"T? Are you ready for hair and makeup? Your team is asking me to ask you," Joe said softly.
Her back was facing him and as she turned, he saw tears glistening in her eyes.
"T, love?" Joe mumbled, slowly guiding her by her hand to the small bathroom in the corner. After he locked the door, he sat her down on the toilet cover and looked at her. "What's wrong?" he asked, gently breaking off some toilet paper to wipe her tears.
Taylor shrugged. "I miss Ivie a lot."
"Oh baby." Joe sighed, reaching down to hug her gently. "I miss her too."
"I miss her squishy little cheeks," Taylor mumbled.
"Gosh, I swore to your mum I wouldn't tell you this, but Ivie's flying over tomorrow. She'll meet us at the Dublin show." Joe said quickly.
"Really?" Taylor looked up at him innocently, her big blue eyes now filled with hope.
"Yeah, love. We wanted to surprise Mumma for Mother's Day, but I suppose it's ruined now."
"Thank you so much for doing that, love." Taylor stood up from the seat and walked to the sink to wash her face. "I love you," she added, her voice slightly gurgled by the water.
"I love you too," Joe replied, knowing how much of a toll being on tour and separated from their two year old was. They tried to schedule dates to fit their little family, but sometimes, Taylor just missed Ivie terribly.
:::
"I couldn't find you and I got so sad!" Taylor exclaimed, running into Joe's arms.
"You were amazing, baby," Joe said, pressing a delicate kiss to her forehead, then her lips.
Back in the dressing room, Joe waited for Taylor as she finished off small talk with a couple of important guests who were in attendance.
"Hey babe, I still need to change— Can you wait a bit?" she asked, entering the room with her hair slightly damp from the sweat.
"Of course." Joe grinned at her, then went back to his current read.
"Shit, nobody from Wardrobe is around. I think they're sorting out some sort of costume malfunction." Taylor groaned. "Can you come in with me? I need help with the zip."
They went back to the same bathroom and Joe undid the zipper deftly before sitting on the toilet cover.
"That was way too efficient of you. Practice much?" Taylor smirked at him.
"Shut up," Joe's ears reddened at his wife's teasing. Years later, she's still the only one who has that effect on him.
He watched as Taylor leaned against the wall of the tiny bathroom and closed her eyes, seemingly disconcerted.
"Are you okay?" He mumbled into her ear as he got up to wrap his arms around her from behind.
"It's just been a really long day, and I'm exhausted..." Taylor trailed off. "Not a bad one, but I got my period this morning so I've been a bit icky all day."
"Darling," Joe frowned worriedly. "Did you have cramps all day long?" He asked, the pad of his thumb immediately rubbing circles on her belly.
"No, but I'm fatigued and bloated and I had this shitty headache at lunch, so I didn't eat much." Taylor shifted her position to meet his concerned eyes. "And my hormones are crazy so that explains why I've been missing Ivie so much. Not that hormones aside it would be weird."
"My love, I'm sorry," Joe kissed her temple. "You've pushed yourself really hard today, huh?"
"Tomorrow will be better," Taylor weakly smiled. "But right now I'm so, so tired."
"C'mere, let me help you with your pants," Joe murmured. He grabbed the pair of sweatpants from the counter and she held his shoulders as she stepped into them.
"Do you need to change your pad or something?" He rubbed his beard.
"I'm good to go," she reassured him.
In the car as they drove back to their London home, Taylor leaned her head against Joe's shoulder and tried her best to fight her sleepy eyelids.
"I'll shower in the guest room so we don't have to wait for each other," Joe suggested.
"Or, you could just hop in with me."
"You just want me to massage your head again," Joe complained. "It takes at least twenty minutes before you let me finish up."
"You caught me." Taylor grinned.
"Okay then, dumbass, I shall join you so that you can enjoy that stupid little head massage." Joe pressed a ticklish kiss to her shoulder blade.
When they were finally in bed, him with his hair tousled and unkempt, her with her face full of lotion and her legs covered by knee high socks, Taylor snuggled into Joe's chest.
"Thanks for looking after me today," Taylor whispered.
"Anytime, my love."
"I love you."
"I love you too. Goodnight, my T."
