October 5, 2025
Taylor wakes with a start, frantically throwing off the bedclothes and reaching out for the baby, who would usually have been long awake by now.
She's surprised to find her still fast asleep, and she realises she's finally gotten a full night of rest for the first time since Mia was born. She'd last fed the baby at 11am, and it felt even better that it had happened on a game day, meaning that both she and Travis had enjoyed a full night of sleep.
Travis never used to mind the mandatory hotel stay the night before a game, even when he and Taylor had first started dating - he definitely would have gotten too distracted, he told her, so separation for the sake of rest was better. But after Mia had arrived and the season began again, he hated leaving the pair of them, and hated even more that he wouldn't be there to help Taylor with the baby when she was still so small.
Picking up her phone, Taylor quickly texts him, knowing that he'll rejoice as much as she is that she got a full eight hours last night.
Guess who slept the whole night long?
And then followed up with:
Happy Birthday, Trav. We can't wait to see you. ♥️
Across town in the team hotel, Travis was already getting up and ready to leave when Taylor's texts came through, and he grinned as he read the update on his daughter.
That's the best news ever! That's my girl!
Thanks baby. I love you both.
Taylor smiled seeing his response come through so quickly, knowing he was probably starting to make a move to come home. She looked over at the baby, seeing she was still asleep, and turned on the baby monitor to head downstairs to create a birthday breakfast for Travis before the game.
She'd bought the supplies herself during the week, and set about putting up the balloons, streamers and signs, and placing confetti all over the kitchen island. Breakfast was already prepped from the night before: French toast ready to be heated, bacon to accompany it, along with what was quickly becoming her signature, cinnamon rolls.
Mia soon interrupts her preparations, and she heads upstairs to feed and change her. When she gets there, she notices that the baby has rosy red cheeks, dribble soaking the top of her onesie.
'Hi my Princess', she softly says to Mia, picking her up and feeling her forehead, concerned that she might be spiking her first fever, but is reassured when she feels cool skin against her palm. She feeds her then, it taking longer than usual as Mia doesn't seem herself, but eventually is satisfied with a full tummy.
She's just back downstairs in the kitchen when Travis arrives back, hearing him before she sees him.
'Taylor? I'm homeeeeee', he says in the direction of the stairs, assuming that they're still there, given the early hour.
She rounds the corner from the kitchen, holding Mia on her hip, 'We're right here, baby. Happy Birthday'.
He turns and there's that grin she loves, and he's across the hallway in 2 steps, enveloping them both in a hug and kissing the top of Taylor's head.
He lifts Mia from her arms then, kissing her forehead and whispering, 'Hey, there's my princess' to the wide-eyed baby, who's smiling up at him (to Taylor's eternal annoyance, he was the one who had gotten her first smile, winning their bet. She hadn't stopped smiling at Travis since). Then he looks down at what she's wearing: a white onesie with the words Happy Birthday Daddy embroidered across the front in Taylor's handwriting.
'So that's what you were working on last night that I couldn't see,' Travis chuckles, as he moves to kiss Taylor properly.
She smiles, nodding in agreement, then takes his free hand to lead him into the kitchen for his next birthday treat.
