Here comes Teddy

The night I met your Mum (Fifty-seven)

Teddy PoV

I got home from work at about half 4 in the morning, and Ro was sitting on the couch, awake, hugging her knees and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

I knelt down in front of Ro, and I cupped her face, since the sight of her crying was making me feel like crying too.

"Hey, Rowan Sweetheart, what's wrong?"
"Daddy, you're not leaving, are you?"
"What do you mean by leaving Sweetheart?"
"I mean like Megan does"
"No Buba, I'm not leaving, what made you think that I would?"
"You weren't here when I woke up and got sick"
"Oh Sweetie, I wasn't here because I was working, not because I left like Megan"

I lifted Ro up into my arms, then Ro put her arms around my neck.

"Daddy, (sniffles), how did you and Megan meet?"
"I met her at a party"
"What kind of party was it?"
"Uhhhhh, a party that I was probably too young for-"
"You drank alcohol before you were an adult?"
"There's no flies hanging around you, is there?, yeah I did Bambina, though I don't regret it"
"Why?"

Yeah, I know, it's not the most family friendly way to meet your future baby mama and all, but I couldn't lie to Ro about how I met her Mum.

"Because that's also the night Megan and I made you-"
"But how do you make a baby?"
"Well, I, uh, well, uh, that's a conversation for you and I to have for when you're a little bit older Baby girl"
"And why did you make me with a stranger Daddy?"
"Uh, well Sweetheart you don't really think when you're drunk, now that doesn't mean once you're a teenager you can go to parties and get drunk"
"But you did it Daddy"
"(Sighs), I know I did it Sweetheart, but I also didn't have anyone to say to me that it wasn't the right thing to do"
"What about Nana?"
"She wasn't well at the time Ro, and I wasn't really on talking terms with my parents"

My poor baby looked really confused, not that I blame her for being confused, I would be too if I were in her shoes.

"Why weren't you talking to your Mum and Dad?"
"My dad was kinda like Megan in the sense that he just kept on leaving us, my mum was only really focused on what your Aunt Mollie needed, before Nana got sick the first time around I was living with her, so when Nana got sick I had no choice but to move back in with my mum"
"Why did you start going to parties?"
"Well the reason why I started to go to parties Sweetheart was because it felt like I had a hole in my heart and going to parties seemed to fill the hole for a while, though it never lasted any longer than the actual party, but when you were born Baby girl, you started fixing the hole inside my heart, so I didn't need to go to parties to fill that hole anymore"
"But how did I fix the hole?"

I grabbed Ro's teddy bear from the couch, and kissed the top of her head.

"You're my little girl"
"But how does that fix the hole in your heart Daddy?"
"Well Sweetheart, do you remember that I told you that I was a different man before you were born?"
"Yeah I remember that, you told me that on Christmas Day"
"(Chuckles), I did yeah, well a year before you were born, we all found out that Nana's cancer came back, so your Aunt Katie, Uncle Georgie and I had to move back in with Nanny"
"Daddy"
"Yes Sweetheart"
"Why were you living with Nana before that?"
"Uh, well, there was a point when Nanny couldn't cope with raising us on her own"
"Is that why Uncle Rueben is living in Essex?"
"Yeah Buba, that's why he's in Essex"

I was glad that us talking was calming Ro down from crying, so that she could actually get back to sleep.

"So we all were sent off to live with different relatives, and for a couple years we were all quite happy living with Nana, so then when we had to go back and live with Nanny, I didn't want to and it strained the relationship between Nanny and I, which started the hole in my heart, so when you were born, I knew that regardless of what happened that I would have you and you would have me"

Then Ro started to yawn, so I started walking towards Ro's room.

"Anyway, you, young lady, need to go back to sleep, otherwise how are you going to get better?"
"What about school?"
"Not today Sweetheart, maybe Friday"
"Can I sleep with you tonight Daddy?"
"Yeah Sweetie, I just need to get into my pjs, ok"
"Ok"