A few nights later Ashton and I had spent our day playing with Brooklyn and then went to bed.

I woke up at two in the morning to a cold bed and gagging sounds coming from the bathroom.

Ashton wasn't next to me in bed so I quickly got up, walking into the bathroom. In our master bathroom there was a door led to a small toilet room, and that was where Ashton was sitting on the floor. His head was in his hands and his face was slightly green.

"Ash, baby, are you okay?" I asked, leaning up against the door frame.

"I'm fine. Go back to bed." He croaked and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Are you just nauseous?" I crouched down next to him, my fingers caressing him behind his ear.

He nodded with his eyes closed.

Not seconds later he leaned forward, emptying his stomach. My hand went to rub his back soothingly.

When he was done I continued to rub his back, my heart hurting for him. He sat back on his heels, his skin clammy and honestly looking dreadful.

"I'll go get you something." I kissed his hair on my way to stand up and hurried to the kitchen to get him an anti-nausea pill and a glass of water.

When I got back to the bathroom Ashton was slumped against the wall, his knees drawn up to his chest.

"Here you go." I got down next to him again, handing him the pill and water. "Wait a minute before you take it to make sure you can keep it down."

He nodded, dropping his head back against the light blue wall.

"Have you felt bad all day?" I asked him.

"No." He answered, sounding dreadful. "I woke up feeling like death."

"Well," I said, sitting down on the wall across from him, "I don't think you're going to die, but I'm sorry you're sick."

He gave me a half smile.

A few minutes later once he felt ready, he took the nausea pill and drank a few sips of the water.

We sat on the floor for a few more minutes before he stood up to brush his teeth, finishing the rest of the water.

He went to go get back in bed and I smoothed the comforter over him, placing my hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever which he did.

I left to get him something to hopefully knock down his temperature.

"I wish you didn't have to see me like this." He mumbled after he took the medicine.

"Well, as your future wife, it's my job to take care of you in sickness and in health, so that's what I'm going to do." I smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You're cute." He placed a hand on my knee, a loving smile on his face.

"Get some sleep love. I'll come check on you in a bit." I patted his hand and stood up, turning off our bedroom light as I left the room, closing the door behind me.

I stopped by Brooklyn's crib to check on him and turned off the baby monitor so he wouldn't wake Ashton up, before taking a blanket and a pillow from the closet beside the stairs and making myself a little bed on the sofa.

Brooklyn was sleeping for longer periods of time now, so I wasn't woken up until five by his cries. I changed his diaper and then fed him, rocking him in my arms until Gracie came downstairs.

I placed Brooklyn in his crib and then carried Gracie around the kitchen for a little bit while I made some coffee.

"Where's Daddy?" She asked after she had woken back up.

"Daddy doesn't feel good so he's sleeping." I answered her and she nodded.

My morning was a little crazy as I hurried to get three children dressed and ready for school by myself, but Ender really stepped up to help watch Brooklyn while I assisted Gracie.

I knew Ari was awake by five every morning for her run, so I called her to see if she could take us to the school since Ashton couldn't drive.

She happily accepted and came to the house at around 7:30.

I used a sheet of notebook paper from Ender's binder to leave a note for Ashton telling him where we had gone and that I would be back, leaving it on his nightstand.

I must've thanked Ari around a million times as we walked to her car.

"Seriously it's fine, I don't mind at all." She smiled genuinely. "So Ashton's sick huh?"

"Yeah, I really hope he doesn't have the flu or something." I bit my lip.

"That bad?" She widened her eyes.

"It wasn't pretty." I laughed lightly.

I had taken his keys so I could get Gracie's car seat from his jeep and the bottom half of Brooklyn's as well, making sure to lock it back.

"So when are you going to get your license Car?" Ari asked as we made our way to the school.

"I don't know, I haven't had the chance to practice. I want to but there's just no time."

She nodded.

When we got to the school Ari begged to hold Brooklyn while Ender ran inside and I took Gracie to her classroom.

Once we got back to the car I decided to ask Ari a question to get her opinion.

"So I need your opinion." I said and she gave me an odd look.

"Okay? What's going on?"

"Ashton wants us to have another baby as soon as we can, but I don't know if I want to yet."

"Really?" She looked at me. "Why do you not want to?"

"Because he's going to leave for tour soon and I don't want to be here pregnant and with our new born child."

"He's going to come back though. Ashton wouldn't miss his child being born for the world."

"I know but...I'm just scared."

"Carter, I've never met someone who loves someone as much as Ashton loves you. I think having kids with you let's him love you even more because there's a piece of you and him in the world."

"You're right." I sighed.

And then it hit me.

Maybe the reason Ashton wanted to have kids with me was for the same reason I was scared to: he thought I was going to leave. Maybe his reason for us having more kids was to ensure I wouldn't leave him, while I was scared that is having more kids would cause him to leave.

Ari dropped me off back at the house where I thanked her again and then carried Brooklyn in his car seat to the house.

I changed Brooklyn's diaper before I placed him back in his crib, heading into the bedroom to check on Ashton who was passed out asleep.

I felt his forehead to see that it was still warm and then left, washing my hands before I picked up Brooklyn again to feed him.

I didn't want Brooklyn getting sick since he didn't have a strong immune system, so I would have to force Ashton to stay in the bedroom which I knew he would fight.

When it was time for him to take more medicine I went into the bedroom to wake him up.

"Baby, hey, it's time to take your medicine." I sat on the edge of the bed, stroking the skin of his cheek.

A few moments later his eyes fluttered open, meeting mine.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked him with a soft smile.

"Like hell." He said gruffly.

"I brought you some more medicine to knock down your fever, and I'll bring you some toast and tea if you feel like you can keep it down."

"Okay." He nodded.

"I'll be right back." I patted his leg and left to go get his food.

When I came back he was sitting up in bed with the note I had left him in his hand.

"I'm so sorry I didn't drive you. You could've woken me up and I would've taken you." He said.

"No, you needed to rest. Ari took us, it was fine." I assured him.

"But still." He sighed.

"Ashton stop worrying." I shook my head. "Just focus on getting better."

"Okay." He gave me a half hearted smile.

I set the tea and toast on his nightstand.

"If you need anything else then call me, but you need to stay in here, we don't want Brooklyn getting sick."

"Alright." He sighed. "I can't just go see him for a second?"

"Nope. Sorry babe." I sent him an apologetic look.

"I hate being sick." He groaned.

"I know, I know." I rubbed his arm.

I stood up from the bed. "I'll come check on you in a little bit."

"Love you." He called out to me.

"I love you too. Now get better." I smiled at him as I closed the bedroom door.

Around lunch time I checked on him again, where he was passed out asleep.

I went to make him some chicken soup and then brought it to him, waking him up so I could take his temperature.

"I'm going to take a shower then I'll drive you up to the school." He made to stand up but I placed my hand on his chest, pushing him back down.

"No, I've already talked to Ari and she's going to pick them up and bring them back."

"Car, come on." He pleaded.

"Ashton." I said to him in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He took the bowl of soup and placed it in his lap.

"Thank you." I kissed his forehead.

Later on in the day at around 3:15, Gracie and Ender burst through the front door with Ari on their heels.

"Hey baby girl, how was school?" I asked her as she ran up to me, jumping in my arms and wrapping her legs around my waist.

"It was good. I made a new friend!" She beamed.

"That's great." I hugged her. "How about you End?"

"Good. Coach Robin said he wished you were still working at the school because he could really use your help." He replied.

"Well tell him thank you for the compliment but I have my hands full with Mommy duty." I smiled.

I set Gracie down on the floor and she ran over to the kitchen to find a snack.

"Thank you for picking them up. I owe you one." I went to hug Ari.

"Ah, it's no problem. Anytime." She smiled. "Is Ashton feeling better?"

"His fever has gone down a bit but he's still not well."

"Well tell him I hope he feels better soon. I'm going to go meet Jason for dinner."

"I will. Give Jason a hug for me."

"Sure thing. Bye doll!" She called as she walked out the front door.

I turned back to see Gracie reaching up on the counter to grab a cupcake from the new batch I had made the yesterday.

"Uh uh, no." I told her and she whined as she touched her heels back down to the floor.

"Just one?" She gave me the puppy dog look.

"After dinner." I promised her and she nodded.

"Can I go see Daddy?" She asked.

"Let me go see if he's awake and you can go say hello but that's it. He needs to rest so he can feel better."

She followed me over to the bedroom door when I poked my head in, seeing Ashton sitting up in bed with the television on.

He looked over at me when he heard the door open.

"Someone wanted to say hello." I opened the door a little more and Gracie peeked inside.

"Hi Daddy." She smiled timidly.

"Hey baby girl." He smiled.

"Do you feel better?" She asked him.

"I feel much better. Your Mommy has been taking good care of me."

"Yay!" She grinned.

"Okay, now let's let your Daddy rest." I told Gracie and she waved goodbye to Ash before running out to Brooklyn's crib to tell him hello.

"Get some more sleep." I told him and he gave me a thumbs up before I shut the door again.

That night after dinner I was upstairs in Gracie's room folding her laundry when I received a Twitter notification from Ashton on my phone.

'@CarterChase can you bring me some tea'

I rolled my eyes.

'@Ashton5SOS Why are you tweeting me I'm in the other room?' I replied.

'@CarterChase Because I called your name twice and you didn't answer.'

'@Ashton5sos yeah I'll be there in a minute'

'@CarterChase love you!'

I went down stairs and made him another cup of tea, taking it to the bedroom.

"Here you go." I handed him his tea. "Anything else?"

"Can you stay here and cuddle with me?" He poked out his bottom lip.

"Ash, I can't get sick."

"Please? It will help me get better faster."

"Fine." I sighed, climbing into the bed. "Come here."

He leaned himself into me, using my chest as a pillow. I let my hands go to his face, using the tips of my fingers to softly stroke his skin.

"That feels nice." He commented.

I pushed back his hair and pressed a soft kiss to his hairline.

"I'm sorry you don't feel good" I spoke as my arms went around his shoulders.

"Thank you for taking care of me." He replied, leaning his head on my arm.

"Of course." I pressed another kiss to his hair.

His body relaxed in my arms as I continued to hold him, and press the occasional kiss to his skin.

"I need to go put Gracie to bed." I said a little bit later.

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower." He replied and rolled off of me so I could stand up.

I washed my hands again before tucking Gracie in, giving her an extra kiss from Ashton. I then went to check on Brooklyn and went to change into my pyjamas.

Once Ashton was out of the shower, in his night clothes and back in bed, I went over to him with another pill to knock down his fever.

"Night love." I kissed his forehead.

"I can sleep on the couch, I don't mind." He offered.

"Brooklyn is in there and I don't want him to get sick and neither do you. I'm fine to sleep on the sofa. Now get some rest and hopefully your fever will break and you can come out of quarantine." I laughed at the end and he rolled his eyes.

"I love you." I said as I left our bedroom.

"I love you too."

I turned out the lights and closed the door, heading to the sofa to catch some sleep.

Every time I woke up to take care of Brooklyn, I would go check on Ashton, making sure he was okay.

His fever finally broke at around one in the morning and I knew he'd be feeling much better when he woke up.

In the later part of the morning I slipped into our bedroom to take a shower, Ashton coming into the bathroom a few minutes later.

"How do you feel?" I asked him through the glass door.

"A lot better. Thanks." He said and turned on the sink faucet to brush his teeth.

Ashton and I switched places and I hurried to get ready so I could get the kids dressed for school.

I was pouring myself some coffee with Gracie passed out on my shoulder when Ashton walked in the room, making a beeline for Brooklyn's crib where our baby boy was awake.

"Hey Brooklyn, I missed you so much little man." Ashton picked him up, bringing him to his chest.

Ashton pressed an extended kiss to his forehead, bouncing him lightly as he hugged his little boy.

He carried Brooklyn into the kitchen, not wanting to put him down and I sent him a loving smile. Ashton loved Brooklyn so much, and I knew that if we had another baby he would love it just as much.

I decided to talk to Ashton about everything I had been thinking after we dropped the kids off at school, bringing him over to the sofa once we arrived home.

I held Brooklyn up to my chest, laying him down there so his head was against my neck, my soothing fingers along his back trying to lull him to sleep.

"So what do you want to talk about?" He asked as he sat down next to me.

"I wanted to talk to you about our conversation the other day...but I want you to hear me out before you say anything."

"Okay." He nodded.

"So I was thinking about what you said about us having another baby...and I could be totally wrong about this but I'm just going to put it out there."

I took a deep breath before continuing.

"I feel like the reason you want to have another baby is because of the same reason I'm scared to. I'm scared that if we have another baby then it's going to be too much and eventually you're going to leave, but I think you think if we have another baby then I won't leave you."

He opened his mouth to respond but I stopped him.

"My biggest fear is losing you and I don't know if that's yours too but...that's what I feel. And I don't want another baby to be the thing that ends us."

He sat there for a moment before speaking.

"I didn't realise what I was actually thinking until just now...but you're right. Car, my biggest fear is losing you and Brooklyn because I have to leave so much, and I'm scared there's going to be some guy who is always here and will sweep you off your feet and be there for you in ways I can't. I want another baby with you because it gives me security that you won't, but also I want one because I want us to continue making our family."

"But I don't want another guy. I want you. You're the one I fell in love with. You're the father of my child. I know you're not here all the time, and I'm scared that you're going to find a girl that doesn't have so much baggage and is able to do all the things with you that I can't."

"Carter, I don't want another girl. I want you. You are so much more mature than every other girl because you have so many responsibilities that keep you so real and down to earth. You're the mother of my beautiful baby boy, and I love you more than anything else in this world."

I let my eyes float down to Brooklyn who was snoozing on my neck, his little body moving with his even breaths.

"Don't you think it's funny how we are so in love with each other, yet so scared of losing each other?" I thought aloud and he let out a little chuckle.

"I do. But I think it's time we both realised that both of us are too in love with the other person to ever leave, so we don't need to be scared about losing each other." He smiled softly.

"That works for me." I smiled back.

"If we were to get pregnant before you left for tour, the baby would be born when you got back." I said.

"Does this mean you want us to try and get pregnant?" He asked.

"It does, but I have some conditions..." I trailed off.

"Okay."

I took a deep breath. I was being bold here and baring my soul to him, and I was terrified.

"I want us to go to the doctor and see if it's okay."

He nodded. "Anything else?"

"I want to get my license."

"That sounds like a good idea. Is there something else?"

I inhaled slowly. "I want us to set a date for our wedding."

His eyes lit up at this and he sat forward.

"You do?" He smiled and I nodded sheepishly.

"I think I can accept those terms and conditions, but I have one for you." He moved in closer to me.

"Okay."

"I want us to get married before we have the other baby. I want our kids to have parents that are married."

"I think we can do that." I smiled and he leaned forward to kiss me, being careful of Brooklyn who was still asleep on me.

"I love you." He murmured against my lips.

"I love you too." I said back happily.

We were taking a step forward to make our family complete.

Ashton's PoV:

That night Carter and I had started our possible baby making process with a bang.

She was bare in my arms, fast asleep while I was practically about to pass out. I was exhausted.

From being sick to Carters sexual energy tonight, I was worn out.

But of course, just as I was about to fall asleep the bedroom door knob began to jiggle.

It was locked (for obvious reasons) and I knew it was either Gracie or Ender.

"Mommy! Daddy!" I heard Gracie begin to cry because she couldn't get in and I sighed before getting up.

I pulled on my boxers before going to the door and unlocking it.

Gracie ran into my legs.

"What's the matter?" I asked her.

"There's a monster under my bed!" She practically climbed up me. "I want to sleep with you and Mommy."

"Sweetheart you have to start sleeping in your own bed like a big girl." I said quietly to her.

"Daddy, please!" She sobbed.

"Here, how about I go scare the monster away." I suggested and set her down.

I took a step forward but Gracie darted behind me and ran into the bedroom. She sat herself on the bed and then looked at me.

My jaw dropped.

"Darcy Grace Irwin."

Carter sat up at the movement, bringing the sheet with her to cover her chest.

"What is going on."

"Someone refuses to sleep in their bed." I said.

"There's a monster!" Gracie turned to Carter.

"Baby it's a school night and you know you sleep in your bed on school nights. We can check for monsters but you have to sleep in your bed."

"No!" Gracie began to wail and I knew if she didn't quiet down she'd wake up Brooklyn.

"Gracie." Carter brought her over into her arms to try and calm her down. "Ash can you bring me my robe please?"

I grabbed her robe from the hook in the bathroom and handed it to her, Carter slipping it on before standing up so she could tie it.

Gracie wailed again at this and then I heard the sound of Brooklyn crying.

I sighed.

"I'll get him." I turned and went to get the crying baby from his crib, trying to settle him down but since he had been woken up he was going to be fussy. I carried him to the bedroom where Carter was trying to talk it out with Gracie.

"Daddy and I will check but I promise you that there are no monsters under your bed."

"But the closet!"

"They won't be in the closet either."

"But-"

"Gracie. You have to go to your bed." Carter crossed her arms.

"No!" Gracie cried before throwing the covers over her to hide.

Carter threw her hands in the air.

"I give up!" She looked at me. "Just let her sleep in here because I don't have the energy to fight her."

I walked back to the nursery with Brooklyn, sitting down in the rocking chair to calm him down.

"Shh, I know you don't like being woken up. But you can go back to sleep now." I spoke to him as I rocked him back and forth.

Brooklyn reached up towards my face and I leaned down so he could touch my skin like he wanted.

"I know, you're like your Mommy and think I need to shave too. I'll do it tomorrow, I promise. And then one day, when you're old enough, I can teach you how to shave. It hurts the first few times but you get better at it. And when you have your first date, your Mom will fuss over you and make sure you look nice and know your manners and how to treat a girl, but you can borrow my cologne and i'll give you extra cash so you can impress the girl."

"You better not."

I looked up to see Carter standing there, leaning against the wall.

"Just extra money for food."

"Mhmm." She winked. "Is he down yet?"

"Almost, give me a few more minutes."

She stood there while I coaxed Brooklyn back to sleep. Finally once his eyes were closed I gently stood up to take him to his crib. I laid him down and then leaned down to kiss his head before walking back to Carter.

She was smiling up at me and took my hands when I reached her.

"I love you." She leaned up to kiss me. "You're an amazing father to our kids."

"Thank you. I don't know what i'm doing half the time but i'm guessing that's part of the fun."

She laughed at this before taking my hand and leading me back to our room where Gracie was sitting up in the sheets.

Carter and I got on our sides of the bed and turned off the lamps, Gracie moving over so her back was pressed to my stomach and her head was resting on Carters chest.

"You made a big fuss just for some cuddles." Carter told her and Gracie giggled at this.

"Tomorrow night we will check for monsters but you will sleep in your bed." I said.

"You have to sleep in your big girl bed." Carter told her. "No more fits like tonight."

She nodded.

"Okay. Goodnight, sweetheart." Carter kissed Gracie's cheek.

"Night, Gray." I kissed Gracie's hair before kissing Carter, the three of us able to sleep.

In the morning Carter and I had made breakfast and we're getting the kids ready to leave for school when there was a knock on the door.

I glanced at Carter and she shrugged.

I then went to answer it, Gracie peeking around my legs.

I opened the door to find two women standing on the other side who I recognized as Harry's mom and his sister.

"Aunt Gemma!" Gracie grinned and ran out the door to hug her and then Anne.

"Gemma, Anne. What are you doing here?" Carter stepped up to the door, Brooklyn in her arms.

"We came to see you and your new baby boy." Anne smiled before moving to hug Carter carefully. "Let's see him."

Carter moved back and Anne peeked down at the baby in my fiancés arms.

"He's so handsome." She smiled. "What's his name?"

"Brooklyn James." I said and she smiled at me.

"That's so precious." Anne began to coo at the baby.

"Do you want me to take them to school?" I asked Carter and she nodded. "Okay, End! Let's go!" I called and the boy came running down the stairs, looking at our guests with a curious expression.

"End, this is Harry's mom and sister." Carter introduced him to them and he smiled at them.

Carter bent down in front of Gracie.

"Have a great day at school, baby girl." She kissed her. "I love you."

"Love you, Mommy!" Gracie skipped out the door.

"Bye, Mom!" Ender kissed Carters cheek and then ran out the door too.

"I'll be back." I leaned in and kissed Carter on the lips.

"Okay. Thanks for taking them." She smiled at me.

I grabbed my car keys and wallet from the counter and waved at Anne and Gemma before leaving, wondering what their true intentions were.

Carters PoV:

"Please, come in." I smiled at Anne and Gemma when Ashton left and they followed me to the living room.

I sat on the sofa with Brooklyn while they sat on the love seat.

"We brought him a present." Gemma then reached into her bag before handing me a blue package.

"Thank you." I'm smiled. "That's very kind of you." I set the box beside me before looking back up at them.

I knew the real reason they were here.

"How is he?" I asked, not knowing if I was ready for what they had to say.

Anne gave me a sad smile.

"He's not too well."

I closed my eyes.

"He misses you." Gemma said and I felt my heart break in my chest. "He hasn't been remotely the same since everything went down in Dallas."

I shook my head.

"So he told you everything?"

"He did." Gemma nodded. "He came home after he told you to wait for your answer but he found the ring in the mailbox that morning and ... it's not been the best months of his life."

"He's depressed." Anne said. "He stays in his house all day, mostly in bed. When we go over there he's agitated and just looks hollow. He had the house decorated with pictures of you for if you said yes and he just looks at them with the most heartbroken expression on his face. We don't know what to do. Carter, we need your help."

I shook my head.

"What do you want me to do? Harry ruined any chances of us ever being friends when he pulled that stunt-"

"It wasn't a stunt, Carter. He truly loves you." Gemma interrupted.

"And I truly love my fiancé and my children. I'm committed to my family and I don't think i'm doing anything wrong by loving my family and being loyal to them."

"Carter it's not wrong. What you did is right. Saying no to Harry was right. But he doesn't see it that way, and he won't listen to us so maybe he'll listen to you." Anne said.

"Harry hears only what he wants to hear. I know that because that's how he got the idea in his head that I felt the same way."

"To be honest when we first met I thought you felt the same too. They way he looked at you and the way you smiled at him. He kissed your cheeks and you let him. You slept in his bed with him. I mean he told us Gracie even wanted him to pretend to be her dad while you were in London without Ashton. We thought, how could he be so sure about someone unless he knew they felt the same."

"Ashton is my first relationship. I'm not an expert in the ways of love and romance and flirting, and Harry took advantage of my naivety. I see that now. What we did and our actions were too much and confusing, but I never purposely played with his emotions. He was my best friend and that's all we ever were."

Anne wiped a tear away.

"It tears me apart knowing i've caused him this much pain. That breaks my heart. But he knew my heart was with Ashton and refused to believe that. That was out of my control. I didn't force him to propose. I never forced him to kiss me. That was on him."

"Were not blaming you." Gemma said. "Were asking you to talk to him. Go see him. Tell him everything you didn't say to him that night. Make him understand that it's over and he should move on."

"I'm not his psychologist."

"But you're the love of his life." Gemma stated and I looked down at Brooklyn.

His eyes were open, staring up at me and he kicked his feet when he saw me looking at him.

"And Brooklyn, Gracie, Ender...Ashton...they're mine."

Anne nodded.

"I can't help, Harry. But he can help himself, he just has to want to."

I stood up.

"I'm sorry I can't help him."

Anne and Gemma stood up and followed me to the door.

"Wait." I said as Gemma and Anne stepped outside. "Does he know? Does he know about Brooklyn?"

Gemma gave me a sad smile.

"Goodbye, Carter."

She closed the door behind her.

I turned and went to set Brooklyn in his crib before going to get the present box from the sofa.

I untied the bow and then opened the lid, finding two more boxes inside.

I opened the one on the left, the smaller one. As soon as I saw the light blue underneath the paper I felt my heart sink in my chest by the thought of what it was, and my fear was confirmed when I opened it to find the engagement ring.

Inside a little note was taped to the top.

'This belongs to you. -H'

I shook my head before setting it down, and then opening the second box.

I inhaled a sharp breath when I found a blue pacifier.

I picked it up to find a note beneath it.

'Congratulations. -H'

I closed my eyes.

He knew.

--

I know i've taken a long time to post this chapter but i've been sitting on it for awhile, deciding if it's what I really wanted.

But I hope you liked it anyway.

I'll update soon!

Much love xx-m