Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, never will be.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: I updated! Happy?

Jenny: I really needed to write a little bit of fluff... This chapter is pretty fluffly, too. If 'other' stuff just means them not spending the whole chapter saying 'I love you' then here's some other stuff. If 'other' stuff means something else, wait a few more chapters. :P

Melissa: Well... technically, they already have one child, if you count Tawny. If you don't, Ashley can't have anymore kids.

Chapter 29

"Done," Ashley said cheerfully, hopping down off of the teetery stool. She exhaled slowly, wrinkling her nose. "Andros, it stinks in here."

"I know," he said, coming up behind her to catch her in his arms despite the fact that they were both covered from head to toe in paint. "But all the windows are already open..."

"And after all that time you spent bragging about KO-35 being better than Earth," she teased him. "You guys don't even have odorless paint."

"Neither does Earth."

Ashley twisted around in his arms for the sole purpose of sticking her tongue out at him. "That's not the point... and this isn't really facepaint, Andros."

He glared at her, but the expression lost most of its effectiveness when he grinned ruefully. "Tell that to your daughter," he said dryly. "She disagrees. It's supposed to be a bunny."

"You let her do this to you?" Ashley demanded, biting her lip in an unsuccessful effort to muffle her laughter as she fingered the rapidly drying splotch of yellow paint on his left cheek.

"No," he admitted.

"Andros, how hard is it to fight off a two-year-old?"

"When her favorite uncle has me in a chokehold, hard."

"It was your idea to let Zhane help," she reminded him, quivering as she tried to get her laughter under control.

"Actually, it was Tawny's." He paused. "I think she was planning this."

"Hey, we're done!" Zhane announced proudly, piggybacking Tawny into the kitchen, Karone on his heels. "That's the whole house."

"How does it look?" Ashley asked warily, directing the question at Karone, who grinned.

"Very... yellow," she said finally. "But you covered the floors with paper and there's not too much on the ceiling..."

"Good enough," Ashley decided, wincing silghtly.

"It has to be," Andros pointed out. "We don't have time to repaint anything. It won't dry by the time the furniture comes in the morning."

Ashley's eyes lit up at the mention of furniture. "So we won't be sleeping on the living room floor?"

"It made painting easier," he defended himself.

"All right, it did," Ashley admitted. "And it's not that bad sleeping on carpet... but beds are better than sleeping bags."

"I want a bed!"

"It'll be here in the morning," Andros assured Tawny, ruffling her paint-smeared brown hair.

"I think it's time we went home," Karone said, grimacing as she surveyed her arms. "I'd like to get this off of me before it dries."

Ashley laughed softly, glancing down at Tawny warily. "You're not the only one... Thanks for your help, guys."

"You owe us," Karone informed her flatly, grinning as she and Zhane left through the back door. "G'night."

"Well, we're done," Andros said dryly. "What now?"

"Bathtime,"Ashley said firmly, scooping Tawny up in her arms just as the little girl began inching away. "And guess who's going first?"

"No bath," Tawny whined, struggling to get down. "I not dirty!"

"No," Andros agreed with a grin. "You're filthy. Go on."

Tawny kicked and whined as Ashley carried her up the paper-covered stairs, and into the bathroom, but the instant Ashley turned the faucet on, she struggled down, intending to dive into the empty tub. Rolling her eyes, Ashley somehow managed to strip off her ruined clothes before allowing her to climb into the bathtub.

"How did you get paint on your back?" she demanded aloud, emptying the contents of the shampoo bottle onto her daughter's head as Tawny amused herself with the rapidly growing mountain of bubbles. "Did you lie down in it?"

Tawny suddenly looked decidedly guilty. Ashley groaned. "What happened?"

"Daddy not like bunnies," she said finally.

Ashley burst out laughing, gripping the edge of the tub to keep herself from falling in as her entire body shook. "Tawny..." she managed to gasp out. "That's what you get."

"Ash?" Andros called, tapping lightly on the door.

"Come in," she shouted, standing Tawny up and wrapping her in a towel as she lifted her out of the tub.

"I brought her some pajamas," Andros said, opening the door slowly. She saw immediately that he'd already showered, and was now dressed in what had been his warm-up sweatsuit, the closest she suspected he'd ever come to wearing pajamas himself.

He hovered near the doorway and eyed Tawny warily, as if he expected her to attack him. Tawny was grinning back at him, looking as though she was considering it. Ashley rolled her eyes, wondering how they had managed to paint anything at all.

"Thanks," Ashley said, sighing tiredly as she reached out to take Tawny's pajamas. She turned to set them on the counter, wincing as she heard Andros's startled exclamation the instant she took her eyes off her daughter.

She whirled around to see Tawny happily flinging the bubbles floating on the surface of the water at Andros, and although he was doing a halfway decent job of dodging her, was making no move to stop her himself.

"Tawny," Ashley cried, grabbing her hands. "No, don't do that!"

"But Daddy get paint on me!"

"You got paint on him first," Ashley reminded her, shaking her head and handing Tawny her pajamas. "Here. Go get dressed in your room."

Tawny scampered off, half-heartedly attempting to kick Andros in the ankle as she passed him by on her way out. Ashley sighed heavily and drained the tub, impatiently waiting for the bubbles to swirl away.

"How can one little girl make so much of a mess?" she wondered aloud, surveying the soaked floors and slowly shrinking patches of bubbles in dismay.

Andros shook his head and shrugged, but grinned despite himself. "I'll clean it up," he offered.

"That's sweet of you, but I'll just do it," she said, sighing, beginning to mop up the water. "You're already clean, and I still need a shower anyway."

"Ash, you're practically falling asleep." Andros bent down and gently pried the towels out of her hands. "Use the other bathroom."

Ashley stared at him uncertainly for a moment before nodding gratefully. "Thank you," she murmured, moving to throw her arms around his neck, stopping only when she realized she was not only still covered in paint but drenched in water as well.

"Go," Andros insisted, somehow managing to kiss her while keeping a safe distance between them.

"I love you," she whispered before leaving him to clean up the mess Tawny had made earlier.

The downstairs bathroom was considerably smaller, and had room for only a shower stall and not a tub, but the room itself was peaceful and quiet, a welcome break from all the shouting that had gone on during the day.

It was still strangely quiet when she emerged fifteen minutes later, much more relaxed than she had been when she'd gone in. She went off in search of Andros and Tawny, not surprised to find them eating on the living room floor, as the freshly painted kitchen wasn't the best place to sit down for dinner.

"Hey," Andros greeted her, his eyes lighting up the way they always did when she walked into a room. "Sorry we didn't wait for you, but Tawny's starving."

"It's all right," she assured him, sinking down between them on the sleeping bags. "I'm too tired to eat, anyway."

"You look it," Andros informed her. "Did you do the entire kitchen yourself?"

"Sorta," she admitted. "Karone helped for awhile."

"Done," Tawny announced, waving her fork in the air. "Dessert!"

"Not tonight," Andros said firmly, gathering up his and Tawny's plates. "You sure you don't want anything, Ash?"

"Yeah," she said. "I'm sure."

Andros returned empty handed a moment later to find Ashley already curled up on the red sleeping bag and Tawny somersaulting across the yellow one. He laughed quietly as she stood and attempted to walk, falling straight back down.

"Go to sleep," he told her, handing her the blanket that lay crumpled a few feet away. "Now."

"Night, Daddy," she said, obediant for the first time that day.

"Night, angel," he replied, wondering what he'd been thinking in choosing that particular name for her.

"Andros?" Ashley asked softly.

He jumped, exhaling slowly as he stepped over her. "I thought you were asleep!"

"Sorry," she whispered. "I can't sleep...How many rooms did we paint yellow?"

He laughed quietly as he settled himself behind her, his arms automatically encircling her waist. "Four," he said after some consideration. "And the halls... I like it."

Ashley laughed as well, rolling over to curl up against his chest. "I do too, but that's still a lot of yellow."

"I seem to remember you being the one with objections to red walls," he said with a grin. "Besides, all the yellow reminds me of you."

"You need a reminder?" she teased.

"All the yellow makes me think of you," he amended, laughing.

"Quiet," Tawny whined from over to their left. "Can't sleep."

"Sorry," Andros said softly. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Come with me?" he asked quietly, careful not to disturb Tawny again.

"Sure," she murmured, struggling up into a sitting position. "Outside?"

"Yeah," he said, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders before offering Ashley a hand up.

A moment later, Andros was settling himself on the cool cement-like steps He pulled Ashley down into his lap a moment later and wrapped the blanket around them both as they relaxed in the silence and the safety of each other's arms.