Disclaimer: Disney owns the Power Rangers.

Arwennicole: Well, here's more. Things don't really go so well, but you'll see...

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Here's more... finally. :P

Just Jill: Ashley's parents never knew she was pregnant. They did know she was in an accident, but that wasn't in the story.

Jessica01: I need him alive, though.

Jenny: I wasn't sick of Ashley's parents hating Andros when I started this story, but I'm getting there. I think I've only got two more stories where they hate Andros, but both those stories are just evil, so I won't be writing them for awhile. I know this is really depressing. My next story is actually fluffy, I promise.

Chapter 24

"Mom!" Ashley rushed up to her mother, Andros following close behind. "Where's Dad?"

"He's in a room down the hall," Alice said, waving an arm down the hall as she led them out of the crowded waiting room. "He's talking with Jeff now."

"Talking?" Andros repeated. "So he's all right, then?"

"Would he be in the hospital if he was all right?" Alice snapped. "He broke both his collarbone and his leg, and he's got a mild concussion."

"But he's not going to die, right?" Ashley said, watching as Andros struggled to suppress his sudden outrage.

"Don't be stupid, Ashley, who's ever died of a broken leg?"

"Mom, wait," Ashley said, shooting Andros a sharp look as his mouth opened. "Why did you call me?"

"So you could see your father." Alice didn't look back at her daughter as they turned the corner and stopped before a closed door.

"Does he want to see me?"

"Ask him yourself," Alice said, pushing through the doors.

"Ash, you can leave now if you want," Andros said quietly, catching her stung look. "You don't owe them anything."

"I might as well," she sighed. "Maybe we can work this out."

She didn't look convinced. Andros sighed as well, and pulled her into a quick hug. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "Please."

"You didn't need to ask," he said softly, wrapping an arm securely around her waist. "I wasn't going to leave you anyway."

Ashley managed a brief smile, one that faded quickly the moment she stepped into her father's hospital room. Daniel Hammond had his leg in a cast and bandages over various smaller injuries, but he was relatively unharmed. He almost looked relaxed as he leaned back against the pillows of his bed, but the expression darkened the instant he laid eyes on his daughter.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Dad..." Ashley stared at him helplessly, not speaking again until Andros squeezed her fingers gently. "Mom told me you were in an accident, and I--"

"What's he doing here?" Daniel interrupted, his eyes narrowing at his son-in-law. "You're not still dating him, are you?"

"No," Ashley whispered. Her grasp on Andros's hand was becoming quite painful as she swallowed and said, "Dad, Andros and I are married."

"You're what?" Daniel and Alice exclaimed together.

"When?" Jeff asked calmly, leaning back against the window sill.

"Six and a half months," Ashley said quietly, edging closer to Andros. He held her a bit closer, uncomplaining as she continued to crush his hand.

"You've been married for six and a half months?" Daniel demanded. "Were you ever going to tell us?"

"We sent you an announcement," Ashley defended herself. "You wouldn't accept my calls."

"Congratulations, you guys," Jeff said suddenly, smiling warmly at the two of them. "You deserve it."

"Thanks, Jeff," Ashley mumbled awkwardly, now wishing that she hadn't come. There was going to be a lot more explaining, and most of it she didn't feel like discussing.

"Six and a half months," Alice mused. "That's longer than I ever would have thought he'd stick around."

Ashley relaxed slightly at the grudging admission. "Does this mean we can talk?"

"Maybe." Alice sighed, her tone hardening as her gaze fell on Andros. "But it hasn't even been a year. Half of all marriages end in divorce now, Ashley."

"I love Ashley," Andros spoke up suddenly, not giving Ashley the chance to respond. "I love her, and I am never going to leave her."

"That's what you say now," Daniel said. "But how about when things get hard? How does she know you're not just going to run?"

"Things have already gotten hard," Ashley snapped, her temper flaring. "He's still here."

"That's what you think now," Daniel snapped back. "But Ashley, a fight or two is nothing like--"

"A fight or two?" she repeated dimly. "Dad, you have no idea how much I wish that's all it was! You don't know what's happened, so stop pretending that you do. Andros and I are married, and if you don't like that, we'll leave and you can just forget that we were ever here."

"What's happened, then?" Alice settled back to sit on the bed beside Daniel, laying a hand on his arm. Ashley watched them, tears springing to her eyes. For all their faults, they were still her parents, and she loved them.

"Shh," Andros murmured, drawing her into his arms completely as he shot her parents a healthy glare. "It's all right Ash."

"What happened?" Alice repeated, her tone a bit diminished now.

Ashley let out a shaky breath in a sigh and sat in one of the chairs shoved up against the wall. Andros sat beside her and wrapped both his arms around her as best he could without pulling her onto his lap, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"Do you want me to tell them?" he asked quietly. "I won't mind."

"No." Ashley shook her head. "I have to."

"Tell us what?" Daniel eyed the pair of them suspiciously. "Ashley, what's going on?"

"I... I was pregnant," she said in a rush, wincing at the outraged shock on her parents faces. Andros squeezed her hand comfortingly, rubbing small circles across the back of her hands with his thumbs.

"You're pregnant?" Jeff was the first to break the silence. "Since when?"

"I'm not pregnant," Ashley whispered, tears pressing against her eyes. "Not anymore."

"You had an abortion, you mean?" Daniel looked relieved.

"No," Ashley snapped, a few tears escaping her eyes. "I'd never do that, Dad, and you know it."

"Where's the baby, then?"

"We... He died," Ashley said finally, losing her battle not to cry. "I was in a coma for two weeks after the accident, and the doctors told Andros that if he didn't let them abort the pregnancy, I wouldn't come out of it."

"Ashley..." Alice sighed. "We didn't know."

"I tried to tell you," Andros snapped suddenly. "You just hung the phone up."

"We didn't know," Alice repeated coldly. "For all we knew, you were calling to ask for money."

"Well, I wasn't," Andros retorted. "I was trying to tell you that Ashley was hurt, and you wouldn't listen. Even after Cassie finally managed to tell you, you didn't even come see her in the hospital! She was in a coma, and you didn't care, but now we're here just because he has a broken leg?"

"Andros--"

"It's all right, Ashley," Daniel interrupted, glowering at Andros. "I could have died today, and when I realized that, I realized that there were some things that weren't as important as I thought they were. Ashley, you're our daughter, and we do love you. If that means we have to accept who you love, I think we're ready to do that."

Daniel's last few statements were made through grit teeth, Ashley saw, watching her father and her husband glare daggers at each other. With a sigh, she touched Andros's arm, scowling at both of them.

"Don't make this worse," she hissed at Andros, saying aloud, "Dad, if you and Mom think you can do that, we'll talk once you're feeling better. I'll come see you tomorrow, all right?"

"Sure," Alice said stiffly. "We'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Night, everyone," Ashley said uneasily, tugging on Andros's arm to bring him to his feet. "Get well soon, Dad."

Ashley exited the room calmly, but once in the corridor, she stormed off down the hall. Andros followed more slowly, the expression on her face telling him quite clearly that she was far from pleased.