Raven cradled her baby gently, standing in her dad's house. Izzy was all she needed.
Xandra was now a fortnight old, and Izzy had bought them a large, two storey, three bedroom home in Lafayette Indiana, his home town. Today was moving day.
Raven looked on, cradling baby Xandra as Izzy picked up yet another cardboard box and carried it out to the moving van. Axl, Erin and Duff were over too, and Izzy had hired a few people from a moving company to help pack and then move their belongings across the country. It was a two day drive between L.A. and Lafayette, after all. The boys and the moving team were moving boxes, deconstructing cots and packing furniture into the big moving van while Erin and Raven watched Renan play with his toys and cradled their babies. Erin and Axl's baby boy was four and a half months old now, and he had a dusting of reddy brown hair atop his head. They had named him Freddie, after the recently deceased Freddie Mercury.
Izzy trooped past carrying her whole record stand on one shoulder. It was empty of course, but nonetheless, a large piece of furniture. Raven had alot of records.
"Damn, Izzy!" Erin called. Izzy turned his head,
"Huh?"
"That's alot of furniture!" She exclaimed. Izzy shrugged his free shoulder and continued out the door.
"I had no idea he was that strong!" Raven turned to Erin, gently bouncing up and down on her feet to soothe Xandra. Her tiny baby wasn't even legitimately Izzy's, even though legally he was the father. Raven hadn't seen Gilby since she was in the hospital. It was undeniably Gilby who was really the father. Xandra was too pale and her tufty hair was all poker straight, unlike Slash's.
Gilby knew she was his too. He had come in after Izzy had gone away to take Renan home to bed. Raven's father was in no state to help out, of course. He had passed out again.
Raven still remembered the look on Gilby's face.

Xandra was in her hospital crib asleep, Raven rested beside her in a bed. The door clicked open, and in walked Gilby.
Raven breathed in and out calmly, inhaling the stench of antiseptic which was always so potent in hospitals, and the thin fragrance of the flowers in the vase beside her bed.
Gilby looked pleasant, wearing a t shirt and jeans, and black boots. He came towards the bed, sat on the end. He was staring at Xandra as he began to speak,
"What did you name her?" He asked.
"Xandra. But I didn't name her, Izzy did." Raven frowned slightly. Gilby didn't even flinch.
"And her middle name?" It was barely a whisper.
"Belle."
"Was that Izzy too?" He sounded almost upset, and his blue irises bore into hers for a moment before he focused on the newborn again.
"Yeah."
"I guess she's Isbell, or Stradlin too?" Now his tone was bitter, jealous almost.
"Izzy insisted she be a Cassel." Raven rolled her eyes. She was feeling a little bit of loathing for Gilby, and she didn't know why. She almost felt bad for him.
"I suppose I won't be seeing you two again, then. And Daniella doesn't seem to want me back after this."
"Do you honestly blame her?" Raven exclaimed, incredulous. "You cheated on her- you dumped her for another person- and you expect her to just want you back, do you?" She could almost slap him. Gilby blinked at her.
"But I took her back when she dumped me those last two times!"
"Well I don't mean to judge without knowing the whole story, but unless she did just the same thing, you know- cheated. Then what you've done has got to be much worse." She tried to talk some sense into him. Gilby frowned even more deeply, and then he stood up. He leaned over Xandra's cot for a moment. Raven sat up straight, craning her neck to see what he was doing. He leaned down and placed a tiny kiss on her head, and then with what she thought might be tears in his eyes, he turned around and walked out of the room.
For a minute, she just sat there staring at the door, and then Xandra began to cry again. She reached over and scooped up the tiny bundle, and cradled her to her chest, rocking her.
"Shhh shh!" She soothed.
"Your daddy will be back tomorrow, sweetie. And then you can have a cuddle from him." She whispered to Xandra. When she said 'daddy' she of course meant Izzy. "Okay? How's that sound?"
Baby Xandra gazed up at her unknowingly through her big blue eyes.
"You're so cute." She held the infant even closer, still swaying to and fro.

Raven watched Duff and Izzy carting out bits of her bed.
"Do you need any help?" She called out to them. Xandra stirred in her arms, and then started crying. Izzy shot her a rare smile, and Duff shook his head, amused, as they continued out the door.
"Oh no, sweetie!" She spoke to Xandra. "Shh sh!" She hushed, rocking her. The baby only got louder. Erin chuckled. Freddie opened his eyes, turning his head to gaze at the other baby, and then he started to whine too.
"Nuh uh." Erin frowned, reached into her pocket and pushed a pacifier into his mouth. Freddie went quiet, and Erin bounced and rocked, and held him closer as Xandra only continued to scream.
"Shhh!" Raven was starting to become distressed herself. Maybe she was hungry? Or needed a diaper change? Carefully, Raven raised her bum, and smelled her diaper. It did stink. Okay.
She grabbed the bag she had set aside for Xandra which held all of the essentials, and chose a patch of carpet that was clear of any traffic. She laid the crying baby down, grabbed a pacifier from the bag and pressed it against her mouth. Once she took it, she was alot quieter. Raven carefully unbuttoned her jumpsuit, and peeled it off her legs. She got a fresh nappy and the baby wipes pack ready, and undid the tabs on the diaper. It wasn't too bad, but Raven thought this was probably Xandra's issue. She grabbed her by the ankles, and lifted her up to wipe her. Boy did Raven hate changing babies! Once she was all done, she slid the fresh diaper under her, dusted her with baby powder and did it all up. Then she wrapped up the used diaper and packed everything up. Erin held onto both babies for a minute while Raven threw out Xandra's nappy in the bin outside. Izzy pecked her on the lips on the way past, carrying another two boxes stacked atop each other, and Duff and Axl followed him with their own boxes.
"How's Freddie?" Raven asked Erin as she took her daughter back off her.
"Oh, you know. Just being a baby, I guess. He has a bottle, sleeps, poops..." she shrugged, and then laughed lightly. "He's a happy little guy though." She nodded her head.
Two hours later, and they were finally ready to go. There were tearful goodbyes to her father, as he cradled Xandra, and talked about how he was proud of Raven, and how he almost couldn't believe she was leaving after all these years. He hugged Renan about a trillion times, and told him to be good, and to grow up strong and to eat all his vegetables and all that. Raven kept saying that it wasn't like it was last time he'd see him, and that they needed to go.
Axl and Erin said goodbye briefly, and then Izzy, Renan, Raven and baby Xandra all piled into Duff's car to drive to the airport. They thanked their blonde friend and made their way inside. They were on a private plane, and the trip would take almost four hours. Once they arrived, they would stay with Izzy at his old flat until the movers arrived, and then Raven would get to see the new house for the first time. She definitely trusted Izzy with choosing a nice house, and she was very excited to see it.
They were packed with two fold up cots, a big pram with two seats, a separate large bag for each Renan and Xandra with everything they would need, and a large suitcase for Izzy and Raven to share.
They boarded the plane without too much trouble, and they were on their way.

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