You'll Be Alright - Taylor Swift

Part 11

Taylor's POV

So, getting Ryan to pick things to buy was more challenging than I thought it was going to be. I mean, I don't know why I thought it would be easy when she wouldn't even pick what to eat.

I thought she was just being her usual, adorable self when she asked for pebbles, which I am going to ensure she always has. But it turns out she was serious when she said that's all she wants. Trust her only to want one thing, something you can literally pick up from the streets for free. So, the next few hours consisted of me showing her something and her just shrugging, occasionally whispering that she didn't need anything else.

Just like I had asked that morning, Mom spent the whole day with us. I figured that Mom being with us today might make it easier for Ryan when she has to stay with Mom while I'm on stage. I'm not sure if it will actually work. But that's the hope. Anything to make the time I can't hold her easier for her. Plus, it would make me feel so much better leaving her if I knew she was actually comfortable with the person I was leaving her with. Which is a bit of a task because I'm not entirely sure she is comfortable with anyone, me included.

What did those monsters do to my baby?

"Taylor, she isn't going to pick anything. She hasn't even looked at the screen in half an hour. What does she like? Maybe we can pick out a few bits to last till we get to London, and then you can take her shopping herself. She might find it easier to pick when the things are actually in front of her, and she can see the choices physically. Plus, it gives her a little more time to work out that she is safe to make choices with you. After watching her at breakfast, I don't think she was allowed to before," Mom suggests as we approach the fourth hour of flicking between different websites, looking for something Ry will say she likes.

By this point, Ry isn't even looking at the screen, just like Mom pointed out. She's cuddled into my chest, and I am relatively sure she is actually asleep, which wouldn't be surprising. She hasn't been sleeping. Between being up in the middle of the night for who knows how long and then getting up early this morning, she can't be well rested at all. 

"Blue, eating chicken, cats, music, the piano, her pebbles and water, I think. She's mentioned the ocean before, and she had such an adorable smile on her face when she did. And it was raining this morning, and she seemed happy about that. She was watching the rain while playing earlier," I explain, thinking hard about everything I have learned since meeting Ryan.

"I must have watched her play for an hour before she realised I was there. She was in her own little world. She is so talented, Mom, so, so, so, talented. I would love to sit here and take credit for that, but come on, she is seven and so much better at playing than I am. And I am willing to bet everything on her not having regular access to play, going on her reaction to me telling her the keyboard was hers and that she could always play whenever she wants," I explain as I get slightly side-tracked talking about just how fantastic Ryan is.

"Last night, I woke up and she was gone. I almost had a heart attack, only to find her sitting on the floor. Do you see those pebbles? Look at them closely," I point them out to Mom. "She was playing them like a piano, and after watching her today, she clearly was playing the same thing. She wasn't even watching her hands earlier; she just watched me as she played as if to check I wasn't going to get mad and take it away. How much talent do you need for that? She can play just by feeling. She can hear the music even if it's not there. Mom, she's gifted, like actually gifted. There is no way whoever she was with before taught her or paid for her to learn. I have no idea how she learnt, but she has to rival the greats with how she plays, Mom. You heard her earlier. She wrote what she played using pebbles. She is composing songs at seven on pebbles; Mom," I gush, not understanding how someone so tiny can possess so much talent.