatter about Olaf, cookies, and the episode of Mickey Mouse she watched yesterday morning.
I smiled happily as I listened to her talking away, and then set a plate of pancakes in front of her, Ender, and Ashton.
Taking a bottle of whipped cream I went to their plates, drawing a heart on Gracie's, and a smiley face on Ender's.
I made my way over to Ashton but instead of drawing on his plate I squirted the can in his face, getting whip cream on his nose.
"Carter!" He jumped out of his chair and I ran around the counter as he chased me.
"No no no no no." I squealed as he took the can from me, spraying whip cream on me.
I could hear Gracie and Ender laughing through my own laughs as Ashton pulled me close to him.
"You think you're funny huh?" He smirked at me, getting his face close to mine.
"Eh." I shrugged and he winked before taking my lips in his, giving me a very sensual kiss.
"I'll remember this." He said and pulled away, that little smirk still on his face.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him but he just laughed.
"You'll see."
I narrowed my eyes at him playfully before cleaning the whipped cream off myself and Ashton and finishing up breakfast.
"Mommy can we go on the boat?" Gracie asked as I was drying off dishes.
"That sounds like a good idea Gray." I smiled and then turned around to Ashton. "What do you think?"
"I think a family day is just what we need." He smiled.
"Okay then. I'll pack a lunch and we can head out in a bit." I said and Ender and Gracie high-fived.
"But before we go anywhere..." I started and both children whined, "I want all toys put away and beds made."
They groaned in unison before heading off in different directions.
I finished dishes and then Ashton and I headed upstairs to get things out so we could go on the water like our swimsuits, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and towels.
Gracie came in and out of the room as she was putting her toys away in the toy box we had made for her and then ran up so I could get her in her swimsuit.
It was a cute blue and white polka dotted two piece and she wore one of my tee shirts over it as a cover up.
I put her hair in a ponytail and then went to change into my own swimsuit while Ashton took Gracie downstairs to pick out what snacks she wanted.
I wore my black bikini again and flipped through the clothes in the closet until I found a jean button down of Ashton's that I put over me along with a pair of white shorts.
I switched places with Ashton so I could make our picnic lunch and he could change, Ender helping me pack the food in a basket before the four of us all headed out to the boat.
Since Ender and I were the only two who knew how to drive and operate the boat, Ashton and Gracie stayed on the main deck, laying out towels and things while Ender and I got the boat running and then out to open waters.
Gracie ran up to the bridge deck followed by Ashton and I let her steer the boat while I kept my hands on hers, Ashton taking a picture of us.
Ashton wanted to drive the boat next so I watched as he stepped up and took a photo of him as well. He was having fun but then turned the wheel hard to the left, jerking the angle of the boat and I had to go fix it so we were going in the right direction again.
I took them out to a reef and dropped anchor, going down to join the rest of my family.
Ender jumped into the water immediately and I held Gracie's hand as we walked over to the side of the boat to watch Ender swim in the water.
I put on her life vest and watched as she jumped into the water into Ender's arms.
Ashton came over as we watched them swim around before they came back up so they could play with Bear who we had brought along with us.
Ashton and I went over to where the towels were so we could lay out in the sun, holding hands as we basked in its glow.
"I could stay like this forever." Ashton said after a while and I laughed.
"Me too." I said back and felt his thumb begin to stroke the back of my hand.
When the kids got hungry I went to get our picnic basket, everyone sitting in a circle while we ate.
"Mommy can you take me to see the fishes?" Gracie asked me.
"Well love, you're not a strong enough swimmer yet to go diving, but we can go snorkelling and you can see some." I said and she nodded eagerly.
So after lunch I went down to the little storage closet below deck and found some snorkelling masks.
Ashton and Ender were going to stay on the ship with Bear while I took Gracie out into the water.
I helped her put on her mask and showed her how to breathe in it before putting back on her life jacket. I had a mask too and put it on so that it wasn't covering my eyes yet, and had Gracie jump to me in the water.
I adjusted her mask and then adjusted mine, taking her hand as we began to swim along the water, looking down below to see the reef.
A few fish swam by below us and I pointed to them so Gracie could see, her absolutely loving it.
We spent a long time snorkelling and then I took her back to the boat.
Ashton wanted to go snorkelling as well so we put Ender in charge of Gracie so he and I could go exploring for a bit.
We held hands too as we skimmed along the water, looking down at the marine life below us.
When we got back to the boat, Ashton and I decided to lay out some more and just relax.
A few minutes into our relaxation suddenly the sun was blocked from me and I opened my eyes to see Ashton's body hovering over mine.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" He asked me.
"Once or twice." I said with a playful smirk.
"Well I love you a lot." He smiled and leaned down to connect our lips in a sweet kiss.
"What brought this on?" I asked as he went to lay back on his own towel.
"I'm just really happy right now, that's all." He looked over to smile and me and I returned it.
"Daddy!" We heard Gracie squeal and then suddenly she was throwing herself on his chest.
"Woah!" He laughed. "What is it baby girl?"
"Come swim with me!" She grinned.
"Okay, let's go swim." He smiled at her and she cheered as he picked her up so they could head to the water.
I stood up as well, putting on the shirt I borrowed from Ashton and watched the two of them get in the ocean.
They splashed around for a bit, Ashton helping her swim in circles.
"Mommy come play with us!" Gracie called up to me and I shed the shirt again before climbing off the boat into the water.
Gracie was bobbing up and down, smiling away while I swam over to her and Ashton, wrapping my legs around his waist and putting an arm around his shoulders.
Gracie dog paddled over to us and Ashton took her up in his arm that wasn't wound around my back.
"Hey End, come join us!" I called up and he poked his head over the side of the boat.
"Let me tie up Bear!" He called back and not moments later he was jumping off the side of the boat, splashing us all with water.
I held onto Gracie, spinning us around in circles while Ashton and Ender began to play fight in the water, wrestling around and dunking each other beneath the surface, the two of them having a blast.
Gracie became tired since she was so little so I took her back to the boat, drying her off and changing her into dry clothes before putting her down for a nap on the sofa below deck.
Back on the main deck I watched Ender and Ashton have a competition to see who could splash water the farthest, Ender ultimately winning.
They both came back up and I began to sail us back to the marina.
Ender was playing with bear on the main deck while I was driving us back, Ashton climbing the steps to join me.
"This was fun." He smiled, his arms coming around my stomach as he hugged me. "We should do this more often."
"I agree." I leaned my head back on his shoulder. "Thank you for what you said to Ender last night."
"He needed to hear it." Ashton said. "I'm just happy you guys are good now."
"Me too. I hate fighting with him."
"So what are we going to do about him? There needs to be a consequence for what he did, but I feel like we need to do something to really make him feel included and special." Ashton spoke.
"I know. What about taking away his skateboard, video games, and bike for a week and then letting him decide what we do one day and let him plan it and just do what he wants." I suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." He kissed my neck and I let out a little laugh.
"I can't wait to marry you." He breathed and I smiled.
"Oh yeah?"
"Mhmm. You're going to be the most beautiful bride in your wedding dress, and then we will go on the most romantic honeymoon, and then start our lives together as husband and wife." He spoke happily against my neck.
"Ooo, a honeymoon. I forgot about that." I smirked, still leaning back against him. "Where would we go?"
"We could go to Bora Bora, or St. Barts." He suggested.
"Italy." I smiled softly and Ashton squeezed my waist.
"Do you wanna go to Italy?" Ashton asked me with a wide grin and light laugh.
I nodded.
"Why Italy?"
"I don't know, it seems romantic and beautiful..." I shrugged and turned my face into Ashton's neck.
"Then I'm going to take you to Italy." He said and I smiled. "And we can lay on the beach, and make love in our hotel room, and explore the cities while drinking wine..."
"That sounds nice." I sighed happily.
Ashton held me for a little longer before we got close to the marina and I had to dock us.
Ashton went below deck, coming back up with a sleeping Gracie passed out on his shoulder and we all headed inside where he went to put her down in our bed.
I wasn't surprised either when Ender became exhausted and went to take a nap as well while Ashton and I changed clothes and put our stuff away.
I leaned against the counter once we were done, Ashton coming up to me and I put my arms around his neck.
"I love you." I hummed, smiling up at him.
"I love you too." He smiled. "So much."
I brought my hand up to his forehead and began to trace my fingers down the side of his face, circling my fingertips around his lips. My eyes memorised the features of his face; his lovely hazel eyes, his sun kissed skin, his light pink lips, and his defined jaw line; all of these contributing to his gorgeousness.
"You're handsome." I said randomly.
"I'm handsome?" He chuckled.
"Extremely." I beamed up at him.
"You're sweet."
"No you are." I leaned up on my tip toes to peck his nose with my lips.
"I'm glad that everything is back to normal." He said and I nodded.
"Me too. I don't like being in that place with you, I just want us to be happy and be the us we're supposed to be."
"I couldn't agree more."
I leaned my head against him, thinking about how absolutely incredible this man was, and how thankful I was that I was engaged to him and got to spend the rest of my life with him.
"Thank you for everything...for being here, for loving me...just thank you." I looked up at him and a breathtaking smile came to his lips.
I didn't have long to admire it because soon he had taken my face in his hands and had connected his lips to mine.
My hands went to his hips then around to his back where I pulled him towards me.
I could feel the smirk on his lips as he moved them against my own, and I slowly dragged my hand up his back to his hair where I could weave my fingers between the strands.
He removed his hands from my face and slid them down to my bum where he squeezed it lightly, causing me to jump before he moved them to the back of my thighs, lifting me up onto the counter.
My legs locked around his waist as he moved as close to me as he possibly could.
Our breath was laboured and our lips were red and wet, gliding between each other's.
My hands began to trace themselves over his tee shirt covered chest while his massaged the skin from my thighs to my hips.
"See I told you, Luke you owe me twenty." The voice of Calum suddenly interrupted the air of the room, Ashton and I pulling our mouths away from each other.
We hadn't even heard the door open and now Calum, Luke and Michael were standing in the entry way of the house, looking at us with hard to read expressions.
I dropped my hands into my lap, my cheeks blazing at the compromising situation the boys had found me and Ashton in.
"Well this totally looks like giving each other space." Michael rolled his eyes and I turned my head away, trying to gather my composure.
"What are you doing here?" Ashton asked them.
"Well, when you mysteriously disappeared last night and didn't answer your phone, we assumed you could only be at one place and it turns out we were right." Calum said.
I turned my head back, glancing at them before I dropped my gaze down, embarrassed.
"We wanted to talk to you guys." Luke said.
"Alright." Ashton said and I removed my legs from around his waist, him moving back a few inches so I could slide off the counter.
Being the touchy person he was, Ashton wrapped his arms around my waist as he walked behind me, pressing his lips to the skin of my neck.
"Ash, stop." I tried to move him away.
"What, they don't care." He shrugged.
"I care." I laughed and he stopped long enough for us to get to the sofa where he sat down, pulling me on top of him so I was sitting in his lap.
He crossed his arms across my middle, holding me to him.
The guys all sat on the sofa across from us, giving us firm looks and I became nervous.
"I guess I'll start." Michael said and then looked at us. "Look guys, we are worried about you. We understand you two are obviously in love and that's great, but you guys have moved so fast that we are concerned that when we leave for tour, it's going to be bad for you both."
"I know that things have been weird lately but we've worked everything out and we're going to be okay. And when you guys were on tour last time I was fine." I said to them.
"That may be true, but last time we were on tour you didn't know about the band, you two weren't engaged, and you weren't having seizures." Calum said.
"Ashton needs you and you need him, and that's why we think you should go on tour with us." Luke added and I felt Ashton's muscles freeze beneath me.
"Guys, you don't have to do this. I'm okay with her not going; it's her decision and I respect that." Ashton said.
"Okay, but we're not okay with it." Said Michael. "We think that since you guys have taken everything so fast, if you were to stop now, it could end badly for both of you, and you guys need to be together."
"I appreciate your concern, but Ashton and I are fine. Yes it makes me sad when he's gone, but we are going to be okay." I assured them.
"Will you just think about it?" Calum asked. "We know it's a lot to ask, but just please reconsider coming with us. We want you there, Ashton needs you there...just think about it."
"Okay, I'll give it more thought." I nodded.
"That's all we ask." Michael said and then stood up. "Okay, now let's let these two get back to making out and we will see you later."
They all waved before leaving, Ashton and I staying in our position on the sofa.
"I want to apologise to you." I said suddenly. "When you asked me to go with you I was rude and wouldn't listen to anything you had to say."
"It's okay." He squeezed my waist.
"Now I'm not saying I'm going to change my mind, but I'm willing to hear you out if you tell me your plan." I said and he nodded before shifting me to the side so I was next to him, but kept my legs in his lap.
"Alright. Well first I know how important the business is to you, and I want you to be able to work while we're gone so you don't feel like your abandoning it. So I would have your work emails forwarded to your phone so you could work that way." He said and I nodded.
"And of course Ender still has to be in school. When we went on the road the first time Luke was the only one who was still in school and he wanted to finish so the managers got a tutor for him that came along with us and he'd have a set time every day where he would be "in class" learning. It was just like school except one on one."
"Okay." I said, telling him to continue.
"And Gracie, she'd love it. She's too young for school I know but she'd love getting to travel around the world and meet people and spend time with us."
I smiled softly.
"What about Bear?" I asked.
"He could go with us?" He shrugged. "Calum would love it."
"Me, Ender, Gracie, and Bear?" I widened my eyes. "That's a lot of responsibility and things to keep up with."
"I know, but we can make it work."
"How would I be able to afford all of that? I can't pay for plane tickets, I can barely pay my water bill." I said and he frowned.
"Go ahead and get pissed at me now so you can get over it but we are going to have a discussion about finances later. And you wouldn't be paying, you would be covered by the band." He explained.
"And what would we do about the house?" I asked.
"Well, it would stay like it is until we came back." He said and I nodded.
I didn't say much else, processing everything he said and got up eventually to make dinner for everyone.
After dinner Ashton pulled out his laptop and had me get my banking information from the envelope I kept it in.
My cheeks were hot from embarrassment when he pulled up my account online and you could see the low numbers in my account.
"Why are you embarrassed?" He asked me.
"Because I'm not rich like you." I replied.
"Carter, I'm far from rich, okay? But we need to get our finances together whether you go on tour with me or not." He said and I nodded.
"Okay, so I think our two options are to have me transfer money into your account whenever you need it, or we could just get a joint bank account." He said after he had scrolled around on my account for awhile, looking at my billing statements, then going to his own account.
My cheeks flared again when I saw the significantly higher numbers on his account.
"Stop." He placed a hand on my back.
"Do you think we're ready for that big of a step? I mean, it's hard to come back from that." I commented.
"I think we are. Carter, I don't want you to have to worry about how you are going to pay the mortgage next month. Besides we'd end up doing it anyways later on. So let's just go ahead and do it."
"Okay." I nodded and he continued to rub my back.
"Hey, I'll handle everything, don't worry." He smiled softly at me and I looked up at him only to have him lean down to kiss my forehead.
We shut down his computer and he went to get Gracie in the bath while Ender and I had to cut a knot of fur from Bears tail, making a note to take him to the groomers.
I was heading upstairs to change into my pyjamas when Gracie sprinted from Ender's room with her bunny in her hand, and I watched as she stumbled and fell down.
"Baby are you okay?" I asked her as I ran up the steps to her, picking her up.
She began to wail loudly, tears beginning to stream from her face.
"Shh, I've got you." I said as I held her against me, Ashton jogging out of my bedroom.
"What happened?" He asked.
"She fell running down the hallway." I explained as I placed my hand on the back of Gracie's head to put her face against my chest.
"Shh, it's okay." I told her. "That's why you can't run in the hallway Gray."
"Where does it hurt baby?" Ashton asked her as he came up to us and she pointed at her knee.
He placed his hand on it and then bent down to kiss her knee before moving back to brush back her wet hair.
"Does it feel better?" He asked her and she nodded, still crying.
"Come here, Daddy's got you." He took her up in his arms to hold her, gently bouncing her. He shushed her, trying to get her to stop crying which she eventually did.
Once she had calmed down we took her downstairs to tuck her in, giving her kisses before turning out the lights and heading up to bed ourselves.
"Ooo, sexy." Ashton winked at me as I pulled on pink sleep shorts with little monkeys on them over a black thong.
"Shut up." I laughed and climbed into bed, Ashton immediately pulling me into his arms.
"Mhmm, you're warm, don't let go." I said and he laughed.
"I probably don't tell you this enough, but you're a really good dad to Gracie." I told him as I leaned back into him.
"Thank you." He smiled. "You're a really good mom too."
"Best parents ever." I sighed happily as I rested my head on his neck, his hand searching to find mine, absentmindedly twisting my engagement ring around my finger.
"I can't wait till we have a baby of our own." He said, moving his other hand to rest over my naval and I laughed lightly.
"Well I hate to break it to you but you have a while to wait."
"I know but still." He shrugged and I continued to smile. His phone went off on my nightstand from where it was charging and he looked over.
"If it's Luke texting me ignore it." He said.
Looking over I read the name Karlie Fields.
"Someone named Karlie Fields." I said and he furrowed his eye brows.
"Do you want to read it?" I asked.
"Yeah, I don't know why she's texting me though, I haven't talked to her in like three years." He said as I handed him his phone.
"Who is she?"
"The girl I took to prom." He replied.
"Aw." I chuckled as he opened the message and we both read it.
'Hi Ashton its Karlie Fields! I know we haven't talked in a while but I just wanted to catch up with you and see how you've been!'
"She seems nice." I commented.
"Yeah." He shrugged.
"So how was prom?" I asked him.
"Fine I guess." He laughed.
"I bet you look nice in a tux." I turned so my fingers could trace up and down his chest while I looked up at him.
"Oh yeah?" He chuckled. "I wanna see pictures of you in your prom dress."
"But I didn't go to prom."
"You didn't go?" He raised his eyebrows and I shook my head.
"You were my first date remember?"
"I know that." He snickered. "I just assumed you went with like a group of friends."
"Nope." I shook my head again. "I clearly remember that the night of prom Ender and I went to see The Muppet Movie."
He burst out in laughter.
"Well then some guy missed out on having you as their date. But actually, I prefer it that way, cause that means I'm the only guy you've been with and that makes me happy." He smiled down on me, brushing my cheek with his thumb.
"But I'm not the only girl you've been with." I pointed out.
"I know, and I hate that, but you're the only one I'll be with for the rest of my life." He said and I nodded up at him happily.
"I still can't believe you didn't go to prom." He shook his head.
"Eh." I shrugged.
"Maybe I'll change that." He smirked and I giggled.
"I've already graduated, I can't go back to prom."
"Well maybe we can't go to prom, but I can take you other places."
"Okay." I smiled.
I was laying between his legs with my head on his chest, snuggled up into his warmth.
"Now I don't want to ruin the mood here, but have you thought about what we talked about earlier?"
I realised he was trying to ask me if I had changed my mind about going on tour with him.
"I haven't yet."
"Okay." He said and hugged me to him.
He reached over to set his phone down and then pulled up the blanket so it was covering us better.
"Sleep tight love." He pressed a kiss to my hair.
"Night Ash." I kissed his tee shirt covered chest and snuggled in deeper into his body.
Today had been a mix of emotions, but had ended on a happy note, and I was excited to
continue with my life with Ashton, as a happily engaged couple.
--
One word.
Foreshadowing.
So don't worry guys he story isn't over yet (;
as always, vote and comment if you'd like and i'll have the next part up soon!
much love xx -M