Call Me Babe

Chapter 22

Taylor spent a few months considering the secrets Joe had spilled that evening under the stars. Sure, it was early, they’d barely been dating for 2 months when he originally told her. But, while that night had taken another turn swiftly and she never did get around to saying what had been on her mind, the thing she had been trying to figure out how to say was actually strikingly similar. 

Her mind drifted to the last trip she had made into her hometown. She reminisced over how well Joe had put up with her mom’s overbearing nature and her father’s tendency to be too protective of his little girl, and how easily she could see him fitting into future family Christmases as more than just her friend. She giggled over the mess they made when they had gotten a little too frisky while they were supposed to be painting his little brother’s bedroom. 

She pondered how her once cozy house was now feeling more like a museum of faded dreams rather than a proper home. Musings of all the business meetings she could barely bring herself to pay attention to floated through her thoughts. As she took her last sip of coffee, she considered how the friendships that had once filled her life with joy now seemed to leave her empty-handed. 

In a gesture that was both carefully planned out and beautifully chaotic, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, clicked on her most used contact, and spent an eternity waiting for him to pick up. Before he could even get a hello out of his mouth, she spit out the one thing knew for sure. 

“Yes.” 

He replied slowly, unsure of what she might mean, “Yes what..?” 

“Yes. I want to move back. I want to wake up to you and share coffee with you every morning. I want to be the one who gets to share kids and Christmases with you. I want you...this...all of it.”