Madison's POV

No way did I hear him correctly. He did not just ask me to move in with him.

"Move in? Here? With you? Ryan, you can't be serious." I said. I'm not gonna lie, I was completely stunned. I did not see this coming.

"I'm dead serious. I want you to move in here. How about it Madi?" He replied, giving me the sweetest smile.

"But Ry...it's so soon. We haven't even been together that long." I couldn't help but shake my head. This was crazy right?

"No, not really. When you think about it, we've been living together for the last three months." He replied.

"You're crazy." I laughed.

"Yeah. Crazy about you." He chuckled. " This place needs a woman's touch. Sturgill needs a mom, and I need you with me every night. Please Madi...don't make me sleep in that big old bed all alone. This house feels like home and not just a house with you here. It'll be great. I promise...just think about it at least." He gave me his best puppy dog eyes.

"Okay." I said. Maybe we were both a little crazy.

"Okay you'll think about it or okay let's do this?" He asked.

"Okay...let's do this. I'm becoming very attached to this swinging bed thing, and maybe I'm a bit crazy too." I squealed when he practically tackled me back onto the bed, covering me in sweet kisses.

"So you just love me for my swing bed huh? That's okay darlin'. I'll put one in every room in this damn house if it makes you happy."

"You make me happy. Happier than I've ever been in my life." I said, melting into the kiss.

"Good. Let's get you packed up and moved in so I can keep making you happy."

My heart.

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Small time skip

I couldn't help but sob in pure relief when I looked down at the negative pregnancy test. A baby was the absolute last thing I needed in my life. Ever.

I know that may not sound normal, to not want children, but it was just how I felt.

It had been a blissful, perfect month of Ryan and I living together. And while he didn't put a swing bed in every room like he teased me about, he did have one installed in the loft. We got plenty of use out of both of them. If I'm being honest, we pretty much christened every room in this house, and there were plenty of them. I discovered that Ryan had a little bit of a kinky side that he was starting to show to me, and I was learning that not only did I like it, but I had one as well. Things were going great and I was loving all of it. The sex was ridiculously hot, but when you fuck like rabbits, pregnancy scares are bound to happen, despite using the most reliable form of birth control on the market.

Thank God it was just a scare, and it was enough to remind me that my IUD probably needed to be changed out, as it was several years old. Or perhaps I should look into another method of birth control. IUD's were great, but potentially disastrous if I accidentally got pregnant with one. I made a mental note to get on that first thing in the morning.

Ryan and I had never talked about the future. We were just living day by day, soaking it all in, loving the feeling of being domestic together. Learning to cook. Cleaning up together. Decorating the house to make it into our home. Sharing our successes. Him having recorded his new album, me getting ready to start mine. Being dog parents to Sturgill was wonderfully fulfilling. Four legged babies were the best, and I was more than satisfied.

What if he did want kids though? Why haven't we talked about this before? This was a discussion that had to happen sooner rather than later. I just prayed that we were on the same page. The thought of us not on the same page terrified me because what if me not wanting kids ended up being a deal breaker for him?

Like every little girl, I had dreamed of the fairy tale: The big house, Prince Charming riding in on a white horse and sweeping me off my feet. A grand wedding and a house full of kids. Unfortunately, that little girl was forced to grow up way too fast and she had stopped believing in fairy tales a very long time ago. I had the house. I had my Prince Charming. I didn't need the rest to have my happily ever after. I had it all. I was living it. Between my career and Ryan, I was living my best life. I wasn't completely opposed to the idea of marriage, but it wasn't something I had to have. If Ryan and I did get married one day...in the very distant future...great. If we didn't, well that was great too. I didn't need a ring and a piece of paper to be happy.

My childhood had shaped me into what I am today. I had no positive role models growing up. I knew of nothing but dysfunction, destruction and despair. I never got the opportunity to see how a normal family lived. Not until I met Kevin and he brought me into his home and family. But by then, my mind had been made up and nothing was going to change that. I didn't want to bring a child into this fucked up world having had such a fucked up upbringing. I had no idea how to be a parent. What if I had that same darkness living dormant inside of me? I had no idea if my mental scars would fester and manifest into something dark and destructive. The fact that I shared the same DNA as my awful parents had me convinced that I should never be a parent myself. The thought of it terrified me and I wasn't willing to take that chance.

Now, I had to have a very difficult conversation with Ryan, and it needed to be now.

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Ryan was in the home gym working out. This was something fairly new for him. Ever since I moved in and turned part of the gym into my own personal yoga studio, he began daily workouts. He was enjoying building up his muscle tone and he liked the increased stamina. I liked it too. In fact, I liked it so much that this was probably the second most christened room in the house, second only to the bedroom.

He was lifting weights as I entered, as when he saw me, he placed the weights on the stand and sat up, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel.

"What's up darlin'?" He smiled at me.

"I have to talk to you about something serious." I said, sitting on the bench next to him.

"Is everything okay?" He asked with a concerned look.

"How do you feel about children?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Are you... pregnant?" Was that a look of alarm that I saw in his eyes?

"No. I'm not. Thankfully." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Ryan, I need to know. Do you want kids one day?"

"Honestly?" He asked, suddenly looking nervous, like a deer in a headlight.

"Yes, please be honest. This is very important."

His eyes cast downward, and I literally held my breath in anticipation of his response. "No." His voice was almost a whisper, and even more relief flooded my body. He still hadn't looked me in the eye. He probably thought that I was about to tell him that I wanted a family.

"Ry...look at me babe. I don't want kids either. I have my reasons, and I'm sure you can guess at them, but I needed to make sure that we were on the same page about this."

"Are you certain about this Madi?" He asked, taking my hand in his.

"Yes I'm certain. I mean, there's always a chance that it can happen, and we'll deal with that if it ever does happen. We're certainly not going to stop having sex." I couldn't help but chuckle. Like that was ever going to happen.

His smile grew wider. "Could you be any more perfect for me? I'm really glad this topic came up. I guess I just thought all women wanted babies, and I'm not ready to be a dad. I don't think I ever will be.  And yes, this is me being totally selfish because I don't want to share you with anyone. On a career level, I have to share you with millions, but on a personal level, you're all mine. Okay, yes, I do have to share you with Sturgill, but I'm perfectly cool with being a dog dad. I'll adopt more dogs in fact. Just no human babies for me."

"No human babies." I agreed. "I love being a dog mom. And I love that you want to be selfish and have me all to yourself. I can be selfish too. You are mine and mine only Ryan Blaney. I'm happy that I'm the only one that gets to call you daddy."

"Hmmm...you've never called me daddy before. That's kinda hot."

"In that case daddy...take me to bed, or you can just take me right here and I promise to submit...or not. Maybe I feel like being a bad girl this time."

The End

A/N: Hi guys, just a quick note. I've decided this was a good place to end this story. I'm a little sad because I love Ryan and Madi. In fact, I love them so much that I am planning a sequel for them.

I have enjoyed writing this one, and I hope everyone has enjoyed reading it just as much.

Stay tuned for the epilogue coming soon as well as the sequel.

See ya soon XOXO 💋