"C'mon, baby." Riley says, picking up his daughter. She squeals and giggles with that same laugh her mother has. He grins as he elbows the door open, adjusting her on his hip.

Jo's been working non stop since her maternity leave ended but Riley has sort of become a stay at home dad since he's taken a step back from music. He's still writing and recording but touring is on the back burner.

He doesn't want to miss a thing in his daughter's life.

"Lexi Lane!" Michael and Morgan shout from the end of the hallway. Those two and their girlfriends have become family to Jo and Riley. It's like they're Alex's aunts and uncles.

Alex squirms out of her dad's arms and makes her way to the guys. Morgan laughs as he scoops her up, poking her in the belly.

Riley smiles again as he watches his daughter giggle with them. He nods to Michael to tell him he's going to see his wife.

"Hey Joey." Riley whispers, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Hey Ri." She whispers back.

She looks exhausted. The bags under her eyes seem like they get darker and darker every day.

Her head shoots to the door when she hears that sweet giggle she passed down to her kid.

The door opens and in walks Michael with Morgan holding Alex.

"Mama!" The two year old chirps, her little arms outstretched as she races to Jo.

The look Riley has on his face- his heart is exploding.

He has never known love like this before. He thought his heart was at full capacity with Jo but he was wrong. Seeing their baby girl, that little girl who is a dead ringer for her mother, he just might cry.

Riley sits on the couch with Morgan while Jo and Alex are at the soundboard, Michael's in the booth.

He has some complication type album coming out called HiXTAPE that's featuring dozens of artists, Morgan included.

Riley smiles as he listens to Jo whisper stuff to Lex, asking her what she thinks about the song.

"Hey, I'm gonna put both of y'all's name on the album." Michael says into the mic. "Produced by Jo and Lexi Lane Green."

Jo laughs as she presses a button. "You realize that we're the only ones who call her that, right?"

"So? It's a cute ass nickname."

She laughs again. "You're right." She looks down at Alex. "Alexandra Laney Green is kind of a mouthful for a two year old."

"Damn right it is." Riley teases, kissing the top of his wife's head. "Lexi Lane works for now."

"Fine. Use Lexi Lane." She looks down at her kid with so much love in her eyes that she can't help herself when she hugs her close to her chest.

Riley is so in love with his family.

That sounds so cliché but his heart could burst from how much love he has in it now.

+++

Riley carries his sleeping daughter to her bedroom and tucks her in. Jo watches from her spot against the doorframe, her arms crossed comfortably. She smiles as she watches him push her light brown curls back from her forehead. He brushes his fingers against her soft cheek then kisses her head gently.

Jo melts at the sight.

She steps quietly toward her husband, her arms wrapping around his middle and her hands on his chest.

"You are one good daddy, Riley Green."

"Either you gotta stop callin' me that or she's gotta start calling' me somethin' else." He chuckles.

"Fine." She whispers back. "I'll stop callin' you," She leans close to his ear, "Daddy."

Riley suddenly pulls away, her hand in his, and leads her to their bedroom where he quietly kicks the door shut.

+++

There's a knock on the door and Riley answers it.

"Can I help you?" He asks, looking down at a boy staying in front of him.

"Is Lex here?" He asks, his hands shoved in his Wrangler pockets.

Riley stands up straight, crossing his muscular arms over his fit chest, intimidating the hell out of the boy.

"Alex, is- is she here?"

"Beau, hey." Alex says from behind her dad. "Ready?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Riley says, grabbing his seventeen year old daughter's arm, stopping her just before she steps onto the wrap around porch.

"Daddy..." Alex whines under her breath, glancing between her father and boyfriend. "Stop."

"Ri, c'mon now." Jo sighs from the kitchen.

"Where're y'all goin'?"

"I'm- we're goin' to the fair." Beau says.

"What fair?" Riley asks, crossing his arms.

"L- Lincoln County Fair."

"Daddy, we-"

"Have her back by midnight, okay? You come home past midnight, you're in big trouble." Riley says.

Beau and Alex share a look.

She grabs his hand and pulls him to his shitbox.

Riley watches him open the door for his daughter and he nods in approval before closing the door where he watches them through the window at the top of the door.

"Riley."

"He's kissin' her." He mumbles. "Nuh- uh. No way." He reaches for the handle but his wife stops him. "He's kissin' my little girl."

"She's seventeen, Ri." Jo says, her hand on his back. "She's not a little girl anymore." Riley scoffs, tears forming in his eyes as the realization kicks in.

Alex isn't a little girl anymore.

She's graduating high school in the spring and going off to college in the fall. She's going to be an adult soon and he hates that.

She'll always be his little girl.

"You know Beau is Michael and Caleigh's kid." Jo says, pulling him back to the conversation. "You know he's a good kid."

"I don't care that he's their kid. He's a boy and I know how boys think."

"Riley, calm down."

He locks eyes with Jo and takes a deep breath. "Sorry." He whispers.

"Look on the bright side, babe, we got the whole house to ourselves."

His frown turns to a grin and the older couple race up the steps to their bedroom, laughing on their way up.

+++

Riley is a mess.

His baby girl is moving into college and the college is in Mississippi.

She worked her ass off to get into Ole Miss and he's proud as fuck but she's four hours away.

He had to excuse himself from her dorm room because of how emotional he's getting. Jo's in the same boat as him but she's real good at hiding it.

"That's all, Mama." Alex sighs, setting her cow stuffed animal that Beau won for her at the fair on the shelf below her bed.

Riley ducks his head as he joins his favorite girls in the cramped dorm room. "This is it, huh?" He says, blinking back a fresh pool of tears.

"C'mon now, daddy." Alex mumbles, tearing up herself as she wraps him in a tight hug, her face pressed against his chest.

Jo gets choked up at the sight.

Those two have the strongest bond She's ever seen between a father and daughter. Yes, she and her are close too but it's more like your typical mother-daughter thing.

Of course this is harder on him than it is her.

"You better come home and visit, Lexi Lane." He says, running his hand over her hair.

"I will." She whispers back.

Alex turns and hugs her mother. Jo whispers something to her that Riley can't hear but he smiles at the laughs they let out.

Beau pokes his head into the room and smiles at the two girls. Riley gives him a dirty look, trying to keep the protective dad facade up.

He likes Beau but won't tell his daughter just yet. They've only been dating for a handful of months.

"C'mon, Ri." Jo says, her hand around his bicep. "Let's go."

"Bye Mama. Bye Daddy."

"Bye baby." Riley responds in a shaky voice.

Jo keeps her hand around his arm as they walk back to the parking spot out front of the building.

As soon as that drivers side door is closed, the tears fall.

Jo's heart hurts at the sight and sound of her husband crying. His tears cause her tears and they cry together.

It's going to be a rough four hour drive home.

+++

Every time Riley looks at Jo, he still sees the feisty roommate he was put with his freshman year off college.

He sees how she changed throughout their time living together. How she went from not saying a single word to him to caring for him after football practice and making sure he had a full belly when they moved into a house together.

When Jo looks at Riley, she still sees the somewhat fit freshman boy she was roomed with. She still can't believe that she up and left Alabama and moved to Nashville with him after a trip to Music City.

She loves how he was always there for her- through all that ugly shit with Sean- and she'll always be grateful for that.

Speaking of Sean, he met another girl and are happily married.

Jo can't believe that she married this man but she loves the hell out of him.

Now that they have a kid together, their bond has strengthen by tenfold. Alex is the perfect blend of them.

Jo and Riley talked about having more kids but they decided that one was enough and if Jo would have another kid, it would be an incredibly complicated pregnancy.

This is the life Riley and Jo have always wanted and they wouldn't trade it for anything in world.