Burreaux

The morning after

Jane woke up confused on the couch not recognising where she was. She looked around slowly remembering last night. The sound of Mia's laughter filled her ears and the smell of bacon and coffee filled the room.

"Morning Jane. I made some breakfast. I only have a few days left before I have to start my football season diet so I went a little overboard. I've got coffee, bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, and to be a little healthy some fruit." he let out a soft chuckle at the end and gave her a shy smile.

"Joe you didn't have to do all of this it's way too much." She said trying not to let her emotions get the best of her.

"Jane you dropped whatever you were doing on a Saturday night to come over and help because I didn't know the first thing about taking care of Mia. You deserve a thank-you breakfast."

"It's not like I was doing anything I had the house to myself since Karleigh was on a da...date." She realized she probably shouldn't have said that but it was too late now.

"Oh...if I had known that you were home alone I would have invited you to stay for dinner." He said purposefully ignoring the part about Karleigh having a date so jealousy gets the better of him.

"Joe seriously it's fine you needed to spend time with your daughter."

"Yeah but.." he leaned in closer to her and whispered. "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. I don't know how to be a dad."

"You will figure it out trust me. One day it will just click." She gave him a reassuring smile.

Karleigh woke up wrapped in Sams's arms. She smiled to herself remembering the events of last night. She quietly wiggled out of his arms trying not to wake him up. She slipped on some of her pajamas and made her way over to Jane's room to tell her about last night. When she opened her door she found that Jane wasn't there. After looking around the whole apartment she realized Jane wasn't home so she pulled out her phone to call her. She glanced down at her phone and saw the 8 missed calls from Joe. She quickly forgot about Jane not being home and instantly went to worrying about Mia. She pressed on Joe's phone number and listened to it ring.

"Hey Karleigh." he said calmly

"Joe what's wrong is she ok?" she asked panicked.

"Yeah she is fine, she just had a tantrum when I tried to get her to bed."

"I forgot to tell you about that I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I hope your date went well." He said with a little bit of jealousy until he glanced over at Jane. Her presence was oddly calming.

"Oh, how did you...um, it was good I guess. Hey did Jane tell you where she was going after she dropped Mia off? I woke up and she wasn't here so I'm kind of worried she doesn't know her way around town and what if something happened to her." She said worried about her friend.

"Don't worry she is fine. She came to my rescue last night when Mia wouldn't go to sleep and she ended up falling asleep on the couch. She is playing with Mia right now."

"Oh well, I'm glad she is ok....I have to go do you want me to pick Mia up or will Jane bring her home?"

"I think Jane was planning on bringing her home."

"Okay well, I guess I'll see you Monday then. Bye"

"Bye Kar." he said as he hung up.

As she let the phone drop to her side she felt Sam's arms wrap around her waist. She relaxed into his chest.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah um it was my daughter's first night staying with her dad and he had called last night and I didn't see it," she said unsure if Sam knew that Joe was the father of her child.

Joe glanced over at Jane and Mia playing and couldn't help but smile. For the first time in a long time, this apartment didn't feel cold and long it felt warm, inviting, and like home. He didn't know if it was Mia's laughter or Jane's presence but he didn't want it to end. He placed a pancake on the princess-themed plate, then he added fruit and whipped cream to form a smiley face. He proudly presented his creation to Mia which earned him a smile and a laugh. Her smile warmed his heart more than anything or anyone could...but Jane was quickly becoming a close second. The pair sat down with Mia in between them and started eating their breakfast.

"Wow I didn't expect a football player to be a good cook," she stated as she ate the pancake.

"I wouldn't call myself a chef but I do enjoy cooking every once and a while." He said shyly not being used to compliments.

Later that afternoon

Jane walked into the apartment with Mia right behind her. Karleigh quickly ran to Mia and picked her up and spun her around.

"Oh, how I missed you." she said as she hugged her. "Did you have fun at Daddy's house?"

"Yes!" Mia exclaimed with a wide smile on her face.

"So you stayed the night at Joe's?" Karleigh said trying not to sound angry or jealous.

"Yeah, he was freaking out and you wouldn't answer so I went over there. We had to watch Cocomelon for her to fall asleep and I ended up nodding off on his...on his shoulder and when I woke up he had left me on the couch with a blanket and a note asking me to stay till the morning so he could make me a thank you breakfast. Nothing happened between us so you can wipe that accusatory look off your face. And also you can explain that hicky on your neck miss it was just a date."

"Is it that obvious?" she asked covering her neck.

"Oh yeah, it's noticeable. Glad to see you got some finally. I thought you were about to turn into a nun." she joked.

"So... he was amazing, a total gentleman. The date was an absolute dream, he took me to a fancy steakhouse and he showed me around town before he took me back home, and uh...ya know," she said giggling at the end. "But there is one issue with him..."

"Okay, what is it?"

"He...uh... 's the defensive end for the Bengals. I don't even know how I didn't recognize the name when we started talking."

"Oh my god you went on a date with one of Joe's teammates?" she said in shock. Her feeling of guilt for the night she spent at Joe's house slowly faded.

"I didn't just go on a date with him I slept with him. And I have a giant hickey on my neck...and I have to see both of them on Monday."

"Well does Sam know about your situation with Joe?"

"He knows I have a kid, he knows the father just came into the picture and he knows I work for the Bengals. I have no idea if Joe told the guys about me and Mia."

"I guess you will find out on Monday."

"Yeah...I guess."