Baby Pogue // JJ Maybank

on the floor

JJ had helped his boss work a big kook event for the night, leaving him to get home late after 11 pm. He was tired as he threw his bag to the floor the moment he opened the front door of the apartment and undid his bow tie. He kicked his shoes off and made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and downing it in seconds when he realized he hadn't drank any water all day. Between taking care of his daughter in the morning then working the chaotic event all night, he forgot many things.

One being how his daughter sleeps on his side of the bed when he gets home late.

He inched towards the bedroom door and slowly pushed it open, the moonlight peaking through the window revealing his girlfriend curled up on her side with an arm laid over the child's belly who was asleep on her back with her arms above her head, her body taking up way more space than it really should have.

JJ smiled softly at the sight but refrained from going over to them just yet so he could strip of his work clothes. He knew the sound of the shower would wake up them up immediately so he decided against it for the night.

Once he was in a clean pair of boxers, he slipped plaid pajama pants on but left his shirt off, feeling claustrophobic from his tighter attire from earlier.

He walked over to the bed and looked down at his daughter with his hands on his hips, pondering how to get into bed without waking the two up. Most of the time he'd sleep on the floor when he worked late nights, which wasn't often, because he hated the thought of moving the innocent little girl and disturbing her from her sleep.

River's lip twitched in her sleep and she moved her head quickly, turning it to face JJ as she continued her deep sleep.

He sighed and leaned down to kiss her forehead, leaning a hand on the bed for balance causing it to dip slightly.

Avie lifted her head slightly and squinted her eyes open, "JJ?" Her voice was merely a whisper as tiredness crept through her vocals.

"Shit." He whispered, "Sorry."

"Mm." Avie sat up onto her elbows, "It's okay. Get in bed."

"Um," JJ took his hand off the bed and stood up straight, scratching his neck, "Riv's in my spot."

"Just move her over." Her voice was laced with sleep but she couldn't help but feel guilty knowing how selfless he would be on nights like these. She would hate when she'd wake up to find him on the floor, refusing to sleep on the couch in case Riv wound up rolling off or needing him for whatever reason in the middle of the night.

"No, no. It's fine." He whispered and grabbed a pillow from above his daughter's head, her being too small to need more than even half of one pillow.

JJ grabbed an extra throw blanket from the foot of the bed and threw both on the floor beside Riv's side. He noticed his t-shirt on the floor that he recognized from all the time's Riv needed extra comfort and picked it up. He sighed as he noticed in the dim moonlight the small tears it had from how hard the little girl would clutch it when she needed. He chuckled silently to himself and placed it by the child's side, instantly feeling it next to her and pulling it into her chest and neck. She nuzzled her cheek into it and let out a heavy breath.

"J.." Avie whispered sadly.

"Sh, baby." He walked over to her side and kissed her cheek, "I'm good. Go back to sleep."

"I hate when you do this." She laid on her back but looked at her boyfriend as he stroked her hair and moved his thumb across her cheek.

"I'll see you in the morning." He ignored her statement not wanting her pity because if he was being honest, he didn't mind sleeping on the ground if it meant his two girls were comfortable. He knew if he woke Riv up by accident she'd get too excited by him and not be able to fall back asleep. He remembered the first time he woke her up by mistake, he couldn't get her to fall back asleep so they wound up watching movies from 1 am to 5 am until she had passed out on his chest on the couch. He was beyond exhausted that night but fought to stay awake as Riv's satisfaction was his number one priority. Avie wasn't too happy that her sleep schedule was messed up but her heart bursted by how much JJ cared to make her happy.

"I love you." Avie closed her eyes.

"Love you more, baby." JJ placed a gentle kiss on her lips before heading back over to Riv's side and setting up his makeshift bed on the floor.

He sat himself down carefully so that he wouldn't make too much noise with his shuffling to wake up his daughter. After tossing the blanket over himself and making sure his pillow was aligned with River's from a couple feet above, he finally let his weight grow heavy as he rested his head on the pillow, pulling the blanket up under his arms.

JJ sighed when his feet stuck out the bottom then turned and curled on his side to scrunch under the blanket. Being that him sleeping on the ground didn't happen often, he didn't mind the slight chills from the cold and discomfort to his body when he allowed Riv to take his space on nights he worked late.

He closed his eyes feeling content that his two loves were sleeping comfortably together, looking forward to being woken up by Riv the following morning.

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Hiiii thank you guys so much for all your support to this day. It still blows my mind how many people have read and continue to read my story. It seriously makes my entire day.
Trust me I am reading all of your suggestions and taking them into account! You're all filled with amazing ideas and I can't wait to make them come to life for you all.