Dawson showed up early for his dinner with Joey the next evening. It took him over an hour to decide what to wear and then find something he thought would be appropriate to bring to dinner. After settling on jeans and a black long sleeve shirt and cheesecake, he was off, catching a cab to her townhouse in Soho. About ten minutes later they were there and Dawson took in the scene before him as he handed the driver some money. The townhouse was cozy from the outside, with red brick, stairs, flowers in the windows and huge picture windows on the first floor. Without even knocking, Joey threw the door open when she saw him coming up the stairs and smiled widely.

"Hey Dawson did you find it okay?" she asked, opening the door for him and escorting him inside.

"Yeah no problem," he said, taking in the view of the townhouse. Looking into each of the rooms for a minute he was struck by the size of the townhouse. As he expected, there were tons of flowers, pictures, artwork and books all over the walls and floor. The rooms flowed from one to another, each with a different color scheme and theme. He saw stairs that lead up to the second level and possibly a third, curious to see what the rest of the house looked like, but opting not to be rude and turn the place upside down right away. The one addition to the house that he noticed the most was all the baby toys and accessories all over the floor. Walking back into the living room he saw Joey waiting for him to finish looking around, holding her toddler on her hip and placing a pacifier in his mouth. "Is this him?"

"Yeah it is, he's getting a bit cranky so I might have to put him down before we have dinner, is that okay?" she asked, finally settling her cranky son down.

"Yeah it's fine," he said, floating over to her to take peek. She smiled and turned so he could see the toddler, who looked just like his mother. He had the same large eyes that Joey had and full lips and even had some dark brown hair on top of his head.

"Dawson this my son, Matthew Mitchell Potter, Matthew can you say hi to Dawson, he's Mommy's bestest friend in the whole world," she said, tickling his cheeks and making him smile. Watching her with him made him smile, seeing her in a completely different light. "Okay baby time for bed, I'll be right back." He nodded and settled himself in the living room while she disappeared upstairs.

While she was gone he looked over her books in the living room, noticing an antique copy of Little Women and several pictures surrounding the books and art supplies. He saw pictures of her with Jen in high school, pictures of Audrey, Pacey, Jack, Bessie, Bodie and Alexander and even one of Dawson with his parents and Lily. Browsing over all the pictures though he settled on three that sat close to together, one of them at the senior prom, one taken when they were kids and one taken at his mother's wedding of them dancing at the reception. He looked at those pictures, flooded with memories of times so long ago. Memories of them together, having movie nights, holding hands and dancing. Although he enjoyed the pictures of their friends, the pictures that captured his attention the most were the pictures of her with Matthew after he was born, pictures of them in the park and at the townhouse at Christmas. There was even a picture of Joey, Matthew and a man Dawson didn't recognize sitting at the Potter B&B, all smiling and looking like a family. The man had his arm around Joey, who held Matthew on her lap, and looked at her adoringly, causing a twinge of jealousy to run through Dawson for a moment.

"Okay I'm sorry about that, he napped early this afternoon so I got to put him down earlier," she said, snapping him back to reality. "Ready for dinner?" He nodded and followed her into the dining room, where she set up the table, taking his drink order and refusing to let him help bring the food out. During the entire dinner they talked about work, Joey talked more about her books and her artwork as well, which she managed to sell to a few small galleries. Dawson talked about his new job in New York, the new show for the network and even catching up about "The Creek" and what lead to him leaving. Finally finishing dinner, they left the plates and moved back to the living room for dessert and drinks, relaxing on her couch while trying to avoid all the baby toys on the floor.

"This is really good Dawson thank you for bringing it," she said while they ate the cheesecake he arrived with. She paused for a moment when she heard stirring in Matthew's room over the baby speaker and settled when it stopped. "He sleeps through the night now thank god but sometimes he'll wake up."

"How do you do it Joey, managing work and a baby by yourself?" he asked, waiting for the right moment to bring it up. She paused for a moment, wondering if she should continue.

"It wasn't easy, especially at first when his father left," she said softly. "Things are a bit easier though, with the book deals and work I can stay at home with him and spend as much time with him as I can." He nodded and tried to decide if he should press more.

"I hope this isn't a bit inappropriate but, what happened to Matthew's father? What kind of man would just abandon his girlfriend and child?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't alienate her.

"Well it's sort of a long story," she said, curling her feet underneath her to get comfortable. "After Jen's funeral, Pacey and I tried to work things out, give it another try, but that didn't last because he wanted to stay in the Capeside/Boston area and I had a life here. He tried to live with me for awhile here but the old jealousy and resentment started up again and he left for good. So I decided to take up art again and that's how I met Kyle, Matthew's father. We started dating and moved in together. We were really happy for awhile, I loved him very much and we got engaged, but then I got pregnant by mistake. Things didn't really change all that much, but then after Matthew was born he began to pull away from me and I couldn't reach him. Then one day he was gone, poof, gone with no idea of where he went or when he was coming back. He just left a note that said he was gone, transferred the deed to this place into my name and left a cashier's check for one hundred thousand dollars for Matthew's future and that was the last I heard from him and that happened about a year ago. I guess the only good thing out of all this is that we'll always have a place to live and Matthew will be set for college so the relationship wasn't so bad." She tried to laugh but he could tell that she was hurt.

"I'm sorry Joey I didn't mean to upset you," he stammered, suddenly regretting pushing her for information.

"No it's okay," she said, wiping a tear from her eye, moving closer to him. "I got the best part of Kyle Dawson, I have Matthew and he has changed my whole life, he made me prioritize things."

"So now that Kyle is out of the picture have you thought about dating at all?" he said, moving closer to her, trying not to sound too curious about her love life. She laughed for a minute, putting her plate on the floor.

"Yeah I would like to meet Mr. Right and get married for real, have the family, but a single mother does not leave lots of time for dates or going out to meet men," she said with a smile. "I don't know many single men that would be interested in getting involved with a single mother who would always put her son before them but I want Matthew to have a father, especially because my dad wasn't around when I was growing up."

"You're a very attractive woman Joey, I don't doubt that men would come knocking down your door to be with you," he said honestly, sharing a soft gaze with her. "You know if you're looking for a father figure for Matthew, I would volunteer for the job." She looked at him with a slightly shocked expression that matched his own shock because he actually said his thought out loud.

"Thank you Dawson but you have your own life and I don't want to cut in on your swinging bachelor lifestyle," she said, looking up at him. "I need someone that would be a constant in his life and mine and not just be around for awhile and then move away."

"Well I have no intention of leaving New York for a long time," he said, reaching over to brush a piece of hair out of her face. "And if I had an offer to go back to LA, I would turn it down in a second if I had something or someone that wanted me here with them. We've spent so much time apart Joey and I just want to be part of your life and Matthew's, if you'd let me." They looked at each other for a minute, sharing a long gaze. She smiled and looked down for a minute, trying not to tear up. Without a word, she moved her hand slowly toward his and took it, squeezing it tightly.

"I would really like that Dawson," she said, moving closer to him and letting him hold her tightly, resting her head against his chest. "I don't want to do this alone."

"You won't have to anymore," he said softly, pulling her closer as he soothingly rubbed her arms. They sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company and comfort. Feeling her slowly go weak against him, he looked down and saw her fast asleep in his embrace, breathing slowly with the softest snore escaping from her lips. He smiled to himself and picked her up, carrying her and the baby monitor up the stairs to find her room. After wandering around the second floor for a few minutes he found her corner room, lighted slightly by the streetlights outside. Laying her quietly on the bed, she rolled immediately on her side, curling up softly on her king size sleigh bed. Kissing her softly on the forehead, he placed the baby monitor on her nightstand that was full of books and a clock radio and returned downstairs where he cleaned up from dinner, placing the plates in her dishwasher before leaving quietly, locking the door behind him.