There was one night. One night and only one night. Though she wasn't quite sure how it happened, it did. MS and Greyson, though they never spoke about this, had sworn to themselves somewhere along the way that they would never sleep with each other. Yet, it happened. MS remembers the night in full vibrance and keen detail, though she would quickly deny the fact. She would tell who ever was asking that it was kind of drunken fling, some kind of mistake. But to put it simply, it wasn't. 

MS had felt the sting of rejection knowing that Greyson was perfectly fine without her. It had been a whirlwind emotions and events and MS was on her knees in sorrows that year. She was trapped in a destructive and abusive relationship, struggled finically, and to top it all off, fate had cursed her with moving next door to her best friend. Who at the time was nothing close to a best friend. Somehow, Greyson and MS had found even standing ground. And what's more perplexing is that Greyson let MS stay with him and his girlfriend as she tried to get her life together. That time in her life was just an overall tense time, with many many growing pains to deal with. 

She was twenty-three when everything had changed. It was that one night. The night before Grey's plane. MS didn't know when he would be back, or when she would talk to him next. The next morning, when she saw him off, she had cried. Like when they hadn't been in contact for years, she feared that she would lose him completely. But with unspoken words she let him go, and let things settle with just an honest goodbye and an I'll miss you.

Since that morning MS had become someone unrecognizable to her prior self. She worked hard, took the time to buy an actual house, and payed her bills on time. MS was what one would categorize as a bona fide adult. Her body filled out again, she no longer partook of cigarettes or any sort of drug. She worked full time as a sprouting photographer for the paper and supported herself well. And even more importantly, she supported her daughter. 

Her nam was Josephine, and she was just perfect. She was now 4 years old, as smart as a whip, and had his eyes. She had an intense loyalty just like Greyson, and spoke just as MS had imagined Greyson as a child. Trenton was still apart of this story though, MS was still seeing Trenton on and off during that time that Josephine was conceived. He was under the impression that Jo was his daughter. And though this one child had changed him completely, Josephine wasn't his daughter. Jo was Greyson's daughter, and neither of them even knew. 

It was a Sunday morning, the pale light of the sun coming in MS's kitchen windows and making beautiful designs across the empty table in front of her. On the front page of this weeks Sunday paper was her photo. She was proud of herself and wished that she could share her joy. Since her turn around and Grey's absence, she was slowly rekindling her relationship with her family, but it was nowhere close to point where she could just call up her sister or mother and chat. Her friends were still in the dumps, and though Trenton was still there, she wasn't sure of a permanent life with him. Somewhere along the way she had her head screwed back on, and she realized the bad in Trenton. Jo was under the impression that her father was Trenton, so MS took her to see him every other weekend. MS never left her alone with him though. Too much had happened to MS for her to trust Trenton with her only child. 

MS was a lonely soul, though she didn't crave any of the attention that she used to. She was perfectly happy and satisfied with her little house, her little job, and her little girl. And though she ached from the hole that Greyson left, she was living. It had been five years since MS had last seen Greyson Walker, and at this point, she wasn't really sure she wanted to. There was a bitterness that sat at the bottom of her heart knowing that he was the father of her daughter, and that he was God knows where. A pot of coffee brewed in the far corner of the kitchen as her dreamy eyes looked out the window into the neighborhood. Earlier this morning MS had checked in on Jo. The little bundle was perfectly at rest with her arms wrapped around her plush ducky and the cat Squishy at her side. It was fairly early, so it would take Jo at least an hour to wake into the day. 

Tomorrow was Cleo's twenty-eighth birthday. She had found some silly recipe online and planned on baking the cake with Josephine today. They were also going to make birthday crafts, from the silly hats down to the noise makers. Sunday was the day that Cleo and Josephine spent the whole day together. Cleo, being the mother that she is, always found some kind of slightly educational and mostly fun activity for the two of them to do. Last week they had gone ice-skating. And Josephine, being Greyson's daughter, out skated her mother on her first try. 

There wasn't much to complain about in MS's life. She was splendidly happy with her photography and her Sunday Jo days. The only thing that was missing was Grey. Then she might dare to say that her life would be perfect.

MS was surprised to hear the door at this time of the day. There was really only two reasons for someone to knock on the door, if a packaged was being delivered or if someone was selling something. Neither of which happened on a Sunday, or in the morning for that matter. She slowly put the paper down as she sat and made sure that it was knock that she heard, and not just noise from either Jo getting up or the neighbors next door. She waited a moment to be sure then stood up. When she stood though, she realized she was still in her pajamas. 

She was wearing a matching set of pajamas. Quarter length sleeves with a matching pair of long pants that were in a simple floral design. MS took another moment walking back and forth deciding whether she should put on at least a bra or to just open the door. But at this point it was getting too late to look like a normal human being, so she went to the door. Making sure that whoever was at the door wouldn't decide that no one was home MS hollered "Coming!" 

As the skinny woman made her way to the door she flattened her hair and whipped under her eyes to rid of any extra make up particles. Answering the door undressed and without any composer was something that MS used to do often, but since then she had grown out of those ways. In fact, she almost completely dreaded answering the door in her pajamas now. 

There was a window at the top portion of her door that has a sheer over it. Most days she would check who it was before opening the door, but not caring anymore she placed her hand on the handle, took a deep breath, put on a pleasant face and pulled open the door. What she found the other side of the door had all of color in her face drained. It was like she was seeing a ghost from the past. There he was, right in front of her, Greyson Walker. MS didn't know how to react, nor did she really know how she should feel. Part of her had expected to never see her best friend ever again. She had spent the past five years wondering if the father of her child would even meet her, and now here he was, completely unannounced. 

"Oh My God Greyson Walker." She said, still shocked. But soon the unimpressed and cold look that was across her face warmed as she started to laugh. MS wanted to be mad at him, but she simply couldn't suppress her shear joy from seeing him. As she launched herself toward him she desperately said

"I thought you'd never come back." She had such a strange mix of emotions that her eyes were getting watery as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"MS"

He breathed her name, and buried his face into the crook of her neck, taking in a deep breath as he slowly calmed himself down.

"I should have informed, I was coming over" He spoke, before pulling away from the embrace, keeping his hands gently on her upper arms as he looked her over.

"You look gorgeous, MS"

MS couldn't keep herself from grinning as Grey spoke. At this point, she didn't care that Greyson appeared with no warning. As they were pulled away from their embrace she said

"No, no, it's fine. I don't mind."

A couple of small tears rolled down her cheek, but before her face became blotchy, she wiped the salty water from her face. After riding herself of a couple of watery stripes on her face, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. 

It was then that Greyson told MS that she was gorgeous. His hands were gently placed on her arms, and MS's heart beat a thousand times a minute. MS chuckled a bit at his compliment and ducked her head down as she blushed. MS shook her head as she lifted her hand up to her best friend's face and said

"Greyson, I'm wearing pajamas... I haven't even combed my hair yet." 

MS took a moment to look over Greyson's face. Restudying like she used to when they were young. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. She searched for something different, maybe even something that would give Cleo a sign. He looked more or less the same though. He had aged some, but nothing that would make someone think that he was actually in his late twenties. 

"But I'm home now." Grey said.

A subtle smile glowed on MS's face as he said this. Yes, he was perfectly right. He was home now. She was so filled with happiness and memories that MS felt the urge to kiss him right then and there. But she refrained from doing so. After all, she had no idea of what was going on with his life. For all she knew, he could be married now. After all, she was a mother now. 

Realizing that they were still out from of the house, and the front door was wide open. Growing cold from the February weather MS tugged at Greyson's jacket as she took a step backward.

"Let's go inside, old man." She said playfully.

MS turned around and lead the way into the house, hoping that Greyson would follow.

"Old man?" The male raised his eyebrows before picking up his bag from the floor, and he slung it over his shoulders.

"You realise that I'm only 28, right? You're catching up with your birthday being tomorrow, you know."

He gave a small laugh as he walked into her quaint little home, much different from the large beach apartment that he had lived in with Kiara in Sydney. He placed his small bag back down on the floor as he entered into the hallway and closed the door behind him, and instantly, toys on the floor caught his eye.

"MS..." Greyson began, his voice slightly wary as he took another step towards her, and then pointed towards the dollhouse in the corner. "Do you have a family now? A husband and kids?" His voice was already sounding sad, but he didn't want it to. He wanted it to sound happy for her, but he just couldn't. He wondered had he really missed out on her love.

Oh shit. The doll house. The children's toys. The extra tooth brush that was princess themed. And the little girls clothes that were in her laundry piles. There was no way to hide that she had a daughter. Nor did she really want to. MS just hadn't thought about telling Greyson about her their daughter. But for now this was just her daughter. MS wouldn't say anything Trenton or Greyson, or any father for that matter. She supposed that Greyson would figure it out eventually... But for now Jo was just MS's daughter. 

MS pressed her lips together in a half smile and nodded her head delicately. "I- Yeah..." Then her eyes got wide, realizing that she had just said that indeed she was married, but that wasn't the case. "Oh! No. No, I'm not married. God no!" MS laughed a bit at this. Speaking of Josephine, MS could hear the rustling of her little girl starting to wake. She would likely be down stairs within the next couple of minutes. Her smile faded a bit as she then corrected herself,

"I have a daughter." 

MS bit on her lip for a moment. She had no idea how Greyson would react to this. No idea what so ever. So instead of waiting for him to react she just talked about Jo some more. "Uhm... She's four years old. Her name is Josephine. She's very smart. And- And she loves making things out of flowers and leaves." She shrugged her shoulders as she said this, becoming more and more nervous as she spoke.

It felt like torture, the amount of time that Grey had to wait for MS's response. She seemed to be lost in her own little world, thinking about something, and he was about to shake her for a response if she hadn't answered him in that moment.

"A daughter?" He repeated, his eyes moving around the small house once again, now seeing more and more mementos that a child lived in the house - a children's sock over there, the dollhouse in the corner, and various pictures hung up on the walls of MS with a small child. There was also drawings on the wall that Grey pointed to, nodding slightly.

"She made these? She's good for four. I still can't draw now."

He let out a short, and awkward sounding laugh. She wasn't married, that was good, but what about a boyfriend? The little girl's father? Was she still with him? Was the girl a result of a relationship, or was it from a one night stand? He had so many questions that he wanted to ask MS about it all, but he couldn't - it would feel like he was prying into her life, her new life without him, and he didn't want that. It was then that the little child's name registered into his mind. 

"Josephine?" He looked up at her with a soft smile on his face, and he gently nudged her with his elbow. He was going to have to play this cool now - he didn't know how else to be. She was a mother, and that thought still baffled him. Was she Trenton's? The horrible thought crossed through his mind and he shook his head, before shooting another smile towards MS.  

It was then that he heard the rustling above, and Grey took a step back, and looked between his best friend who was now a mother, and the ceiling. "Is that her? I can go, if you want. I... I'll go."

MS smiled as Greyson tried to be nice about it. This is what she expected, Grey just trying to act like it was perfectly normal and joke about it. But MS sensed that he was first, confused, and second, wanted to know more information. She nodded at his remark about drawing. Josephine was indeed very creative and good at drawing and crafts. 

Her eyes followed Greyson as he looked between her and the ceiling. Not that she was planning on telling Greyson that he actually was the father of this little girl, but it was apparent to MS now that Grey wasn't ready to hear anything like that. After all, he hadn't even seen her and was already running for the door. A bit disappointed she shook her head and said

"No. Please don't leave, Greyson." She couldn't stand to see him for just a couple minutes and watch him walk right out of her very own house. 

"Jo won't bite." MS teased, "After all, she knows who you are. I've told her all about you. She calls you The Lucky Prince who has her middle name." This is when MS told Greyson Jo's Full name "Josephine Grey Milson" She laughed sheepishly at this, hoping that this all wasn't too much. Right after saying that the little rascal was slowly making her way down the stairs while rubbing her eyes.

"Mama," she said, "Who's that?" 

MS hadn't expected Jo to get up so quickly, but there she was. MS grinned as she turned around and picked up the little girl who was still on the third step from the bottom. Josephine was also wearing a matching set of pajamas, only hers were purple with green vines. "Jo-Jo, this is Greyson." She said simply, walking back to him.

"Oh, you obviously did miss me." Greyson gave a short laugh, and draped his arm across her shoulders in a quick hug. "You wouldn't have given her my name otherwise, right? You know it's bullshit that it just fit well with her name, so don't try to use that on me." He gently brought her closer to him and pressed a soft kiss to her temple. "I like it though." He nodded, and then he let go of her as he heard more movements upstairs, obviously from her little girl.

Hearing MS ask him to never go, Grey stopped his slow walking backwards and just gave her a short nod, feeling a slight pit appearing in his stomach. He was going to meet her child, a child that she had with another man, a combination of hers, and this other man's looks. He closed his eyes for a moment, praying quickly that the child had no resemblance to that asshole Trenton, and he reopened them again when MS's voice penetrated his hears once again. 

"I won't go, I just... I don't want to intrude, you know. She's your little girl, and I've heard that sometimes kids don't react well to new people." He gave a small shrug, but the worried look disappeared from his face as he was told about the nickname that Jo called him. "The Lucky Prince?" He gave another laugh, and turned to look at her. "Probably a good thing that she doesn't know me properly then, isn't it? I'm no Prince." He spoke, but his mouth closed when the girl slowly appeared down the stairs, and he completely shut up.

The little girl was gorgeous, and there was no sign of Trenton's ugliness inside her at all. She seemed pure, and innocent, and Greyson couldn't help but smile softly as MS brought her daughter over to see him. She was absolutely captivating, and Greyson was entranced by her eyes. He recognized them from somewhere, but couldn't place it. All of the nervousness that had been inside him a moment ago was gone, and he took a step closer to the two.

"Hello there, Princess. I'm Prince Greyson. It's lovely to meet you." He spoke, before gently taking her hand and kissing it playfully.

MS watched Greyson closely as she brought Jo closer to him. At first she thought that Greyson would be completely stiff and awkward with Josephine, but something came out in him. It was a subtle change, but MS saw him turn from his bachelor self into someone much more soft hearted and gracious. MS couldn't quite place it, but he was close to being something like a father. Her brown eyes filled with love as she watched him then speak to Josephine. MS had loved Greyson for a long time, but never had she looked at him like she was in that moment.

There was something about the way that he playfully kissed Josephine's hand that made MS melt. Right then and there (though this could have been her motherly instincts acting up) MS wanted to marry Greyson. Even Trenton, who was Jo's "father" right now, didn't make MS feel like this. If anything, he made MS a bit nervous. MS supposed that this was genuine love. It was the pure love that she had for Greyson that had been tainted for years and years with lust. It was then that she realized she could be perfectly happy with him. 

MS chuckled a bit at Josephine's rebuttal to Greyson's introduction. "Nice to meet you... but my name is not Princess, my name is Josephine. Josephine Grey Milson." Jo's speech still wasn't very clear, but she was still very intelligent with her words. She was always very logical about things, and soon made the connection that this Greyson was the same Greyson that her middle name was after. "Oh Greeeeeey," She mused "Lucky Prince!" she said with a little giggle, throwing her hands into the air. Jo stopped for a moment, trying to find a reason for this man she had only heard stories to be at her house. "Are you here for breakfast?"

MS nodded her head and laughed a bit at her little girl's thought process. It only made sense that Greyson was here for breakfast, seeing as it was morning. "Will you stay to eat?" MS said softly as she juggled the little Jo who was squirming in her arms. Soon Josephine who was standing on the ground, grabbed Grey's hand, and started her way into the kitchen.

"Ah, right, Josephine Grey Milson." Greyson smiled softly as the little girl corrected him, and his eyes moved between MS and her daughter. She really did look a lot like her mother, but her eyes haunted him. There was something about them, somewhere he had seen them that he just couldn't put his finger on, and it was going to bother him until he could work out where they were from. But until then, he just chuckled at the child. 

"I think Princess suits you, you know." The brunette male mused, and he frowned for a moment before looking around the room. "Although, Princesses need tiaras..." he trailed off, and saw a vase on the side, and he moved over to pick one of the smaller flowers from the stem, and then gently tucked it behind Jo's ear when he took it back over to her. "There, beautiful." He turned to the mother of the young child that he was instantly bonding with, hoping that she was okay with the way that he was acting. "I think that works, don't you?" 

As the little girl in her arms soon started to squeal, finally realizing that the man in front of her was someone that she had been told stories about, Grey just gave a small nod. "Grey, yup. That's me. I hear your mummy has told you all about me." Her next question stunned the male, and he turned to look at MS once again, hoping that she'd have an answer for him. It wasn't as if she had time to answer however, as the young girl jumped down from her mothers arms and took his hand, dragging him towards the kitchen. "Guess I'm staying for breakfast."

Grey took hold of MS's hand as Josephine took him into the kitchen, pulling her along with him, and he made sure that the little girl was sitting up at the table. "I'll be right back, Princess. I just need to talk to your mummy." He smiled, gently readjusting the flower in her hair, before he moved back over to MS, wrapping his arm around her waist as he pulled her to the side.

"She's amazing, MS." Greyson spoke, keeping his arm around the girl who held his heart. "Is she like this with every guy, or just her mother's best friends?" He questioned, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He wasn't sure how to ask the true question behind his smile - what about her father? Did she even have a father who was in her life? Did MS have a boyfriend who would be home at any moment to see his little family, and would find another guy sitting in his seat at the dining table?

"Or, her dad?"

MS began to follow the pair into the kitchen when Greyson took her hand. Just like old times she let him and smiled foolishly about it. Once inside the kitchen she nodded at Josephine and went toward the fridge to get some eggs.

Josephine had accepted Greyson's flower, in fact the little gift had made her giggle. Jo plopped herself down at the table and patted the seat next to her for Grey. However, he didn't comply to her every demand and said that he had to speak with her mother first. "Okay, fine." Josephine huffed. And after Grey had readjusted the flower that was behind her ear, Josephine dramatically flung herself over and laid on her stomach on the bench that surrounded the table. Her face was shadowed as she explored the bottom of the dining table and waited for the Lucky Prince to return. 

Before MS even had the chance to crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, she felt Greyson's arm wrap around her. MS turned around to face him and grinned at his comment. "Yeah, she's something else." When she said this her eyes trailed to the little figure that was lying across the bench and sticking it's arms under the table. The next question took MS a little by surprise, though she wasn't sure why. It was common question that people asked mothers. At first she wasn't sure how she wanted to answer. So she started with the basics.

"Oh well, typically she's pretty outgoing... But I can tell she really likes you." She paused for a moment to answer the other question. Part of her wanted to avoid the question all together and just ignore it, but she knew that she couldn't do that. So, whether it's the better or worse part of her, MS decided she wouldn't say anything about Trenton. For now, Josephine's father was faceless and nameless.

"We're separated." MS said simply, "Jo goes to see him every other weekend... But, uh, that should be ending soon." Surely she was going to shoot herself in the foot with this one. If Greyson were to stay here either Josephine would spill the beans somehow or Trenton would show up. MS really didn't have the best of luck with these sort of things. She was conflicted about what she had told him, but she didn't want Greyson to think that Trenton was actually the father. Nor did she want Greyson to get upset. So, she remained vague.

Greyson felt so easy and so right, standing there with his arm wrapped around MS's waist - it felt as if he belonged there, by her side. Never having been one who was the best person to be around kids, he was surprised at how well he was getting along with the four year old, and he hoped that he was making his best friend proud as well with how much he had matured over the years. Whilst he did still smoke, he had stopped messing around with drugs as she obviously had, and only drunk when he went out on special occasions - they were adults now, no longer the kids that they once were.

When it took MS a moment to answer him, Grey was about to retract his sentence, but she soon relaxed against him once more, and started to speak to him. "She really likes me? That's good. You know I've never been someone that kids loved." He followed her gaze back over to the child was hanging off the bench around the table, and a small laugh left his lips. "She's cute. Her eyes are bugging me though. In a good way, not bad. I just know that I've seen them before. Do I know her father?"

Greyson didn't mean to fire so many questions towards MS about her young daughter, but the male had felt as if he had missed so much of her life, and he wanted to catch up on everything. He wouldn't be telling her much about his last five years in Australia, however. Why would he? How would she react to his leaving his fiancée, a couple of days before their wedding? Hearing her answer however though, Greyson frowned and looked back down at MS, who was still a hell of a lot shorter than him.

"You're going to stop her from seeing her father?" He questioned, raising his eyebrow in shock. The MS he knew wouldn't do something like that without a reason to do so. "If you don't mind me asking love, why?" He asked, his thumb gently rubbing over her hip bone as he had done in the past, almost as if it were an automated movement.

I can't seem to locate my glasses nor the patience. Then realized there is no such thing as the perfect life. Skips onto hopefully something that is not long and drawn out and gets to the point like I did.

Peace out

NRA Rocks

MS had not always been the best of liars, and it was safe to say that her skills were no better than from when she was ten years younger. Her eyes followed Grey as he spoke about little Jo's eyes. She smirked a bit at this, how funny that MS knew exactly who's eyes those were and Greyson didn't have a clue. I suppose it isn't everyday that you find yourself looking into your own eyes on another human being though. MS really was as close as possible to just ignoring Greyson's question about him knowing the father. 

She couldn't just say that he knew the father. Greyson would probably assume the worst. Plus that would bring on suspicions of Trenton, which would be even worse. Though MS's mind was racing ten thousand miles a minute, she still noticed the way that standing so close to Grey was so natural. His arm wrapped tightly around her waist, his thumb gently rubbing against her hip. Everything about the conversation was wrong, but everything about their bodies was right. 

"I... Don't think you know the father." She said quietly. This of course wasn't what she really wanted to say. But there was no need to scare Greyson off before he was even settled back home. She crossed her arms a bit more playfully than she had intended and sighed after he asked the next question. Yes, MS felt like she was being grilled, but there was really no other way for Greyson to know without asking. MS sure as hell wasn't going to just tell him. Plus, everything she had fabricated so far was all lies. She couldn't just make stuff up like that without prompts.

MS pressed her lips together before nudging herself a little closer to him. "He's not a very good-" MS redirected her thoughts, "He's not actually legally her father." She hadn't really meant to say that. What was she doing?! This was going to get very complicated very quickly, and quite frankly MS didn't know enough about the laws involving children to even cover herself up. 

"He left before he even knew I was pregnant... But never actually got around to proving that he was the biological father." MS explained. This part was actually half true. It was half Greyson's story and half Trenton's. Grey had left, and MS had kept Trenton from any legal force.

Greyson wasn't sure what was going on right now, but with the way he felt with his arm around MS, he felt rather relaxed. It was as if he hadn't been gone at all, and he had slipped right back into his role as her best friend, with his arm curled around her. He loved the girl that he was standing next to, there was no doubt about that, and he wanted to know all about what he had missed over the last five years, since he had left her behind. 

"Right, okay." Grey gave a small nod, although there was something inside him that didn't believe her. MS had never been able to lie properly, especially to him, but he wasn't sure if her tells were still the same after all this time. So, he didn't say anything else on the matter or accuse her of lying to him, because he really didn't know. He just hoped that the beautiful little girl who was there on the bench wasn't Trenton's. 

The next sentence shocked him though, and he raised his eyebrows at her again. "She doesn't know that he's not really her dad though, does she?" He asked her, to confirm what was going through her mind. Who was her actual dad then? Why did he know those eyes? 

"Sorry I'm asking so many questions, I just... I've missed this, you know? I've missed a lot and I want to know what I've missed out on. I don't mean to grill you. I just... I want to know that you're happy, and she's happy, and everything is good for you now."