March 2027
'Hey baby. How are you feeling?' Taylor smiles gently at Travis, his tired face taking up the screen on her phone.
'Like shit, but I don't want to talk about it. How are you?', is his response, his hands rubbing over his face, squeezing the bridge of his nose, a tell tale sign to Taylor that he was in pain. He was only a couple weeks post surgery, and while it had gone well, the rehab was intense, and he had been finding it particularly difficult the past few days.
Taylor, sitting on the couch in her NYC apartment feeding Annabelle, gave him a small smile. 'We're okay. Missing you, though'.
'You know I would be there if I could. Sucks not to see the girls', is his despondent reply, and she can tell he's in no mood to talk, not really, and if they push it they could be walking into the dangerous territory of saying something either one of them might regret.
She was in New York for meetings with her team about her new tour, beginning in May. It was a small one, starting off with just the USA this year and focusing on Tortured Poets. Things were mostly all in place, and she was excited to get back out there, especially with getting the opportunity to bring her daughters along for the ride for the first time.
Travis was meant to be with them right now, but with his injury and the required rehabilitation, he was back at home in Kansas City, with only the cats for company. She had tried to postpone the things she needed to do here, reluctant to leave him on his own, but he had insisted that he would be okay, since she would only be gone 10 days. Of course, she had to bring Mia and Annabelle with her, Travis not currently able to look after them by himself.
She knew the combination of the pain, frustration at the injury, and them being away was eating at him, causing his grumpy demeanor that he was currently directing at her. Given that they still had four more days away from each other, she decided not to push him.
'I know baby. I'm going to get Mia her dinner, and I'll call you when she's going to bed, okay?'
'Yeah, whatever. Speak to you later'. He gives her a pained smile, waving goodbye with his free hand, before she signs off too.
It's a difficult bedtime routine, Mia deciding to act up while Taylor is on her own, wrangling both girls away from Travis. She's eventually settled with her on the couch, reading a bedtime story, when she calls Travis again so he can say goodnight.
The phone rings and rings, the familiar dial tone sounding out, and Mia's questioning of 'Where Daddy go?', reflects Taylor's inner thoughts. She finishes the book and reads another one and tries him again, getting the same answer.
She can't put it off any longer, so she takes Mia upstairs to bed, consoling the toddler with a promise of ringing Daddy first thing in the morning. She eventually settles after a round of her favorite lullaby, and Taylor softly closes the door and pads down the hallway to her bedroom, Annabelle already asleep in her crib.
She calls Travis again when she's ready for bed herself, panic starting to rise when he doesn't answer, again. She can't recall a time - ever - when this had happened before. Near-constant communication has always been a hallmark of their relationship; the long-distance they endured in the first year made bearable by texts and Facetime calls as soon as they both were free.
They had been so good at it then, that Taylor had been constantly teased by her friends at how glued she was to her phone. Any noise it made at all and she jumped to attention, waiting to see an update from Travis on how his day was going. Blake still ribbed her about how lovey-dovey they were, Taylor dropping any and all conversations to speak with Travis, even if different time zones meant their conversation only lasted a few minutes.
