Title: The People That We Love
Author: xperimental
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Spencer/Ashley, Kyla/Glen
A/N: The sequel to Growing Up.
Summary: Some things change over time and some remain remarkably the same.
Chapter 1 - You Can't Always Get What You Want
"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting," a balding man apologized, rummaging through his filing cabinet.
Ashley just rolled her eyes and gestured for him to get on with it. They'd been through all this way too many times for niceties.
"Ah, here it is, Davies." He turned and sat down behind his desk, clearing his throat. Truth was, he didn't need the file, he knew exactly what it said. He was just stalling for time because honestly, the dark haired one scared him and he knew that she wasn't going to like what he had to say. "Well, I afraid that your application to adopt has been denied. There are just too many more suitable couples-"
"You mean straight couples, right?" Ashley interrupted angrily. Once the Republicans got back into office, they had introduced laws that made it almost impossible for same sex couples to adopt. Even the ridiculously wealthy ones.
Mr. Weston looked at the couple sympathetically. If it was up to him, he would be giving the genetically blessed couple as many babies as they could handle. But it wasn't and he was bound by the rules put in place by his superiors. "Your sexuality has nothing to do with it. We don't discriminate here." There wasn't a person in the room who didn't know that was a lie.
"That so?"
Weston looked down, he hated to have to do this. "We also don't accept applicants with criminal records."
"What are you talking about?" Spencer spoke up for the first time.
"The mandatory background check turned up that Mrs Davies." Then he realized that he'd have to be more specific. "Ashley, was once charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana."
"I was fourteen and the drugs weren't even mine," Ashley growled. She had just been holding them for her father. She was about two seconds away from leaping across the desk and strangling the man. Spencer's hand on her wrist was the only thing that stopped her. "And how did you find that out anyway, I thought that those records are sealed."
"I'm sorry but I'm not at liberty to reveal the source." He really was sorry. But he had a job to do and a family to feed.
"Of course you can't."
"The fact that you're still technically fertile also works against you," he added.
Upon seeing her wife's downcast expression, Ashley shook her head bitterly. "Awesome, thanks for nothing."
"Ashley," Spencer reprimanded her softly.
"I really wish I could be of more assistance but you just don't fit our guidelines," Mr. Weston said sympathetically. "Perhaps you could try another agency."
Spencer nodded and smiled wearily. "We know. Thanks for all your help Mr. Weston."
-
"I don't get why you were thanking that guy," Ashley said, squeezing the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles were turning white, as she tried to calm herself down.
"It's called having manners, Ash" her wife sighed, not looking away from the scenery passing her window.
Ashley looked over at Spencer in concern. She didn't know how many more disappointments the blonde could take on the baby front. "I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"Because if I didn't have a record-"
Finally Spencer looked at her. "Ash, it's not your fault. We both know that it was just another stupid excuse for them to reject our application. I'm not blaming you and you shouldn't be blaming yourself either."
Ashley had to force herself to look away from Spencer's sad blue eyes and look back at the road. "Yeah…I know."
"So my parents thirtieth wedding anniversary is coming up," Spencer changed the subject to one that wasn't quite as depressing.
"Seriously?" Ashley went with it. "Wow. They did the whole shotgun wedding thing, didn't they?"
Spencer frowned, she'd never really thought about it. "Why do you say that?"
"Because of how Bridezilla-ish your mom got when she was helping us to plan ours. It was obviously transference, trying to give you the wedding that she always wanted…Plus she was totally knocked up with Glen at the time." Ashley chuckled at Spencer's shocked look. "Don't look so surprised. I can count, you know."
"I know," Spencer said, laughing to herself. "I just can't believe that you worked it out before I did."
Ashley smirked triumphantly. "You mean that you didn't know that the high and mighty Paula Carlin was lying when she claimed that the first time she had sex was on her wedding night? Damn Spencer, I worked that out back in the tenth grade."
"I don't know, I guess I never really wanted to think about my parents having sex. Ever."
"Well, at least you didn't have to see it…I mean, I never saw my parents actually doing each other, only other people, but that was still bad enough," Ashley rambled.
Spencer marvelled at how her wife could talk about her ridiculously tumultuous childhood as though it was all totally normal.
Ashley pulled into the Carlin's driveway and killed the engine. She took off her seatbelt and turned to fully face her wife ."So you're okay?" she asked, reaching out and cupping Spencer's cheek.
"I should be used to it by now," Spencer said sadly.
"But you're not."
"But I'm not," she confirmed.
"You know we don't have to do this right now, we could ask your parents to keep Dec for the night."
Spencer shook her head, that was the last thing she wanted. "No. I want him home with us."
"Okay." Ashley leaned in to kiss her wife and pulled her into a hug. "We'll work something out," she assured her.
"I know."
"How'd it go?" Paula asked the second they walked in the front door. Ashley just shook her head in reply while Spencer looked away.
"Where's Declan?" she asked.
"I just put him down for a nap upstairs."
Spencer nodded and moved to go upstairs to check on her son, leaving Ashley to deal with her mother.
"So what happened?" Paula asked, Ashley who had followed her into the kitchen where she was making coffee.
"Same thing that happened at the last six agencies," Ashley said bitterly.
"They shouldn't be allowed to do this. It's so unfair."
"You know, I just wish that they'd actually come out and say that it's because we're gay. Instead they come up with lame excuses like we haven't been married long enough or that we're too young." Or because of a bogus drug bust that had happened half a lifetime ago. "It just really sucks and I'm worried about what it's doing to Spence."
Ashley knew, better than anybody, the toll it was all taking on the younger girl.
Paula looked at Ashley over the rim of her mug, studying the brunette's tired features. "What about you, how're you doing?"
Ashley just shrugged, knowing that she wasn't nearly as affected by the constant rejections by adoption agencies because she didn't really mind if they never had another child. Truth was, while she may have dreamed of having a huge family when she was younger, faced with the reality of how much of Spencer's attention a baby took away from her, she found her position had changed. "I'm fine. This isn't about me."
"Isn't it?" Paula asked. She wasn't surprised by her daughter in law's words. Ashley had more than proved her devotion to Spencer over the years and Paula knew that the brunette would do anything, without question, to keep her wife happy.
"Spencer wants another baby," Ashley avoided the question. "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen." 'What Spencer wants, Spencer gets,' was Ashley rule to live by.
Ashley had even been prepared to sacrifice her totally hot bod to provide Spencer with another kid. But during the initial examinations, the doctors had discovered that due to extensive scarring from her teenage miscarriage, she would never be able to carry a foetus to full term. Aiden wasn't even around anymore and he was still managing fucking up their lives.
She ran a hand through her hair and slid off her stool. "I should go and check on Spence."
-
She found Spencer standing in the doorway of what used to be her old bedroom, staring adoringly at their son as he slept.
Declan Davies, a three and a half year old who loved his mothers and dinosaurs, in that order. He had inherited Spencer's blonde hair and stunning blue eyes and bore such a strong resemblance to Spencer's maternal grandfather that they had named him after him.
Ashley came up behind Spencer and kissed the side of her neck as she wrapped her arms around her wife. "Are you coming downstairs? Paula made brownies."
Spencer closed her eyes let herself relax back against Ashley. "Mmm, I'll be down in a minute." She opened her eyes and sighed. "We're doing a good job with him, right? We're not bad parents."
"No." Ashley hated everyone who had a hand in making Spencer doubt herself. "Spence, you are a fantastic mother. Much better than I am. You know, I wish you were my mom…that didn't come out right."
Spencer laughed at Ashley deliberate screw up. "You underestimate yourself," she said, kissing her wife's cheek.
Downstairs the doorbell rang and then kept on ringing. "It's Kyla," said Ashley, recognizing her sister's impatient ring. "I'd better go and let her in before she wakes Dec up."
-
Ashley opened the door to find her sister dressed in an outrageously short red dress and matching…cape? Her daughter, Holly, was standing next to her with a back pack slung over one shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we ordered any adult entertainment for this evening. I think you must have the wrong address," Ashley said, not bothering to stifle her giggles.
Holly laughed at her aunt's comment. "I told you, mom."
"Hey kid," Ashley greeted the eight year old with a high five. "Grandma's made brownies."
"Sweet." With that Holly abandoned the two shorter females in favor of seeking out chocolatey goodness. She was so much like Glen that it was frightening.
"Has she had another growth spurt?" Ashley wondered. Holly was only eight and was taller than both her mother and aunt. "I thought they weren't supposed to get those until they were teenagers." She turned her attention back to her sister. "So what's up with the outfit?"
"We're going to a fundraiser tonight, it's a costume ball."
"And who are you supposed to be? Little Red Riding Whore?"
Kyla frowned. When Ashley Davies was telling you that you looked slutty you knew you had a problem. "Holly," she addressed her daughter, who'd just come back into the room with a brownie in each hand and one in her mouth. "Did I ever tell you about how your aunt spent half of her honeymoon in the hospital after eating plastic fruit?"
"That so wasn't my fault," Ashley said defensively. "I mean, who the hell puts fake grapes in a complementary fruit basket?" It could have happened to anyone.
"Someone as dumb as the person who ate more than one of them."
Ashley pursed her lips thoughtfully. "…touche."
Kyla smirked and checked her watch, then hurriedly kissed her daughter on the cheek. "I am running so late. You be good for your grandparents."
"Yes, mom," Holly grumbled. She was always good.
"Ash, can you thank Paula for me? I really have to go. I was meant to pick Glen up from work five minutes ago."
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, sure. Go. Watch out for the big bad wolf…unless you're planning on getting eaten tonight."
Kyla rolled her eyes. "Believe me, that's so not going to be happening." She waved and started running, the best she could in her stripper heels, towards her car.
Closing the door, Ashley threw an arm around her niece's shoulders. "Come on kid, let's go and watch some Scooby Doo."
-
"I'm having a track meet this Saturday," Holly informed her favorite aunt, as they sat together watching a classic episode of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, that's not to say that she didn't love Spencer, it was just that Ashley was her hero.
"Yeah?"
"Uh-huh. You're going to be there, right?"
"Don't worry kid, we'll be there cheering you on. We'll be all 'Run, Forest, Run!'"
Holly looked at her aunt like she'd grown another head. "My name isn't Forest."
"I know that. That was a Forest Gump reference."
"Who?" Holly asked cluelessly.
Ashley cringed and buried her face in her hands. "Oh God, I'm so old!"
"You're twenty eight, Ash," Spencer admonished her jokingly, coming in from the kitchen where she'd been having a heart to heart with her mother.
"If you're old then I must be the crypt keeper," Paula added, following her daughter.
"Don't worry, Paula, I'd still do you," Ashley assured her mother in law.
The older blonde smirked, now used to Ashley's comments. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Spencer took a seat on the arm of the couch that was closest to Ashley and casually laid an arm across the back of her wife's shoulders. "We should start thinking about heading home. It's almost time for Declan's dinner," she said, playing with the tips of Ashley's hair.
Ashley nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should wake him up, otherwise we'll never be able to get him to bed tonight." She put a hand on Spencer's thigh to stop her from getting up. "I'll get him."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." She kissed the back of the hand Spencer had resting around her shoulders and got up. "Holly, you wanna come and help me wake up your cousin?"
Holly looked away from the tv. "Can we do the toothpaste thing again? That was funny."
"No!" Spencer and Paula both said firmly. Declan's hair had smelled like spearmint for a whole week after the last time.
Ashley put her hands up placating. "Chill, I got this."
"She hasn't changed at all, has she," Paula remarked to her daughter as Ashley and Holly raced each other up the stairs. Despite maturing in appearance (Gone were the colourful streaks in her hair and, much to Ashley's dismay, the glasses were now a permanent feature), she hadn't matured in personality.
"Not one bit," Spencer agreed. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
-
"He asleep?" Spencer asked Ashley as she entered their bedroom, yawning.
Ashley nodded, shedding her jeans in favor of something more comfortable to sleep in. "Uh-huh, three songs later. You know, you get off easy, only having to read him one of those Mr Men books."
Spencer smirked watching Ashley pull on her favorite pair of boxer shorts. "Hey, you were the one who insisted on starting his musical education early."
"It's the only way to keep him from getting sucked into whatever lame pop/rock band that is going to huge during his teen years. He'll thank me when he's older."
"Oh, I'm sure."
"Hey, wouldn't have your life been better if you had had me around to keep you from fangirling Destiny's Child when you were thirteen?"
"Yes," Spencer answered without having to think about it. "Yes, it would have."
"Damn straight." Ashley slipped under the covers and smiled as Spencer turned off the bedside light and cuddled up against her side. "So, you want to talk about it now?" She knew Spencer well enough to know that what had happened that afternoon was still troubling her.
"I've been thinking that he was right when he said that I can still have kids-"
"Spencer, no," Ashley cut her off, knowing exactly where this was heading. "I am not letting you put yourself through that again. No way."
"But-"
"Spence, you almost died." Ashley felt herself getting choked up just thinking about it. Spencer had been six months pregnant with Declan when she had suddenly developed an uncommonly severe case of gestational diabetes. Ashley had never truly known how deeply she loved Spencer until the day she came home to find her passed out and non-responsive on their bedroom floor.
"The doctors said that there's a chance that it wouldn't happen again," Spencer pressed.
"And an even bigger chance that it would. So no, it's not happening." Ashley didn't care if she came off sounding harsh or unfair, she was protecting Spencer and that was all that mattered. She hugged Spencer tighter and kissed the top of her head. "There are other options and tomorrow we'll start looking at them."
"Okay," Spencer agreed softly, tilting her head up to kiss the underside of Ashley's jaw. Her thumb traced against the tattoo that was inked across the inside of her wife's wrist and remembered how Ashley had surprised her with it on their honeymoon, pre-hospitalization of course.
She just come back from a day in the hotel's spa to find Ashley relaxing on the king size bed with a fresh bandage wrapped around her wrist. At first, she'd been worried that the brunette had hurt herself until Ashley had peeled the bandage back to reveal Spencer's name in black script across the inside of the wrist, where she'd once joked about getting a script S. She'd made a comment about the tattoo being kinda permanent but Ashley had just smiled and told her that she was kinda permanent and at that exact moment, any lingering doubt she had about Ashley's commitment to her was permanently erased.
"Hey Ash?"
"Yeah?" Ashley mumbled, already drifting off to sleep.
"Have I told you that I love you today?"
"Not since this morning. I was beginning to wonder if it was still true."
Spencer squeezed her arms tighter around her wife. "Always."
TBC
