Arranged love - jaylor AU

first night

- taylors pov - 

After dinner I Joe put the twins to bed, Lilly went to her room or somewhere else while I stayed with Elena in the living room. Lilly was being polite to Elena, but she wasn't particularly interested either. She wasn't rude though, which she would be disciplined for if she was. Elena is a part of our family now and needs to feel welcomed, so she needs to suck it up and accept that. It might sound harsh, but she knew it was coming and we have had long talks about what is expected of her when we got a new addition to the family. 

«What do you feel like doing now Elena? Do you want to watch tv? Should we browse the books and see if there is something you want to read or do you just want to relax alone?» I ask her and she bites her lip and jawn. «Thank you for the offer, but I think I want to go to my room for the night if that's okay. I'm... I'm tired.... But of course, if you want something else, I can do that too... you might really want to do something and then I can do that, it's totally okay... I just...» she goes on a rant, and I smile at her. 

«It's okay to do what you want to do. Thats why I asked because you're not obligated to hang out with me if you don't want to. Come find me or Joe if you need something, and I will check on you before I go to bed. Bedtime is at 9pm because that's what's recommended for your age group» I tell her.

We did some research about bedtimes for different ages so we could make sure that she got enough sleep just like the other kids. Augustine and James go to bed at 7:30 but if they prove that they can be responsible and get up in the morning we have promised to extend that to 8pm when they reach 7 years old. We are big on sleep hygiene because it's important for them to keep focus in school and not wake up grumpy in the mornings. When you have three kids, now four, it helps the family run smoother if the kids aren't grumpy. Lilly doesnt really have a bedtime the same way as the others, we let her control a bit more of it but if she starts being difficult to get up in the morning, is in a grumpy mood and stuff like that we take control again. It's a way to give her some responsibility of her own life, which are good life lessons for a teenager. Before we know it, she will be off to college, and these are things we want her to be well rehearsed in long before then. 

When Elena goes downstairs to her room, I head upstairs to say goodnight to the twins. I hear that Joe is inside with Augustine, so I go to tuck James in which Joe probably has already done. I knock on the door softly before I walk in. He is sitting in bed with his bedside lamp on and a book in his hands. He can read if the books have big letters and not too complicated words, so we think that's an important thing to do in the evening. We have always read for them at night, but we decided that we wanted them to practice reading themself to sleep too so they aren't dependent on us to fall asleep at night. Another important life lesson to learn and its perfect to start around their age. 

«I just wanted to say goodnight to my little boy» I say and kiss his forehead. «Goodnight mommy. I love you» he says, and I grin at him «I love you too. Sleep tight and only ten more minutes of reading your book, okay?» I say. We have these digital clocks that we have timers on that give them a notification when it's time to put away the books and go to sleep. The longer they spend getting into bed and settled for the night the shorter time they get to read. 

After I say goodnight to him, I do the same thing with Augustine before Joe, and I finally get some time alone after a long day. Since the older kids aren't in bed, we stay in the living room and not upstairs in our bedroom. When it's just Lilly we tend to crawl into bed earlier and just stay there and watch tv, or do adult activities, but with Elena here I want to be available until she goes to bed. 

«It's been a long day» I say and throw my legs over his lap. «It has been, but it's also the start of a new chapter for us» Joe says as he starts to rub my feet.