Burreaux

A Night Out and a Night In

A/n this is a bit of a longer chapter. At the end there is some Spice but no smut.

Once Mia finally fell back asleep Joe walked her to her room and laid her in her bed. He gave a gentle kiss to her forehead and quietly backed out of the room. He took a deep breath as he walked into the living room preparing himself to talk to Karleigh. Jane quickly exited the room giving the pair some space to talk.

"Joe why did you come here?" she asked.

"Your friend texted me she told me you needed medicine. I wanted to meet my daughter....and I thought we could talk and figure things out," he said.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I...I don't know Joe, whenever I was ready I guess. I don't even know if I am ready to tell you but it's too late now."

"When you were ready? That's my kid Kar...Am I even on the birth certificate? Do I have rights?" he said almost panicking with all of the thoughts that flooded his mind.

"Yes, you are listed as the father on the birth certificate."

"I want to be a part of her life. I want to be involved."

"Baby steps Joe she doesn't even know who you are."

"Because I never knew she existed the second I found out she was mine I knew I wanted to be in her life," he said with a hushed yell.

"Don't blame me, Joe. You're the one who blocked me I tried to tell you. And besides, you would have run for the hills the second you found out I was pregnant! You weren't ready for a kid. I had no choice I had to be ready."

"You are the one who chose a job over me I bought you a ring I was ready to settle down. I wanted a family with you Kar. You are the one who took all of that away from me. You and I may never be the family I imagined us being but nothing will stop me from having my daughter in my life."

"Okay....we will figure something out."

A Few Days Later

This was the first day that Mia would be spending the night with Joe. He went overboard with everything he bought for her room, it was his way of overcompensating for the two years he missed with her. He made sure it was perfect for his "princess", from pink walls, a princess-themed bed, every pink toy he could find, and a mound of stuffed animals. Joe anxiously waited for her arrival as he bounced his knee up and down, keeping his eyes glued to the clock. The sound of the doorbell almost made him jump out of his skin. He quickly ran to the door and swung it open to reveal Jane smiling up at him and a sleeping Mia in her arms.

"Oh hi Jane I thought Karleigh was going to bring her?" He asked as he tilted his head slightly.

"Oh yeah, she was supposed to but uhhh." She quickly thought of an excuse. "She had an errand to run so she asked me to drop her off."

"Oh okay...umm do you want to come in?"

"Yeah, thanks." She said as she walked into the spacious apartment. "Wow, this is....this is big."

"Yeah, that's what being the star quarterback gets you. It's big but...I uh I thought it might be a nice place to settle down and one day start a family. Guess it happened a little sooner than I thought." He chuckled.

"I brought you everything you should need. She had pull-ups for at night just in case she had an accident, her pajamas, a change of clothes, her blanket, and her favorite toy. She is potty trained but occasionally she will have an accident..we think nightmares trigger it but we're not sure." She said as she handed him the bag. A slight blush rose to her cheeks as their hands brushed together. She knew it was wrong to like Joe but she couldn't help it. Besides she was a huge Bengals fan and had a crush on him before Karleigh told him that he was Mia's dad which was only a few months ago.