I awoke in the morning feeling a whole lot better than I did the morning before.
Rolling out of the bed I put on my slippers and carefully walked downstairs to make myself some coffee per usual when I saw the cutest sight before me.
Ashton and Gracie were asleep together on the sofa, Gracie facing him with her little arms barely able to wrap around the large stuffed Olaf between them, Ashton's arms draped across his little girl.
Smiling, I took a picture of them and posted it before starting the coffee maker.
Gracie woke up when she heard the noise and when she saw me she ran to me and I picked her up, hugging her tightly.
"I missed you yesterday Gray." I brushed back her hair and she laid her head on my shoulder.
"Can we play today?" She asked me sweetly.
"Of course baby, we can play all day long." I smiled at her.
"Yay!" She put her arms in the air and cheered causing me to laugh before I continued getting things ready.
I had set Gracie down to start buttering a piece of toast when suddenly I felt like the room was spinning.
"Woah." I leaned forward and held onto the counter.
"Mommy?" I heard Gracie's voice but I was focusing on my breathing.
I heard her run off.
"Daddy. Daddy." She said.
"Gracie, what?" Ashton breathed.
"Mommy doesn't feel good."
"What?"
"Daddy look!"
"Oh crap." He said and then I heard his footsteps coming towards me. "Car, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just got really dizzy." I breathed.
"You need to lay down." Ashton placed an arm at my back and then behind my knees, sweeping me up and carrying me over to the sofa where he had slept.
"Do you feel nauseas or anything?" His hand brushed at my hair.
"No just dizzy." I explained with my eyes still closed.
"Well you only ate one piece of toast yesterday and are probably dehydrated, I'm going to get you some water." He said and I nodded.
I continued to lay there on the sofa waiting for the world to stop turning.
Ashton came back with the water and once I was able to I downed the whole cup.
"Okay I'll start breakfast so we can get some food in you and you can just chill out for a bit." He said after he had brought me a cup of tea and I nodded, staying on the sofa and turning on cartoons for Gracie. She climbed up to sit in my lap and leaned against me while I watched the programs with her.
Ashton came over and brought me my breakfast consisting of toast, eggs, and bacon.
He gave Gracie a bowl of banana slices and then cereal for Ender who had wandered downstairs.
Everyone sat around eating and Ashton had (forced) me to sit downstairs while he went to dress Gracie and bring her downstairs with a few of her toys.
I sat on the sofa, Gracie coming up with me so she and I could play dolls while Ashton and Ender watched television, occasionally having pillow fights.
After a while, Gracie and I took a break from playing as I watched the television with the boys.
A commercial came on with a pregnant woman advertising some type of pre-natal vitamin and Ashton turned to me. "That's gonna be you someday."
I rolled my eyes.
"You've got a few years to wait until that happens." I laughed.
"That's you?" Gracie had been standing by the television and pointed at the lady and Ashton and I both started to laugh.
"No love. That's what people look like when they are going to have a baby." I explained to her as she came over to sit in my lap.
"Where is the baby?" She asked me.
"In the moms tummy." I told her, poking her little stomach.
"Why?" She giggled.
"Because that's where it is."
"How does it get in the tummy?" She asked me.
"Well, when a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much, they make a baby, and it grows inside the Mommy's tummy until it's ready to be born." I tried to explain it to her so that she would understand.
"I was in your tummy." She giggled brightly again, patting my stomach with her hand and I glanced to Ashton who had the same sad, heart broken, and disappointed expression on his face as me.
"Ash do we...?" I asked him as his mouth was hanging open.
"I didn't think we'd have to do this till she was older." He thought aloud, trying to think of the best way to handle this situation.
There were two possible avenues we could take: both of them sad, no matter what way you spun it.
We could either tell Gracie that we were her birth parents and let her believe that, but one day she would find out that wasn't true and probably hate us for lying to her. Or we could tell her the truth that she wasn't really ours, and hope that was the right thing for us to do.
But I couldn't lie to her.
I looked back at Ashton and sighed before nodding my head at him. He understood what we had to do.
"Gracie," I pulled her more into my arms so I could look at her, "do you remember the mommy you lived with before you came to live with me?" I asked her and she shook her head no, her fingers playing with my hair.
I didn't want her to completely forget her birth mother.
I looked up sadly at Ashton.
Biting my lip I stood up and went to the kitchen and to the cabinet that had all of our important documents and took out the folder Holly Baker, the social worker from London, had given me. There had been a picture in there of Abby, Gracie's mother, that I had been planning on showing her when she was older, but I felt like now was the time.
I went to sit back down next to Gracie, Ashton sitting on the other side of her.
"Gracie, do you remember her?" I showed her the photo and she looked at it for a moment before nodding up at me.
"This was your birth mommy, she's the one who carried you in her tummy until you were born." I explained to her.
"I wasn't in your tummy?" She asked me and I shook my head no. "Why?"
"Because when you were born, your birth mommy is the one who had you, not me. You just came to live with me."
I was doing my best to tell her in a way that she would understand.
"Where did she go?" She asked me and I looked up to Ashton again, tears pooling the corners of my eyes. This was breaking my heart.
"She went to go be with the Angels." Ashton said, looking back at Gracie and I gave him a somber smile.
"Can I go see her?" Gracie asked and I unfortunately had to say no.
"No, not right now, but one day you will get to see her again." I told her, smoothing my hand across her cheek but her bottom lip poked out and I could see her eyes begin to water before she started to cry.
"I want to see her." Tears began to stream down her face.
"I want to see the Angels." She sobbed and I hurried to gather her in my arms, Ashton doing the same.
"I know baby, I know." Ashton told her as she cried.
Ender who had been watching the whole exchange came over to hug her as well.
"Shh, honey." I rubbed her arm.
She let out another sob and I felt a few of my own tears roll down my cheeks.
Ashton began to wipe away her little teardrops, shushing her and trying to calm her down.
"Gracie, your birth mommy loved you so so much." I told her.
"The Angels love me?" She asked as she cried.
"They love you very much." I smiled at her and tried to comfort her.
"Where are the Angels?" She asked us, trying to stop crying.
"They are in the sky." Ashton said.
"Like the fairies?"
"Yeah, like the fairies?" I laughed lightly.
"Is she a fairy?" She asked us.
"Do you want her to be a fairy?" I asked her and she nodded. "Then sure, she can be a fairy."
"What's her name?"
"Her name is Abby."
Gracie smiled at this and Ashton wiped underneath her eyes to dry the water her tears had left.
"Gracie I need you to know that even though I didn't carry you in my tummy, I still love you like I did. Me and Ashton are always going to be here for you, and love you, and be the best Mommy and Daddy to you, okay?" I said to her and she nodded.
"We love you very much Gracie." Ashton leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"You love me." She giggled.
"We do love you. Because no matter who gave birth to you, me and daddy are your parents now, and we love you very much, and nothing in the world could ever, ever change that." I smiled down on her, Ashton lightly rubbed my arm and Gracie wrapped her little arms around my neck to hug me.
"Mwuah." I placed both of my hands on the side of her face and gave her a kiss.
She grinned at this and I laughed before beginning to pepper her face with kisses, causing her to giggle and squeal.
Ashton then moved in to kiss on her cheek, Gracie absolutely beaming.
I then had an idea.
"Hey, come with me." I took her hand and Ender's and led them both to my parents old bedroom. Ashton followed along as I opened the door and walked in.
I went over to the dresser and rummaged around for something until I found what I was looking for, and then went back into the living room.
"Okay, so Gracie, you know how this is your birth mommy?" I showed her the the picture of Abby and she smiled and nodded. "Well these are mine and Ender's parents."
I showed her the photo of my mom and dad.
"That's your Mommy and Daddy?" She asked me.
"Mhmm." I smiled at her.
"Where are they?"
"Well, just like your birth mommy, they went to go be with the Angels too."
"Really?" She asked me with wide eyes.
"Yeah."
"You get to see them one day too?"
"One day." I smiled.
Glancing up I saw Ashton looking at me with extreme adoration.
"What are their names?" Gracie pointed to the picture of my parents.
"Well my moms name was Megan, and my dads name was James."
"Are they fairies?"
"Sure." I laughed, pulling her into another hug.
I went back to playing with Gracie, Ender joining us this time and my phone began to ring, Ashton tossing it to me.
"Hello?" I answered, not recognising the number.
"Hi, is this Carter Chase?" A woman asked me.
"This is she."
"Yes, my name is Rhonda Marks, I'm Chloe's mother. Ender had asked her to go to the movies with him tonight."
"Oh yes hi." I smiled and nudged Ender's shoulder, him becoming wide eyed as he stared at me.
"I think the movies sounds like a great idea. Would you be going with him?"
"Yes, me and my fiancé will go with them."
"Great. Is there a certain time we should be there so I can drop her off?"
"Is seven alright?"
"That's perfect, we will see you guys there."
"Awesome, see you then."
I hung up the phone.
"Was that Chloe's mom? What did she say?" Ender shook my arm.
"Why don't you ask her on your date tonight with Chloe." I grinned.
"Yes!" Ender jumped in the air, Ashton and I both laughing.
"Okay we have to be at the movies at seven, so go shower." I told Ender and he ran to the stairs.
"He's growing up so fast." I stood up and went next to Ashton.
"I know." He put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into him so he could kiss my head.
"So with all of this talk about moms, I just looked at the calendar and guess what tomorrow is?" He spoke.
"What?"
"Mother's Day."
I laughed at the irony.
"Oh, we should invite your mom over." I suggested and he smiled. "I'm going to go call her right now." I kissed his cheek and went to call Ann who happily accepted my invitation to come spend Mother's Day with me and her son.
After Ender showered we all had lunch and then it was time to put Gracie down for her nap.
Ashton carried her up the stairs as I followed and laid her down in our bed where we tucked in the covers around her.
"But I don't wanna take nap." She whined.
"Hmm, how about I tell you a bedtime story?" I asked her and she smiled.
I got into the bed with her, Gracie laying down next to me so I could put my arms around her which seemed to always make her happy.
I looked up to see Ashton watching us, a little smile on his face.
"Alright. Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a princess named Gracie." I began the story and Gracie grinned in my hold. "Princess Gracie was the most beautiful girl in all of the kingdom, and her parents, King Ashton and Queen Carter loved her very much.
One day Princess Gracie was walking through forest by the castle when she saw a blue light by a tree. When she went to go look, she found a fairy sitting there."
Gracie gasped at this point and I grinned myself.
"Princess Gracie asked the fairy why she was in the forest alone, and the fairy said she was lost and couldn't find her way home. So, being the nice and kind princess she was, Princess Gracie told the fairy she would help her find her way home."
"What is the fairy's name?" Gracie asked me.
"How about Abby?" I suggested and she nodded up at me in understanding.
"What kind of fairy?" She asked next.
"What kind would you like her to be?"
She thought for a moment. "Pink fairy, and a flower fairy."
"Alright. So Princess Gracie and Abby the pink flower fairy, set off on an adventure to get Abby home. They had to cross rivers and dark forests, fight off pirates who tried to block their path, and trick the witch of the forest into giving them directions to fairy Abby's home. Once they arrived at her home, Abby was so thankful she gave Princess Gracie a present in return. Princess Gracie had to return back to the castle for dinner, and when she told King Ashton and Queen Carter of her adventures that day, they were so proud of their daughter for helping the fairy find her way home, they decided to throw a grand party to celebrate, inviting all of the fairies to celebrate with them, and Princess Gracie and Abby the fairy became the best of friends. The end."
"What was the present?"
"Now that I can tell you once you wake up." I told her and she nodded.
"Okay, are you ready for your nap now?"
"I want to hear about the fairies." She pouted.
"Don't worry, you'll see them in your dreams."
She smiled.
I removed myself from under Gracie, tucking her little self back in.
"Sweet dreams Princess Gracie." I smiled at her and leaned in to give her a kiss. "I love you."
"Love you Mommy." She beamed up at me and then turned over in the blankets, clutching Mr. Carrots the bunny to her chest.
Ashton came over to give her a kiss as well, leaning over the bed as he told her he loved her to which she smiled happily, while I used his distraction to get something from my jewellery box and then join him at the door.
We closed it behind us and the moment we did Ashton pulled me into his embrace.
"Can I just hold you for a minute?" He murmured into my neck and I laughed lightly as I nodded.
"You are so amazing do you know that? So absolutely, freaking amazing." He said as he hugged me.
I let out a laugh against his chest where I was letting my head rest.
"Seriously Carter, you are."
"Thank you." I leaned up on my tippy toes to give him a kiss to which he returned passionately.
"What's in your hand?" He asked me after he had released me from his strong hold.
"The present from Abby the fairy to Princess Gracie." I smiled and opened my hand to reveal the small, delicate, silver chain with the little fairy charm on it.
"My mother went to Disney World when she was a kid and my grandparents got her this." I explained. "She can use it as something to remind her of her birth mom."
"That's incredible." Ashton just shook his head at me in amazement and I kissed his cheek before going downstairs to wrap the little necklace up in a box and write a note to go along with it.
When I knew Gracie would be snoozing away I went to go place the two items by her pillow, knowing she would find them when she woke up.
As I walked back down into the living room, Ashton was sitting on the sofa typing something on his phone while Ender was hooking Bear to his leash so he could go for a walk.
"Whatcha doin?" I sat down next to my fiancé and he finished typing whatever he was typing before handing me his phone.
I noticed he was making an Instagram post so I looked at the photo which was a black and white one that he had just taken when I was telling Gracie the nap time story. But he had a long caption to go with it.
'Today was a bit of an emotional day at the Irwin house. While playing with Gracie, she began to talk about how she was a baby in Carters tummy, which led Carter and I to believe she didn't remember her birth mom. Unfortunately, this also led us to have to have the conversation with Gracie that we are not her birth parents. We showed her a picture of her birth mother Abby, and explained to her that she was the one who carried Gracie in her tummy, but Gracie just came to live with us. Then Gracie asked us the hardest question of all: where was her birth mom.
The hardest thing I've ever had to do is tell her that her birth mom went to go be with the Angels, and then hold her while she cried because she wanted to see her. As Carter and I consoled her, Carter said something that will always stay with me, she told Gracie "no matter who gave birth to you, me and daddy are your parents now, and we love you very much, and nothing in the world could ever, ever change that."
I've never heard anything more true in my life.
Gracie may not have my DNA, but she is my child nonetheless, and I have never been more proud to call myself her dad.
So Abby, thank you for giving birth to such an amazing daughter. Carter and I love her like she was our own, and are so thankful that we get the opportunity to raise her into the beautiful, smart, and sweet little girl she is. Gracie knows you are watching over her and smiles when we tell her how much you loved her. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a dad to Gracie, because there is no love more sweet, unconditional, and unmeasurable than that of a parent and their child, biological or not.
And to Carter, I hope you know how absolutely amazing you are. You took Gracie in and made her feel like she had a family again, and I've never been more proud to be apart of that family. You are an incredible mother for so many reasons there's not enough space to write them all, but I hope you always know that Gracie is so incredibly lucky to have a mom who loves her as much as you do.'
I looked up at Ashton with tears in my eyes.
"Is that okay?" He asked me and I nodded before throwing my arms around his neck.
His hands went to my back. "Why are you crying?"
"Because that was beautiful." I responded and felt him smile as he hugged me tighter to him.
Now I understood what Ashton had meant a long time ago when he said that he could feel himself falling more in love with me every day, because right now I could feel myself falling even more in love with Ashton, the father of our beautiful baby girl, and the man who would always be there.
After this Ashton posted his photo and then held me on the sofa for a long time, the two of us enjoying each other's company.
The time came around for me to start making dinner and I was about to send Ashton up to get Gracie when she suddenly came flying down the stairs.
"Mommy Mommy Mommy!" She exclaimed excitedly, holding the present box and note in her hands, and I caught her as she approached me.
"Look! The fairy gave me my present!"
"She did!" I gasped playfully, Ashton and Ender coming around to watch. "Let's open it."
I helped her open the box and pulled out the necklace, Gracie's eyes widening at the pretty silver jewellery.
"It's a fairy!" She gasped at the charm and I nodded.
"It is." I smiled.
"What does the note say?" Ender asked and I directed my smile at him before I opened the letter and began to read it to Gracie.
"Gracie, thank you for being such an amazing daughter. I am very proud of the little girl you've become, and I want you to know that I will always be here to watch over you. Even though I had to go be with the Angels and fairies, I want you to know that I will never forget you, and will always love you. This necklace is for you, so that whenever you look at it, you think of me. I know you are in great hands with your new mommy and daddy who love you very much. I'll see you in your dreams, Abby the fairy."
Gracie was in a full grin by the time I finished reading the note to her.
"Here, I'll put the necklace on you." I turned her around and clasped the chain around her neck. "There you go."
She hugged me at this point and I fought off the happy tears that threatened to fall as I held her to me, so completely in love with this little girl who had managed to capture my heart.
--
AWWWWWW:)
I don't know if you cried but I did like several times while I wrote Ashton's letter to Gracie's birth mom and Carter.
There's more sappy and heart warming parts in the next chapter so get ready for those as well!
Anyways, comment and vote if you'd like and I'll have the next part up soon!
Much love xx -M