Perfect Dream

Chapter 4

Joe's POV:

"Brynlee... Who's Riley's dad?"

"I think you need to tell him Bryn. I understand why you've been keeping this from him but you need to tell him. This has gone on for too long." Momma Clara said from behind me. That statement confused me even more.

"You're right mom. Joe, please don't be mad at me. I don't know how to tell you this.." Brynlee said, sitting down on the couch with Riley. Momma Clara excused herself so that we could talk in private.

"I won't Bryn, just tell me. Please." I sighed, joining her on the couch. Brynlee took Riley out of the sling he was wrapped in and placed him in my arms once again.

"Riley Lee, meet your daddy. Joseph Lee, meet your son.."

And in the moment my jaw dropped and my heart completely sunk. My whole world had changed in a matter of seconds. As much as I wanted to scream and scold her for not telling me, I just couldn't. I had a son. This beautiful boy in my arms was my son. Brynlee always had a perfectly good reason behind all of her decisions, I knew this one would be no different.

"Did I just hear you right? How did this happen?" I furrowed my brows. Brynlee and I had never even slept together, I don't know how any of this is possible.

"You obviously don't remember," She let out a light chuckle before continuing. "That drunken night last summer? I didn't think anything of it at first either but when I missed my period and took a pregnancy test it all came back to me. I'm so so sorry. I wanted to tell you a million times but I had my reasons. I didn't want to expose Riley to all the press, I didn't want you to be subjected to the bad press about becoming a dad out of wedlock and I didn't want to get in the way of you making it into the NFL. I knew if you knew about Riley that you would stop pursing your NFL dream. I couldn't and wouldn't do that to you Joey." She sniffled, tears streaming down her face. My heart broke all over again. My poor girl.

She was right though, I would've stopped pursuing my dream at the NFL if I knew she was pregnant. I talked about doing something with football our whole lives, I didn't even care if I played, I would've settled for a coaching postition like my dad. I didn't say anything, I just wrapped my free arm around her and pulled her into my chest. I knew this was hard for her to tell me, she always struggled opening up to people. Sure I was upset, I missed her whole pregnancy. But at the same time, she opened up and told me, which is all I could've asked for. She was giving me a chance to be his father. All I was focused on now, besides football, was taking care of the precious little boy that was resting my lap.

"Wow. We have a son, I can't believe it. The only thing I remember from that night was telling you I loved you. I didn't think you believed me but apparently I was wrong. I thought he was beautiful before but now that I know he's mine, I'm even more smitten. I'm not joking though, you did good with him." I smiled, kissing her temple.

"I can't take all the credit. He's got your eyes, daddy." She said, sniffling some more.

"I really am a daddy. This little human is half of me and half of you. I love you so much Brynlee, and I mean that in more than a friend way." I looked down at her, really wanting to kiss her.

"I love you too Joe. I'd like to see where this goes between us but at the same time I'm scared that it won't work out in our favor and our boy suffers from it. I refuse to be a couple that gets together and stays together for the sake of their child and for no other reason..." She said, rambling as always. She did that any time she was nervous.

"Brynlee, calm down. I'm serious about you, I've wanted to be with you since we were little, but I didn't get really serious about you until we spent time together during those short few months at Ohio State. I'm so in love with you Brynlee Kate, I want you for the long run. I want to marry you, have more babies with you, watch you grow even more than you already have. I want to wake up to you, and only you, every damn day." I poured my heart out, if she didn't see how much I love and care about her, I don't know what will.

"I guess we need to set some rules then huh?" She looked up at me with tears still streaming down her face. This time, she was slightly smiling.

"We have the rest of our lives to do that. But right now I want you to fill me in on what I've missed about your pregnancy and my little boy. I want to know absolutely everything."

"Well, I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant. Not because I wasn't ready for a baby, I was just nervous to be a single mom until I decided to tell you. For the most part my pregnany was a bitch, I was nauseous every trimester and I had the worst heartburn. We can see how that turned out, he's got a head full of the softest blonde hair. He was born on February 25th, he was 7 and a half pounds and 19 inches long. As you can tell he's got your eyes, my dimples, long fingers and toes like you, and hair pretty much identical to both of ours. He loves baths but he hates getting dressed afterwards. He's been smiley from day one and has been quite literally the easiest baby on this planet, I've been very lucky which is surprising seeing how you are his dad and you're one of the most stubborn people I know." She giggled, grabbing Riley from me as he started fussing.

"Hey now, I'm not that stubborn! In case you forgot missy, you're just as stubborn," I said, playfully shoving her. "You're so strong Bryn. I know I've told you a lot, but I'm so proud of you. And thank you for bringing out little boy into this world. I wish I could've been there though, I'm sure you needed the support and I'm sorry I wasn't there to give it to you." I watched as she let Riley attach to her boob to feed.

"Don't apologize, if anything I'm the one that owes you a million apologies. Thankfully I had my parents, your parents, and Dash and his wife to get through it." She said, slightly rocking Riley as he fed. Dash was her brother, his real name was Dashel but we all called him Dash. I was thankful they had a boy that Riley would be able to grow up with.

"I was going to ask you if my mom and dad knew. That's dumb of me, of course they knew. I just can't believe they kept it from me for this long, you know how badly mom sucks at keeping secrets!" I said, laughing at the thought of my mom keeping this from me. "So I'm assuming this is what you meant by my mom knowing something I didn't, regarding Olivia huh?" I smirked at her.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I don't blame you for dating Olivia though, you didn't know I was pregnant. For all you knew I had a boyfriend or something. I'm still sorry it didn't work out with y'all though."

"I kind of assumed you had a boyfriend, especially because you never came down after that summer. But I know how you have good reasonings behind everything you do, this little one is a good reason not to come down," I said seriously. "But I'm not sorry. I'm thankful it didn't work out because then I couldn't be with you and Riley." I smiled and leaned in to kiss her. My life just got a whole lot better, but I knew I was in for a wild, wild ride.

Authors note;

Hehe here is the cliffhanger you all have been waiting for!! As a writer, I try to write multiple chapters at once so that when I don't feel like writing but I want to get something out, I have something already pre written that I can just throw at you. So I've been secretly sitting on this chapter and the last chapter for a week or so, it was pretty fun seeing those of you squirm and freak out wanting to know what happened next :)

I'm on spring break from college this next week so I'll probably be writing most of the week, if not relaxing because college is S T R E S S F U L, but so so worth it. I hope you all are staying safe and are out here thriving. I've been trying the best I can :)

Much love <3