(Thursday, January 2nd, 2020)

"Why are you four so heavy?" Luke asked his belly as he took another slow step down the stairs. He could see Taco circling the bottom step, waiting for him to put down his dinner. "Seriously, girls. It's like I'm a Marine suiting up for battle."

He could feel two of them kick—more like a punch in the gut, honestly. He put his hand over the stretched skin as he leant over the banister and took another step down. He never hated stairs until suddenly there were four bodies growing inside of him.

Luke was out of breath by the time he got downstairs. His back was straining from carrying the pounds. He gained almost 90 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy, most of it is water weight and such keeping the babies all cushioned up.

He tried not to think about it.

Pregnancy was hard, but he was able to eat an entire pizza by himself without feeling guilty.

Luke could feel their kicking digging into his ribs, a pain making him sit down. He took a breather on the bar stool next to the kitchen island. Taco continued to circle around him, her face rubbing up against his socks.

"Give me a minute, cat." Luke put both hands where the bottom of his ribs once were. He pressed in lightly, just trying to soothe the cramp-feeling. His stomach was warm, his stomach was always warm. It was like carrying a heater on his stomach at all times, except this heater had feet and hands that kicked and punched and hurt Luke.

"Why do you guys hate me? Love me!" His raise in tone caused more distress as the babies moved more, kicking and moving. "Jesus Christ, how do people do this?"
Luke put his hands under his belly, trying to hold the weight up a bit more. Everything was painful in his body, everything hurt. Even laying down and trying to relax hurt. He couldn't turn on his sides without feeling like his skin was being ripped off of his body. He couldn't lay on his back without feeling like the babies were squishing him.

The pain got worse, to the point where he began to moan out in pain. Taco scurried away, hiding under the couch like always. She wasn't in for lots of commotion.

Luke reached out his hand, feeling around the counter until he could feel his phone under his fingertips.

He unlocked the screen, finding Ashton's number. He pressed his mobile phone, waiting for the ringing to stop.

"Hello?" Ashton asked.

Luke could hear the girls chattering in the background as he figured they were in the car. "It's me."

"Hey, Luke. What's up?"

"I think I'm dying," Luke bit down on his tongue as another surge of pain raked through his body, "I'm not kidding. Ashton, it hurts so much."

Ash pressed a few buttons on the steering wheel, taking him off of speaker. He grabbed his phone from the middle counsel, putting it up to his ear. "Is it the girls?"

"They're so big and it hurts so much."

"Okay, I'm gonna come over there, let me turn around. I have the girls with me, too." Ashton checked the rear-view mirror before making an illegal U-turn. They didn't live far from Luke and Michael's place, only a good ten minutes away.

"It hurts," he repeated, tears brimming his eyes.

"I know, I know. I'm almost there, okay? Where are you?" He stopped at a red light, switching his phone to the opposite ear.

"Sitting in the kitchen," he answered, "Is it supposed to hurt?"

"Yeah, Love. It's going to hurt, nothing is wrong. Don't freak yourself out." Ashton could hear the worry tone under every word Luke spoke. He knew the blonde was breathing heavily and panicking as the pain didn't stop like it usually did.

"Is my body trying to kill me?" Luke laid his head on the cold countertop as another wave of pain washed over him. He let out a screech, biting his lip to try and hold it in.

"I'm two minutes away, keep breathing."

Luke could barely feel his lungs. He wasn't sure if it was the four babies or just his mind running wild. In reality, the human body isn't capable of holding one child. It's damaging and painful. So, when four are suddenly in a lanky body, it's not a good thing.

Ashton pulled into the familiar driveway, quickly ushering the girls out. He locked his car doors, making his way fast to the front door.

Of course Ash had a spare key to the house, that's when friends are for. Luke's and Ashton's friendship was based off of Ash getting locked out, Luke is the same way.

"When we get inside, you guys are just going to sit quietly on the couch, okay?" Ashton turned to the girls, quickly spitting out demands for the younger two.

They obediently nodded their heads, listening to their father.

Luke lifted his head as the door opened, his eyes barely capable of looking up. He squeezed them shut again, swallowing the pain.

Ash rested an arm on his back, drawing circles across his shoulder blades. "Keep breathing, keep breathing."

"It hurts, Ashton!" Luke yelled. He scrunched up his body, his knees as close to his chest as they could get.

"I know it does, but it will pass over. I'm going to get you something to drink and eat, keep that breathing going."

Ashton thought he depended on Luke a lot. Luke depended on Ashton a lot, too, though. They were the ideal friendship, they cared about each others mental health more than their own. Especially with their partners across the world.

Of course, no one should ever surround their lives around their partner, but depending on them is okay. Luke wouldn't drop everything for Michael, but he's not afraid to ask for a shoulder to lean on. Ashton doesn't wait around every second of the day for Calum to come home—he has his own life—but he'll still make it clear that Cal is missed.

Ash slid a cup of iced water across their granite counter tops before turning around to find their mild snacks. "What're you feeling?"

"Death."

"I meant food-wise, but okay." Ashton went through their fridge, finding a few half cut up fruits. "Do you just get too lazy while cutting up fruit?" He asked, taking out a mango. Ashton slid the plate closer to him as he took out a separate one along with a proper knife for fruit.

"So lazy," he said, "So—Oh, fuck, that one hurt!" Luke held his stomach. "They're gonna stop soon, right?"

Ashton nodded, "Try not to focus on it."

Luke rested his head on the counter, his blue eyes watching Ashton cut up the rest of the mango, then some strawberries. He watched the knife slit into the juicy fruits, his dry hands holding it steady.

"Did you actually die?" Ashton asked after watching him stare blankly at the counter for minutes.

"It feels like it. Fuck, why the fuck did I want kids?"

"It's going to be so worth it," he looked up at his two girls whispering to each other in the living room, "Trust me."

Luke groaned out again as his body ached.

"Do you wanna sleep over at our place tonight?"

"You guys can stay here. I need to find Taco and feed her." He closed his eyes, his eyelashes curling nicely on his cheekbones.

Ashton looked at his best friend, pushing the bowl of fruit closer to him. "Eat, Lucas."

"No, Mom."

"Luke." Ashton said his name in full mother-mode, even the girls turned around, making sure they weren't the ones being yelled at.
Luke inched out his hand from under his head, taking a single slice of the cut up strawberries before putting it into his mouth. "I hate you so much."

"Eat more, drink, too! Dammit, Luke, you're a child. Bell and Iv take better care of themselves than you."

"I'm in pain! Pity me!"

"Daddy! Be nice to Lukey!" Bella called from the couch. She stood up on her knees, her hands grabbing the back beam. "He's sick," she pouted.

Luke laughed, only causing pain radiating through his torso again. "Oh, fuck me."

Ash leant over, whispering, "One week until your hubby is home." He kept walking, giving his own two children an after school snack.

(a/n) i love mom!ashton