"Gunner, be careful,"Nikki said softly as our son ran around the room.

"He has so much energy lately," I murmured.

"Yeah, he does. It's crazy. Uh-oh... Oh no, don't cry, bud," he cooed as our toddler tripped over his amp cord.

Setting down his bass down on the table in front of him, Nikki scooped Gunner into his arms, causing an eruption of giggles to replace the wide eyes and impending tears.

"See, you're okay!" Nikki said proudly as Gunner continued to laugh. "Little tough guy- ow!"

I laughed at the scene that was rapidly unfolding in front of me; Gunner had fist fulls of Nikki's hair and he was laughing so hard that his face was bright red, and he barely made a sound as Nikki tried to get his hair free.

"Gunner, let go of your daddy's hair," I wheezed as I walked over to help. "Just hold him and I'll get his fingers," I instructed as I gently uncurled Gunner's fists.

"Thank you!" Nikki said releasing a deep breath. "Does he do that to you a lot?" he asked as he bounced him on his knee.

"Yeah, every now and then, but he's getting better about it."

"Tell that to my scalp," he joked as he rubbed his head, observing as Gunner slid off of his knee and walked over and strummed (sort of) his bass. "I think he's gonna be a musician,"Nikki said, snaking an arm around me and pulling me closer. "I'm not sure about this one, though," he mumbled, kissing my belly.

Nikki and I had officially gotten married about six months after Gunner was born; it had been almost two years, and we were now expecting our second child. Once again, Nikki had been adamant that it would be a girl, but this time he was actually right.

"Never can tell... I told you he'd be like his father," I said, running my fingers through my husband's hair as we watched our son.

"In some ways."

"He's got your attitude... and your nose," I murmured, smiling to myself.

"Yeah. Your eyes and lips, though."

"Yeah... God I can't believe he's getting so big already! He can reach your bass now; you need a better place to keep it safe from him."

"Yeah. I mean I'm not really worried about the bass, but I'll probably put that one in the closet or something."

"Good idea. It's only going to get harder to keep things away from him as he gets older."

"I know, and we're going to do it again just as we're getting a break," he said with a chuckle.

"We can handle it; I know we can," I said with full confidence.

"Yeah, I'm just really bummed about the timing" he mumbled.

"It'll be fine. Besides, you're just missing the messy part."

"I'll be home; I'll find a way to make it work," he assured.

"Sixx, you have a tour to run. You can't just drop it."

"I can for my family. We'll see how this goes anyway... Tommy's having a rough time with this divorce and Mick and Vince are a little hit or miss lately. Vince especially."

"Yeah, but a tour will bring you all back and center you again- as long as you don't do anything stupid."

"I hope so. But either way, I have to be home to meet my little girl, and I really want to see how Gunner reacts to her."

"They'll probably be fine once he gets used to her. Y'know, introduce them and all that stuff."

"Probably. I'm sure tha- Gunner, no!" he shouted, quickly jumping up to stop the bass guitar from falling onto his head. "Don't pull that, buddy," he said softly, tucking the strap up out of the reach of Gunner's wandering hands.

"Good catch," I said high fiving Nikki as he once again picked up the trouble maker.

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure this whole fatherhood thing has sharpened my reflexes."

"I'd believe it."

"Oh, and when I leave, please don't take out another table; that was a mess that's better to avoid."

I blushed as I remembered the incident.

"I know... that was bad. I think the grout still has blood stains," I mumbled, absently wiping under my nose, checking for blood as a paranoid habit

"You'll be fine," he assured before kissing my cheek and marching into the kitchen with Gunner giggling in his arms. "Let's get some cookies," he whispered.

"Ah! No, I said no more," I scolded as I waddled after them.

"Mommy is trying to be a party pooper!" he chanted, hoisting the kid onto one shoulder.

"Nikki, he can't keep eating that stuff all day, he needs some real food first."

"Fine, let's split a sammy little one," he said, carefully setting Gunner on the counter.

"You spoil him," I noted, stretching onto my toes to kiss his cheek.

"Well, yeah, y'know how it is. He's my sidekick- right?" he asked, high fiving Gunner, who giggled and went back to picking at a loose string on his pants.

This was our life now. No crazy partying, just having fun and spending time together. It was definitely safer for all of us, and in all honesty, it was more fun. After years and years of it, you get tired of constantly drinking and smoking and whatnot- tour was still exhausting, but having something to come home to pulled us through.

These days I was done with my Nasty Habits back ups, but every once in a while, Gunner and I would fly out and see Nikki and the guys. "Daddy rumbles!" Gunner would shout excitedly when his dad was on stage, both of them full of excitement.

Soon, there would be four of us in the Sixx family, and we would be doing everything again, and double time. We were excited for this part of our lives, and we looked forward to our future more than ever. Life was beginning to show us a beautiful road, and things were better and better every day.