baby, I'll show you the world [muke af]

(Thursday, December 5th, 2019)

(Thursday, December 5th, 2019)

Calum and Michael left for tour around six in the morning. Luke kissed his husband goodbye before falling back into his slumber. At twenty weeks pregnant, Luke was beyond exhausted. He was sleeping like the cat at his feet—all day, all night.

Taco curled up comfortably in his carrier as Luke knocked on Ashton's front door. The Hood-Irwins have gotten a few offers on the house, but none high enough for the family of four to accept. They weren't really in a rush to move out anytime soon, anyways.

Ashton opened the door, the sleeves of his maroon sweater wet signaling he was in the middle of doing dishes. "Hey, how are you?"

Luke walked in, letting Ash close the door behind him. "Doing alright. Where are my favs?"

"They just finished their bath, so they're getting ready for bed. I'm gonna let them stay up a bit later since you're staying over, but it is a school night." Ashton went back to the kitchen, leaning over the sink once more.

Luke set Taco's carrier on couch, letting her come out when she feels like it. Taco was a grumpy cat. Luke went back to the kitchen, leaning against the counter and snacking on grapes. Ashton always had snacks laying around.

His eyes scanned the kitchen he lived in for a year. "Remember when I found your nudes?" He lowered his tone, just in case the girls were near by.

Ashton hid his blush and smile. "Psh, I don't know what you're talking about. I would never do that." He cleared the sink, putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher.

He tightened the bun holding back his hair before turning to face his best friend of almost a decade.

"Those were really hot, just saying."

"I was, like, twenty-two. I don't even know what happened to those photos." Ashton found another thing to tidy up—the stove. He started to take out his special kitchen wipes, cleaning off the stove top.

"I'm sure Cal has them in his studio. You should find them and frame them. Send it in the next tour package." Luke and Ash had this odd—but caring—thing they constantly did for their lovers. They'd pack up random things they thought the boys would love/need, and send it to a random date on tour. It was like how mothers sent their children care packages at college.

Ashton rolled his eyes. "You're insane." He continued to compulsively clean the counter tops as the girls made their way down, hugging Luke's stretched waist.

Bella and Ivona were obviously more interested in the cat on their couch than their uncle. A fat cat is much more entertaining than pregnant Lucas.

The clock ticked on as their evening stayed in casual conversations and bad snack habits. Ashton and Luke put the girls to bed around ten before sneaking back downstairs, turning on a reality television show at lowest volume. Luke leant his head against Ashton's shoulder as he curled up at his friend's side.

"Do you cry because the girls are so old?"

Ash lightly laughed. "I try not to, Cal makes fun of me for it."

"Like, I used to tuck them in and read stories to them every night not too long ago. Now they can get in bed by themselves and just fall right asleep," Luke sighed, "I'm so emo."

Ashton rubbed at Luke's upper arm. "We're almost thirty and we're still quite dependent on our parents, I'm pretty sure they're going to be our best friends for a long time, Luke."

His heart strings pulled. "I want them to stay young and tiny and cute and our little girls forever." He put his hands on his belly, rubbing the top where one continued to move around. It was weird: he could feel them. "Are they going to love me?"

"Your babies? Of course they will."

"There's four of them, Ash! That's so many." His sleep-deprived state mixed in with pregnancy brain didn't quite help any of the sentences falling from his mouth.

"They're gonna be so cute, though. In every way." Ashton turned his body to face Luke, trying to get his blue eyes to look up. "Luke, you practically raised Bell and Iv on tour, there is no doubt in my mind that you're ready for this."

"But, four!" Luke leant over, his hands rubbing his watering eyes. Crying, again.

Ashton put his hands on Luke's shoulders, rubbing the soft skin. "Lukey, baby, it's going to be okay. You have Michael 100 percent on board. You have me and Cal. Plus all your fam. You have such great help, you're not going to be alone, ever."

Luke looked up at him with large, glassy blue eyes.

"When I was having the girls, I thought Cal was going to leave. I didn't think my family would be keen on having a kid—yet alone two—out of wedlock, either. There was a solid week in my life where I was positive everyone was going to leave. But, guess what?"

Luke looked down at his knees, knowing Ash would continue regardless.

"They didn't, Luke. When I cried my eyes out because one of the girls was kicking my bladder, I went to your room and cried on your shoulder, do you remember that?" Ashton tilted his chin up, his warm fingers calming Luke's worrisome thoughts. "I was in the exact same position as you—crying on their friend's shoulder. I promise you, it's going to be okay."

He freed himself from Ashton's grip, laying back on their couch pillows. He propped his feet up in the brunette's lap, sighing with a whimper in between. "It's really scary."

"One day, I was probably eight months pregnant, and Cal was on tour. It turns out, that the babies can actually, like, hiccup and jump around while in your womb, right? So, one of them was hiccuping and it freaked me out. Like, I didn't know what was happening!" Ashton paused as a giggle escaped Luke's mouth. "I remember sitting up in bed and just staring at my stomach for a solid four hours. With WebMD's pregnancy section help, I figured out it was the twins being weird."

"That's amazing."

"Being pregnant can be really fun, too, Luke. Like, these little people growing inside of you have personalities that are obvious from day one."

Luke grabbed Ashton's hand, putting it at the very top of his bump. "This one hasn't stopped moving in weeks. Like, she just kicks and jumps and wakes me up." He let go of Ashton's hand, but Ash didn't move. He brought his other hand to the shirt-clad body, feeling her kicking galore.

"Isn't that amazing? She's gonna be an active one, I can tell you that." Ashton moved his hands around the bump, not feeling any other movement. "Have you thought of names?"

Luke pointed to the active one again. "This one is going to be Mel, I think. We both liked the name, but we aren't sure which should be named it."

"Just Mel?"

Luke nodded, a content smile on his lips. "Fuck long names, I like Mel."

Ashton giggled, like the giggle that constantly made Luke's world light up. "Well, we're gonna have Bella, Ivona, Mel, then more odd names, right?"

"Odd in the best way," he corrected.

Ash poked the bottom of Luke's stomach, right where the one that barely moved lay. "This should be Lu. After you, since you don't do anything."

"I do lots of things!"

Ashton looked at him with a skeptical eye. "You just come over, eat my bagels, then nap on my couch. You bring over your cat—that I am allergic to!"

Luke shrugged his shoulders and pushed Ashton's hand off of him. "You're so rude." He stretched out his back. "You're my best friend, though."