Our Love Will Never Die (Sequel to Your One and Only)

Ten

The next leg of the Flesh and Blood tour was somehow even crazier than the leg leading up to Bobby's first anniversary, and he couldn't believe he was still sober. CC was the absolute worst when it came to how bad he was with the drugs and booze at this point, something even their manager couldn't deny. Bret was following close behind, having had a couple more instances like the one that'd led to him revealing his diabetes publicly a couple Years ago. Even Rikki was starting to take the drinking a little too far, to the point that he sometimes fell off his stool mid-song while they were onstage.

By the Time they played their last show for this leg at Chelsea Studios in New York City on December thirteenth, the bassist'd all but had it with his band. If it weren't for the fact that they'd at least a couple weeks off this Time, he'd have bowed outta finishing the tour and made them either find a replacement for him, or simply cancel the remains of it.

Returning home wasn't much better for him, 'cuz as soon as he walked through the door, he was practically attacked by Kaylee and Ryan, who were excited to see him again. He knew he'd hurt their feelings when he pried them off a little rougher than he'd meant to, but he needed some alone Time. Ignoring their sniffles, he locked himself in the master suite, which only Rebel possessed a key to and wouldn't use unless she needed something for herself. She knew her husband well enough to tell he was overwhelmed and needed some Time to himself, so she chose to help Patty Calm and reassure the kids. She swore he hadn't meant to hurt their feelings, but he needed some Time to readjust and was prolly tired from his flight back.

And speaking of the younger woman, she was now technically overdue by nearly two weeks, which was surprising to even her doctor. Dr. Ripley swore her due date was supposed to be November twenty-fifth, and while she'd been overnight a couple Times for what turned out to be false labor, she'd still yet to deliver. She was just as cranky as Bobby was, just for different reasons, and she hoped this baby'd come while its daddy was home-preferably without a C-section.

"Mmm," said bassist hummed when he felt someone crawl onto the bed behind him.

"Just me, love," Rebel murmured, settling down so her front was pressed to his back.

"Thank the Gods," he sighed, rolling over to face her. "I wasn't trying to be mean earlier, but-"

"I know ya weren't," the young woman told him. "Patty and I made sure the kids knew ya were prolly just tired, but I know it's more than that."

"I dunno how I'm still sober, honestly," Bobby admitted, wrapping an arm around her. "Those idiots I call friends and bandmates're driving even a Saint to drink like a Fish."

"Oh, boy-that's a loaded statement, if I ever heard one," his wife said.

"More loaded than those three combined, I think," he grumbled. "Part of my crabbiness right now is that they gave me a migraine on the flight home."

"Ahhhh," Rebel said, chuckling. "I know how ya get with one of those evil things."

Without even having to be asked, she started digging her fingers into the back of his neck from the base of his skull down to his shoulders. She knew even a massage wouldn't completely Banish the headache in question, especially if the hardware in his lower neck was making that act up, too. Even still, the bassist sighed as he started to relax, which meant it was helping at least a little bit like she'd Intended.

It wasn't long before Bobby started to drift off, and she made sure his head and neck were supported so he wouldn't wake up in even more pain later. A giggle bubbled up from the back of her throat when he didn't wanna let her go upon pushing herself up, 'cuz he was always cute when he got cuddly like this. She assured him that she'd be back, a kick to her bladder dragging a desperate Sound outta her that made him let her go on the grounds that she kept her word. That wasn't gonna be a problem, though, since she was exhausted from this baby keeping her awake again and needed a nap of her own.