Sweet Caroline {Ryan Blaney} ✔️

six

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"Thank you!" Ryan couldn't help but smile as he watched another child skip happily back to their parents. Being around the kids, the excitement was exactly what Ryan had needed to make himself feel a little better following his argument with Stacy.

"Do you think you could --" Ryan started to say to his PR girl but the little girl bounding up to him caught his attention.

Chestnut curls framing a wide grin stopped in front of Ryan. Ryan couldn't help but stare at the little girl, study her features. Her chin sloped the same way his did, her eyes were the perfect mix of blue and green in the same way his were. The world froze for a moment -- the air stolen from his lungs as he tried to process what he was seeing.

"Ryan?" Her little voice snapped the world back into motion but Ryan's head was spinning as he looked down at the girl who was looking up at him expectantly. How could this be happening right now?

"What is your name?" Ryan snapped into autopilot as he tried to process the little girl in front of him.

"Caroline. Caroline Fitz." The little girl practically sang as she bounced in front of him. She handed Ryan the hero card, which he quickly signed and handed it back.

"Who brought you?" Ryan asked, hoping that her mother had brought her. A part of him hoped that maybe it was just a coincidence that she looked like him -- that really was the most logical explanation, Ryan tried to convince himself. There was no way that this little girl was his daughter, there was just no way.

The girl flashed another toothy grin, knocking Ryan off balance. When she smiled like that, he almost looked identical to what his sister looked like when they were kids -- people always asked his mom if they were twins. Ryan felt unsteady, off balance and he was struggling to focus. He knew all eyes were on him so he forced himself through the motions. Ryan slowly knelt down as he waited for Caroline to answer. "My momma brought me. She said she'd take a picture of us."

Ryan nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before he lifted his eyes up. Ryan felt the blood drain from his face when his eyes met a familiar pair of brown eyes -- the eyes that had visited him in his dreams, the eyes that had comforted him when the person who was supposed to love him made him feel worthless, the eyes that he never thought he'd ever see again. But here she was.

Lydia.

She offered Ryan a weak smile, lifting her phone up to take a picture of the two of them. Ryan glanced over at Caroline whose grin had only broadened. "You have a beautiful smile," He whispered, Caroline's grin growing in response. Ryan felt his own grin spread across his face as he looked up at the camera.

Ryan knew in his heart that this little girl, that Caroline was his daughter. He didn't even need Lydia's confirmation. White-hot anger pulsed through his veins at the realization that he had missed out on so much of her life already and he probably would have missed it all if Josef hadn't called him to cover this event for him. First breath, first steps, the first day of kindergarten -- he had missed it all and he was angry. Angry that his daughter had been floating around and he wasn't there to love her. Angry that she probably thought that she had a dad that didn't love her. Angry that Lydia had kept this from him, and for what?

"Thank you," Caroline murmured, throwing her arms around Ryan's neck. Ryan froze for a moment but his arms instinctively wrapped around, squeezing her gently. In an instant, it felt like life had been breathed back into Ryan's body. He felt alive again, no longer numb.

After a moment, Caroline released the hug, stepping back before scurrying back to her mother. Ryan knew that he needed to talk to Lydia, to figure out what had possessed her to keep Caroline from him all this time and to figure out what was going to happen next. He wasn't going to let Lydia disappear again, not with Caroline.

He watched as Lydia slipped her hand into Caroline's, her eyes darting towards the exit. Ryan's heart jumped into his throat as he watched them leave the line. Lydia's shoulders were tense and Ryan knew that she was trying to leave without confrontation.

"I'll be right back." Ryan murmured to his PR rep.

"Ryan..." His PR rep sighed. Ryan gave her a glare, his eyes focusing on Lydia and Caroline's retreating figures. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be right back," He repeated. He could hear the hushed murmurs and confusion as he made his way past all of the parents and kids. Normally, he would care but now? Right now, he only had one mission and that was making sure that Lydia and Caroline didn't disappear.

Anger burned his skin as he pushed through the entrance of the shop out into the humid Caroline air. He had no idea what had possessed Lydia to keep this from him, why she thought that this had been better for anybody but he knew he was going to find out.

For the first time in a long time, a fire burned inside of Ryan. Seeing Caroline had breathed life back into him and there was no way Ryan was going to let that go. But there was also desperation coursing through him, a distinct fear that he had stumbled upon Caroline only for her to be ripped away from him.

His eyes locked onto Lydia and Caroline who were climbing into an SUV. Ryan had no idea how he was going to stop them but his feet carried him at a run towards them. To his relief, when he stopped at the back of her car, she hadn't put it in reverse yet.

Ryan let out a shaky breath as he approached the driver's side. He had no idea why he was so nervous to talk to Lydia again but his hands shook a little as he lifted his hand up to knock on her window. Maybe it was because she had turned into more of a fantasy, a mythical creature or maybe it was because Ryan's life had been thrown into a chaos that he had never anticipated.

Through the glass, he could see Caroline -- her eyes wide as she stared at him but the grin on her face -- the grin she had inherited from him -- gave him all of the strength he needed to tap on Lydia's window.

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