Roxanne

Duff's POV

I woke up the next morning with a sore back, which was probably from sleeping in those tiny chairs. Rox was still fast asleep, probably because she had been up during the night feeding Angel. Hey I may be new to this whole father thing but after having a whole shitload of brothers and sisters I had spent most of my childhood hearing babies scream and cry during the night and then hearing my mom get up and feed them. After I checked on Angel and all that stuff I went for a walk, my walk basically consisted of walking down to the little coffee shop that was on the ground floor. All I got was a plain old black coffee before I found a payphone and dialled in Axl’s number, or at least what I hoped was Axl’s number. He picked up on the first ring.

“Hello.”

“Hey Axl it’s Duff.”

“Oh hey Duff how was the night?” Axl asked

“Ok I guess, from what it looked like Rox was up a whole lot, she’s still sleeping.” I replied

“I see.”

“Yeah, can you guys get over here anytime soon? I think we’re leaving as soon as Rox gets up or whatever.”

“Sure I think we can get there in like five.” Axl paused for a moment as he yelled at Slash to get Izzy. “Anything you want us to bring?” He asked.

“Uh, yeah I think you’re going to need to bring Rox some normal sized clothes, it doesn’t look like she’s gained any weight.” I said to him.

“Ok, we’ll be there in five,” He said, pausing for a moment. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Umm, nothing I’ll tell you when you get here.” I told him as the phone demanded another quarter.

“Alright bye,” He said as he disconnected, I hung up the phone and took another sip of my coffee. I turned around and started heading back to the waiting room. I got there a minute before the others joined me.

“Hey, congrats Dad.” Slash said as he patted me on the back, I suppressed a groan because I knew that this was only the beginning.

“Thanks.” I replied with a tired smile.

“Is Rox still sleeping?” Steven asked curiously.

“Uhh, I don’t know she might be up but I doubt it because she was up a lot last night with
Angel.” I told him with a quick shrug.

“Listen why don’t you four go check?” Axl suggested, “I need to talk to Duff for a bit, alone.” He added after a moment. Izzy shot me a curious glance then nodded.

“Yeah sure we’ll go check and if she’s up and asks where you two are we can just say that you’re at the coffee shop or something.” Izzy said quietly, both Slash and Steven nodded in agreement.

“Thanks guys.” I said to them as they began walking away.

“C’mon, let’s go to the coffee shop so they’re not totally lying.” Axl said with a laugh, I nodded my head and we began walking down to the coffee shop.

“So, again for the third time. What do you want to talk to me about?” Axl asked as he fixed his bandana and earned a couple of stares. “Hey can I have a sip of your coffee?” Shaking my head I handed him my coffee and he took a sip.

“It’s not really what I want to talk to you about, it’s more like what I need to ask you or get your permission for.” I said slowly then shot a glance at Axl who spat out the coffee like it was poison. Mentally I flinched, this wasn`t exactly how I wanted things to go.

“Sorry, here’s your coffee, but that was just downright gross.” He said as he handed it back, I shook my head and sighed, due to that I probably would have to explain everything again. “Anyways what were you saying?” He asked as we sat down.

“Uh, I was wondering. . .” I started as Axl rolled his eyes.

“Duff just spit it out dude I’m not going to be pissed or anything. I mean it’s not like you’re
going to ask me if you can marry her or something.” Axl told me with a laugh.

“Yeah right ask you if I can marry Rox, that’s funny.” I said quietly forcing out a chuckle. Axl obviously picked up the forced chuckle because he stopped laughing and looked at me.

“Duff,” he started with a dangerous edge to his voice.

“Axl, I know you probably don’t approve but I love her man more then you could imagine.” I said cutting him off; he sighed then looked at me.

“If you had decided to listen to what I had to say it probably would’ve been something along the lines of this. Duff I know you love my sister a lot, we all know that because that’s why were sitting in a hospital, and I think you should ask her to marry you later, like in three months or something when Angel’s a little bigger and all that shit.” Axl said looking at me.

“I wasn’t planning to ask her today or anytime soon even for that matter, I was just asking you now so that I know I have permission for when the time is right.” I replied quietly as Axl face broke into a smile.

“I know that Duff but still, I want to know beforehand, it can be me and you in on this together and if everything works out we’ll be brother-in-laws.” He said to me, I nodded in agreement, “so just to start things off, sometime in the future when do you want to do this?
Like at night or during the day or what?” Axl added excitedly.

“I’m not exactly sure when I want to do this, I mean I haven’t picked out a ring or anything, but I really do want to bring the band into this because I’m sure that they’d want to be a part of this.” I replied as Axl nodded his head thoughtfully.

“I see what you’re trying to say, which basically leaves a few things. When, where, and how are you going to say it?” Axl asked raising his eyebrows as I took another sip of my already cold coffee.

“What if I proposed on stage during a concert while she was singing that way the band is part of it without even knowing their part of it?” I said slowly as Axl’s eyes widened.

“That would be pretty damn cool and classy if I do say so myself, but one thing. She probably won’t be singing for awhile just because of Angel so how you gonna get her to sing even if it’s for just one song not to mention you’re going to propose in the middle of a song while she’s singing? Maybe you should get her to sing a longer song and propose during a guitar solo. Just an idea though.” Axl said, I sighed, that was probably going to be the most difficult thing was to get Rox back on stage for that one song.

“What if we got her to sing to November Rain and I propose to her during Slash’s guitar solo, then after they can stop playing or whatever? I think that if I beg long enough she’ll eventually go onstage and then that’s that.” I said thinking out loud then looking at Axl who was nodding his head encouragingly.

“That would work perfectly. I could just tell Slash and the rest of them to stop after the guitar solo or something. So that means that you just have to get the ring, when you planning to do that?” Axl said, then stopped and looked at me with a glint in his eyes.

“I don’t know, soon though, I want to get it way before I actually propose.” I replied. That’s when Axl snapped his fingers.

“There’s this place in town we drove by this morning on our way here it’s a jewellery shop. I can’t remember what it’s called though but you’ll know where the place is because it’s all glass and there’s a big billboard with the name of it and shit like that.” He said to me, I nodded my head.

“Ok, thanks, maybe I’ll go there later.” I said back as I stood up. “We should go back I bet Rox and the others are starting to get curious.” Axl nodded his head as he stood up too, we had taken a few steps away from the coffee shop before I stopped and held up my hand. “Wait for a minute I’ve gotta get something for Rox, I’ll hear about it later if I don’t” I said with a chuckle, Axl smiled and let out a laugh as he watched me walk up to the counter and ordered a small coffee for Rox, I put in about the same amount that I had watched Rox put in her coffee then took a sip and spit it out. It was really sweet, too sweet for me.

“Wow Duff, you’re whipped man.” Axl said as we started walking back to the room. “Hey can I have a sip of that?” He asked as he reached out towards the coffee I had bought Rox.

“Uh, no, you can’t why don’t you buy your own coffee instead of begging everyone else for there’s.”I suggested moving the coffee out of his reach.

“Nah, it’s not worth moving that much.” He replied dropping his arm. “Hey, you didn’t even deny it! You’re whipped!” He said with a laugh then started yelling. “Duff McKagan is whipped!” earning loads of stares from everyone, I rolled my eyes why out of all people did he have to be Rox’s brother, why him.

“Axl shut up.” I told him after a nurse had told me to be quiet or get out. He stopped for a moment then gave me a grumpy stare. “Oh wow I can see someone’s in a shity mood today.” I added after a moment. The look he was giving me didn’t get any better but I ignored it, instead I pulled the door open to Rox’s room and walked in.

“Hey baby.” I said to Rox she smiled at me and waved. From behind me I heard Axl
whisper “whipped” to Slash who let out a laugh. “Here, I brought you this.” I added after a moment as I handed her the coffee.

“CoughcoughWHIPPEDcoughcough” Slash said from across the room.

“Yes, I’m whipped, are you happy yet??” I replied as I turned to face him. “That’s right I admitted it, I’m whipped.” I said throwing my hands up in the air.

“Actually yes, I’m very happy.” Steven said from beside Slash, I hadn’t noticed before that he had been holding a video camera that was set to record. I let out a groan, of course why hadn’t I seen it before, that they were gonna pull something like this off. “And that’s a wrap, this is great, I wonder what the media will say if we give it to them?” Steven said, while beside him Izzy was frantically trying to calm Angel down.

“You wouldn’t dare do that.” I told Steven barely managing to keep my voice steady.

“Oh really? Why wouldn’t I dare do that?” Steven asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Because, remember when you were really high and drunk that one night when we were on tour for Appetite? Well me and Slash both have copies of you running around town naked and knocking on people’s door. You give the video that you just took to the media I give the one we shot to the media.” I said watching Steven’s eyes widen with horror as he looked at Slash who nodded with a smile on his face.

“Fine, but I’m not throwing it out, I’m keeping it one day the world will see.” Steven said grumbling to himself. I shook my head as I watched Rox try to stand up.

“Do you need some help?” I asked Roxanne who nodded her head, I offered my hand to her which she took and pulled her up.

“Thanks Duff.” She said quietly as she let go of my hand.

“Hey, I didn’t say that you could go.” I replied as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her up to me. She wasn’t short; she was just the right size for me, which was the same size as Axl. She could easily put her head on my shoulder which she did.

“I think you should let me go of me Duff.” Rox whispered to me.

“Why do you think I should let you go?” I replied, then quickly snuck in a kiss on the top of the head.

“Because, then maybe we could go home unless you want to stay here?” Rox asked me as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

“It doesn’t matter what we do, as long as I’m with you.” I whispered into her ear, she stiffened then let out a giggle.

“C’mon Duff let me go so that we can go home, you have to perform tonight remember.” Rox said as she squirmed and tried to get free, I held back a groan, one of the last things on my list was perform especially tonight, but of course when you’re on tour you’ve gotta perform or else you end up with riots and riots are well, not good to have.

“Fine, I’ll let you go.” I replied letting her go then sneaking in another kiss, this time on her cheek.

“Duff, c’mon stop it.” Rox told me then winked and turned away. “Shit I have nothing to wear, the clothes that I wore yesterday are way too big.” She said as realization struck her.

“We got you covered Rox. Catch.” Axl said as he threw a ball of clothes at her which she caught successfully.

“Thanks guys.” She replied then walked into the bathroom.

“Duff can you help me up please?” Slash mimicked as the door closed. “He’s whipped I tell you.”

“Haha, you guys are fucking hilarious, how did I ever live without you idiots?” I muttered to myself shaking my head.

“Oh here, I guess you might want to hold your kid.” Izzy said, just noticing that he had been holding Angel the whole time, he handed her back to me, “lucky kid, if I have anything to do with it she’ll be the most spoiled kid in existence.” Izzy said with a chuckle, I rolled my eyes. That was going to be scary, watching her get spoiled like that.

“If we have anything to do.” Axl corrected as Slash nodded in agreement.

“Oh lord, Angel you are the luckiest kid in existence with the Uncles that you have.” I told her shaking my head; of course she was still asleep. That’s all that baby seemed to do was sleep and eat and bathroom breaks.

“You’re making us all Uncles?” Slash said, looking slightly confused. “I mean aren’t Uncles supposed to be related to the parents or something?” He added looking around the room.

“That’s the point moron; we might as well be related.” I told him as he shook his head.

“Oh I get it now.” Was his answer.

“Question, is Izzy an Aunt or an Uncle? I mean Angel’s named after him so doesn’t that technically mean that he’s a she.” Steven asked with a laugh, I let out a chuckle and shook my head.

“I don’t know, you’d have to ask Izzy that question.” I replied, shrugging.

“Izzy?” Steven asked as all eyes turned to him.

“It’s going to be Uncle Izzy, I am not a chick. Thank you very much.” Izzy replied curtly looking at Steven.

“Are you sure you’re not a chick Izzy?” Slash asked a taunting edge to his voice.

“Well if you want I can strip and show you my manhood.” Izzy said seriously, I shook my head.

“Sure let’s see.” Steven answered as Slash gave Izzy an evil grin.

“Fine,” Izzy replied as he started to unbuckle his pants. Steven and Slash had identical evil grins on their faces while Axl’s held a look of astonishment

“How about we wait until we get back to the bus then Izzy can show us his manhood.” I suggested as I adjusted my arms so that both I and Angel were more comfortable.

“Fine,” Steven grumbled as Izzy buckled his pants up again. “Later though, I want to see your manhood because I don’t believe you worth shit.” He added after a moment. That’s when Rox walked out of the bathroom dressed in the same clothes that she had worn on the day we had found out she was pregnant and was that just me or was there makeup on her
face?

“How do I look?” She asked as she took a step towards me.

“Amazing,” I replied she gave me a smile as she walked closer to her.

“Why do I have a feeling you’re just saying that because you know you’re not getting in bed if you don’t?” She asked both Slash and Axl let out laughs. “But either way it’s still sweet.” She said as she brushed the hair out of my face.

“Well are we ready to go?” Axl asked, as Slash let out a chuckle and muttered something under his breath to Steven.

“Uh yeah, I think we got everything. The baby, the mom. Yeah we have everything.”Steven answered counting off things on his fingers.

“Well then let’s go.” Axl said ushering us out the door.

“Here you should take her.” I said to Rox handing Angel to her. She hesitated for a moment before she took her. We walked down the hallway to the desk while Rox checked out of the hospital the rest of us were fooling around, actually to be more specific we were all watching Axl and Slash take the cleaning lady’s cart for a joy ride.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Axl hollered as the cart came flying towards us. Quickly the three of us stepped out of the way as they zoomed by

“SLASH WATCH OUT THERE’S A WALL RIG-“Axl started but never got a chance to finish they smashed into a nearby wall and went flying.

“Nice job morons.” Izzy said while Steven ran forward to help them.

“They never learn do they?” I asked as I watched Steven help up Axl then dropped Slash on his ass.

“Apparently not, to quote Axl they’re ready to crash and burn they’ll never learn.” Izzy said we both chuckled at that. “We should probably go help them ‘eh? He added after a moment.

“We should but we’re not going too, unless you want to.” I replied, in return Izzy shook his head.

“Nah let them suffer a bit.” He replied as the security guards showed up. “Oh look security’s here.” He added when he saw the guards. They were arguing now, pointing fingers and shaking heads. I let out a sigh; from what it seemed I wasn’t just taking care of Rox and Angel but Axl too.

“Let’s go before they get thrown out on their asses and banned from ever coming back here.” I said to Izzy who nodded his head in agreement. We walked over there and talked to the security guards and explained what had happened and why we were there and all that crap. Then after with a little persuasion we got them to let Axl, Slash and Steven go as long as they promised to obey the protocol and all that other shit.

“Hey are we ready to go?” Rox asked as she walked up to us and the security guards walked away. “What was that all about?” She asked shooting a glance at the guards.

“Yeah we’re ready to go and don’t worry about that there was just a little misunderstanding.” I said quietly, shooting warning glances at the other. “C’mon let’s go.” I said to her as I steered her towards the elevator.

“I’m glad that I’m finally going home.” Roxanne said to us as we got into the elevator.

“I’m glad you’re going home too, the bus was getting a little messy.” Slash said jokingly.

“Just for that, you get to hold her.” Rox said as she handed Angel to him. It was quite a sight to see Slash with his top hat and hair covering his eyes and the grumpiest look ever holding a little pink bundle.

“Slash smile.” Axl said with a laugh shaking his head. The elevator dinged and its doors slid open.

“C’mon people let’s get a move on.” Izzy said as he held the doors open for us to walk out.
We walked out of the elevator and down the long narrow stretch of hallway until we were out the front doors and in the parking lot.

“Here Duff, have your kid back.” Slash said as he handed me Angel.

“What Slash you don’t like her?” Rox asked with a hint of anger in her voice, I hid a smile I knew she was just faking and she wasn’t mad.

“Uh, no I didn’t say that.” Slash said choosing his words very carefully. “It’s just gonna take
some getting use to that’s all.”

“It’s fine, it’s gonna take all of us some getting use to.” Rox said with a smile, Slash let out a sigh of relief while both Izzy and I chuckled.

“Where did you guys park?” I asked as I looked around the parking lot, trying to spot Izzy’s van.

“Over there.” Axl said pointing to the farthest corner of the parking lot. From beside me Rox let out groan while I barely held one back. “What you don’t like where we parked?” Axl asked as hurt leaked into his voice.

“Oh no it’s great.” Rox replied with both sarcasm and tiredness leaking into her voice. “How’s Angel?” She asked.

“She’s still fast asleep.” I told her with a smile as we walked towards Izzy’s van which was wedged in between two cars.

“Nice parking space.” Rox teased Izzy as she stole his hat and put it on her own head.

“Yeah I know, it’s the best parking space ever.” Izzy teased back, and tried to snatch his hat back.

“Now kids calm down.” Axl started while I rolled my eyes, Axl was anything but a father figure.

“Oh there’s a surprise in there, it’s more of a gift actually from all of us.” Slash told us, earning him a glare from Axl and Izzy. “What? I’m allowed to tell them that much!” He snapped.

“Oh lord, as long as I don’t have to put anything together.” I replied shaking my head as Rox laughed.

“You’re in luck this time, because Izzy set it up for you.” Axl said as Izzy nodded in agreement.

“Oh thank God we’d be here all day if you hadn’t.” Rox said, everyone but me of course found that hilarious, I gave her an I-am-not-impressed glare, which she just laughed at.

“Thanks dear, I love you too.” I replied rolling my eyes, she smiled in return.

“Not to break up this love fest or anything but how about we get our asses in the van and go
back to the bus?” Slash said as he pulled open the door to the van and revealed a car seat.

“Oh my, thank you guys so much!” Rox said as she looked at each of their faces, they were all smiling and I don’t blame them.

“Thanks guys.” I told them giving Axl a one-armed hug so that I wouldn’t bother Angel.

“Not a problem, least we can do.” Axl replied with a laugh then looked at Angel. “You’re going to be spoiled rotten kid.” He said, I chuckled and shook my head.

“He’s right that is the least. “ Slash added from the van, Axl shot him a murderous glare which shut him up immediately.

“Axl, Slash,” Rox started as they both looked at the ground.

“How about we get the hell out of the parking lot?” Steven asked as he helped Rox get into the van.

“Now there’s an idea.” I answered sarcastically, “here Rox take Angel.” I added then handed Angel off.

“Do you need help to get into the van too old man?” Steven asked with a laugh, I rolled my eyes then threw a fake punch at Steven.

“It’s true y’know, you’re not older then us in years, but in experience.” Izzy said as I fell into a chair. The worst part about that was he was right, and that it probably would be like that for a while more. That’s when I noticed that there was basically no room left in the van.

“Here Rox I think you’re gonna have to sit on my lap for the ride home.” I said to Rox, “Unless Izzy wants to sit in Steven’s lap?” I asked, the look of horror that appeared on Izzy’s face was priceless.

“Ugh, do I have to?” Rox asked teasingly as she sat down on my lap, her hair brushed across my face but I didn’t mind. Instead I swept it off and tucked the loose strands behind her ear then wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Oh lord.” I whispered as I got hard. Please don’t let Rox notice, or Slash, or Izzy. I prayed, thankfully none of them did notice, or at least if they did they didn’t say anything.

“What did you say?” Rox asked as she turned and looked me in the eyes.

“Nothing, just talking to myself.” I replied quietly, digging my nails into my arm, “it’s nothing really.” I assured her.

“You sure?” She asked again as she brushed a strand of hair out of my face, making sure that she dragged her nails across my face, I barely suppressed a moan, barely, that’s how much she turned me on.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” I said through clenched teeth. She gave me one of those looks; I can’t really explain it, like she knew something was wrong bus just couldn’t pinpoint it. She shook her head and swung her legs and moved her body so it looked as though I was carrying her bridal style, which I hoped I’d be carrying her like that very soon, for real though. She moved her head so her mouth was millimetres from my neck.

“Sorry for being such a tease.” She whispered to me then wrapped her arms around my
neck.

“It’s okay, sorry for being turned on so easily.” I whispered back, she let out a quiet laugh before resting her head on my shoulder.

“Duff,” She started, not moving her head from my shoulder.

“Yes,” I replied, looking at Izzy who winked at me.

“I love you a lot, you know that right.” She said then looked at me.

“I know,” I replied quietly. “I love you too.” I then snuck in a quick kiss on the cheek. Izzy gave me thumbs up, then I smiled at Rox, a smile that she returned happily.

“So are you guys working on your second kid already?” Steven asked, earning us about a dozen looks.

“I should certainly hope not.” Axl said, trying to get a glimpse of us in the rear-view mirror.

“Haha, I think we’re gonna wait a little, or a lot.” Rox replied, that earned a few chuckles from here and there.

“So you’re not performing tonight Rox?” Slash asked, “I mean just trying to get what’s happening and all that shit.”

“Of course dumbshit, I’m performing, and I’m performing every song not just Patience.”Rox replied sarcastically, I chuckled as did Steven and Izzy, Axl must’ve been too busy driving or attempting too. “Did I say something funny?” She said as she gently stroked my cheek, I somehow managed to get another couple of deep breaths in and out.

“Nice face.” I heard Izzy murmur then let out a little chuckle.

“Shut the hell up.” I managed to get out, Izzy let out another laugh. That’s who I was worried about ending up with Rox, not Steven or Slash but Izzy. There was just something about the
two of them that didn’t seem quite right, like they were hiding something from the rest of us, I hadn’t bothered Rox about it before but I was going to do that soon.

“Hey turn it up.” Izzy said, Steven obliged, I recognized the song that was playing it was
Heaven by Warrant, it had taken us out of the number one spot a couple of years ago when it came out but none of us minded it was a pretty damn good song.

“When I come home late at night and you’re in bed asleep I wrap my arms around you so I can feel you breathe.” I sang quietly to Rox, she let out a chuckle.

“Nice job, but you should stick to playing the bass and singing back up.” She replied then kissed me gently.

“You feel so good.” I murmured to her as my grip tightened around her waist and I pulled her closer to me.

“You too, it’s been a long time.” She murmured back then pulled herself closer to me.

“Hey, stop it; no-one wants to see that, especially me.” Axl said as he finally caught a glimpse of us in the mirror.

“Sorry,” we both murmured as Rox pulled away from me.

“That’s iight, everybody join in for the final chorus.” Axl answered, Slash groaned but joined it, as did Izzy and Steven, pretty soon we were all singing absolutely horrible but hey it was fun.

“Yeahh.” We all sang together then burst out laughing just because we were that horrible.

“Turn it down; I never wanna hear that song again.” Slash moaned as the opening riff of Sweet Child O’ Mine came on; Steven quickly shut the radio off.

“Well if you don’t wanna hear that then what would you like to hear?” Axl asked as we stopped at a red light. Slash though about it for a moment before answering.

“How about this,” He said then paused for a moment before he started singing. “Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!” We all laughed but started singing, everyone sang every bit of that song and don’t act surprised because we had heard Axl sing that song enough times to know every word. After we finished we were all gasping for breath and our faces were red from us laughing so hard.

“Anyone else?” Axl asked as he looked around. Roxanne obliged.

“Flyin’ like an aeroplane! Loaded like a freight train!” She started; Slash was the next to join in then Izzy and Steven, and then finally me and Axl. We finished that song just as we pulled up to the bus, and personally out of the three songs that we had just sung I think we had sung Nightrain the best.

“Izzy can you grab you’re namesake?” Rox asked as she got out of the van, Izzy nodded his head then started unbuckling Angel who was still sleeping despite all the noise at least until Slash slammed the door. That’s when she started crying.

“God-dammit Slash.” I swore as I plucked Angel out of Izzy’s arms. “Shhhh.” I murmured quietly and surprisingly she stopped crying.

“Oh shit did I do that?” Slash asked as he turned around, I didn’t need to say anything because the looks on both Izzy and my face got the message across pretty well. “Sorry.” He said then walked away. I shook my head as Rox joined me and stroked Angel’s tiny forehead.

“She okay?” She asked as she looked at me, I nodded my head and we begun walking back to the bus, where the four of them were standing outside the bus with a massive package.

“SURPRISE!” They shouted as we walked up. I held back another groan, this was something that we’d or more along the lines of I would be building.

“Guys, stop it how much shit did you get for her?” I asked, earning me a look of disapproval from Rox which I so nicely ignored.

“Relax Duff, that’s the only other thing that we got for other then the car seat.” Steven said with a laugh, the rest of them nodded their heads in agreement.

“Yeah and don’t worry we’ll all help you set it up.” Axl said and again the others nodded in agreement. Yeah right, they wouldn’t be helping me set it up it would be more along the lines of me setting it up while the others got hammered and shouted what they thought were helpful tips from the sidelines. Of course those helpful tips would probably be all the pretty language that they loved to use.

“Great thanks.” I replied with a phony smile that seemed to fool everyone.

“Thanks you guys.” Rox said as she gave each of them a hug then kissed my cheek.

“Oh and Duff, I forgot to tell you that yesterday when we came back from the hospital I tripped over your bass and broke a couple of strings, sorry.” Axl said apologetically, I let out a groan; of course the moron would ‘trip’ over my bass.

“Here Rox take Angel I gotta go and get some more strings before the show tonight.” I said handing Angel to her.

“Do you have to go?” She asked as she cupped my face in her hand.

“Yeah, I have to ‘cause your asshole brother broke the strings on my bass.” I replied then kissed her cheek.

“Here, I’ll come too since I broke ‘em.” Axl said, “Izzy can we borrow the van?” He asked, Izzy sighed then threw the keys at Axl caught.

“Fine.” I replied tiredly as we walked to the car. “You drive.” I told Axl as I opened the door to the passenger side, got into the car, slammed the door and put on the seatbelt.

“Time for ring shopping!” Axl said as we pulled out of where the bus was parked. I rolled my eyes, this was another thing that I really didn’t want to do at the moment.

“Yeah, let’s go, but I am not getting anything today we’re just looking.” I said firmly Axl nodded his head absent mindedly. After a few moments we got to the shop, we walked in and talked to a sales clerk. Axl and I explained why we were there and all that crap then we browsed at the rings and of course by the time we walked out of there I had a very empty wallet and a ring in my pocket.

“I can’t believe that you got me to get that ring.” I said shaking my head as we got back into the van. We stopped at a music store and picked up a package of strings, because as it turns out he wasn’t kidding when he said he broke the strings.

“Would you calm down, at least you got one now, it’s better than wanting to ask her and having everything ready and then forgetting that you don’t have a ring.” Axl replied as we began driving back to the bus.

“I know but still, what if she doesn’t like it?” I asked anxiously, then looked at Axl who shook his head and sighed.

“Duff, calm down. Does your gut feeling tell you that she’ll like it?” He answered with another question, I thought about that for a moment before answering.

“Yes and no.” I replied softly, he sighed again then smacked his head on the steering wheel as we stopped at a red light.

“Why yes and no?” Axl asked me, not taking his eyes off the road as the light turned green.

“Yes because something tells me that she’ll love it but no because she’ll be afraid you’ll get all pissed off and that she’ll get mad because I spent so much god-damn money on the ring.”

“Well then there you go those are your answers.” Axl answered as he slammed on the brakes, we both flew forward before our seatbelts tightened and stopped us.

“Alright, what about you? Is it okay if I ask her to y’know?” I started but before I finished he waved his hand and cut me off.

“Duff, it doesn’t matter what I think because I know that if I don’t approve you guys will still do it anyways but as a matter of fact it’s perfectly fine with me. To sum it up, if it’ll make Roxanne happy it’ll make me happy too. Not to mention I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming.” He told me, I was a little confused by the time he finished but for the most part I understood it.

“What do you mean you saw it coming?” I asked quickly, shooting another glance at Axl, his face was twisted up in an unreadable expression.

“Dammit I opened my big mouth again.” He said as he slammed the palm of his hand on the steering wheel. “And that’s what I meant even when we were fifteen I saw that you loved Rox, and the reason I told you to stay the hell away from Rox was because I didn’t want her to get hurt when you left. When I saw her pinned up against your truck I, I guess that I, I.” He faltered for a moment before he resumed speaking again. “That I just lost my temper. I didn’t want Rox to get hurt of course when you left she wouldn’t even talk to me, she told me that it was all my fault you were gone. Duff, what I’m basically trying to say is I knew you loved Rox the day after our fifteenth birthday when you looked at her with that sparkle in your eyes.” Axl finished then looked at me as we pulled into the area where the bus was parked. “It’s the same sparkle that’s in your eyes when you looked at her today.” He added
softly after a moment.

”Hey, relax. I’ll make sure that I take good care of both her and the baby, I honestly don’t blame you for telling me off, and if I had a younger sister that was dating my best friend I’d tell him off too.” I replied, as we opened the door and ended the conversation. We walked into the bus to find it empty with a note pinned to the table. Looking around I picked it up and read it out loud.
Went down to the stage
Angel’s sleeping check on her
Brought guitar with us, see you soon
Love, Rox

From where Axl was standing he let out a chuckle as I went in and checked Angel, who was still sleeping peacefully in the crib.

“We’re lucky; we didn’t have to build that.” Axl said as he examined the crib.

“Yeah we are we’d still be building that.” I replied with a chuckle, even though I felt bad that I hadn’t been there to help. “D’ya mind if I can have a moment alone?” I asked Axl as I turned to him.

“Sure, I’ll wait outside.” He said then walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, I could hear him through the door, humming to himself and opening the door to the fridge.

“Do you think your mom is gonna like it?” I asked Angel as I dug the ring out of my pocket, opened the case and showed it to the baby. “I hope she does.” I murmured after a moment then looked at the ring myself, it was gold band with a diamond set in the middle of it, really simple but I thought it looked really good, and I hoped that Rox would too. I gently touched Angel’s tiny forehead before I shut the ring case and put it back in my pocket. That was probably one of the safest places for it; I knew she wouldn’t find it there and that it wasn’t going to get taken from there. I gave Angel one last look and made sure she was sleeping before I opened the door and walked out.

“You ready?” He asked, in response I nodded. “Here have a beer, I think after the last few days you’ve had you deserve it.” Axl said as he handed me a beer, gingerly I took it.

“Thanks Axl.” I said as I opened it then took a sip of a beer, it was good, but then again anything was good after not having any alcohol for eight and a half months.

“Remember the last time that we had a beer?” Axl asked as we started walking down to the stage, with a pack of strings in one hand and a beer in the other.

“Yeah, it was a long long time ago, lots have changed since then.” I said with a chuckle, indeed lots had changed in the past eight and a half months, I was a dad; Rox was a mom,
Axl an uncle and Izzy a namesake. Thinking about getting married to Rox, someone who I had known basically forever, and maybe seeing my folks, brothers and sisters again.

“A long time ago it seems like it was years ago, but as they same nothing ever stays the same hey?” Axl asked, I nodded my head in agreement, nothing did ever stay the same if you think about, Nothing at all, everything was changing all the time.

“Yeah, nothing does stay the same.” I replied wistfully.

“I mean you and Rox, parents and maybe getting married. It’s gonna take me one helluva while to get use to that idea.” He said with a laugh then took a long drink of his beer, almost emptying the can. “Wait, after you guys get married, does that mean you’re gonna quit the band?” He asked, shooting me a glance, I spit out the beer that was in my mouth. I couldn’t quit the band; I mean they were basically like family, hell they were my second family.

“Shit, I hadn’t even thought about that, but I doubt it I mean, I’ve heard her say before that you guys are family, and I doubt that we’d leave or something, but I’m not sure. It’s something that we’d probably have to talk about beforehand.” I replied quietly, before Axl had even brought it up I hadn’t thought about it, I mean that was just crazy quitting the band.

“Alright then, I was just asking y’know.” Axl said as I took another sip of beer and shook my head, that conversation ended effectively as the rest of the band and Rox came into view.

“Hey guys were back!” Axl shouted dragging out the last word.

“I see you guys forgot to change eh?” Slash asked as he looked up and down at our outfits.

“Whoops.” I replied in a flat tone, I mean it’s not like we were dressed up to go on stage, I mean basically all we’d do is throw on some clothes and perform we didn’t really care what we wore as long as we were wearing something.

“Oh who gives a damn we wearing something that’s good enough.” Axl replied shrugging it off, like it was nothing which it basically was.

“Eh, whatever.” Izzy replied as he strummed his guitar. Obviously he was either in a very good mood or very drunk

“Hey Rox, you’re looking very hawt tonight.” Axl said as he spotted Rox who was sitting in the corner holding my bass. She did look good, better then she’d looked in the last six months, don’t tell her I said that or else I’m a dead man. She was back to wearing normal clothes, a faded pair of what use to be orange jeans and an old t-shirt that I faintly recognized as my own.

“Why thank you Axl, you’re looking pretty sexy too.” Rox replied with a smile, of course when Axl heard that he puffed up like a turkey. “You’re looking pretty sexy too Duff.” She added as she looked at me.

“Why thank ya Rox, you’re looking incredibly sexy tonight.” I told her, both Slash and Steven let out chuckles and her face turned a beat red. “Oh stop pretending you know you’re pretty.” I added as she shook her head. Axl smiled and winked at me but Izzy made no sign that he had even heard us, I rolled my eyes, it was just stuff like that, which gave me that uneasy feeling, like they were more than friends or something.

“How’s Angel?” Rox asked after a moment, I held back a sigh of course this was all about Angel. You better get use to it a voice inside my head told me, it’s gonna be like this for the next eighteen years of your life.

“She’s still sleeping.” I replied as I blocked out that voice, I did not have the time to listen to my voices bitch at me anymore than they normally did. Rox nodded her head as she handed me my bass.

“Yo, Duff you gonna be ready, we’re going on in five.” Axl asked as I went to work changing the strings.

“Yeah, I’ll be ready no problem.” I replied as another string snapped. I shook my head and then in record time, changed the rest of the strings. “There I’m done.” I said as I picked up the bass put in on and strummed the strings, they were a little bit out of tune but not much of a problem. I twisted the knobs then strummed again, I repeated that process a couple more times before the strings were in tune.

“Duff! Are you ready yet?” Axl roared from another room.

“Give me a minute!” I hollered back, then turned to Rox, “sorry ‘bout that.” I replied quietly as I pulled her out of the chair she was sitting in.

“It’s okay, you’re busy I understand.” She replied as she brushed the hair out of my face.

“It’s not okay Rox, I feel bad for leaving you alone. I’m just really busy right now, with the baby and all that other stuff that I have to do. But I’ll make it up to you okay babe?” I told her quietly then brushed that one strand of hair that she never seemed to get out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.

“Sure, whatever.” She replied as she looked at the ground, I let out a sigh this was going to be very difficult.

“It’s not sure, whatever. I’m serious Rox, I love you.” I replied as I tipped her chin up so she was looking at me. “And I hope you know that.” I added as I looked into her eyes, I saw her give me a small smile before it disappeared

“Duff, we’ll talk about this later, after the show ok.” Roxanne said in a flat tone as she pulled away from me and fell back into the chair, that obviously meant that this conversation was over for the time being, I didn’t answer instead I just shook my head. Why did girls always have to be so damn complex?

“DUFF C’MON GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW!!!!!!” Axl roared at me, oops I had completely forgotten about him.

“Ok, I’m on my way!” I yelled back, shooting one last glance at Rox who had a frown on her face, as much as that hurt to see I shook it off. She was so damn complicated, first she said she wanted me to go out and perform now she’s all pissed off me for going out and performing. Well what was I supposed to do? I had to perform, it was my job whether she liked it or not. Axl took one look at me and shook his head; the look on my face obviously told him that things had not gone well.

“Let’s go.” Axl said quietly looking at me, I nodded my head and then we walked out into the bright flashing lights and the screaming fans which awaited