Masked//Roman Reigns Love Story

Chapter Six

July 25, 2011

My eyes shot open after hearing the familiar sound of Giana's cries. I rolled over in the bed and whisked her into my arms, comforting her as best as I knew how. This wasn't the first time she'd woken up in the middle of the night but tonight had been hell. She hadn't stayed asleep for more than thirty minutes.

I tried to rock her back to sleep but it was obvious after about five minutes that she wasn't settling down any time soon. She was practically whaling and I felt so bad because I didn't know how to help her. Her eyes were sealed shut as seemingly endless cries passed through her lips. I peeked up at the clock and saw that it was 5:38 a.m. My poor baby, I knew she had to be tired.

I decided to go downstairs and get her something to eat. I readjusted her into one arm as I walked down the stairs. I used my free hand to take a prepped bottle of milk and popped it into the microwave. I let it sit a few minutes to cool down while trying but failing to get Giana to calm down. I took the milk and walked us to the couch in the living room. 

"You wanna eat? Hmm?" I talked to her in a quiet tone.

Her cries faltered as I spoke to her, and I could finally hear myself think. 

I turned on the lamp next to me for light and looked into her brown eyes. I fell in love with them from the moment I saw them. The love I had for her was a perfect one, even on nights like this. I used to doubt that a love so pure could be possible but Giana confirmed it. I wouldn't give her up for anything or anyone. She was worth every contraction and every tear I cried about feeling alone in this process. Giana was worth taking a break from my wrestling career and she was certainly worth fighting for. 

I had to give her the world, she deserved that much from me. I didn't know how I was going to do but it had to be done. 

The creaking coming from the wooden steps dragged me out of my thoughts. I looked down at the bottle to see that Giana had finally started drinking. I sent up a quick prayer to God that she wouldn't make a fuss when there was nothing left.

"She woke up again?" my grandma asked, her cane willing her over to me.

I nodded my head, slowly tilting the bottle on an upwards slant so that the milk would be easier to access.

"Joe should be here helping you. You didn't make the baby by yourself, he can't just—"

"You know he doesn't know."

"But he should. I've been trying to get you to say something and I'm not going to give up on it. You're not even giving that boy a chance to do what's right."

"Joe has so much going on right now, the last thing he needs to be worried about is a baby. I'll say something, I promise. I just need a little bit more time," I said. 

"This is so wrong."

"It's only wrong if I never tell him. I'll tell him. I just need you to trust that I know what I'm doing. Giana is going to meet her dad one day and everything will be fine."

"This isn't a little white lie, Maria. This is a life we're talking about. You need to give him the choice to be in Giana's life and you need to do it soon. Giana deserves to grow up with a father who loves her. Don't do it for yourself, don't even do it for him, do it for her," she tried to convince me. 

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. She wasn't going to leave me alone about this. Deep down I knew that Joe would be thrilled to know he had a healthy, beautiful little girl that he helped create. He would step up and take care of Giana in any way he could, even though he didn't have much. Joe would give her all his love and then some, I knew that much. I just needed him to take care of himself first. He had his football career on the line, and I didn't want to stress him out with the baby.