Disclaimer: I only own Ava and Jackson.

A/N: A HUGE thank you to everyone whose read and reviewed, and following the story. I love you all! I have a quick update for you. We're slowly inching towards the end. Enjoy! Review.

With a teddy bear in hand, Corey nervously walked down the hall that would take him to Ava's room. While he was happy to see Ava and the baby, he was nervous about Roman being there. Their last encounter was still fresh on his mind and the last thing he wanted to do was have a fight start in the middle of the hospital or make things uncomfortable for Ava. Not to mention, he was afraid of what she would say about them and where they stood. Though, he already knew, Corey knew that hearing it straight from her mouth would hurt more.

He turned towards her room and stood in the doorway, smiling at the sight of Ava holding the baby. He knocked on the doorjamb to get her attention, and only when she looked up at him and wave him in did he enter the room.

"Hey." He greeted, walking closer to her bed. He placed the teddy bear on the end table next to her bed. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." She laughed.

"I brought the little guy something." Corey smiled, looking down at him.

"Thank you. That was very sweet of you." Ava smiled back at him. "Corey, I want you to meet Jackson."

Corey looked down at the sleeping baby and then glanced at Ava. Noting the happy look on her face, he smiled again and then looked down at the baby. She didn't need to say anything to him to know that she was happy. That was something he knew that he didn't want to disrupt. If they were meant to be, she either would been with him after she broke up with Roman or they would have worked out after the first time.

"You all right, Corey?" Ava asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm fine." He replied, still looking at Jackson. "When was he born?"

"Three this morning." Ava said. "Did you want to hold him?"

His eyes connected with his hers. He was wondering if that was a good idea. Looking around the room, he finally noticed that Roman was absent. "Where's Roman?"

"I had his dad take him home. The poor guy is recovering from surgery and hardly got any sleep, so I sent him home to get rested and showered."

"Got sick of looking at him?" He joked.

"Something like that." Ava smirked, then went back to her original question. "Did you want to hold him?"

Corey looked at her and tilted his head to the side, wondering if it was a good idea to hold another man's baby. Especially, a man who detested his very existence and vice versa.

"Really, Corey, it's going to be fine." The new mommy reassured him and raised Jackson up towards him. "Gently take him. Support his head."

Corey followed her directions and stared down at the sleeping newborn. "He's a beautiful baby."

"I did what I could." Ava joked, leaning back into her bed.

She couldn't help but smile at the scene before her. Never did she think that Corey would be in her life again, as a lover or otherwise. Given the circumstances, she was thankful to have him around. She just hoped that he wasn't going to be hurt by her revelation, that she and Roman were giving their relationship another go.

"Look, Corey, we need to talk."

The moment he had been dreading since arriving at the hospital was finally coming. After a few awkward moments, she was finally going to say what had been obvious since she called to tell him she had had the baby. He walked over to the bassinet and carefully placed Jackson in it.

"Yeah, we do." He agreed, sitting down in the chair next to her bed. "As much as I know we need to talk, part of me hoped we could put it off."

Ava looked at him in a way that told him she agreed with him. But they couldn't ignore it anymore. Ava couldn't leave Corey under the impression that they could be something more than friends.

"I really appreciate everything that you've done for me." Ava started saying. "I don't think I can ever repay you for what you've done for me. Before I went out to Nashville to see Roman and before the baby was born, I was ready to give you and I go. But then I saw Roman and we talked and we decided to give our relationship another try. Its like I've told you before, Corey, I love you both. But I'm in love with Roman. It wouldn't be fair to you to be with you under false circumstances."

There it was. She stabbed him in the heart and repeatedly twisted the knife. Where he would have fought tooth and nail for another chance at them, Corey kept quiet. Upon walking in earlier, he saw how happy she was with Jackson. He could only imagine how happy she was with Roman again. Especially, since Corey knew how much she missed him while they were apart. He couldn't find it within him to ruin her happiness. Corey knew that the only way he could prove he truly loved her was to let her go.

"I love you, too, babe." He leaned forward. "I really appreciate you being honest with me. I know this is all stuff that you've told me before and I was too hard headed to listen, but I understand it now. I see you here, holding Jackson, happy to have your family together and I don't want to mess that up for you. You've gone through enough pain without me causing more. I'll always love you, Ava. If you ever need me, just give me a call."

He got up and leaned down to hug her.

"Corey, you're not going to be a call away. You'll be over my house before I can call you to see if you wanted to hang out." Ava laughed as she hugged him back. "Please, don't be a stranger. I don't want to lose you."

"You think its going to be this easy to get rid of me?" He laughed in her ear.

"Thank you." Ava whispered, holding back her tears.

Corey held himself together as he nodded for no particular reason. "Anything for you." He placed a quick kiss on her cheek and then pulled away from her. "I'll be seeing you around."

"Yeah, you will."

Corey turned around and started to walk towards the bassinet, only to stop in his tracks. In the doorway, stood a none too thrille Roman Reigns. Corey stared at him for a moment before he nodded his head and started towards the door instead.

"I was just leaving." He said stopping in front of Roman. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." He mumbled, suspicious that he was there.

They stared at each other for a moment before Roman stepped aside giving Corey room to walk out. When he was gone, he just shook his head and walked into the room. Before going to Ava, he stopped to check on Jackson and smiled when he saw he was still sleeping. He leaned down and kissed his son on the cheek.

"Hey, babe." He greeted, walking over to Ava. Roman leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. "Any visitors today?"

"Subtle, baby. Very subtle." She smirked. "He just came by to congratulate us and to see the baby."

"He came to see you is what you mean."

"Corey knows that me and him can only be friends. He was very understanding of it, Roman." She sighed. "The least you could have done was be a little nicer."

"I was civil. That should be enough." Roman sat down. "He should be happy I didn't punch him in the face."

"Look, I got past what happened. Can't you, too? I don't expect you guys to be best friends, but I would hope that you can put your feelings aside and at least be nice."

"Its going to be hard to be nice to the guy that I don't trust. I don't think he can be around you without expecting something to happen between you two, Ava. Its just the way I've felt since he came waltzing back into your life. I'm having a hard time trusting him."

"He's not the same guy, Roman. If he really wanted to try something he would have made a move just now. He's happy I'm happy and he's going to leave well enough alone. Roman, you have nothing to worry about. Its you I love and want to be with. I would never do anything to harm you or our family."

"Then explain that kiss you guys had."

"Look, I'll admit, I did develop some feelings for him while we were broken up. But I never let anything more happen with Corey because I knew I still loved you. He knew it, too. Roman, it wasn't until I saw you face to face again that I realized just how much I love you. Yes, we've had a rocky relationship, but I wouldn't change any of it for the world."

Roman scooted the chair closer to her bed and took her hand in his. His eyes remained on hers. "I love you so much. I don't want to lose you or Jackson. I couldn't handle being without you. I don't think I can handle losing my family."

Ava moved forward and turned slightly so that her face was inches away from Roman, her lips nearly touching his. "That is something you will never have to worry about. You aren't going to lose us."

"I almost lost you once."

"Is Summer still around?"

Roman sat back, caught off guard for a moment. Not since their breakup had either one of them mentioned Summer. In fact, ever since his one night stand with her, Roman had made it a point to lose all contact with her. If he ever saw her at the arena, he would just ignore her.

"No." He answered honestly. "I haven't talked to her since that one night."

Ava nodded. "Good. Because I don't think I'd be able to handle another encounter with her. It took all of my energy not to kill her last time I saw her."

Roman laughed. "You were pregnant with Jackson. That was the only thing stopping you. Though, there's nothing to stop you now and that worries me."

"Why?"

"Because I think you'll make good on your promise." Roman admitted, unable to keep from smiling. "As much as I would hate for you to get in trouble, it would be sweet to see you take her down a couple of pegs."

"I don't know if anything would happen." Ava chewed on the thought for a minute. "I can't jeopardize I have anything going. Besides, I'm a mom now. Any decisions I make may affect Jackson."

"Any I make may affect you and Jackson. I'm going to do everything I can to protect my babies."

She pressed her lips to his lightly and the broke the kiss. "I love you. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you, too." Roman whispered. "Now lay back and get some sleep before anybody else stops by. I'll be up if Jackson needs anything."

A/N: Well, we know where Corey stands for sure now.