JULY 2022:

      "Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Ashley called out as he shifted the box he was carrying to a one-handed grip, and reached down to make a swipe between his ankles with the other. "Crap, somebody catch her before she gets out!"

      "No worries, I've got her," Aidan replied, tucking Sparrow into one arm as she trailed him from the foyer into the living room, a travel carrier in her other hand. "I don't think she was really trying to make a run for it, I think she's just trying to check out her new roomie."

      "You're probably right, but let's put 'em in the laundry room until we finish unloading the trailer, just to be safe," Ashley replied. "Cuz I'm pretty sure you don't want Charlie to decide he wants to go adventuring and wind up getting lost in unfamiliar territory."

      Nodding in agreement, she handed Sparrow to Ashley and followed him to the laundry room, placing the carrier on the floor next to the dryer. She flipped the latch and swung the door open, allowing Charlie to creep into the room, looking around curiously. He paused as he spotted Sparrow, so Ashley crouched down and scratched behind his ears, lowering Sparrow to the floor as he did. 

      Charlie gazed at the smaller cat, but didn't move as she inched closer, allowing her to sniff at his face, then doing the same to her before turning around and re-entering his crate, lying down with his chin resting on the lip of the door. Sparrow let out a faint "Meow", then jumped to the top of the crate and curled into a ball.

      "Well, at least neither of them seems interested in fighting the other, which is good," Ashley remarked. "So hopefully they'll manage to nap or something until we get everything inside."

     "Hey, where is everybody?" Aerin's voice called out from the front of the house. "The rest of the moving crew has arrived!"

      "Come on in, we'll be right there!" Ashley called back. He turned back toward the front of the house, while Aidan stopped in the kitchen to get some food for the cats. Placing the dishes next to the crate and closing the door, she returned to the living room to see that not only were Aerin and Bobby there, but that they had also brought Zak and Zoe along, each of them bearing a baby carrier containing one of their newborn siblings.

       "Hey there, chickie!" Aerin shrieked, flinging her arms around Aidan. "Nice to finally get this thing going, since y'all had to put it off for so damn long."

      This statement referred to Aerin's frustration over the circumstances that had delayed Aidan's move to Nashville for a full two months after she and Ashley had given their friends the news of both that and Aidan's pregnancy, the first of which they had encountered the day after she had revealed it to Ashley. They had gone back to Missouri to share the news with their families, and the first snag came from a text he received.

      This had been from Bret, letting him know that a couple of the dates for the summer tour he had committed to had been rearranged, and both he and Aidan's mother had immediately freaked out at the idea of her living alone in an unfamiliar city while he was hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. So, after a bit of discussion, they had come up with an alternative plan where Aidan had taken a transfer to a light-duty area at her workplace instead of immediately putting in her notice. This gave her the chance to save up some extra money, as well as more time to sort through her things and decide what to take along, and what to sell or give away. It had also become necessary to find other tenants to take over the lease on the duplex, rather than follow the original plan of Danny taking over Aidan's part, when Kyra had been offered a promotion at work that made it necessary for her to relocate to Springfield. 

      But things had finally been settled, and Ashley had chartered a plane a couple of days previously to take him to the small airport just a few miles from Aidan's so he could help her nephews with loading the U-Haul trailer, and so she didn't have to make the eight-hour drive from Missouri to Tennessee alone while trying to pull the unaccustomed load behind her car. He had called Aerin as they reached the outskirts of Hendersonville, where the house was actually located, so the Dall's had arrived only minutes after Aidan and Ashley, ready to help with the unloading, and bearing Papa Murphy's pizzas to stash in the refrigerator until everything had been put in its place.

      After Ashley and Aidan had taken a few minutes to fuss over the infants, Zak turned to Ashley and said, "Okay, we were talking on the way over, and this is what seems to make the most sense. We're obviously not gonna be expecting anything too strenuous from the pregnant lady, and Aerin's not quite up for heavy lifting yet, so they can take care of the light stuff, and anything that she's picky about somebody else messing with. Zoe and Dad can handle the mid-weight stuff, since we don't want him to get too crazy and fuck up his back or his surgical scar, which leaves the heavy lifting for you and me."

      "Sounds reasonable to me," Ashley replied. "Fortunately, though, there's not near as much to haul in here as there was when the three of you moved up from Florida, and when we shifted Aerin out of here over to your place."

      "That's true," Aidan chimed in. "Since he's already got most of the basic stuff here, I sold or donated the majority of my furniture, and of what I did bring with, there're only two pieces that are really kinda bulky. Actually, I'd say what you'll prolly have the most aggravation with are my books. I have a lot of books."

      "Kinda like hauling Aerin's out of here, huh?" Zoe questioned, recalling the multiple cartons of books she had helped to shelve in their new house.

      Ashley let out a snort of laughter and replied, "Nope, not even close. When it comes to print addiction,  Aidan makes Aerin here look like an amateur. We've got cookbooks, craft books, gaming books, true-crime, mysteries, horror, and approximately a metric fuck-ton of paperback fantasy novels. She'll be lucky if she gets everything re-organized before the baby gets here in December. I'm figuring on wandering aimlessly through a giant maze of book cartons for the forseeable future."

      "The things we do for love, right, dude?" Bobby chuckled, as he started for the front door. "So whaddya all say we get this show on the road, before it gets any hotter than it already is. We don't want the girls getting overheated." 

      Everyone agreed, and made their way to the driveway, opening up the trailer and beginning to set items on the lawn, until they uncovered the bulkier items in the back of the trailer, specifically the massive, multi-tiered white laminated bookcase that Aidan had purchased from the gaming shop when Paul had done some remodeling the previous year, and her large roll-top crafting desk, along with numerous boxes of books and art supplies. Things did move a bit quicker than they expected, though, when Ashley's friends Jeremiah and Jesse had unexpectedly stopped by, and had offered to stay and help. This made short work of getting everything into the house, as both were quite tall and muscular, and had a great deal of experience in moving heavy objects, since both men had worked with the Black Veil Brides road crew in the past, and Jeremiah engaged in similar activity nearly every day with his and Ashley's house-flipping business.

      After a brief discussion, Aidan and Ashley agreed to placing most of the boxes in one of the spare basement rooms until they had time to sort the contents into the various bookcases and shelves around the house, so most of the group concentrated on that while Aerin and Aidan started putting away her clothes and personal items as the twins slept in their carriers in the middle of Ashley's bed, and Bobby took the task of making room for her cookware and small appliances in the kitchen cabinets and butler's pantry. 

      Once everything had been put into a state of at least semi-organized chaos, they agreed to call it good for the time being, and Aidan, Zoe, and Ashley popped the pizzas into the oven and prepared drinks for everyone, gathering in the living room with paper plates for the food once it was done.

      "Well, at least the worst part is done now," Ashley remarked, as he placed several slices of cheeseless chicken-artichoke pizza on his plate, then plucked a Diet Coke from the ice bucket. "It's all in the house, I can return the trailer in the morning, and we can unpack the boxes at our leisure."

      "We don't wanna be too leisurely, babe," Aidan reminded him, while snagging herself a couple of thin-crust slices heaped with Italian sausage and mushrooms, and dripping with white-garlic sauce, which Aerin and Bobby knew was her favorite. "We wanna get at least most of it organized while I can still bend over, y'know."

      "Yeah, definitely a good idea," Aerin chimed in, after quickly swallowing a bite from her slice of pepperoni pizza. "I remember how much of a pain in the ass it was to try getting our place organized when I could barely reach anything I needed past the whiskey barrel that was passing itself off as my stomach."

      "I remember how frustrated Becky would always get when she was pregnant with one of our girls, and something would end up just out of her reach because she couldn't bend far enough to touch the floor," Jeremiah chuckled. "And the one time I made the mistake of finding it amusing, I nearly got beat down with a Swiffer. So don't make the mistake of ticking off the pregnant lady, Ash, if you know what's good for you."

      "Truer words were never spoken, my man," Bobby concurred with a grin. "Ticking off a hormonal pregnant woman, or even one who's still recovering from the birth, may actually be more dangerous than poking a bear." Jerking a thumb at his oldest son, he added, "But fortunately for me, though, I learned that lesson back while this one was still cooking, and I remembered it with Aerin." 

      "But you wouldn't change it for anything in the world, and you know it, Dad," Zoe declared, as she used the toe of her sneaker to gently rock Zeppelin's carrier as it sat on the floor in front of her. "Even with whatever little bit of aggravation you guys might have to deal with from mood swings and middle of the night runs for strawberry milkshakes and fried rice, or whatever, the end result is worth it."

      Nobody could argue with her statement, and Aerin decided to change the topic by inquiring, "So, since we finally got you up here, how long before you get yourself an obstetrician and figure out which of mine is gonna be outnumbered?"

      "She's got an appointment with someone on Thursday, so they can go over the charts from her doc back in Missouri" Ashley informed her. "And as for the other, she had the ultrasound there yesterday, so we can actually start baby shopping anytime now."

      "So are you gonna share, or are you keeping it to yourselves like Dad and Aerin did with these two?" Zak queried. 

      "Couldn't quite pull that off with my mom and sister," Aidan laughed. "And I'm pretty sure we'd both get too frustrated with referring to the baby in neutral terms to keep everyone guessing, and one of us would slip up eventually, so we've decided not to even try. So to answer Aerin's question, it looks like poor little Zep is just gonna have to get used to being bossed around by the ladies."

      This news was greeted enthusiastically by the rest of the group, and sparked a discussion of nursery themes and name suggestions that lasted until the twins started to get fussy, prompting the Dalls to take their leave and return home to put them to bed. As they gathered their things, Jesse and Jeremiah also excused themselves and left, offering to return another time to help with rearranging boxes or assembling nursery furniture when it was purchased. 

      After the carriers had been fastened into the back of Bobby's car, and the adults had buckled themselves in, Aerin turned to Bobby with a grin and said, "Well, it looks like we've finally got everything running smoothly for a change. Ash and Aidan aren't having to run back and forth to spend time together, which means he's not rattling around the house by all by his lonesome anymore, and even if he's not thinking marriage right now, or even handfasting, at least he's not the commitment-phobe he was when I met him. Now I get to see my two best friends actually be as happy together as we are, and I don't see anybody being able to screw that up."

                  *********************************************************************** 

      Three days later, however, things were very different when Bobby and Aerin stepped out of their vehicle in Ashley's driveway and immediately raised their eyebrows in surprise as the heard raised voices coming through the closed front door. Aerin quickly inserted her key into the lock and opened the door to hear Aidan fairly shrieking, "I can't believe you! I bought that with my own money, not yours, and you had no business throwing out my stuff!"

      The Dalls turned startled looks toward each other as they made their way into the living room, and Bobby muttered to his wife, "Doesn't sound like the idiot-boy listened to a thing we said the other day about not setting off the hormones."

      "No fucking shit," Aerin grumbled. "In one ear, and out the other. I bet he's gonna make me smack him in the head."

      "You mean if Aidan doesn't beat you to it."

      They stepped into the room to find their friends facing each other at opposite ends of the coffee table, Aidan glaring at Ashley with a look of absolute fury, while his expression was one that Aerin immediately recognized, having previously labeled it his "I've made up my mind, don't confuse me with facts" look. It was possibly the one that annoyed her the most, as it generally indicated that he had decided that he was in the right regarding whatever the current issue was, and was unlikely to budge on his position, whether anyone else agreed or not.

      "Oh, this ought to be fun," she mumbled under her breath. "Thank the Goddess we decided to leave the twins home with Zoe this time."

      "Aidan, you're nearly four months pregnant, you don't need to be stuffing yourself with junk food," Ashley snapped back. "If you won't watch what you're putting into your system, Then I'll just have to do it for you. You're gonna go on a heathier diet like mine, at least until she's born, which means no junk food, no caffeine, no red meat, and no dairy."

      "I'm a grown-ass woman, and if I don't let my own mother tell me what to do anymore, where do you get the utterly idiotic notion that I'm gonna take orders from you?"

      Before he could reply, they were both startled when Aerin shouted, "Whaddya mean, no dairy, you absolute moron? That's one of the first things the doctor tells ya, is to make sure you get plenty of calcium, because the baby is sucking it outta your system. I swear, I'm starting to think you're too fucking stupid to be let out without a leash!"

      "Does anybody mind if I ask what the ever-lovin' fuck is going on right now?" Bobby inquired. "Three days ago you two were happy as clams, but today you're Al and Peggy Bundy, so what gives?"

      "I'll tell you what gives," Aidan growled. "While he was at APFI this morning, I went out and did some shopping, since he didn't normally have a lot of the stuff I like to eat around here, and put everything away in the fridge and the pantry. After that, I went downstairs to get some of my knick-knacks and pictures to start putting them up, then I decided to take a shower after I finished. Well, apparently my parole officer here came home early, and in the twenty minutes or so that I was in the shower and drying my hair, he not only managed to toss out almost everything I bought, but also took down everything I'd spent the past hour putting up!"

       Aerin crossed her arms in front of her and turned to look at Ashley, raising an eyebrow in a silent demand for clarification. He glared back for a moment before finally replying with, "Okay, I'll take your word about the dairy, since I suppose you'd know that better that I would, but all the other shit is unhealthy and unnecessary, and I'm not having it in my house."

      "Excuse me, but isn't that supposed to be our house now?" Aidan drawled in a heavily sarcastic tone.

      "My house," he ground out through his teeth. "I bought it, I worked my ass off to make it look decent, and I say what goes and what doesn't." He then waved his hand toward a stack of picture frames, decorative masks, and small figurines piled on the coffee table, adding, "And that shit doesn't"

      "I've only brought out a few things, for fuck's sake!" Aidan shrilled. "And I'm using the fucking Command hooks, because I know you don't want holes in the walls, so what the hell else do you want, anyway?"

      "I want things left the way I had them," Ashley retorted, picking a frame off the pile as he spoke. "Like I already said, I spent too much time and effort getting things the way I want them, so I'll be fucked if I'm gonna have you messing it up with a bunch of... garage-sale castoffs!"

      As the last words left his mouth, he flipped the frame from his hand in a Frisbee toss, sending it crashing against the fireplace, even as Bobby called out "Dude, stop!" 

      The sound of the glass breaking was drowned out by a strangled wail from Aidan, and she darted over to drop to her knees by the pile of debris, which seemed to confuse Ashley. He turned to stare at the other couple, and while Aerin merely glared at him with a look of absolute fury that actually made him flinch slightly, Bobby shook his head and solemnly informed him, "Well, you were right a second ago, dude. You are now most definitely fucked."