Work Text:
It had been three weeks into the new season when Isaac's life changed completely. He woke up next to a stranger. Well, not a complete stranger they had met the previous night and then went back to Isaac's house.
It was early. Earlier than he usually would wake up on his day off. Especially with the warmth of a body next to him. But his phone was playing its default ringtone, so he was up. He hated to wake up others.
He reached out to grab his phone and apologized for the noise before picking up. The name "Ella" on his phone told him it was his ex-girlfriend he had broken up with about a month or so ago.
"Ella?" He asked hoping the strain in his voice wasn't too obvious. The activities he was up to last night not evident to her. "Are you alright?" He always made a point of maintaining good terms with his exes. Always made sure he left people well. Be someone you could go to no matter what. Be a friend to anyone in need.
"We need to talk," she said with a sigh.
"Oh fuck, are you pregnant?" He asked.
"How the fuck did you know that?" She asked. He had been joking. Now he felt dazed.
"Okay shit okay, let's get lunch or something and talk about it," Isaac said, trying not to panic.
"Actually, Isaac, I'm outside with coffee," she said. A move he always found cute when they were dating, but now not so much.
Isaac moved his eyes to the shirtless man next to him, "Ella I've got a guy over."
"Tell Colin I said hi," she said.
"No, like a hookup, Ella," Isaac said awkwardly.
The breakup had been tense for him. Isaac had been sort of on a downhill spiral after Colin came out. He had his best friend back, but it had felt like part of his brain had been opened. Something he never allowed himself to think of.
When he realized he wanted to be with a man he knew it wasn't fair to stay with Ella. It killed him to tell her all the strife he'd been dealing with. The identity he was terrified to explore. The longing he felt while he was supposed to be satisfied with her. She was surprisingly cool with it. Said maybe they'd meet again at a better time. She was a bit of a hippy at times. It was probably what drew Isaac to her in the first place.
"Right, okay, I can come back later," she tried.
"No, you're pregnant, I'll just explain-"
"It's fine mate," the guy next to him said, "Congrats, I'll get out of here."
Isaac pulled the phone away from his face, "You were great by the way, Peter."
"I know, look at me," Peter said. "Good luck."
Isaac smiled at the man who stood to get dressed. He was still processing Ella's pregnancy. He was glad the man was kind through it all. He would have to go back to that bar they met at.
When he let Ella inside, he was happy to see she remembered his coffee order. He still remembered hers.
"Hey," he said awkwardly, tensely, it had been a while, "How've you been?"
"Good, I started seeing this guy, and he's great," she said. "I'm really happy Isaac but I know this baby is yours."
Right to the point, Isaac respected that. She didn't owe him small talk. He was the one who ended things.
Isaac nodded with his tongue over his teeth, his thinking face as Colin called it.
"Safe to assume you aren't terminating?" He asked.
She nodded, "I'm not having an abortion but I'm not looking to be a mum."
"You're going to put the baby up for adoption?" Isaac asked, feeling a sudden grief even though the idea had only just been presented to him.
"Well, that's the question," she said. "Do you want to raise our baby?"
Isaac didn't even think before he answered.
-
Lauryn Ella McAdoo was born on a Saturday. Two weeks early. It was the second time in Isaac's life that he took off his captain's band and handed it to Sam Obisanya halfway through a match and booked it to Richmond Hospital.
She was so tiny Isaac felt like he would break her if he sneezed while holding her. Her skin was darker toned than his and the dark wisps of hair on her head were already curling. He had a baby.
She had to be held in the hospital for a full two days after being born and Isaac didn't leave the hospital once.
When he brought Lauryn home in the car seat, he's had in his Aston Martin for two months he felt for the first time since hearing Ella was pregnant panicked. For the rest of his life, this little girl was his. He had to raise her. Just Him. On his own. He can't quit. He can't run. He has a baby.
He pulled over by the side of the road and pulled out his phone.
"Isaac? Why the fuck are you calling me, I already told Colin I'm not going to the party," Roy said.
"What party?" Isaac asked, confused, trying to talk quietly so his sleeping daughter stayed sleeping.
"Where are you right now?" Roy asked.
Isaac looked out his car window, "I'm parked outside a Waitrose. I was on my way home."
"Colin, Jamie, and a few of the guys have planned a cozy baby shower for you," Roy said. "Which I told them was a shit fucking idea because you want to be alone and to take a shower and sleep properly and you’re a newly single father with a baby, but those shits don't fucking listen to me and they're at your house."
Isaac laughed softly, "Maybe they can all watch her quietly while I shower so I can get used to not being in the same room as her."
"Why are you outside Waitrose?" Roy asked.
"What if I'm not ready to be a dad?" Isaac said. "What if I'm not good enough?"
"Why didn't you call Ted or Higgins or fucking Reynolds? What do I know?" Roy asked.
"You know me, Coach." Roy knew Isaac in a way that perplexed him. They were so alike. They both had the weight of the world on their backs, and both constantly felt the weight cracking them down.
"Isaac, Lauryn is lucky to have you as a dad. There's no one on the team I'd trust more except Reynolds and that's just because his four-year-old is still alive," Roy said. "You're going to be fine.
Isaac felt warmth in his chest. He trusted Roy. Roy knew best.
When he brought Lauryn inside, he was welcomed by the world's quietest surprise and way fewer guys than he had been expecting.
Sam, Dani, Jamie, and Colin were sitting on his couch with beer, presents, and more presents.
"Thierry, Bumbercatch, and Jan are here too," Dani told him, "They're attempting to build a highchair in the kitchen."
"I already bought a highchair?" Isaac asked, confused.
"Moe tried to sit in it and broke it so those three are building a new one," Colin explained.
Sam and Jamie had both asked to hold Lauryn, but Isaac wasn't ready for anyone but him to hold her yet.
They all very excitedly and quietly cooed at the sleeping baby and told Isaac how beautiful she was. Isaac already knew. Lauryn McAdoo was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
He put her in her nursery crib and Colin agreed to sit in there with her while Isaac showered. The nursery was painted a yellow color with art of lions and tigers on the wall. When he was a kid, he always loved lions. Colin sat comfortably in the rocking chair Isaac had put in there and Isaac couldn't fully believe this was real. That the once sleek modern guest room now homed a little girl with tiny fists and no teeth that was his daughter.
Isaac had never been more excited to shower in his life. He went through half the old spice bottle trying to get the hospital smell off of him. He stayed under the water in a state of meditation for longer than normal just processing what was happening. When he got out and changed into clean sweats and a hoodie, he ignored the other men in his house and went straight to Colin and his daughter.
He paused in the doorway when he realized Colin was talking to his sleeping daughter.
"I'm going to be the best uncle in the world, Lauryn," Colin said. "Your dad has always looked after me. Made me eat healthy and put plasters on my cuts. Always took care of me. That's how I know he's going to take care of you. Sometimes it'll feel like it's just you and him against the world but I'm always in your pocket, Lauryn. Always."
Isaac cleared his throat, "Teaching her about Welsh independence yet, bruv?"
"Always, cymrawd," Colin said, loving the opportunity to slip some Welsh into a conversation.
"Enjoying the bonding with your goddaughter?" He asked.
"You're making me godfather?" Colin asked with tears already in his eyes.
"Of course, bruv," he said, "who else?"
Isaac walked in and pulled a still-sleeping Lauryn to his chest.
"She's so tiny," Colin said, "Hard to believe you made something that perfect."
"Eff off," Isaac said not wanting to swear in front of the baby, "Come on, I've got presents to open and then I'm making you all stare at her in her downstairs crib while I take a nap."
They came down the stairs to see the other three had returned and were happily whispering to each other in clumps waiting for Isaac's return.
"Is that the baby?" Thierry whispered loudly.
Isaac smiled, "Yes this is Lauryn."
"After Lauryn Hill?" Moe asked because he somehow was always able to read Isaac's mind.
"Yeah," Isaac said, "Lauryn Ella McAdoo."
"Richard sends his regards," Jan said, "He had to be in France, but he said to say the baby is cute even though he hasn't even seen the baby."
Isaac nodded. He was glad that the whole team didn't come, this was a lot as is. He just wanted to hold Lauryn and rest on the couch and eat food that wasn't hospital quality. Maybe order Chinese so he could eat one-handed and hold Lauryn in the other.
"Alright boyo," Colin said, "Time to open up baby clothes and toys."
Isaac looked at the baby sleeping against his chest that he held with both hands, "Would it be okay if one of you opened the gifts and showed them to me, so I don't have to put her down?"
The guys all smiled at him sweetly and Dani happily volunteered to be the gift unwrapper. Grabbing his own gift first.
Isaac quickly realized that just because the whole team wasn't here didn’t mean they didn't all get him gifts. Half the people in London seemed to get him gifts. Lasso had mailed toys from the States and Colin even got some gifts from Isaac's mother who he wouldn't be able to go visit for at least another month of getting settled.
Jamie got Lauryn a tiny Tartt jersey as well as block toys and a baby monitor for Isaac. Colin got Lauryn a baby scrapbook which Isaac never would have thought of and was all the more touched to see Colin and Bumbercatch had started filling it out for him and offered to help document everything. Sam got some baby pajamas and meal prepped for the next week of Isaac's life which was so kind Isaac wanted to cry. Dani got baby utensils and bottles and Isaac didn't know at what age he was to present a pink tiny fork to Lauryn, but he knew he would have to buy it eventually, so he was grateful. Jan, ever practical, got diapers, rash cream, and a diaper genie. Moe made a baby blanket for Lauryn and made the world's smallest captain band. Thierry got more little baby clothes and a stuffed lion toy which Isaac loved dearly and was so glad he had talked about the nursery theme at the pub with the team. Richard got some kind of light that put stars on the ceiling as a nightlight which was way more thoughtful than Isaac would have expected from the man. Paul got him a children's first aid kit and a sleek backpack diaper bag that wasn't as obvious as the one Isaac had bought on Amazon. The rest of the team got a lot of baby blankets and toys. Will got him a weighted blanket which Isaac didn't know what it had to do with fatherhood, but he loved it. Ted got Lauryn a teething toy and Beard got Isaac a robe. Rebecca got him a selection of baby books (books for babies not parenting books as everyone knew Isaac had gotten a library card to read the entire parenting section in the months leading up to Lauryn's birth.) Keeley got him a self-care kit which included a foot massager. Isaac wanted to cry because of how kind everyone was to him and his baby.
"Nothing from Roy?" Isaac asked after Dani opened the last gifts from Isaac's mother.
All eyes looked at Jamie, who was the keeper of all Roy Kent knowledge.
"He said this party was dumb and we were bombarding you," Jamie said. "But he said he'd give you your gift in person."
"Tell him I don't need anything," Isaac said. "Not that I'm not loving you all here but I'm real tired."
"Why don't you go to sleep and let us stay that way if the baby wakes up, someone can wake you up," Moe offered.
"I'm supposed to wake up from the sounds of her crying," Isaac said.
"You are a heavy sleeper," Jan said, "And we haven't yet set up the baby monitor. Maybe just this once?"
So, Isaac fell asleep in his giant bed with his daughter in the nursery and the guys watching TV on volume 4 out of 80. After a while, Sam woke him up and said Lauryn woke up.
And so, seven of his best friends gathered around him to watch him heat up, test the heat of, and feed baby formula to Lauryn.
"Does it taste good?" Dani asked.
"Yes," Bumbercatch answered.
No one questioned why Moe had had baby formula.
After they all eventually left, Isaac changed her diaper and put on some music, figuring some noise would help her. He really wished someone who was already a dad showed up to the party because he never felt less out of control.
By the end of the night, Isaac updated his speed dial. His mum was still number one. and Colin was still number two, but three through five were now Leslie Higgins, Paul Reynolds, and Roy Kent.
Isaac hired a full-time nanny to be there when he returns to Richmond four months later to watch Lauryn when he can't.
In four months, Lauryn has gone from perfect to perfecter. She can roll over from lying on her back to her front all on her own which Isaac is so proud of. And she's constantly chewing on her toes which when Bumbercatch tried to do he fell over, so Lauryn is flexible as hell. She shakes everything she holds to see what sound it makes and laughs when something jingles. Isaac's house keys have become a favorite. Unfortunately, so has Moe and Dani's hair. She's still tiny, only around ten pounds but the doctor says that's fine. And she's so smart. She makes these tiny sounds with her mouth that Isaac immediately repeats back to her, and he is so sure she listens when he reads to her.
He's only seen Roy once since Lauryn was born. Roy dropped off a bag of Phoebe's baby clothes he could never bring himself to throw out or donate plus more meal-prepped food Sam had asked him to drop off.
"Thanks," Isaac had said. "Do you want to meet her?" He asked. Lauryn was lying on her belly on her mat doing what Isaac had seen other people refer to as Tummy Time. It wouldn't be a hassle to introduce Roy to her.
"I don't want to put you out," Roy said.
Isaac looked at him unimpressed, "Asked for a reason coach. She's the cutest baby in the world."
Roy huffed before nodding. "Shoes off?"
He had never been in Isaac's house before which seemed to shock Isaac. Roy was his mentor through and through. Roy was the first person Isaac thought of when he needed advice. When he was in his head or angry and twisted up inside be called Roy. Roy understood him. Sure, Isaac wasn't Jamie Tartt. They weren't so close that Colin called them incestuous. But Roy trained Isaac first.
"Shoes off," Isaac said, "She's just in here."
Roy couldn't bend down to meet Lauryn with his knee, so Isaac picked her up and brought her over. He told Roy no swearing and then asked if he wanted to hold her. Besides Isaac, Colin, Ella, and a series of nurses and Doctors no one had held Lauryn, but he trusted Roy.
Roy supported her head and seemed so careful and gentle with the little black baby that Isaac loved more than life itself.
"How've things been with her mum?" Roy asked.
"Ella is good," Isaac said. "I asked that she be in Lauryn's life to an extent, so she'll come over for monthly dinners for a few years and when she's older we'll talk about if Lauryn wants to spend holidays with her and that kind of thing."
Roy nodded. "Is Lauryn your mom's name or something?"
"No, I just love Mrs. Lauryn Hill," Isaac admitted.
"Who?"
"You've never heard Doo Wop That Thing?" Isaac asked, fascinated.
They spend the next hour and twenty minutes listening to the whole miseducation album. Lauryn fell asleep in Roy's arms and Isaac felt so happy.
Returning to the pitch was exciting. He missed the team. He missed training. He missed having fun with his friends and grass stains. He got to show everyone on the team hundreds of baby pictures and didn't care when Jamie loudly complained there were now two Pauls on the team.
Sam was excited to give back the captain's band and it felt right on Isaac's arm. Janelle was an excellent nanny, and nothing felt better than coming home from work to a babbling baby girl and holding her tight.
His sleep schedule was wrecked, and his caffeine addiction was worse, but he didn't care.
At eight months Lauryn was crawling and Isaac invited Bumbercatch over to test all his baby-proofing because he knew the shorter man would attempt to bite through the bars like a feral dog to check Lauryn's safety.
Lauryn said Dada once while Isaac was changing her diaper and Isaac started crying. He texted the team group chat with the news and got a video back of Colin demanding her next words be Uncle Colin.
He and Paul texted constantly about their daughters. Paul babysat some nights so Isaac could go out some nights as Colin was worried Isaac needed to go get laid, but Isaac sat at the bars and clubs looking at pictures of Lauryn on his phone.
Isaac had another freak-out on the pitch. Not punch a fan bad, but Colin got hurt, Colin went down hard, and Isaac couldn't stop crying. Colin was off with the paramedics and Isaac was playing with blurry vision because Colin needed to be okay. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before.
After the loss, Roy dragged him to the boot room.
"What's going on with you then?" Roy asked him.
"Nothing," Isaac said defensively.
"You cried on the pitch, Sam told me," Roy said. Isaac knew that all of Richmond saw him cry on national television. He appreciated Roy pretending it wasn't obvious.
Isaac closed his eyes trying to push everything down with physical force if necessary. "Colin got hurt."
"I once concussed Colin and you laughed," Roy said. "This was a sprained wrist but not concussion bad. You cried."
Isaac squeezed his eyes even tighter, "If I die Lauryn is in Colin's custody."
"Over her mum, or your mum, or Paul or fucking Higgins?" Roy asked.
"There's no one I trust like Colin," Isaac said, blinking his eyes open. "Seeing Colin get hurt all I thought is Lauryn's godfather can't get hurt."
Roy seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, "I stopped playing like as much of an asshole when Phoebe was born. I mean I was still a fucking asshole, just less of an asshole. It happens."
"Roy, if I, uh, stop playing like me," he said, feeling the shakiness in his voice, "if I start being too soft out there, it's okay for you to bench me or take away my captain's band."
"Don't be fucking stupid," Roy said. "You cried when your best friend got hurt, there's no one else I want leading my team."
Isaac nodded then straightened up and nodded again. "Thanks, Roy."
"Go check on your fucking boyfriend," Roy told him.
"I'm out of his league," Isaac said before heading out to go check on Colin.
At ten months Lauryn is still crawling. Crawling everywhere. Attempting stairs. Exploring every nook and cranny of the house. Saying simple words and eating solid foods and Isaac thinks there has never been a cuter child in the universe.
The only problem is teething seems to be hurting her. A lot. She is constantly chewing everything and crying and waking Isaac up because her gums hurt.
Isaac fell asleep during team match review and was woken up by Jan elbowing him in the side. Isaac is usually the one telling everyone else to pay attention and he fell asleep.
Roy pulled him aside while the guys stressed.
"You alright?" Roy asked.
"Yes," he nodded. He never wants to not give his all to his job. He'll rest during the off-season and on bus rides.
"I saw you sleeping, Isaac," Roy said. "Lauryn keeping you up?"
"It's her teeth, the back teeth are hurting her so badly," Isaac explained, "but that's no excuse."
Roy scoffed, "Isaac it's fine. Will has a coffee machine hidden by the laundry machine he thinks I don't know about. Go have a cup," Roy told him. "Come back when you're ready. It's fine."
Isaac watched him with squinted discerning eyes. Watching for the sarcasm or the trick. The Roy that tied his dick to Bumbercatch wouldn't be sending him to get coffee. To go rest.
"Go, McAdoo," Roy said lightly, "before I change my fucking mind."
Isaac squinted further before turning heel and trotting to the boot room. Who was he to look a Roy horse in the mouth?
Roy takes the seat next to him on the bus to Manchester. Isaac had said in the locker room that he would be using the bus ride to sleep, that Sam was in charge, and that if anyone woke him up with anything less than Colin telling him the babysitter texted, he would make them run to Manchester. Roy must not have gotten the message.
"Is your normal sitter with Lauryn?" Roy asked.
Isaac shook his head no, "she doesn't do overnights."
"Will Lauryn be alright?" Roy asked in a tone of voice Roy reserved for injured players and his niece that Isaac met once.
Isaac nodded, "she's being watched by Paul's wife."
Roy nodded and stared ahead at the seat back in front of him. Isaac took that as a sign that he could shut his eyes.
Isaac let the rocking of the bus relax him. Ever since having Lauryn, he can't sleep with music playing. Can't use headphones like that. His brain won't let him sleep. Like he evolved to need to be able to hear his daughter.
When he was moments from sleep Roy cleared his throat. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
Isaac kept his eyes closed but nodded, hoping it wasn't too serious and he could finally catch up on sleep.
"What's the deal with your mum?" Roy asked, "When Paul's daughter was born his mum had practically moved into his house and volunteered to raise the baby. I've heard that your daughter hasn't met a single grandparent yet."
Isaac opened his eyes. He didn't talk about his parents often. Too strange, too hard. Only Colin knew the full effect of everything. And even then, he left out the hardest pieces. A therapist would tell him that's not healthy. Good thing Isaac didn't see a therapist.
"So, you know my dad's dead then?" Isaac asked. "Died when I was real young?"
Roy nodded; eyes fixed ahead.
"Yeah, well ever since my mum doesn't really leave the house much. Never leaves the neighborhood. Afraid to stray too far," Isaac said. "In the off-season, I'll bring Lauryn's over. It's just too much to deal with right now."
"The off-season starts in a few weeks," Roy said.
"Yeah."
They both gazed ahead for a while. Isaac let the bus lull him to sleep. When Isaac woke up a few hours later Roy had switched seats with Babatunde.
The season ended, and Lauryn was saying a few full sentences and sleeping less. Still not walking but Isaac had been assured over and over again that that was fine.
He talked to her constantly. He had never been much of a talker. But talking to babies is good for their development according to the library books. So, Isaac's been talking more.
"Hey hun," he said to the toddler crawling on the floor and playing with her play mat blocks. "I hope you like the blocks Uncle Jamie got you. Not many kids get 22 uncles, but you do. You're so loved kiddo."
Isaac didn't even have his phone out or the TV on. He just wanted to look at her.
"I hope you know I'm trying. You're my whole world. You're so incredible, Lauryn."
"Daba," Lauryn babbled, still struggling with all her sounds but wanting his attention. She reached her arms to the sky. "Up."
Isaac got up with a smile and happily put his little girl in his arms.
It was fine.
It wasn't fine. Why wasn't she walking yet?
"It's fine, Isaac," Paul assured him in the locker room. "Kids all develop differently. There's no set timeline for this kind of thing. My daughter struggled with potty training so much we were worried she was going to be incontinent. But she figured it out."
"Yeah," Tom chimed in from next to Paul on the bench, "the only person in the Reynolds house wearing diapers is Paul."
Bumbercatch spoke up next to him, "Do you think it's cool using people's incontinence as a punchline, Thomas? Do you think it's something to be ridiculed?"
Isaac didn't want to sit through Moe's lecture, so he went to walk to Higgins's office. Higgins would know about dad stuff.
He bumped into Roy in the hallway because his luck is shit.
"Why aren't you getting into your training gear?" Roy asked, one eyebrow raised.
"I was going to run and talk to Mr. Higgins real fast," Isaac said monotonly.
Roy stilled, "Is Lauryn, okay?"
"She's fine. She's just still not walking or speaking much full sentences," Isaac said.
Roy tilted his head towards the boot room. Isaac walked in knowing Roy was following him.
"I know you're going to say it'll happen, and it takes time," Isaac said.
"No, I'm not," Roy said.
Isaac was confused, "that's what everyone says."
"What if she never fucking walks, Isaac?" Roy asked.
"Why the fuck would you say that?" Isaac asked.
"Cause some people never do. My cousin's wife never walked and she's a lovely gal," Roy said. "Look you're a great dad but part of being a great dad is loving them no matter what. And that's not just if your kid is gay or trans, that's loving a kid with Aspergers, or cerebral palsy, or who's deaf."
Isaac nodded, "You're right."
"Phoebes got a touch of dyslexia, never changed how we love her," Roy continued. "I know you're worried that Lauryn still isn't walking. But just celebrate if she does and love her if she doesn't."
Lauryn takes her first steps a week later. Isaac thanks Roy over the phone again.
On Lauryn's first birthday, she can walk and say a few more simple sentences and Isaac is so proud and gives her her first-ever bite of cake.
One thing about Isaac that only Colin really knew is that sometimes he was a fucking liar. His daughter was already a year old, and he still hadn't introduced her to her grandmother. She had met Ella's parents already, she had even met Ella's boyfriend's parents, but Isaac hadn't made the short drive to Peckham to see his mum.
They had spent Mother's Day with Ella. It was important to Isaac that Lauryn had a mum. But Isaac's own mum just got an emailed Mother's Day card he ripped off some defunct website via the way back machine.
But now Lauryn was one. And Isaac's mum kept calling and Isaac hated himself for making excuses.
"How are your parents with her?" He asked Paul on a particularly average play date.
"Eileen and Don Reynolds? They love her. My in-laws still think I'm not good enough for their daughter, but they love their granddaughter nonetheless," Paul answered. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," Isaac said, "can we put on the superior Muppet Babies now?"
"You're not giving the reboot a fair chance, McAdoo," Paul said.
Isaac liked having a friend with a daughter. It made things easier but sometimes he had to talk to someone else with weird mum issues.
He made the group chat on a whim. Hoping none of them would mind.
He added Anders, Dixon, Winchester, and Roy to the chat and sent the following.
"Hey guys, I need some advice about my mum, and I know if anyone gets it it's one of you so if you're free today I would really truly appreciate a phone call."
Roy left the group chat.
Anders' advice was to cut ties completely.
Winchester suggested trying to make peace with his reality which Isaac didn't even fully understand.
Dixon said to grin and bear it.
Isaac really needed Roy.
On his third attempt, Roy picked up.
"It better be an emergency, I swear to fuck," Roy grumbled.
"I need advice Roy," Isaac admitted defeat.
Roy sighed, "I'm with Phoebe, am I bringing her to you or are you both coming here."
"Lauryn is napping..." Isaac trailed off.
"We're on our way," Roy hung up.
Phoebe greeted him with a handshake and asked where the bathroom was, and Isaac led the way even though he could feel Roy glaring at the back of his head.
"Talk," Roy said when they were alone.
Isaac looked away and picked at the stringy bits of his ripped jeans. "I don't want Lauryn to meet my mum. And I think it makes me a horrible person."
Roy rolled his eyes, "Isaac you're not a horrible person. Why don't you want Lauryn to fucking meet your mum?"
"Oi," Isaac said, "No swearing in front of my baby."
Roy rolled his eyes but asked the question again without the swear.
"My mum is fantastic. I love her. But she has a lot of problems. And she makes them my problems, yeah?" Isaac explained, "She's afraid to leave the house so at eight I had to do all the shopping and laundry and errands and all that. She is afraid of me getting hurt so I can't leave her side and had to sleep in her bedroom for two years. I love her but I don't want that for Lauryn."
Roy nodded. "You don't have to introduce them if you don't want to."
"I love my mum. And I want her to be happy. But when I go there, she tells me about how people are trying to hurt her and that I need to quit football because she is convinced the world is ending," Isaac said. "But she should get to meet Lauryn, right?"
"Why not tell her if she wants to meet Lauryn she has to come to Richmond?" Roy asked. "Keep things on your turf."
"She hasn't left the house in a year," Isaac said.
"Shiiiit," Roy groaned out.
"That's a pound, Uncle Roy," Phoebe said as she emerged.
"Make it two, Lauryn has tiny ears, but they hear everything?" Isaac agreed.
"Mr. McAdoo," Phoebe said, polite as ever, "May I go see your baby?"
"Upstairs, a door with the sun painted on it," Isaac told the little girl, "Please don't wake her."
"I wouldn't dare, sir," she said before scampering up the staircase.
"She's so polite," Isaac remarked, opting to leave the rest implied.
Roy smiled fondly, "No idea where it comes from, me and my sister are dicks." Roy looks around awkwardly. The moment has changed. Isaac and he aren't friends. He doesn't know how to exist in space.
Isaac pinched his eyes tight, "I'm a bad dad and a worse son."
Roy got angry at the thought, "That's fucking stupid. Isaac, you are a great dad. Your daughter is so lucky to have you. And I can't speak for your mum, but anyone is lucky to have you in their life."
"Thanks," Isaac said in a masculine huff.
"Don't mention it," Roy said, "Seriously don't fucking mention it."
"So, what do I do?" Isaac asked.
"Having a meal with her and bouncing to go home with your daughter won't let your mum have power over her. Maybe decide in advance the number of times you'll see her a year and not let her be around Lauryn," Roy offered. "I have a phone call with my dad on his birthday and on Christmas and that's it. My mum just got the birthday call. You have to do what feels right for you and her."
"Does Phoebe see her grandparents?" Isaac asked.
"On her birthday, for lunch. I went to her birthday dinner. Ruth was always better at dealing with them," Roy said. "Your mum is yours to deal with."
Isaac nodded. Roy and Phoebe left shortly later.
Isaac started off with a FaceTime call with his mum. Lauryn slept on his chest and his mum seemed happy saying hi through the screen.
"I can't believe you're a dad, slippy," his mum said through the screen.
"Yeah, mum, she's one and everything," Isaac smiled looking down at his little girl. He timed the phone call around her nap perfectly.
"So, the bio mum is out of the picture," his mum said. "Is it safe to assume Colin is the other dad?"
"No Mum, I told you before that just because I'm bi now doesn't mean I'm with Colin," he said.
"But he's gay?" She said,
Isaac rolled his eyes. He loved his mum.
Roy brought him to the boot room the next week, "Did you see your mum?"
"Yeah, she asked if I'm shagging Colin," Isaac said.
"I asked you that the day I met you," Roy said.
"Thanks for the advice, Roy, all of it," Isaac said.
"Yeah, well, fuck off," Roy said. "I'm not treating you differently than any other player."
"I'm your favorite besides Jamie, aren't I?" Isaac teased.
"No," Roy said, getting up to storm out, "And Jamie's not my favorite."
He slammed the door behind him.
"Jamie is his favorite," Will said.
Isaac nodded. He'd take second place. He was Lauryn's favorite. That was way more than enough.