March 28, 2027
'Here you go, princess', Travis says quietly to Mia, standing beside him, hands outstretched to receive her drink from her dad.
It was still early, not yet 8am, so Travis had left Taylor and Annabelle to sleep, bringing their little troublemaker into the kitchen of their holiday villa so she wouldn't disturb them.
Today marked a full year since they had exchanged vows in Nashville and become husband and wife; and Travis had surprised Taylor by organising a family vacation to Hawaii to celebrate. He'd rented a row of luxury villas so that their extended families could come too, and the joy that they got by watching Mia run around with her cousins on the beach was more than worth it.
He sets about making breakfast for them, Mia occupied by watching cartoons on his phone. As he makes a fresh batch of pancakes, his mind can't help but wander back to this day last year: the absolute joy and happiness they felt as they got married. It truly was one of the best days of his life - aside from the birth of his children - and he had loved every single day since, being able to call Taylor his wife.
When breakfast is ready, he loads their plates onto a tray: his and Taylor's and Mia's smaller version, along with some coffee for both of them. 'Come on girly, breakfast in bed today', he instructs Mia, who toddles in front of him down the hall to the bedroom he and Taylor were sharing.
When they enter, Taylor is woken by Mia's bounce onto the bed, squealing 'Mommy, bweakfast!'
Taylor smiles before her eyes are even open, hands automatically reaching to pull Mia in for a cuddle. She tickles her tummy when she has her in her arms and kisses her forehead before sitting up with her in her lap, smiling at Travis, hands laden with the tray of food.
'Good morning, my loves. This looks lovely, did you help daddy, Mia?'
'Me help daddy. Pancakes!', she replies, and Travis laughs, taking the hint to sit down on the bed and dish out the food.
They eat happily together, Travis holding Mia back from smearing maple syrup all over the bed, Taylor laughing when his efforts mean it ends up all over him instead, his beard sticky.
Annabelle soon wakes to join the party, and Taylor lifts her to feed her, an arm still around Mia who is perched happily between her parents. Travis reaches over to Taylor's plate and spears the last of her pancakes onto her fork, feeding her her breakfast.
'Thanks baby', Taylor responds, smiling at him as he reaches over Mia to kiss her forehead.
Leaning over to the bedside table, Travis produces a beautifully wrapped gift and card, leaving them on Taylor's lap. 'Happy Anniversary, Tay. Thanks for the best year yet'.
Her eyes are watery as she turns back to him, smiling, 'Happy Anniversary, Trav. Happiest year of my life'.
She opens the gift one handed, a beautiful necklace bearing an opal, two sapphires and a ruby, the four birthstones of their family. She produces a similarly wrapped gift for him which he opens with Mia's help.
When breakfast is finished and gifts are exchanged, they busy themselves getting ready for a day at the beach with the girls and the rest of the family.
When they're ready, with more bags full of essentials than Taylor can count (she'd quickly learned that having kids meant being as prepared as possible, for every eventuality), they walked down from the porch of their villa to the private beach, seeing that Jason, Kylie and the girls were already there.
'No surprise the ones with kids are out here first, eh?', Travis asks to no one in particular, greeting Jason and then Kylie.
'Doesn't help when you have children who are early risers. We can't get Wyatt to sleep in if our lives depended on it', Kylie responds, standing up to hug Taylor.
