I woke up the next morning feeling much more refreshed.

Ashton was passed out next to me and I knew he was exhausted so I let him rest, carefully slipping out of the bed as to not wake him.

I remained quiet as I went to my closet to put the thin navy blue flannel robe I had that I hadn't worn in a while, over my pyjamas. Just like the robe at the hotel Ashton and I had stayed at it stopped a few inches after my bum.

I slipped on my grey slippers as well, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and padded downstairs into the kitchen.

The clock on the microwave said 5:45 and I started the coffee maker, breathing in the lovely smell of the morning coffee.

As I was pulling down a mug from the cabinet I felt a little pair of arms wrap around my legs.

"Morning Gracie." I set my cup on the counter then placed a hand on on her head, pushing back the messy hair that was in her face.

I bent down to pick her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist as I began to bounce her lightly.

Ender was still asleep on the sofa so I tried to be as quiet as I could.

I was pouring my cup of coffee when I heard a noise and turned to see Ann walking into the kitchen in a red flannel pyjama top and pants.

"Good morning." I smiled at her as she walked in.

"Good morning." She smiled back. "Hi Gracie." She came up and kissed Gracie who beamed up at her.

"Morning Grandma." Gracie said and I scrunched up my nose as I smiled at the little girl I was holding on my hip.

Ann took a seat at the bar and I went to get another mug from the cupboard.

"You take three sugars in your coffee, right?" I checked with Ann, remembering how I had observed how she prepared her drink when we were in Sydney.

"Yes." She said surprised.

I turned and made her coffee for her and then handed it to her.

"You are so sweet, thank you." She smiled before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Okay can you go wake up Ender for me?" I asked Gracie and then set her down on the ground where she proceeded to run over to Ender and jump on him.

"What the- Gracie!" He exclaimed as her small body hit his.

"Mommy said wake up." I heard her say as I grabbed a knife and a banana to start cutting it up in slices for Gracie's breakfast.

"Okay okay." Ender grumbled and then the two of them walked into the kitchen, Gracie coming back over to me and pulling on my arm for me to pick her up.

"Gracie I have a knife in my hand please stop. I'll pick you up in a minute." I scolded her slightly and she stood next to me while I finished slicing the banana into a little blue bowl and then went to wash the knife and my hands.

"Okay come here." I said and she reached up to me while I placed my hands under her arms and lifted her up, settling her back on my waist.

"Do you want milk or juice?" I asked her.

"Milk." She answered and I grabbed the carton from the fridge and poured her glass, hearing Ashton's footsteps coming down the stairs.

He shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes and I went to put the milk away.

"Mommy you're pretty." Gracie said randomly next to me and laughed.

"Thank you." I leaned in to kiss her cheek. "You're very pretty too."

"Daddy are we pretty?" Gracie asked Ashton and I turned to smile at him.

"Every girl is pretty Gracie, but you and your Mom are especially pretty." He answered and she nodded in satisfaction.

"Morning." He came up behind me, placing his hand on my back and kissed my head.

"Morning to you too." I responded cheerfully.

Gracie reached out for him and he took her into his arms, giving her a kiss before setting her down at the bar.

I made Ashton his coffee how he liked it and then set it at the bar at his spot along with Gracie's breakfast in front of her.

Then I went to grab pancake mix from the cabinet to start everyone else's breakfast.

"So what's the schedule for today?" Ashton asked.

"Well me, Ender, and Gracie all have dentist appointments after school." I said and he nodded.

"Okay."

"I hate the dentist." Ender made a disgusted face.

"Well maybe if you didn't try and bite the person cleaning your teeth then they would be a little nicer to you." I commented back.

"You tried to bite the dentist?" Ashton gawked as he looked at Ender.

"He touched my teeth." Ender shrugged.

"That's what they're supposed to do!" Ashton exclaimed before busting into laughter.

"Do I have to get a shot?" Gracie asked with wide eyes.

"Nope. The dentist is just going to look at your teeth and make sure they look all pretty and clean." I smiled at her and reached over to pat her arm.

"We are probably going to be there awhile so would you take the cake over to the guys for me?" I asked Ashton.

"Sure." He smiled. "I'll hang out there and then you can call me when you're ready."

Agreeing to the plan I finished breakfast, handing everyone a plate with a stack of pancakes and then washed dishes as they finished.

I sent Gracie and Ender outside to walk Bear while Ashton and I headed up to our room to get dressed.

"So how are you feeling today?" He asked me as I slipped off my robe.

"A lot better actually." I answered honestly.

"Good."

I slipped on a tee shirt and shorts and went to get my shoes from the closet, walking out to see Ashton pulling a shirt over his head.

"So there's something I need to talk to you about." Ashton said kind of nervously as I walked up beside him to get a pair of socks from my drawer.

Anxiety shot through my body.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, shifting on my foot awkwardly.

"Everything's fine." He quickly assured me, noticing my nervous state. He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned my body towards him. "Everything is more than fine." He winked and leaned in to press a hot kiss to my lips.

"Then what is it?" I asked after he had stopped kissing me.

"Well I-" He began before we were interrupted by Ender flinging my bedroom door open.

"Car, Gracie won't let me watch my cartoons!" He complained.

"Um, I'm sorry but have you ever heard of knocking?" I folded my arms across my chest, kind of angry at him.

"But-"

"No. What if we were doing something or saying something you weren't supposed to see or hear. That's rude to walk in people." I scolded him.

"Sorry." His shoulders dropped.

"And you're supposed to be getting dressed anyways not watching TV so leave her alone." I said and he groaned before stalking off to his room.

"Oh my God." I sighed and Ashton let out a chuckle. "Anyways, what were you going to say?" I tried to move on.

"Why don't we talk about it tonight?" He asked, rubbing my arms.

I nodded and he leaned in to kiss me beautifully again before we finished getting dressed.

Downstairs everyone gathered in the kitchen to say goodbye to Ann.

"Thank you so much for being here and for everything you've done." I hugged her.

"Oh of course. I'm glad your feeling better." She hugged me back.

"Thanks mum." Ashton said and went to hug his mother.

"It was good to see you both. I'm so happy for you and Carter. You've got yourself quite the girl." She told him and I smiled as I overheard.

"I really do." Ashton responded and I felt like I would pass out from happiness.

Ann then moved to hug Ender.

"Ender it was so nice to see you again. I told your sister to let me know when you have another footie game so I can come out to watch."

"That would be so cool!" He exclaimed. "Thank you Ann."

Ann kissed Ender's cheek and then moved to Gracie who was in Ashton's arms.

Gracie poked out her bottom lip and my heart broke for her.

"I don't want you to go." Gracie said as Ann pulled her into her arms to hug her.

"Aw, it's okay Gracie." Ann pet her hair and Ashton pulled me to his side, both of us watching them.

"But I want to make cookies and play dress up." Gracie whined.

"You get to play dress up and make cookies with your Mommy and Daddy, and next time I get to see you we will play all day long. I promise." Ann said and Gracie nodded.

"I love you Grandma." Gracie said and I watched the smile widen on Ann's face.

"I love you too Gracie." She said and Ashton lightly squeezed my waist, kissing my temple.

Ann passed Gracie off to me and we said goodbye again before she left.

Once Ann had left I rushed upstairs to get Gracie out of her pyjamas and into her outfit for the day which consisted of a light purple shirt that said Trend Setter in black letters and her black leggings with her little combat boots.

I put her hair in a high ponytail and curled it before putting a matching purple bow on top of the ponytail.

"Someone looks extra cute today." Ashton smiled at her as Gracie skipped down the stairs to him.

"Why thank you." I said sarcastically and Gracie turned around to look at me with her hands on her hips.

"Daddy was talking about me." She said.

"I was, but I think your Mommy looks extra cute today too, don't you think Gray?" He picked her up from behind and set her in his lap.

I rolled my eyes at my white shorts and navy blue tee shirt attire.

"Mhmm." Gracie nodded and I laughed as I walked past them, giving them both quick kisses.

"You two are sweet."

Ender grabbed his back pack and we took him up to the school before heading back to the house.

I had to check the email at the shop since this was around the time of year that tourists started booking for their summer vacations.

Ashton and Gracie stayed in the house and suddenly I got a text from Ashton.

I opened it to see it was a video and hit play.

Ashton was sitting at the bar with his phone angled over his shoulder so you could see Gracie twirling around in the living room singing Let It Go from Frozen.

He had a hand over his mouth trying to stifle his laughter as she spun around the room, her arms flailing all over the place. She sang one particularly high line and Ashton couldn't contain his laughs and Gracie turned around to look at him.

She immediately burst into a fit of giggles, Ashton joining in.

I smiled as the video stopped. They were so cute.

We had a few emails asking for bookings so I replied to those and made a few notes on a notepad before turning off the computer and going back inside.

Ashton and Gracie were curled up on the sofa watching Pocahontas. I took a picture of the two of them, smiling at the father daughter moment.

"Oh can I join?" I asked and Ashton smiled, lifting up his arm for me to slip between him and the little girl.

I pulled Gracie to me while Ashton did the same to me, his body warming up my back.

He moved his head so that it was nestled into my neck and placed a few kisses there, then tangled his legs with mine.

His arm moved away for a moment and I heard the click of his phone as he took a picture then placed it back around me and Gracie.

Our morning was spent like this until all of us were hungry and I made sandwiches for lunch.

Ashton got on his computer for a little bit while I sat on the living room floor to play dolls with Gracie.

He was online for about thirty minutes before joining us again. I left Gracie on the floor to continue playing to go sit next to Ashton on the sofa who had pulled up Twitter on his phone.

I leaned my head on his chest while I watched him scroll.

I saw the picture he had posted of the three of us cuddled up on the couch and I pressed a kiss to his jaw before watching him scroll again, reading different tweets from fan accounts.

The rest of our afternoon was lazy and relaxed before we had to leave to get Ender and go to the dentists.

I carried the cake in a box out to the jeep and set it on the floor board so it wouldn't get damaged.

Ashton drove us to the school where we picked up my brother and then had me tell him where to take us.

When we pulled up in front of the dentists office I hopped out and so did Ender while Ashton took Gracie.

"Alright, see you in a bit." I said and he came forward to kiss me.

"Love you." He said before hugging Gracie as well.

Holding Gracie's hand, I led her and Ender into the dentists office, noticing Ashton sitting in the jeep and waiting until we were inside before leaving.

I walked up to the the receptionists desk and the lady behind it smiled at me.

"I have an appointment for Carter, Ender, and Gracie Chase at 4:15." I said.

"Okay, I'll have your dentist be right with you." She smiled.

"It's Irwin." Gracie said as I turned to find chairs for us to sit in.

"What?" I asked her.

"My name is Gracie Irwin." She nodded. "That's what Daddy said."

"When did he say that?" I asked her.

"At the store." She responded.

"Well, right now your name is Gracie Chase, but when Daddy and I get married it will be Gracie Irwin." I tried to explain to her, but I had to admit, him calling her Gracie Irwin was one of the cutest things I had ever heard.

"I want you to get married today." She flopped back dramatically in her chair.

I laughed at this. "Not today Gracie. But one day."

"Chase?" A female dental technician called and I stood up, Gracie and Ender following me.

"Okay Ender, have a seat." The dentist said and he sat in the red dental chair and she pressed a button that made it slowly lean back until he was flat.

Ender squirmed and flinched as the lady cleaned his teeth and Gracie shifted nervously on my lap as we sat in a chair in the corner of the little cubicle.

When Ender was done I went to put Gracie in the chair and she flipped out.

"Look, I'll go first and show you that it doesn't hurt and then you can go okay?" I said and she nodded, sitting on top of Ender in the chair.

I took my seat in the dental chair and was leaned back. It only took the lady about ten minutes to clean my teeth and then I was done.

"See Gracie, it didn't hurt at all." I assured her and she nodded nervously.

I was able to get her in the seat and she seemed okay until the dentist brought the electric tartar scraper out, the noise scaring Gracie and she flung out her arm, reaching for my hand.

I held her hand while the nurse spent a few minutes on her teeth.

"You have perfectly clean teeth Gracie. Do you brush them everyday?" The dentist asked her and Gracie nodded happily.

"Mommy makes me brush my teeth every morning and every night."

"Well you have a very good Mommy then." The nurse said.

I sent Ashton a text that we were ready and made my way to the front counter again to schedule our next appointment.

Ashton pulled up ten minutes later and we all got into the jeep.

"Hey, I missed you." He leaned across the seat to kiss me. "Ooo, minty."

I laughed at this and we continued on our way to the house.

"The guys said thank you for the cake by the way, I'm pretty sure it was almost half gone by the time I left." Ashton said as we walked through the door to the house.

"Aw, I'm glad they liked it."

I got a drink from the fridge and then made my way to the living room.

"So a certain four year old that we both know and love had a few things to say at the dentist office today." I mentioned to Ashton as we sat down next to each other on the sofa, Gracie on the floor in front of the television playing with her toys and Ender upstairs playing with Bear.

"Oh yeah? What did she say?" Ashton asked.

"Well first she informed me as I signed her in under Gracie Chase, that her name was not in fact Chase, but Gracie Irwin." I said and watched in amusement as a blushed flared on his neck and cheeks.

"It just kind of slipped out when I was talking to her." He said nervously.

"I thought it was cute." I smiled and placed a hand on his cheek.

"You know, one day you're going to be Mrs. Carter Irwin." He said with a little smirk on his lips.

"Carter Irwin..." I said, never having really imagined my name with his.

He watched my face carefully and I looked up to smile at him.

"I like it." I giggled and he flashed me a brilliant smile before tucking me into his arms.

We cuddled for a few minutes before I continued to speak.

"She also said that she wants us to get married today."

"I like the way she thinks." Ashton laughed and I rolled my eyes playfully.

"You do understand why I want us to hold off on getting married right?" I asked him.

"Because you think we are too young." He shrugged.

"That, and because I want you to make sure that I'm really the one you want." I said the last part nervously.

His eyes went wide and he sat up straight.

"You think I'm going to change my mind?" He asked me.

"I don't know." I muttered.

"Carter," He sighed and I felt guilty, "If I had any doubt in my mind that you were not the one for me then I wouldn't have asked you to marry me. But I know with everything I am that I am going to spend the rest of my life with you, and Ender, and Gracie, and one day little kids of our own. I'll wait as long as you want for us to get married, but don't ever think that I'm going to change my mind about you because I won't."

"Okay." I whispered and he went back to how he was holding me before.

A few minutes later Gracie turned around to see him holding me and crawled up into my lap to join the cuddle session.

"Gracie, let's tell Mommy how much we love her." Ashton said and a soft smile came to my face.

"I love Mommy...this much!" Gracie said and spread her little arms as far as they could go.

"That's a lot." I laughed.

"How much do you love Mommy?" Gracie asked Ashton.

"I love her more than all the stars in the sky." Ashton said with a cheeky little smile and Gracie gasped adorably causing me to laugh.

"How much do you love me?" Gracie asked us and I tightened my arms around her.

"We love you all the way to the moon and back plus more." I kissed her cheek and she smiled happily, Ashton moving in to kiss her other cheek.

Eventually I made everyone dinner and then got Gracie into the bath before Ashton and I tucked her into bed.

I told Ender goodnight before escaping to my room where Ashton was just getting under the covers.

I slipped off his sweatshirt I had been wearing over my tank top and crawled into bed as well, remembering Ashton had wanted to talk to me about something.

"Oh, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked, still sitting up as I plugged my phone into the charger next to his.

"Oh." He said and sat up as well, taking a deep breath.

"I wanted to ask you..." He started and then took another breath, me peaking my eyebrows, "I want you to go on tour with me."

"What?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I want you, Ender, and Gracie to go on tour with me." He said and I sucked in a harsh breath.

Go on tour with him?

Going on the occasional trip to Sydney with him, that was one thing.

Getting engaged to him, that was another thing.

But leaving my life behind to go on tour with him...

"Ashton I...I can't." I breathed shaking my head. "My whole life is here...I can't just leave."

"I know it's a lot to ask of you but-"

"A lot to ask of me? You're asking me to leave everything."

"Carter, with the seizures and us getting engaged and you knowing about the band, it just scares the hell out of me to leave you here. I want you and the kids to be with me where I can make sure you all are safe."

"Ashton you're just paranoid. We are going to be fine."

"I don't know that. I can't know that everything is okay when I'm thousands of miles away. I want you to go with me."

"Ashton." I shook my head. "You're asking me to leave my home, my job, my friends. My family has worked for sixty years to build up our business and it's my responsibility to keep it going...I can't just abandon it."

"I know that..." He said with sad eyes, "But Carter I don't think I can leave you and our kids for seven months."

"Okay, but Ender has school, I have to get ready for summer season, I might have another job, Gracie is only four...it's not realistic."

"Ender can get a tutor for school, Luke did it and it worked just fine. And Gracie would love it. And we will be back before summer starts." He tried to convince me.

"No." I shook my head. "No Ash I can't."

"Then I don't want to go if you're not going  with me." He said firmly.

"Ashton you're being ridiculous." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm serious. I'm not going to go if you're not."

I flipped back the covers and stepped out of the bed.

"Carter where are you going?" Ashton asked.

"To take an anxiety pill." I mumbled, leaving my bedroom.

"Car, come on." He said and I heard his footsteps as he followed me downstairs.

I went to the medicine cabinet to grab my pill bottle only to have Ashton's hands close the cabinet door and take the bottle from me.

"Seriously?" I asked him. "Do you want me to have a seizure?"

"I'd rather you have a seizure when I'm here than when I'm 5,000 miles away." He said in a snippy tone and I rolled my eyes.

I made a grab for my pills but only to have Ashton hold them high up in the air where I couldn't reach.

"Ashton stop." I said seriously.

"No, just listen to me. I know it seems scary, but we can make it work." He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Ashton I love you, I really do...but I'm not going to leave my life behind."

"How do you think I feel when I have to leave you and the kids? I have to leave my life behind too, and I don't want to do it again. I want to take it with me."

"I can't Ashton...I'm sorry, but I can't." I said firmly.

His already frowning face slipped into an even deeper one.

I took the pill bottle from him finally and swallowed one before setting the bottle on the counter and moving away from him.

He sighed loudly behind me as I walked back upstairs and into bed. He came up a few minutes later and got back in as well, neither of us speaking.

His arms weren't around me like they normally were and I was absolutely freezing, but I was stubborn, and as much as I wanted to curl into him I refused.

I could tell he was awake by how tense he was.

How could he ask me to leave everything behind?

Was being engaged to him not enough?

We would still be together when he got back, that wouldn't change, but I just couldn't leave everything that my family worked so hard for, that I worked so hard for.

I felt the anxiety pill start to kick in as a sense of calmness began to settle over me.

Maybe I should just go sleep downstairs tonight, give us both some space.

I was just about to move to get out of the bed when I heard Ashton sigh and felt his body relax.

He turned on his side and I felt as his arms searched for my shivering body, pulling me back against him.

Even though we were both mad at each other we still loved each other.

He nestled his face into the crook of my neck and I felt his breath against my against my skin as he exhaled.

I closed my eyes as I tried to fall asleep and hopefully we would get past this in the morning.

Minutes passed and I could tell Ashton wasn't asleep yet and neither was I, so when there was a quiet knock at my bedroom door, the both of us sat up.

"Come in." I said and the door creaked open to reveal a nervous looking Gracie peeking in.

"What is it baby girl?" Ashton asked from behind me.

"I had a bad dream." She said in a tired, small voice.

"Come here love." I waved her over and she flew into the bedroom, her stuffed bunny and elephant in her hands.

She crawled up onto the bed and in between mine and Ashton's bodies.

Ashton and I both glanced at each other and my pensive face softened as we laid down to both cuddle our little girl.

Gracie had her back pressed to Ashton but had her face against my chest. I moved my hand to lightly stroke her arm, her opening her eyes to look at me.

Her chocolate brown irises gazed at my grey ones and I gave her a soft smile before leaning in to kiss the little girls nose.

When I moved my head back up I was met with Ashton watching us.

I decided to just go to sleep, nestling my head back into my pillow and feeling Gracie snuggle up to me. Then I felt the draping of Ashton's arm over us so that his hand was against my back. His fingers began to move against the fabric of my tee shirt, him silently saying he was sorry.

I was sure that if I opened my eyes he would be looking at me so I decided not to and just buried my head into the pillow even more, letting myself fall asleep so hopefully when I woke up this would be over.

--

Oh Ashton :/

Well I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and i'll have the next one up soon!

As always vote an comment if you'd like!

much love xx -M