A/N: Hello, hello! Here it is: part two to this lovely tale. I hope you enjoy! If you have any requests for the new year, feel free to reach out!

He gets Miyana's messages the second they hit his phone and it takes everything in him not to call or text her back. Don't get him wrong: he wants to. Oh, he really wants to. But he knows that his voice, his emotion, may not be what Mia needs.

So he waits.

And, of course, it had to be the night he was swung on for the part he knew the least. Luckily for him, muscle memory got him through the show.

After taking the fastest shower known to man in the disgusting bathroom he shared with the male swings, and hastily signing autographs at the stage door, Byron ran for the nearest subway station before remembering the current MTA strike meant no trains were running.

He then spent the next twenty minutes stopping on multiple corners trying to get a cab, before giving up and deciding to just walk to the hospital. He had friends he could call to give him a ride, but Byron took it as a sign from God that this was his final atonement for his actions the past thirty days.

He lets his mind wander as his feet carry him. Lets the July night help his mind to work through the last of the emotion and anxiety coursing through his body.

He was determined to be a better father for his daughter than his own. And that vow started tonight.

Bryon walks through the sliding front doors of the hospital and approaches the woman at the desk. "Hi," he starts.

"Sir, visiting hours are long over," the clerk replies curtly. "Come back tomorrow at seven."

"Actually, my girlfriend is upstairs. She just had a baby."

The clerk looks up at him, taking the frazzled expression on his face as validation enough. "Okay. Can I see your ID?" Byron hands it over and waits while his visitor badge is created. "Take elevator three up to the fifth floor. Have a good night. And: congratulations."

"Thanks," Byron replies. He pats the sticker onto his shirt and follows the signs for the elevators.

Once upstairs, and after convincing a pair of nurses (who also scolded him for being there after visiting hours) to tell him which room Miyana was in, Byron finds the room.

He's about to knock when it opens and Liam appears, his camera bag slung over his shoulder.

"Liam," Byron says, surprised, stepping aside to let him through. "Hey."

"Hey, man," Liam says. His voice was quiet and held a hint of gruff to it. He was obviously exhausted.

"Sorry, I didn't make it in time. Actually, sorry for everything."

"Look, Byron: let's not do this here. Not now. Go inside, see Mia, meet your daughter. We'll talk later." Liam looks at him and smiles. Not a trace of malice written in his blue eyes.

"Thanks, man," Byron says with a nod. With one last pat on his shoulder, Liam leaves.

"Can I come in?" He asks quietly poking his head into the room.

"Yeah, sure," Miyana says, sending him a soft smile. She's lying in bed under a blanket, finally clean and comfortable, Baby J, wrapped in her own blue and pink striped blanket, in her arms.

Finn scowls at him as he awkwardly stands near the door. "I'm going to go fill up my water," she says, making any excuse to not be in the same room as Byron.

"So: she's still angry at me," Bryon surmises when the door closes with a loud snap.

"She'll come around. Give her some time," Mia says. "Sit with me?" She scoots over enough to give him room and once he's sitting she leans into his side, resting her head on his bicep. She takes his hand and plays with his fingers, her face contorting as she tries not to cry.

But one hiccuping breath gives her away.

"Hey. Hey, don't cry," Byron soothes, kissing her head. "It's okay. I'm sorry for not being there."

"It was so hard," Mia cries. "It hurt so bad."

"I know. I know. I'm so sorry, my love."

Miyana continues to cry, the events of the night finally catching up to her. Byron holds her as she does, rubbing her hair and kissing her head, silently praying that she'll accept his apology.

"Did you get my message?" Mia eventually asks. She looks up at him, her brown eyes wet, tear tracks staining her face.

"I got them all. I've replayed them all night. It's all I could think about. I thought Nicole might throw me out of the show I was so distracted!" His comment makes Mia laugh, and he finally gets to see her smile.

"She would," she says.

"I know." He lets out a laugh of his own.

The moment of humor is short-lived, though.

"Are you ready to come home? Are you ready to fight for this with me?" She asks, getting his eyes again.

Now, it's his turn to cry; tears cloud his vision as he looks at his girlfriend. The mother of his newborn daughter. The person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

If this past month (past three months, really) has taught him anything, it's that he'd fight for his family no matter what. He'd never stop fighting for them.

"I'm ready. I promise you I will always fight for our family. And if I get into trouble again, I'll let you in. No more secrets."

Mia grabs the back of his neck and pulls him down for a kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth. When they break, he can feel her crying again, her tears wetting his face. Everything wasn't suddenly fixed, it was going to take work from both of them. But those details could be sorted out later.

"Hey, no more tears," he says, wiping them away. "Today is a happy day! We're done with the hurt. Okay?" Mia nods, sniffling away the last of her tears.

"Speaking of-" Byron looks down at the sleeping baby. There's a pink hat covering her head; she looks so peaceful.

"Do you want to hold her?" Mia asks.

He's reluctant to reach for the baby, fearful of breaking the moment or crossing a line Mia had drawn. But she smiles at him and shifts to give him better access to her, silently letting him know it was okay.

"Baby J," Mia hums to their daughter. The baby turns at her name, eyes focusing in the direction of her mom. "Say hello to your Abba."

Byron freezes for a fraction of a second at hearing what Miyana had said. It had been his idea to use the Hebrew names for mom and dad, and Mia had been totally on board with it. But after what had happened, he was certain she was going to completely veto the idea.

"Yeah?" He asks, looking up at her.

"Yeah," she whispers, nodding. "Abba and Ima. I like the sound of that." She hadn't been raised specifically religious, but she'd grown to love the traditions and customs Byron and his mom had shown her. This was her way of bringing herself further into their family.

"Yeah, me too," he nods, finally scooping Baby J up and cuddling her into his chest. Instantly, she turns into him, loving the warmth of his body, and lets out a happy grunt. "Oh, yeah, you like that, huh?" His heart swells and he feels an overwhelming sense of love surrounding his whole body.

He pushes the blanket down from around the baby's face and lightly traces her features with his finger. Her button nose, pink rosebud lips, long eyelashes that lay delicately on her cheeks; tiny fingers that escape the blanket and curl into a fist under her chin.

"Jaycee," Byron sings, kissing her cheek. "Happy birthday, baby girl." He feels Miyana lean against him again, her breath tickling the hairs on his neck. "Oh my god. This is so crazy. We made her. We did that."

Miyana nods, glad someone else understood what she'd been feeling the last two hours since Jaycee had been born.

The little family cuddles together for another few minutes, quiet and happy until the unexpected click of a camera has them quickly looking toward the door.

"What?" Finn asks, lowering the phone to reveal her face. "You guys are cute. I'm still mad at you, though," she says to Byron with a pointed look. She crosses the room and begins to gather her things. "I'm gonna go. You guys seem to have it covered here."

"Thank you, baby, for everything," Miyana says, hugging her sister.

"Always," Finn answers with a kiss to her cheek. She kisses two of her fingers and pats them on Jaycee's forehead. "Bye, baby girl. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Finn," Byron says, stopping her at the door. There's a pause where they both hold each other's faces; hazel eyes looking into chocolate brown. "Thanks."

He knew Finn was mad at him, and probably would be for a long, long time, but Byron thought he saw something change on her face. The intensity in her look lessened just the slightest amount.

"Always," She says simply before taking her leave.

[][]

Byron looks over to the bed and sees Mia actually asleep; her face smooth and completely relaxed. She's made a nest of pillows around her, mostly to help her support the baby but also for her comfort, and Byron smiles at the Stitch-cased pillow that Mia hugs to her chest.

From the little cot in the corner, Jaycee begins to stir again. She'd been such a good girl all night, content to drink from a bottle so her Ima could sleep a bit. Their nurse had assured Miyana that supplementing a bit with formula wouldn't hurt her desire to breastfeed. Baby J lets out little grunts and squeaks, telling anyone who was listening that she was awake and ready to be noticed.

"I'm coming, baby girl," Byron says, standing from the reclining chair he'd turned into a makeshift bed. He lets out a wide yawn and runs his hands through his hair. If he was tired, he could only imagine it was a quarter of what Miyana was feeling. He blinks at the digital clock on the wall, registering the time (4:20; heh. Nice.).

"Shh, you gotta be quiet. Ima's trying to sleep," he says to his daughter as he slips her out of the swaddle. She's still only wearing a diaper, and Byron quickly knows what's wrong with her. The thick, tar-like Meconium is no joke and Byron has to use more wipes than necessary to get Baby J clean.

Once clean, and wrapped up like a burrito again, Byron settles them back on the chair under the blankets. Jaycee lets out a yawn of her own, drowsy, but not quite ready to sleep. He rocks them slowly, watching his daughter in the glow of the nightlight above them. The motion lulls them both, and soon they are dozing off once again.

[][]

Shift change comes at seven, and wakes all of them up. While Miyana and Jaycee are getting checked over, Byron goes to get them coffee and a decent breakfast, returning to an empty room.

"Hello?" He asks, setting the haul on the counter.

"I'm in here," Miyana says from behind the closed bathroom door. She opens it a crack and steam from a shower flows out. "God, a hot shower feels so good!"

"Yeah, I bet. I got you food. And coffee."

"Oh! Thank you!" she moans. She comes out, hair wet, changed into fresh pajamas. She goes to the food, pausing to kiss him, and takes it back to the bed, settling back against the pillows.

"Where's the baby?"

"Oh! They took her to run some tests. She should be back soon," she says over a mouth full of bacon, egg, and cheese. It's not the one from their favorite bodega, but it gets the job done.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up," he says.

"Oh, yeah! If you take a shower, make sure the head is pointing down when you turn the water on or it will spray water everywhere."

"Thanks," Byron acknowledges, grabbing his toiletry kit from their large hospital bag and going into the bathroom.

Miyana is sitting on the bed nursing Jaycee when Byron comes out, and all he can do is stare at them. The love and awe on Mia's face as she stares down at their daughter, playing with her tiny fingers. The wonder and comfort in Jace's face, gripping her mom's finger with her entire hand. He quietly puts his things away and cleans up his bed, not wanting to disturb the magic his girls have spun around them.

When Jaycee finishes, Byron moves to take her from her mom; give mia a break for a minute. But Miyana is quick to slap his hands away.

"Not-uh. No way. You had her all night, it's my turn," Miyana cuddles the baby close, feeling her breath on her chest as she slips into a milk-drunk stupor.

While she was appreciative of the sleep Byron let her have, Mia missed her baby and wanted to soak in all the snuggles she could before aunts and uncles and grandparents started stealing them from her.

"Kill joy," Byron grumbles, but there's humor it in too.

He sits back down and picks up his phone for the first time since he'd texted his mom and their stage managers last night that he'd made it to the hospital, that the baby was here and doing well. His screen is covered in notifications and he goes through each app, eliminating the red bubbles that taunt him.

"You posted her name reveal?" Byron shouts.

Mia laughs out loud at the shock and offense in his voice. "I did! While you were in the shower."

He quickly opens Instagram and goes to the post in question. It's already got thousands and thousands of comments and even more likes.

The picture is of a newly born Jaycee laying on a table wrapped in a pink and blue striped hospital blanket, a matching hat sits on her head. Her eyes are open, looking out at her new world, and her tiny mouth forms the perfect 'O' shape.

The caption reads: 'We would like to introduce you to our daughter, Jaycee Renee. She was born last night and weighs 8lb6oz and 19 inches long. We love her so much already!'

Byron is tagged in the picture as is Liam, who took the photo.

"That is so cute!" Byron says, looking up at his girlfriend with tears in his eyes.

"Oh my god! Don't cry! If you cry, then I'm gonna cry and I'm already really emotional," Mia says, already feeling the emotion growing in her.

"I'm sorry! It's just so sweet!" He looks through the comments, most of which are people congratulating them; a lot of screaming in excitement, and a lot of heart emojis. "Have you read these comments? People are so sweet."

Miyana laughs at that, she loved that everyone was so happy for her and her family. "Hear that, baby girl? Everyone is so excited to meet you!" Jaycee stares up at her, the deep brown of her eyes focussing someplace between Mia's nose and the air between them.

[][]

It takes them nearly all day to get checked out of the hospital. Between waiting for Jaycee's initial test results to come in (she passed with flying colors) and filling out final paperwork, by the time a nurse wheels her out to the pick-up area, the sun is setting behind buildings. Of course, it's still warm outside and Mia quickly has beads of sweat running down her back and she unwraps Jaycee from the swaddle she'd been in in the freezing hospital room.

Byron follows them, rolling a cart loaded with their personal bags as well as gifts that had been sent to them and supplies the hospital had them take. Seriously: their charge nurse was practically begging them to take what was in the cabinet in their room. Miyana felt bad for taking it; what if other moms needed it? But the nurse explained they had more than enough and everyone would get some, so she took it.

"Are you waiting for an Uber, or is someone picking you up?" The nurse asks.

"My sister should be here in a few," Mia says, looking up and down the road for Finn's car.

A few minutes later, Finn pulls around the circle drive and parks in front of them. She pops the trunk and rounds the car to them. "Hey! Sorry, I swear, I'd take winter traffic over summer traffic any day," she grumbles, exchanging hugs with them.

Byron sets to work loading all their things, while Mia, Finn, and the nurse get Jaycee settled into her car seat.

"Don't worry: our brother is an EMT, so everything is installed correctly," Finn says, noticing how the nurse silently judges their set-up.

"I have that easy of a tell, huh?" She asks with a laugh.

"Your secret is safe with me," Finn says.

Miyana finishes clipping the last buckle and makes the necessary adjustments. She sighs in relief when the nurse declares them ready to go, and the two share one last hug before Miyana rounds to the driver's side with her sister, and the two girls get in.

"Ready?" Byron asks.

"So ready," Mia sighs, looking at Jaycee, who was wide awake and looking in every direction, taking in her new environment.

"Alright: here we go," Finn says, pulling into traffic.

The drive from Manhattan to Brooklyn, surprisingly, doesn't take as long as usual and before long, Finn is parking at Miyana's building and they are all getting out. Mia handles the baby, while her sister and boyfriend gather all their bags and they start the long, slow climb up to the apartment.

"Hey, Goosie!" Mia is first through the door and is bombarded by her dog who is bouncing and grunting and sniffling with excitement to see her and his new little sister. "Let me get in. Hold on," Mia laughs, managing to get into the apartment and sit on the couch.

"Okay. Hello, hello my baby! I missed you." Goose gives her kisses all over her face, his nub of a tail wagging as fast as a speed boat motor. Once he's calmed down a bit, Mia turns to the infant carrier to her side and pulls the baby out of it. "Do you want to meet your sister?"

She holds Jaycee low so Goose can see her and the dog start crying and sniffing the baby all over, starting to kiss her tiny face.

"Be gentle," Mia murmurs. "This is Jaycee, your sister.

[][]

Finally alone in her quiet apartment, Miyana found herself sitting on the exact same couch she'd been on less than a day ago.

She was alone then. Going through labor alone. Having to ride out every contraction alone as they got closer and stronger. She wanted so much to call the man currently sitting next to her; wanted his love and strength near her, but knew she couldn't. She wasn't ready.

But now: a day later, he's sitting on the couch with her, their newborn daughter tucked under a blanket as she lays on his bare chest. Mia is more ready to heal her heart; to have Byron's strength and love next to her.

It's so funny how things can change in just a day.

Mia scoots closer to Byron, taking his hand a laying her head on his shoulder. She lets out a content sigh and basks in the magic they'd created.

"Hey," she whispers.

"Hey," he whispers back, looking down at her.

"I love you," she says.

"Love you," he answers, stealing a quick, soft kiss.

"I'm gonna start posting more stuff tomorrow morning. I want tonight to be for us. Here. At home. Just us three."

"Okay, if that's what you want. You know I have no problems with it."

"It's what I want," she nods. "But there's one more video I have to take before it's done. Will you be in it with me?"

Byron laughs at that, kissing her again. "Sure."

Miyana holds up her phone's camera, making sure all three of them were in the frame before hitting record.

"Hey, guys! I just wanted to come on and end the video. I hope you liked it! We've been seeing all your comments and messages, and we love and appreciate them so much!" She had to swallow away the emotion rising in her throat, wipe away tears that are already falling. "Jaycee is such a lucky girl to have so many people who love her." She looks up at Byron, "Do you want to say anything?"

Byron quickly looks down at her and clears his throat. "Sure, yeah. Um, thanks guys for all the lovely messages. We see them all. And we can feel your love."

"So, I'm going to be taking a break for a little while to love on this little bug," Miyana says, pointing the camera at a sleeping Jaycee. "But don't worry: I'll be back soon. Okay. Love you. Have fun, be safe. Bye!"

She cuts the video and puts her phone away.

The rest of the night is spent snuggling with her family; warm, safe, and together.