Protecting Leah

Taylor's Tale To Tell

Taylor's P.O.V

Mom, Dad and Abigail left me at 8.30pm and I checked on Leah who was sound asleep and while tucking her in I kissed her forehead and Meredith jumped up on her and went to sleep too so I scratched her behind the ears and left leaving the door open because Leah couldn't reach the handles yet. I showered, removed almost a week's worth of makeup before getting into my cat pyjamas and crawling into bed. Deciding at 2.49am that I wasn't ever going to sleep I picked up my Nicholas Sparks book, The Notebook and continued reading it.

Hours later I was so mad I couldn't even think straight, but I had managed to keep from crying in front of Leah and get her dressed and take her to nana and granddads where she would be happy. Now I was ten minutes from the nursery school but I had no idea what I was going to say. Pulling up and parking I rested my head on the steering wheel of my range rover. "Please help me get through this." I was upset at the school for sure but I was more mad because I knew I was about to get angry and I don't like confrontation of any sort. I just shrugged and grabbed my purse before heading inside. The receptionist smiled at me "Good morning Miss Swift can I help you?" I was about to answer then she said, "Oh the principal would like to talk to you." I nodded and walked towards the door. Pausing I knocked and was asked to enter. The first thing I noticed was Leah's teacher sitting down and the principal motioning me to also sit.

Sitting down I waited to hear what was going to be said then Miss Scotty spoke. "I'm sorry to inform you Miss Swift but recently someone has put multiple videos of Leah online and we just wanted to let you know." "Oh I already know about the video y'all. But I was wondering why the video was uploaded three days ago and you are telling me now. I had my parents and best friend over last night discussing this. Now I need and want to know right now who took the video and why it took you so long to notice it. In case you didn't notice my daughter happens to be amongst the press right now because she is my daughter." "Listen Miss Swift although we acknowledge your standing socially we cannot be held responsible for video footage which is taken of your child they could have been outside. We are not responsible." On that note I began to get mad. "Let me show you the video then shall I?" After showing the video they continued to stare at me and then I said. "If you had watched it hundreds of times like I did worrying about the safety of my daughter. You would have seen that when the video moved to Leah and Lucy on the monkey bars the road and fencing is in the background behind them meaning that whoever took this video was standing inside the school grounds near the staff area and taking video of minors. This is simply disgusting and not what I want as an influence for my child..." I watched as both the principal and Miss Scotty looked horrified. Standing and turning around I then addressed them both. "I wanted a safe environment for Leah both while I am in town and on tour. But I cannot trust your institution. This is not a safe place for children if you allow your staff to capture video of the children and Leah's social standing or mine for that matter should not reflect this incident. Lucy is not a famous child you need to sort this. My lawyer will be in touch.""Miss Swift wait, we can make the school safe please don't remove Leah because of one incident. We love having her here." "That may be so Miss Scotty but I need to think of her safety. She will be coming on tour with me and when she turns five she will attend a different school or have a tutor if I decide. Good day."

Walking out of the office I speak to the receptionist and tell her to remove Leah Swift from file and classroom rosters and to not contact us in the future. She looks sorry to see us go but nods her head. Ten minutes later I stand outside my range rover and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Tears that I had been holding suddenly leak and I open the door and slide into the driver's seat to prevent paparazzi snapping photos of me, "My poor baby...how did this happen when all I wanted was for her to have a normal upbringing like I did as a child? Will that ever be possible?"