Disclaimer: Not mine. Disney's.

Chylea3784: Thanks. I loved writing that last scene, but I think I'll stick to A/A romance.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: I'm getting there! Wait a day or two. :P

Jenny: Right. AGAIN! I WILL write something that you do not figure out. It'd probably help if I didn't tell other people what I was going to do... Anyway... I like the author hall of fame thing. :P

Melissa: Oops. That's what, the third mistake you've caught in two days:P

Chapter 32

"Mommy! Wake up! Mommy! Daddy!"

Ashley was jolted back into wakefulness as someone slammed into her hard from the side. Gasping, she bolted upright in bed, grabbing Tawny as she continued to jump on her, her small fists beating gently at Ashley's shoulder.

"Tawny, what..."

Her voice died abruptly as the night before hit her hard. Her eyes flicked to the side, and she laughed softly as she saw Andros still fast asleep beside her, his blond-streaked hair strewn across his face. From the shoulder down, he was buried under the blankets - which was far more than Ashley could say for herself, as the sheets had tumbled down to her waist when she'd sat up.

"Mommy, why aren't you wearing anything?"

"I, umm..." Ashley blushed bright red and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping the ends of the sheet around herself. "I'll explain later?"

"Okay," Tawny agreed readily. "I'm hungry."

"I'll get you something to eat in a minute," Ashley promised. "Just, uh, can you let me get dressed?"

"Breakfast first?" Tawny asked innocently. "Get dressed later?"

"No," Ashley said firmly, shaking her head to emphasize the point. "Go downstairs and watch TV or something."

Tawny looked about to protest, but to her mother's enormous relief, she skipped out of the room. After a moment's thought, Ashley called after her to close the door, climbing out of bed and locking it securely as a muffled chuckle reached her ear.

She shot a sharp glance at the bed. Andros hadn't moved an inch, but his lips were twitching into a smile that he wasn't able to hide.

"You were awake!" she accused him.

His eyes opened then and he just grinned at her. "No. Not until she jumped on you."

"That's not funny!"

Andros sat up and shrugged at her, still smiling broadly. "Just be glad that she sleeps through the night... You know, we should really lock the door."

Ashley couldn't help laughing a little at that. "And why couldn't you have thought of that last night?"

"I was thinking of other things last night," he retorted, his voice losing its light tone as his gaze lingered on her. "Ash... you're beautiful."

Ashley blushed as he continued to stare openly at her, seemingly unaware that he was doing so. Settling herself on the edge of the bed, she wrapped the sheets loosely around herself, suddenly self-conscious. His smile faded slightly as she stared down at her hands.

"Ash?" His fingers grasped her chin gently, raising her face to his. "What's wrong?"

She hesitated, simply unable to tell him the truth. "Nothing."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but the sudden pounding of two small fists on the opposite side of the door robbed him of the opportunity to comment.

"Mommy!" Tawny whined. "I'm hungry!"

"Just a minute," Ashley shouted, glancing anxiously at Andros out of the corner of her eye, but making no move to get out of bed.

"I'll take care of her," he offered, not waiting for a reply before climbing over her and pulling on his pants. "We'll talk later."

"Thanks," she muttered, looking anywhere but at him. Andros stared at her for a moment and sighed again before opening the door and stepping outside before Tawny could run past him into the room.

"Come on," he said, catching her by the hand as he closed the door firmly behind him. "Let's get you something to eat."

"Now?"

"Yes, now," Andros said, laughing.

"Where Mommy at?" Tawny demanded suddenly, glaring at the bedroom door reproachfully. "She say she get me breakfast."

"She's getting dressed," Andros told her, glancing back at the door himself. "She'll be down in a little while."

"If she weared pajamas, she not have to get dressed," Tawny pointed out.

Successfully muffling his laughter, Andros gave her arm a gentle tug to get her walking downstairs. "Tawny? Can you try to remember to knock before you walk into our room?"

"I knock," Tawny informed him. "But you and Mommy sleeping. I wake Mommy up."

Andros tried to bite back his grin and failed. "You sure did," he agreed, pausing in the kitchen doorway before heading to the Synthetron. "But I think you nearly gave her a heart attack."

"What a heart attack?"

"Never mind," he said. "Just don't jump on Mommy anymore, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed cheerfully, her brown eyes glinting with mischief.

Andros eyed her suspiciously for a moment adding quickly, "Don't jump on me, either!"

Tawny pouted at him. "Can I get waffles?"

"Sure," Andros agreed, lifting her up into the air to make her level with the Synthetron. "Push this button here..."

Tawny exclaimed happily as the Synthetron made its quiet whirring sound, producing a child's portion of scrumptious waffles topped with strawberries and a small mountain of whipped cream.

"Try not to make a mess," Andros pleaded as he carried Tawny's breakfast to the kitchen table, decidedly ignoring her protests to let her do so himself, all too aware of the clean up that mistake would entail.

"I not make a mess," Tawny promised. "I like waffles."

Andros laughed before turning back to the Synthetron for his own breakfast. Tawny eyed his food distastefully, wrinkling her nose.

"Pancakes yucky," she informed him.

"They're the same thing as waffles."

"They yucky."

Andros shook his head, making a show of his first bite. "I like them."

"You like yucky food."

Andros bit his lip, sorely tempted to let Tawny drag him into the argument. Reminding himself that she would be his daughter in five weeks, he shook his head another time and said nothing, knowing that she would forget in a moment.

"Mommy!"

Temporarily abandoning her breakfast, Tawny leapt up from the table, rushing to fasten her arms around Ashley's knees. Andros smiled and followed Tawny's race with his eyes, wondering just how she could have so much energy packed into her small body.

His eyes widened as they landed on Ashley, or more specifically, on her outfit. He had never once seen her without even the smallest trace of the color yellow in her clothing. To see her so now, after nearly two years, was more than a little unnerving... although he had to admit that she was absolutely stunning in her color of choice.

She smiled shyly at him as he continued to gaze at her, the affection in his hazel eyes causing the initial unease brought on by his unblinking stare to dwindle down to practically nothing.

"You look pretty in red," Andros said finally.

His shoulders being considerably broader than hers, the shirt hung loosely on her, reaching to the middle of her thighs, and the sleeves were just about even with her fingertips. There was nothing particularly glamarous about the rest of her outfit either; she was wearing a pair of jeans, the red shirt was worn unbuttoned over a white tank top, her feet were bare, and her freshly washed hair was pulled back from her face, but Andros was struck with the thought that she had never appeared more beautiful to him than she did at this moment.

Ashley glanced down a moment later, and his eyes narrowed at her for several seconds. Whatever had been bothering her earlier was clearly still on her mind, and he sighed.

"Finish eating, Tawny, all right?" he said, never taking his eyes off of Ashley. "I want to talk to your mommy."

"I'm fine," she insisted as he guided her into the living room, not giving him the chance to question her. "Really, Andros."

The look he gave her communicated to her quite clearly that she was going to have to do much better than that to convince him that she was fine. She sighed heavily, staring off into space not only because she didn't wish to speak to him, but because she wasn't entirely sure what was wrong herself.

"Ash?"

She jumped visibly as Andros laid a gentle hand on her arm. "I'm all right," she said quietly, her eyes silently pleading with him to just let her be, but he didn't move an inch from his spot.

"Is it me?" he asked softly, staring up into her eyes as he crouched down by the side of the couch on which she sat. "Did I... did I hurt you last night?"

Ashley shook her head slowly, but the brief second of hesitation before she did so caused him to wonder.

"You're sure?" He gazed deep into her eyes for a moment before glancing down and muttering, "I mean, I don't... I don't exactly know how to be... gentle..."

"You didn't hurt me, Andros."

Her voice was little more than a whisper, but it was a firm enough whisper to banish his lingering doubts... but that still left him with a slight problem.

"So why are you hiding?"

"I'm not - " Ashley began to protest, and then sighed, admitting, "I don't know... I guess I'm... When you look at me, what do you see?"

"Ash..." Andros stared at her in confusion and just the tiniest bit of hurt. It was well hidden, but she didn't miss it, and it tore at her heart to see it.

"I see you," he said finally. "Nothing else. Just you, Ash."

Ashley relaxed visibly, a bright, sunny smile lighting her face. "Andros... do you... feel different? Like... closer to me, somehow?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the link that had been between himself and Ashley nearly from the moment he'd first set eyes on her. To his surprise, it did feel different, stronger somehow, almost as if she was a part of himself.

Andros smiled. "Yeah. I feel it."

"I love you," Ashley whispered, leaning forward to slip her arms around his neck. He returned the hug eagerly, kissing her gently, holding her just close enough for her balance to become unsteady and she came tumbling down into his lap.

She gave him a half-hearted glare but giggled and nuzzled close to him, not about to get up for anything. Andros grinned down into her hair, wondering what he had ever done to deserve her.

"You love me," Ashley said simply, laughing quietly at his startled expression. "That's all I've ever wanted."

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life loving you," he vowed, knowing that he would never be able to live without her ever again.

"Only five more weeks." Ashley smiled and buried her face in his chest, knowing their wedding day couldn't come soon enough.