January 9, 2027
Wildcard weekend had rolled around again, and Travis and the Chiefs were hosting the Bills for the first round of the playoffs.
It would be the first full game for Travis since Christmas and Annabelle's arrival, able to rest since the regular season had concluded and their playoff position had been secured.
Taylor had known, as soon as they'd found out her due date, that having a baby in football season - especially one right at playoffs - would be hard, and as she watched Travis pack his bag to go to the team hotel for the night, she had to swallow down the tears that threatened to spill over.
They had brought Annie home from the hospital on the 26th, and the last two weeks had been wonderful, but challenging. The baby, Taylor was convinced, had reflux, meaning she ate like a champ but couldn't always keep it down, and was hard to settle. Mia, on the other hand, had recently decided she only wanted attention from Taylor, and often in the middle of the night - despite having always been a daddy's girl. Travis laughed it off, knowing she was acting up because of the attention Annabelle needed from Tay, but it left Taylor feeling like she was being pulled in two different directions, on little-to-no sleep.
The terrible twos had started early, as well, and Travis was exhaling a deep breath as he had entered their bedroom to pack, having spent the last hour calming Mia enough for her to go to sleep after another tantrum, this one sparked by Travis being the one to put her to bed.
'What are you thinking?', Taylor asks him from her position sitting against the headboard, feeding the baby.
'That I feel like shit for leaving you here with no help', he answers without looking up, all efforts concentrated on zipping his bag.
'Trav, it's not your fault your mom is sick, or my mom either. You have a job to do. I've got to be alone with them some time, right?'
Despite her reassuring words, speaking them into existence is what tips her over the edge, tears falling. She dips her head low so that her hair covers her face, but the next thing she knows Travis is there, tilting her head to look at him.
'Tay, please don't cry, because if you cry I might just join in. I have every faith in you that you can do this, you're a fantastic mom. The first time is always the hardest, right?'
She nods, not trusting herself to speak, and soon he's kissing them both goodbye, promising to be back as early as possible the next morning.
'It's just us now, girly. Please be good for me, okay?', she whispers to Annie, transferring her into the bedside bassinet, before deciding she might as well get a head start on some sleep too.
But she's up again an hour later feeding the baby, when she hears shouts from Mia's room, right on cue - Taylor swore her hearing had improved as soon as Annabelle was born, knowing exactly when the baby woke up in the night. Taylor picks up the baby monitor, pressing the button to speak to her, 'Hang on a minute baby, Mommy's coming'.
The reassurance does nothing, and Mia's screams only get louder and more urgent, tears falling for Taylor again as she listens to her eldest's sadness while cradling her baby. As soon as she's done feeding Annie, she goes to Mia, who is standing up in her crib, face purple and eyes red.
'Oh sweet pea, it's okay. I'm here', Taylor says as she rushes to Mia's side, plucking her out of the crib and bringing her back to her own bedroom, giving in to Mia's inevitable request to be with her, no energy to fight it so early in the morning.
If Travis had been there, she would have resisted, knowing that she was creating a bad habit of pulling Mia into their bed when she threw a tantrum in the middle of the night. Travis had backed her up on this so many times in the last two weeks, but she knew she had a long night ahead and she didn't fancy wrangling the toddler in and out of her crib.
