Serendipitous [Joe Burrow]

Chapter 9

Chandler could hear muffled arguments from behind the door but nothing in specific. After what felt like an hour the front door finally opened. Olivia glared at the girl before walking out of the front door.

"Don't forget to call me when she leaves," Olivia said continuing to glare at Chandler.

"I'll try and remember," Joe said, "Drive safe." All Chandler did was send her an awkward smile as Olivia rolled her eyes and walked toward her car.

"Come in," Joe said stepping to the side so that Chandler could walk into the house.

"I'm sorry to just show up like this," Chandler said, "I would have called but I don't exactly have your number."

"No, I understand," Joe said, "Umm do you want something to drink? I have alcohol, water."

"Water would be fine," Chandler said. She stood in the entryway while Joe walked to the kitchen. This whole thing was a bad idea. She should just leave now while he's in the kitchen. No, that would be stupid. She was already here...there was no turning back now.

"Here ya go," Joe said handing her a bottle of water, "Do you want to sit in the living room?"

"Sure, Chandler said. She followed Joe into the living room and sat down on the white couch. She opened the water bottle and took a shaky drink out of it. "So are you and Olivia back together?"

"Yes, no, I don't know," Joe said, "We've been talking recently but we aren't officially back together."

"Well that's good," Chandler said.

"So I don't mean to be rude," Joe said, "But I don't think you came here to talk about Olivia and me. So uh what are you doing here?"

"Look Joe I just want to say I had a great time the night we met. I know we both decided that we'd never see each other again," Chandler rambled, "And I'm sorry that I just showed up here while Olivia was here. If I would have known she was here I would have never come."

"Chandler," Joe said putting his hand on hers to stop her rambling, "Just tell me why you're here."

"I'm pregnant," Chandler said.

Joe froze.

Chandler tried to search his face for any kind of reaction. All she could see was a blank stare. He had no kind of emotion on his face. "A-and I know that this is a lot to dump on you. I completely understand if you don't want to be a part of this baby's life. I am fully prepared to take care of them their whole life by myse--"

"You're sure you are pregnant?" Joe asked.

"Yes."

"And you're sure it's mine?" Joe asked, "I'm sorry...that was--"

"No. It's fine," Chandler said, "It's a perfectly reasonable question. I'm one hundred percent sure this baby is yours."

"No I shouldn't have asked that," Joe said, "I know you wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't my baby."

"I'm sorry to have to drop this on you," Chandler said, "I know you're just trying to start your career. You're trying to work things out with Olivia. This is probably the last thing you need. I completely understand if you don't want to be a part of this."

"What?" Joe asked.

"I'm just saying I understand if you don't want to be a part of this baby's life," Chandler said, "I am fully prepared to take on full responsibility."

"No, absolutely not. I'm not letting you do this by yourself," Joe said, "This baby is mine too. I'm not just going to abandon my child like that. I'm not going to abandon you like that. God, all of this must have been so much for you to deal with alone."

"I'm fine, really," Chandler said, "I'm just so glad to hear you say all of that." Chandler pulled Joe into a hug. She was so relieved to hear him say all of that. Chandler had worked herself up so much that Joe wouldn't want to be a part of their baby's life.

"How far along are you?" Joe asked.

"15 weeks," Chandler said.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

"No. We won't find out until 20 weeks," Chandler said.

"Okay," Joe said, "I have a lot to learn about all of this."

"Don't worry. I do too," Chandler laughed.

"Do you have a bump yet?"

"Yeah. It's not very big but I have one," Chandler said, "Do you want to see it?"

"Yeah. Yes," Joe said, "Only if you're comfortable with it."

"It's fine," Chandler said standing from the couch. She lifted her sweatshirt showing her small growing bump. The smile on Joe's face widened as he stared at her stomach. "You can touch it if you want."

Joe looked into Chandler's eyes to see if she was being serious. The girl gave him a nod. He slowly reached his hand out placing it on her belly. His cold hand left goosebumps on her warm stomach. The look in Joe's eyes made her feel like everything was going to be okay. She knew that he was going to make a great father.

Joe's phone ringing caught both of their attention. His smile dropped as he saw Olivia's contact flashing across his screen. What the fuck was he going to tell her. "I should probably let you get that," Chandler said.

"No, no. She can wait," Joe said.

"No seriously," Chandler said, "You two should probably talk. We can get together later and discuss things."

"Okay," Joe said standing from the couch, "Well we should probably exchange numbers."

"Oh yeah. Of course," Chandler said as they exchanged phones. He put his number into her contact as she put hers into his. "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. We'll get together soon," Joe smiled.

"Umm well I'll get going then," Chandler said. She wasn't quite sure if she should hug him or not. The last time they said bye to one another they just shook hands. Joe leaned down pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you for coming over tonight," Joe said, "This has been the best news of my life."

"I'm glad I came," Chandler said.

Joe shut the door as his phone rang again. He quickly walked back to the living room to see Olivia's contact flash across the screen again. He knew he needed to answer but wasn't sure what to say to her. "Hello."

"Is she gone yet?" Olivia asked.

"She just left," Joe said.

"What did she want?"

"She just wanted to talk," Joe said.

"Talk about what?"

"Can we just talk about it the next time I see you?" Joe asked.

"Well that's perfect because I'm about ten minutes away," Olivia said before hanging up the phone.